Abandoned Truck to Expedition Truck | The Full Build | Destination Adventure

foreign [Music] this will be the first start in many moons and it's cold start it was only I don't know maybe minus seven last night so shouldn't be too bad truck has not really left the shop yard in like 17 years see if she's gonna fire oh she sounds grumpy [Music] to all of you this Probably sounds just like every other old diesel truck but to me there is a very specific sound with this particular truck because this is my dad's old truck I have wanted this thing for years and it's going to play an integral role in this Winter's plans but there's a ton of work to do before we can really dive into that let me fill you in on some details this is our shop yard and it's essentially what is left from a pretty interesting business venture my father and grandfather had in the early years of my life [Music] it was kind of even as logging goes a unique little outfit a smaller Machinery we did a lot of Faller select work window dressing for the Mills if you were close to subdivisions or on the side of a recreational Lake say and they wanted to harvest Timber they often send our little outfit in there we could remove twenty thirty percent of the Timber weasel down narrow trails with that machinery and when we were done it looked actually kind of like a park I lived in a subdivision on five acres and I didn't feel it would be right to build a shop there because you know the noise early in the mornings and stuff like that so I shopped around and this 62 acre parcel was close to home and I purchased it and immediately built a shop and that's all that was on here for the first many years that I own this property I bought out the logging company and I needed a shop for myself at that time and especially with logging trucks involved you have to have a shop that the bush Machinery I could have got by without but with long and trucks I needed a shop so I bought the 62 acres and built a shop it worked great for a lot of years eventually that played out for us because the push was on to salvage all that beetle kill Pine out west and without all the automated machinery and everything just using chainsaws still and stuff we pretty much became outdated and uh that's when I had to eventually step out of the business and that's when that truck got parked throughout my entire adult life this has sat pretty much vacant so I've been able to learn how to fix things and build things and wrench and it's big enough that I can fit the motorhome inside it's not comfortable it's not cozy it's not luxury by any means but it's free and it's critically important to this Winter's build plans so let me take you for a tour inside [Music] welcome to Mikasa this winter we're not going south we're staying here and building an expedition truck an Overlander so this side of the shop will remain living quarters in the motorhome this side of the shop will get all cleared out and this will become build HQ now without further Ado let's get to some shop cleaning [Music] [Music] the shop has sat for three years now without any sort of maintenance the boiler needs a new pump I have to get three months worth of firewood and all my stuff that's been sitting for years has to get organized giving away sold or thrown away [Music] [Music] you guys know what's in here there's a cooler full of sand [Music] why do we own something like this here we go put some insurance on the old gal ready for our first toodle down the highway what I can tell you immediately this front end needs some serious attention pretty sloppy or show maker to the dump [Music] foreign [Music] dump run wildly successful slight change in plans today the perfect camper came up for this truck I want to go take a look at it before there's too much snow I'm not meant to be a car owner because they just can't handle the way I like to drive them just trying to get a new bearing in here before we go because I think she's gonna pile up pretty soon accidentally ripped the bumper off [Music] looking at a chipped windshield coming up here ASAP oh wow stretching far from home trees quick pit stop checking the road conditions can confirm pretty slick [Music] [Music] to the Lord progress report not sure if we're gonna make it place bright and early morning in Pemberton we spent the night last night because the roads were obviously very very bad looks like not much of an improvement today but at least the plows should have been out so we're gonna go buy the camper and then start making our way back home and then I don't know rented maybe rent a truck to pick it up we'll see what happens then as much as I hoped they would the road conditions did not improve throughout the week but lucky for me my dad has brand new winter tires on his truck so taken the day and we're making the trip to get her home off to an unfortunate start here none of the lights work so we 'd be wearing harness it will do the trick [Music] [Music] let me tell you guys a little bit about this camper and why I chose this this is a 1987 Bigfoot it's an 11 foot camper which is a little bit bigger than you would typically go with an expedition truck but I'm not building this rig to do little trips here and there I'm building it to live in for months at a time in remote off-grid areas I wanted an older Bigfoot because it's solid fiberglass living in the motorhome for the last three years I am sick of dealing with water leaking inside and this thing being solid fiberglass there's no way that it can leak and it will be nice and toasty warm in there this unit has bathroom and shower which is something I'm not willing to look past in the rig that I'm building it has a kitchen and it's roomy which is very important to me coming back from these big Ocean Adventures I need room where I can put things out to dry whether it's camera equipment or gear and I need space to be able to work so