Disclaimer: Links on this page pointing to Amazon, eBay and other sites may include affiliate code. If you click them and make a purchase, we may earn a small commission.

Todd Turbo S

Full Access Member
Joined
Nov 28, 2012
Posts
999
Reaction score
1,443
Location
Nor Cal
Nice writes up...you did an outstanding Job. Are those two Belgium Malinois and GSD, or one Malinois and Dutch Shepard? All great breeds...they most have a blast playing/hiking together.
 
OP
OP
JAndreF321

JAndreF321

Full Access Member
Joined
Mar 20, 2020
Posts
194
Reaction score
160
Location
Lacey, WA
Nice writes up...you did an outstanding Job. Are those two Belgium Malinois and GSD, or one Malinois and Dutch Shepard? All great breeds...they most have a blast playing/hiking together.
They’re all Malinois mixes. The tan one and black one are Mal/GSD mixes and the dirty looking one is Mal/Dutchie mix. The dutchie mix is wild and troublesome, the other two are princesses
 

Todd Turbo S

Full Access Member
Joined
Nov 28, 2012
Posts
999
Reaction score
1,443
Location
Nor Cal
They’re all Malinois mixes. The tan one and black one are Mal/GSD mixes and the dirty looking one is Mal/Dutchie mix. The dutchie mix is wild and troublesome, the other two are princesses
Mal/GSD mix is a great breed, our local PD has two, I’m looking at getting an IPO3, love that mix. Here’s my GSD

EE4BFABD-ADA2-42C0-9C20-77FA02E894BE.jpeg

D4731058-3157-4B8B-A063-D664730654F2.jpeg
 
OP
OP
JAndreF321

JAndreF321

Full Access Member
Joined
Mar 20, 2020
Posts
194
Reaction score
160
Location
Lacey, WA
Mal/GSD mix is a great breed, our local PD has two, I’m looking at getting an IPO3, love that mix. Here’s my GSD

View attachment 149546

View attachment 149547
Gorgeous pup! We are not on your level at all. I move around a lot and the dutchie and I have been in 3 clubs in 3 states over 3 years. Timing has never worked out for us to even go for a BH. I was gone for a year in there also, and wife couldn’t handle him. Been focusing on family since I got back, so no real training. He is still very high drive but more manageable now so I may get back into it.
 

SS308

FRF Supporting Member
Supporting Member
Joined
Dec 31, 2018
Posts
931
Reaction score
569
Location
Cheyenne, Wyoming
When I die, I want to be reincarnated as one of your dogs. Their the only dogs I know that have their own Raptor with a roof top tent...LOL! :)

Love the write up.

Although I have a Gen 1, I'm kinda following along a similar path. Just had my front shocks rebuilt (with shrader valves) and added Geiser Coil Springs. Going to have rear shocks rebuilt the same way with Deaver +4 springs in the rear.

Also looking at a roof top tent. How do you like yours?
 
OP
OP
JAndreF321

JAndreF321

Full Access Member
Joined
Mar 20, 2020
Posts
194
Reaction score
160
Location
Lacey, WA
When I die, I want to be reincarnated as one of your dogs. Their the only dogs I know that have their own Raptor with a roof top tent...LOL! :)

Love the write up.

Although I have a Gen 1, I'm kinda following along a similar path. Just had my front shocks rebuilt (with shrader valves) and added Geiser Coil Springs. Going to have rear shocks rebuilt the same way with Deaver +4 springs in the rear.

Also looking at a roof top tent. How do you like yours?

+4 is probably a good Idea. The lift in the front is making too much trouble now and I'll prob have to add the extra Icon leaf to make sure I have enough rake.

The RTT is awesome. I thought maybe I made a mistake not getting one with an enclosed entrance, but I was glad I got the breezeway this weekend since it was so hot. We needed the extra windows with all the dogs breathing heavy. I also was worried because the first night my hips were hurting from how hard the mattress was. This time I had no issues so maybe it just need some break in. Most reviews I read said that the mattress was excellent because it was so hard and didn't let you sink onto the aluminum floor. I bought the 23Zero Breezeway 62 due to the bed length which is perfect. I also chose the brand because they had great reviews but were much less expensive than other brands. The caveat is that there are few retailers to buy them from so I had to pay an extra $300 for freight delivery. If you can find a local retailer than I highly recommend 23Zero. Also, if you do ship, buy everything you think you will need at the same time because normal shipping for extras is ridiculous. As far as getting a "soft" RTT vs a hard one it depends on how much space you need. I looked at GoFastCampers and other hard top options, but they were really expensive and the "hard" RTTs are small on the inside. The benefit of the hard ones are that they normally prevent you from getting water on your bedding compared to "soft" ones which fold the wet material into your bedding. We use king sized mattress protector, sheets, and bedding inside our tent. The sizing is odd, but it works with king stuff...just extra fabric on the sides and the fitted material stretches on the length. A final note on RTTs is make sure you get one that doesn't have rain fly requirements for the sides since they won't work and will hit the roof of the truck.

The dogs get good treatment since I gave up on the ramp idea. The truck is too high for it to work now and I have ended up carrying all of them up and down. If I were in my 50s maybe it would be bad, but I have no issue now.
 
OP
OP
JAndreF321

JAndreF321

Full Access Member
Joined
Mar 20, 2020
Posts
194
Reaction score
160
Location
Lacey, WA
Gents,

I went camping this past weekend out in the boonies near Mount Rainier. The trip out was nice and we stopped to checkout wild flowers and let the pups play in a stream. Before going off-road, I aired down to 26psi which made everything a lot comfier. We found a nice spot, setup camp, and let the dogs run around off-leash. Around 9pm we all passed out in the tent. At 1AM we were woken up because one of the dogs wet the bed…we have a mattress protector so not a huge deal, just had to soak it up with an extra towel and planned to deal with it the next day. At 2AM she wet the bed again and wouldn’t wake up…we all got out of the tent and she couldn’t stay standing…she staggered and tumbled over before throwing up. This was a big deal and she was in bad shape. We packed up as fast as we could and I hauled butt on the trail until we got to the hardball road. I had to air back up. This took 15min and I was a little scared that the Viair 400P would overheat before I could fill the tires all the way up. Luckily, it did not overheat and I went very very fast to the nearest emergency clinic which, despite the speed, was still 2.5hrs away. She peed in the truck on the way there but was a little more responsive when we arrived. The tox screen came back positive for THC. Apparently, someone left some form of weed behind at the campsite and she got into it while off-leash. They gave her an IV and, since we didn’t know what type of marijuana it was, the doc told us to watch her and make sure she doesn’t go into a coma. Fortunately, she is back to normal.

50246684811_8d38dc57c2_c.jpg

The weekend was cut short, but it wasn’t all bad. We did a couple short hikes and I got to try out some new stuff. I had purchased some tire deflators from a local shop and they worked okay, but the high-rate deflation didn’t last and I ended up doing a lot of manual deflation. I may have to play around with the pressure adjustment.

50246684821_abf38ab339_c.jpg

The Viair 400P worked well, but not having a 100% duty cycle is scary in an emergency. I’m not able to return this one, but I definitely think I should have gotten the 450P.

The road shower worked great to clean dishes, but it has a lot of limitations. The hose is pretty short so it makes it difficult to rinse the dogs off properly and everything has to be done in a small area. Also, the capacity isn’t really the capacity