I think this is the right unit for the job being older it's a little bit heavier than I was hoping but that old one ton she'll be able to handle the weight I finally have the shop all cleaned out so let's get the truck in there and start learning a little bit about this old Dodge it was the first brand new off the lot truck I ever bought for a bush truck and I was so proud of it it was diesel four-wheel drive no more putting on chains and whatever boy this was a big step up for me and I brought it home and your grandpa built the deck for it it took a while it was in the shop for a month or so but he did a real nice job and built a big Skookum steel deck on the back and that thing was our Workhorse it hauled well there's fuel all the tools everything back and forth to the bush every day plus two less employees me and one other guy at least every day it's not a huge horsepower engine right off the start but it can very easily be adjusted it doesn't cost a big bout of money I'm not too sure what they do tweak the timing maybe something with the injectors or whatever but you can get big horsepower very easily out of that engine and it's cheap on fuel it's extremely efficient uh that thing I could run when we were working way out of town like two hour drive each way every day that thing ran cheaper fully loaded my father's Dodge Dakota Mindy back then diesel was a little cheaper than gas but still in all that truck packed a hell of a load two hours each way and cheaper than that little gas pickup could run that always amazed me like it's a good efficient rig that way it's a really good sound truck like and and easy to work on if it breaks down on you out there your average guy with a little bit of mechanical knowledge can take a set of wrenches and really help myself out a lot of these newer Vehicles boy you break down out there it's getting towed to dodge or Ford or wherever you're stuck in that shop for however long and this little girl you'll you'll be able to fix her [Music] yeah no it's just a diesel engine an alternator that's there's no electronics involved there whatsoever a set of injectors I mean it's it's just straightforward diesel mechanics super easy super reliable the body is still in good shape like you know I mean a little bit of corner rust down by the fenders and whatever but overall it's good and uh I don't know there's there's some work you'll have to do there to get it up and going it's last year in the bush I just parked it in the shop and that was it I never did any work on it usually every year I would do a certain amount of repairs you know front end work and stuff and that never got done that last year it got parked in the shop and it sat there for 14 years Undercover a truck obviously sitting in the shop for 14 years was not something real necessary in my life you know it was yeah I'm more than happy to pass it on and proud to pass it on you know I'm a big fan it's like I love what you're doing and anyway I can help it's going to be great yeah [Music] today's day one of actually getting the tear down going on this truck which is super exciting to get the ball rolling except for it's been getting down to like minus 15 every night which is a bit of a problem because we don't have a solution for our firewood situation yet so I've sent Mick out to see if he can scrounge up some firewood and we're gonna get started on this truck mix own a job and he's doing pretty good cruising in the car with a trunk full of Ironwood whoa if I want to film this properly I really have to get some sort of lighting well Mick is back hey bud hey Mick you sound grumpy do I have a reason to be grumpy no no did you get some firewood I got some firewood well would you mind starting a fire I'll be out here for a few hours the plan originally was to get the truck mechanically sound then take the box off I think in the grand scheme of things it's gonna be better to get this deck off just to free up the room and start getting measurements wow that's loud [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] peace [Music] [Music] hmm ready [Music] thank you pretty interesting mixture of what looks to be Factory and Grandpa Porter Wells foreign [Music] my grandfather was a pretty interesting man we're at the back of this deck this whole box the frame goes into the box and is welded to the frame we're trying to cut around the frame into the box [Music] foreign [Music] welcome to another episode of destination resurrecting old things on the list today is tobacco okay [Music] [Applause] [Applause] [Applause] all right foreign [Music] [Music] [Music] would you take a look at the aft on that gal right look at this thing no rust no scaling clean yeah nothing worse than a dirty aft how was the tear down absolute nightmare the old man how to weld it up pretty tight huh might have been easier to disassemble the truck classic well anything new for the list yes fuel pump a little bit pricey but there will not be a better time to do it rear airbags steady bearing remove the catalytic converter new muffler rear end pinion seal and that should about do it for now then I shall get started on the parts you keep that up might have to put you on the payroll Bud your smile that's the only payment I need foreign [Music] check it out yes that is a formidable stack of boxes you have there oh yeah and it looks like nothing from the list well they didn't have any of that stuff what is all of this well I don't know they had this all just sitting there something about like a front-end sponsor or something I don't know Nick [Music] off to an immediate Bad start Geez Louise [Music] [Music] [Music] thank you [Music] here's the big moment see what shape this dowel pins in [Music] this right here that's the dowel pin what will happen is that will fall out into your timing gear and either it'll fall right down to the bottom and you'll be okay or it'll bust out the side of the case this looks like a pretty close call this is how you fix it just this little this little bracket here let me show you this bracket will go right there I can hardly believe just how much oil dirt and grease was caked onto the front of this thing but I got all the components cleaned up bolted on and the motor sealed up again and this is about as far as we're going to get into this project this week because I want to leave everything open for the front end rebuild as well [Music] thank you [Music] my ride no crime you can't change [Music] thank you [Music] foreign [Music] get a load of this guy talk about an early bird gets the worm but the second mouse gets the cheese you realize in this situation I would be the second mouse well so we both get cheese no you're the bird you never mind what are you doing out here I mean I saw the comment section people are just begging for some more Mick just trying to give the people what they want you're giving them something yeah I'm pretty much finished up here anyways got all the shots I needed so none of this actually had anything to do with doing any work can't do her bud don't work Sundays it's 7 30 in the morning on a Monday this week's gonna be a good one I can feel it [Music] [Music] what [Music] [Music] I've borrowed this funky press not entirely sure how to use it but I think I have it set up here we're going to give it a little wrap see what happens [Music] it moved all right got a whole stack of adapters here my buddy that lent me this offered to give me a hand I'm always reluctant to take up people's time I think maybe I should have said yes [Applause] oh geez wrong way immediately all right pressing them in was way easier than pressing them out and the new ones even came with a little rubber always want us to use a rubber especially on an old gal like this she's seen some miles looking good they both come with a grease nipple only the bottom one comes with a clip and if you're wondering how accidents happen go ahead and keep watching me try and put this clip on here there we go I don't want to put anything back up [Music] mantle has gone quite good so far but we've run into a huge issue that's where the seal is supposed to sit on the axle it's totally destroyed it's a thousand bucks for new ones so I'm going to remove the U-joints and see about getting it welded and machined driver's side is better but not much [Music] [Music] [Music] I wonder what's gonna come of me [Music] I'm very fortunate that my good buddy Sasha with SK Customs is a world-class TIG welder mechanical engineer and lives just down the road he's fitting me in on a Sunday and we're fixing the axles [Applause] thank you [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] thank you thank you not gonna lie to you been dreading this particular job from the very beginning time to finally tackle doing the wheel seals [Music] these two keepers that hold on the bearing these have to go back in the exact same spot I've been recommended to actually mark them with a punch but I can see they're already marked differently so I just took a photo and then I'll be able to duplicate when I put them back on [Music] foreign [Music] seal in is supposed to be quite easy you can just tap it in right here I'm gonna have to get creative with that side I don't know how much I'm going to be able to film that operation seal puller was a failure breakfast deal well the axle seals are finally in but that job came with every bit of challenge I was expecting and more [Music] see the thing about living in the motorhome inside the shop is every day I look out that window and I can see this truck which is actually pretty cool except for for the last month there's been more truck on the floor and in boxes than on the frame so I've been waiting on hubs these look good though comes with studs too that's nice well let's get this freaking truck back together [Music] don't forget this these bearing caps have to go in exactly how they came out torque spec is 85 foot-pounds [Music] thank you [Music] let me tell you guys this front axle has thoroughly tested my patience it's going back together nicely I thought I had all my parts but putting the four-wheel drive actuator back on this is a vacuum actuator it slides back and forth and pulls the collar over to lock the intermediate shaft and axle shaft the collar rides on two little plastic tabs this one's broken off I've ordered one but it's three days out at least I can continue with the rest of the truck or at least the rest of the front end but the axle will be sitting incomplete [Music] one of the big challenges for brand new hubs and rotors is getting the wheel stud seated I when I did it on the motorhome I was able to crank them down enough with my tire iron to get it seated so I did the same thing on the truck the only difference with the between the truck and the moho is this big spacer I'll crank this down as much as I can but that's going to be something I have to watch when I first get on the road make sure this is not coming loose again [Music] [Music] [Music] you have to stick something in your rotor to torque this with the axle that's 180 foot-pounds going just a little bit past so I can get the cotter pin in [Music] [Music] [Music] do you guys remember the day I took this truck for a drive and I commented about how terrible the front end was something I didn't diagnose throughout this is the sway bar I just took a look at it well I just took it off absolutely destroyed yeah gonna need a new one of those [Music] what's really on there [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] boom [Music] would you take a look at the undercarriage on that cow tight so tight I mean I'd hope so you've been working on it for weeks will the shipping on these parts is taking forever and I hate to say it but I haven't had very much help yep hard to find good help these days huh I think you might have missed the point there bud well yeah the whole shipping thing sucks too but from a semi-non professional such as myself you're doing a pretty good job bud keep it up amigo I wouldn't say I've forgotten how to put it back together but I wouldn't say I remember [Music] [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] foreign [Music] got some mail today steering box stabilizer there's a ton of companies that make these things with a big price range but they all do the same thing and it's a very simple job so I ordered the cheapest one I think it was like 94 bucks maybe 97 bucks or something like that on Amazon and [Music] build quality seems quite good fitment is not great but not terrible there's two tiny little Allen keys that hold the bearing collar onto the steering shaft I don't know how critical their job is but if you install one don't forget to tighten them [Music] at this point somebody out there is probably saying geez that's a pretty unorthodox way to install a bumper you're probably right but I don't know how it's supposed to be done [Music] [Music] nevertheless that is a complete front end rebuild it's time for this baby to finally come off the jack stands [Music] this is the big moment you guys maybe the biggest in history I know some history [Music] should have planned this a little better take a while to fill with that little hose but it will do the trick you know what I had skipped lunch today so the siphon is a blessing in disguise she's fault now the key to starting any vehicle old or new it's the ignition key whoa not even a speck of oil coming out of her [Music] today is the day Mick Redemption day everyone's saying you're not a very good mechanic my freaking name is mechanic already been up been to town we'll have the whole back of this truck done before you're even out of bed dude dude let's do it [Music] hey Mick good job [Music] hey Mick you're the best hey Mick Mack huh huh what are you doing bud oh man [Music] there's a whole piece missing [Music] [Music] thank you the old leaves were in really rough shape they were a six Leaf pack with a spacer and an overload the new leafs are eight and then they sent airbags the u-bolts are gonna ride right on top of the leaf pack let's see how hard it is going to be to lift this into place thank you I hadn't really accounted for the fact of how sacked out the old ones are I don't know if I can drop my axle far enough everything is fitting up nicely except for the new u-bolts are not long enough but we have a spring shop here in town so I'll get both the leaf packs on then whip into town and get new u-bolts cut it's going to work out fine anyways because I don't want to use the mounting hardware that came with the airbag kit I want to get something a little more heavy duty so I'll get everything cut at once the hole if it ain't broke don't fix it plan has been a failure because it's broke unfortunately the whole driver's side needs to be rebuilt so I've ordered bearings I have seals already but the bearings won't be until tomorrow let's finish getting the Leafs on and maybe look at some airbags foreign side done [Music] guys safety glasses [Music] I shouldn't have tightened up everything so much over there because it doesn't allow me to move the axle of the lineup over here I loosen the u-bolts and just pulled a little bit with this ratchet strap and it lined up nicely actually enough where I can get a bolt in here [Music] oh no how the heck does that work oh man I don't know if this job is doable without dropping the tank I sure hope not well I certainly hadn't intended on dropping the tank as you can see it's no longer in the truck gonna turn this into a silver lining moment and swap out the fuel pump and then drain it because this thing is super heavy but I'm so strong didn't even drop it [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] should be pretty straightforward certainly the worst directions I've ever seen I have a sneaking suspicion this fuel pump is for a gas truck not a diesel as much as this looks like an in-tank fuel pump it is not the only thing that this does tell you your fuel level so the last three hours of my life total waste of time look at that accuracy oh the legs are burning tomorrow my bearings will be in so I may as well get the hubs off and prepped so tomorrow hopefully we can have a super productive day [Music] parts are all in ready to murder the mechanical dance floor I have a pile of work to do today gonna get six bird stone with the same Rock I'm gonna be a good party foreign [Music] [Applause] foreign [Music] it's better to leave your bearing too loose than too tight so I'm going to back it off a tiny bit [Applause] I'm going to call that good I couldn't Source a new gasket for the axle so I'm reusing the old one just gonna put a tiny smear of the right stuff on here to help it seal up it's not the nicest looking job I've ever done but it'll hold [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] torque spec for these diff cover bolts calls for 30 foot pounds I think that might be a bit much so I'm just getting it snug with this shorter ratchet [Music] [Music] thank you [Music] this project has a special place with me one of my work colleagues Sheldon souter a couple years ago brought to my attention your videos and of course your your subscribers are all over and they want to see what BC looks like and I and I've been to a lot of those places too so I this kind of had a special place for me to watch for your Saturday releases and then when you said that you were going to do a build it can be a little bit complicated I thought well that can be our contribution to this I like what you're doing I like your videos and it's just something that I think is the right thing to do there's no blueprint for anything that we're doing here you just got to kind of come up with an idea and then put it into place you know fabricate around it it's definitely not something that we're used to doing but it's uh we're always up for a challenge [Music] foreign started Stinger welding in 1979 just with myself and a welding truck and we've grown it I've hired some very good people have some very good people working for me and growing it to what it is today [Music] in the old days I did a lot of bush work with a welding truck and that's now transformed to work for some large clients we do a lot of field work we have portable service trucks we work for our electrical utility BC Hydro they're doing an expansion program all over the province we we have some specialty welders for them we do virtually everything um any kind of General fabrication mainly we do Bridges that's like kind of our bread and butter but we also do aluminum pressure pipe welding yeah we do quite a bit of large scale but we'll do anything right down to you know just general stuff off the street [Music] [Applause] when I first reached out to Stinger welding I was only asking for help to install the camper unfortunately that didn't end up being possible because of the damage we found on the camper so this went from what should have been a pretty easy camper installation on the frame to kind of salvaging what I had once we got in started looking at it seeing the damage that was there knowing that that's not going to last over time we needed to figure out a way to cradle it and you know kind of girdle it and keep it keep it together keep it so it's going to last for years to come [Music] well there's a saying amongst the welders we can fix everything but a crack of dawn and a broken heart [Music] something like this is very rewarding and it's also a challenging job and I think that's where the one-offs is where we we really Excel and this is a one-off but uh we treat this as a equally important job to all the rest of our jobs and in projects basically just building a frame that's gonna encapsulate the bottom portion of the camper to try and keep it you know keep it structurally sound it's it's obviously lacking in in support and it has been for quite some time so yeah what we're building is is gonna hold it all together and support it you know regardless of where you go the damage to this camper was a problem that I really didn't have a solution for so getting to see this whole portion of the build come together was really fascinating and it felt great to finally have some professional help for a change but that's not the only thing that makes this portion of the build really special when I worked on cruise ships I was very fortunate to make friends with people all around the world and some of those friends are currently in the Ukraine we all know about the challenges currently happening over in the Ukraine and Stinger welding has put effort into making a positive difference in the lives of some of the people stuck in that situation thank you [Music] as everybody seems to know at this time there's a shortage of skilled trades people around with so much work that we've gone had going on so what I've been trying to do is reach out to the local Prince George Ukrainian group and finally connected and I had the opportunity to hire two of the fellas that I have now and I hired them in last October and they've been with us ever since there's been a bit of a challenging communication issue but we have the translation and they've picked up English very good way faster than I could do the Ukrainian foreign [Music] those guys I mean they're it's definitely a language barrier you know obviously we're using Google translate as much as we as much as we can but uh yeah these guys they they're they're very well versed in what they do regardless of the language the language that we both speak is fabrication and Welding and uh I think that uh that shows in the work that they do [Music] um and foreign [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] good morning [Music] the candidate truck for this build is a 1995 Dodge Ram 3500 but this is not a conventional pickup truck this is a cabin chassis so the frame is a fair bit longer than normal so with that came the challenge of the trailer hitch because I don't go anywhere without my boat but the frame ended right behind the rear leaf hanger so we really needed another three feet of frame to get to the back of the camper and six inches of drop to get underneath the camper again there's no blueprint for that so it's just a matter of figuring out what we have to work with what we have to work around and fabricating as needed [Music] we're going to double up underneath the frame bolt onto that and then weld in kind of a drop down frame that's going to extend off the Mainframe I love the option [Music] today is the big day we're actually going to be mounting the camper onto the truck everything that Stinger welding has built here has fit up incredibly well so it should be as easy as just backing the truck underneath and lowering the camper we're gonna find out [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] foreign [Music] [Applause] [Music] I just put the jar of peanut butter away and I ran out of her house hey mix here already Mick you cut holes in the cabinet door oh my favorite part so far about this and what I was hopeful is just watching how the guys get to Showcase their abilities because a lot of work we do it never gets seen all the guys are a little bit quieter kind of like getting around the truck and coming to help wherever they need a hand and you can really feel the excitement and you know we're always production production production now we're kind of like having fun with this and you know that makes me feel really proud for them and being able to Showcase what they have right we're a very unique shop with so much talent Under One Roof and their capabilities are endless oh basically it starts just measuring get a lay of it feel it out start pulling measurements and then Tyler does his thing and he starts you know he finds the model of the truck model of the camper meshes those two together you start fitting things where they fit and it basically just starts to unravel yeah I think I always had a had the dream of of being an engineer but also being really close to the shop floor this Project's different from a normal day with mainly how Hands-On I get to be I get to view the whole workflow the design cutting out the parts on the plasma table and bending them the break and then helping with the welding and the assembly so it's not often that I get to be on the shop floor something like this relies heavily on the cad so we have sheet metal software the model in this case model these these cabinets and the computer calculates all the bends and it exports a flat pattern with all your Bend lines and your measurements and that goes to our fast cut plasma table it cuts out the pieces take that to the break they get folded up and then goes to welding get put together the picture starts to get seen a little bit when it's on the computer and then pieces get cut out pieces get bent but then once you hold them up there then it really starts to come together yeah it's just step by step trust the process trust the people foreign big faith in our process and knowing that you know any problem we run into we figure it out and we go from there the basket CNC plasma table it's it takes whatever the computer tells it and cuts it perfectly every time so if I can draw something up on the computer I see it in three-dimensional space and it fits and everything is is set up perfect for clearances and for welding send it to fast cut table and it it cuts it out exactly as it is on the computer it was really time consuming to build certain parts before because of the complexity of their shapes so we were constrained to building Parts with straight edges no inner cutouts any part now we can design just by the click of a button right [Music] so I can't I can't foreign we will and that's where you know Tyler's bought a lot to the table with his designing and Cad and then being able to 3D objects unfold the plate send it to the plaza table cut it then it comes over we have a drawing that says where all the bends are lay them out bend them weld them together [Music] like revolutionized the way that we work here everything was hand cut everything was hand built so it was a little bit more difficult to make things perfect now that we have the table we have programs that help us hit the mark right on the money doing all those little cutouts and everything would take you 45 minutes to an hour for One Piece now it's in the program it comes out in five ten minutes right and then you run it through the press and everything's perfect can't go [Music] software will make more complex bends than what you can do with the sheet metal brake so you really have to keep that in mind it's easy for me to get carried away with these unique shapes and it uh it's sometimes not always possible [Music] it helps that I have an understanding of the 3D model and how things need to fit together but it can be super confusing we kind of use a one-to-one ratio so you're if you're forming a u your flanges can't be any taller than the width between them [Music] you really just have to know what you're building you take a minute you you think about you visualize all your bends because you can get to a point where you make the wrong Bend and now you have to cut one of the flanges off and weld it because you don't have the clearance to to do the remaining bends so [Music] without the other guys like I say it would take 10 times longer you know Sean and Tyler Run that table and without that we'd basically be up a creek it makes it a lot easier for a guy like me to come along and put it all together fit it all together and oh darn it fits perfect you've got a guy on the table you've got a guy cleaning up you've got a guy forming things you got a guy welding stuff out you know like it just makes everything so much more streamlined it's it's amazing now [Music] they got a lot of faith in Tyler and the guys that I have to right I have to give them their lease to be their own creative and their own people right we don't make them match we put a lot of faith and it's been very successful for us right and that's the same thing I'll see the piece I'm like that looks weird but also give him a little hand and then next you know there's a box right and every person's you know cutting bending and then welding that's a well-oiled machine in the next you know the Box comes out and it just comes [Music] have people skilled in all different levels all different trades having a diverse team of welders Mill rates machinists we can see a job through start to finish and everyone can have their input on it and with good leadership it all comes together this project here would be done with TIG it could also be done with Mig but tig's a lot cleaner more efficient gives you a great strength and weld appearance [Music] TIG welding is a form of welding it can be used on aluminum stainless or mild steel and you use a torch and a fill Rod so the torch conducts the electricity makes your weld puddle and then you add your filler Rod into the weld puddle to produce a weld yeah [Music] an electric Arc is going to come out of there but it's going to be the reverse shape of this so I'll make like an hourglass and at the end of that is like it's like the sun is coming out of there she's hot has straight electricity right and that is what is going to melt your your base metal and you carry that along and adding your filler metal as you go you'll see the base metal melt and then you'll see the actual filler Rod melt and add into the Weld and create a weld great as you're staring at it done correctly four times the strength of a base metal yeah [Music] TIG is very controllable it is my preferred method of welding in any case I love TIG this project it's CNC cut so the fit up is going to be Flawless which it is it's 1 8 aluminum yeah it's a great project man good [Music] it's different things you want to take into consideration for your heat and warping and stuff you wrap your Corners never stop in a corner you always want to weld into Weld and if you keep doing it and you back weld everything it'll minimize Distortion you can even use a little bit of compressed air to help you out and just take time don't rush anything [Music] but this yeah I stress cleanliness it's aluminum it's really susceptible to everything the plastic's too close it's dirty or you didn't wipe down something you're gonna get it then it's gonna create problems in your Weld and you don't want it and you're trying to make everything look good so keep it clean move slow keep your area clean [Music] you get zapped once or twice doing a certain process stick welding if you got wet gloves you're gonna feel it your hands will be sore by the end of the day just from holding on to the stinger and all the current running through your hands and such being comfortable is is it you don't you're not comfortable frustration builds so quick and you not even know you don't feel like you're frustrated but you are and it'll show in your work yeah [Music] pretty big moment coming up here we have to take the camper off to put in the large pass-through compartment didn't realize the camper would be coming off ever again a little bit nervous should be fine [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] not sure if I'd described the feeling as nervous or nauseous maybe a bit of both [Music] clear [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] a little bit more six more inches okay let's go foreign [Music] first look at the cabinet installed feeling great didn't even throw up look at that storage room all right back in the shop Got The A Team here burning that weekend oil the plan is to mount up the boxes Sean what what day is it today did it's a big day the bigger day the truck was already an object the camper was already an object meshing them together that was a part of its own plus all the mechanical but these boxes didn't exist [Music] the normal day-to-day we've got to be productive and we have to you know get the job done as fast as we can with the quality that we will always put out because our name is our quality and that is what the town knows our Machining for is the top quality that you can get this is a little different because we're not working on a budget right we get to use our design Flair and we love to make stuff as fancy as we can but lots of times our time constraints and budget constraints don't allow us to use our full potential so this project will have you know lasting effects on everything else we do because we're able to get a little bit more creative and do that and work through the Kinks that we wouldn't normally have time to on other jobs [Music] going forward we're more confident in scoping out a job or pricing a job to the point where we know that we did it and we can keep moving forward with that and be efficient at it so I think this is this is good for everybody foreign [Music] just after 4 30. I would say mission accomplished gentlemen tremendous job today big day buddy big day big day [Music] I enjoy the fabrication end of these type of projects they're not just building a simple box it's an entire set of box that goes with a camper and a Truck that's what intrigues me it's kind of sort of like putting a puzzle together right instead of just building a square box that fits in to one place like this is multiple boxes with multiple things running in the way and it's all working around it that's kind of the part that I enjoy it's it's a Workhorse that's what that truck was designed for that's what you guys used it before and now you're just it's going into its golden years I'm gonna admit like you're gonna not run it too hard but when you get into that situation where you do have to use four-wheel drive or go over some lumpy stuff you have that ability now I don't feel the weight is too crazy on it you know the aluminum box is definitely a great idea because that would add a lot more weight so I feel the weight is good and it's gonna ride nice I think it's a good combination for what it is [Music] really ties it together though like you know you get the truck and the camper and that's sitting there and these are all big steps for you like you know you first you get the deck off and that's a big step and you know and I see that with our progressional jobs every step is so big to seeing your vision right and this is this one is so exciting because it ties all of it together right but then it also opens up your mind to when you are adventuring what you can bring and how you can organize it right and you have room for growth too right you're going to find more stuff that you need so you know what you are right now isn't what you're going to be in a year because look at how you evolved over the last two years thank you [Music] that's the best part of the job it's looking at a finished product and being able to stand back and say yeah I did that that's the good part that's the the stratification yeah I've always been a Hands-On worker I like seeing the finished product at the end I don't like just handing stuff off to other people because then they get all the glory you know I I want that Gloria I did all the work I want to weld it and by the end it it's beautiful you know it's a very nice feeling I think the Expedition truck's going to be quite the rig you have more than enough storage it'll be reliable and it's yeah it's it's going to be really cool a head turner [Music] it's gonna be absolutely amazing you're gonna have to wear sunglasses around it'll be so shiny with that much aluminum and doors and cabinets it's going to look pretty boss I'm excited for it I think a lot of two when Mike sits down and watches the video and you know he was out of town for a week but he and he goes down I feel like he's going to feel so proud of what he's built and the men that he's you know he's raised a lot of these men so I think he's gonna be super proud of it and you know even myself I'm really proud just watching you know their passion come out and they're teaching you things and they're teaching each other each other things but there's you know we're not constrained on this one so everything is just you know easy flowing and good and you get to really see everyone's personalities and their skills and then can shine right so it's definitely been really exciting to me [Music] foreign you're going to be able to go a lot more places than you could with the motorhome and I think that that's important to a lot of places you want to go is a smaller unit and you just drop your trailer somewhere and you can go where you couldn't go before I think it's going to be exactly what you need you'll have tons of storage I think a little more than you actually originally planned it's going to be just a good all-around unit for for getting in if you need to go into a you know an off-road place you can definitely do it with this so be a lot more versatile than the motorhome that's for sure you've got the experience you can fix your truck now on the side of the road I guarantee you that when you're traveling in the Arctic or tuk-tie Arctic or the Northwest Territories that our portion of the job isn't going to fail so that's what's important you won't have your trailer hitch fall off so this as I said this is a unique project for us and we do one-offs and we're pretty happy to participate in this blue collar people that really enjoy that you know 20 to 30 minutes every Saturday for what you bring just want to give back and want to help you know it really showcases our people and how tight-knit we are and we take care of our own and we want to see everybody succeed and the thing is we could work hand in hand if we need it right any one of them could come to our facility and we would pick up and just because we're all working on the same thing to get this cool expedition truck out the door and making us videos so we can continue on right the whole Province comes together just the same you know over a YouTube channel that you know we've learned that everyone is pretty infatuated with it it's a part of our Lives now right over the past five months this truck build has taught me the true meaning of the phrase Blood Sweat and Tears but the truck came out better than I ever imagined and I couldn't have done it without all of you viewers the sponsors the patrons my family and friends from the bottom of my heart thank you now let me give you the first tour of the finished truck traveling in Canada the land of the Moose lighting is important and no sight hooked me up with an awesome light system and these three inch lights are crazy bright [Music] the pass-through compartment is really the brains of the operation this is where the outboard is stored and on a very functional bracket in the center are my six volt deep cycle batteries and these power the house they're maintained by 400 watts of stick on solar and a 40 amp mppt charge controller supplied to the build by bouge RV after a month of full-time living in the rig I can tell you these things are efficient beside the batteries is the diesel air heater which heats the storage compartment as well as the living quarters installed an onboard air compressor for the airbags which is controlled from inside the cab and finally a 2000 watt dual fuel Smart generator sent by ecoflow which is the lifeblood of my battery system inside but we'll get to that shortly the double door compartments are just for General storage and organized by basic industrial shelving the driver's side drop down compartment is for parts tools oils and fuel and on the passenger side will become an outdoor kitchen but for this year I am out of time the rear compartments hold hoses cables as well as the starlink and when in use the starlink will be mounted on a tower at the back of the rig Hemingway hooks me up with the Cobra Pro long range full suspension e-bike which should be able to take me pretty much anywhere the truck can't and of course I don't go anywhere without my swellfish classic 470 riding on a completely overhauled trailer thanks to Stinger welding inside the living quarters it's mostly a stock camper with some very neat upgrades I've updated the water system and Plumbing all of my interior power needs are met with the ecoflow Delta Pro and River 2 which are charged from the smart generator outside but wired into the camper ecoflow has also provided me some luxury in a battery-powered air conditioner The Wave 2 which is installed above a brand new Dometic three-way fridge and both utilize the fridge vent on the roof this rig is small but it's practical it's reliable and it's efficient and it provides me everything I need to be comfortable and able to produce this show pretty much anywhere in the world I'm very proud and very excited to say we are officially ready to hit the road thank you for your patience and thanks so much for watching everybody [Music] are you ready are you ready for the [Music] are you ready

Channel: Destination Adventure

Views: 219,112

Keywords: Expedition Truck, Overlander, Documentary, build, build series, series, cummins, dodge, 12 valve, 4x4, mechanic, fabrication, fab, resurected, old, history, mechanical, tig weld, tiny home, tinyhome, travel, adventure, explore, BC, Canada, Dustin Porter, Destination Adventure

Id: QxGudafppcw

Length: 89min 58sec (5398 seconds)

Published: Sat May 20 2023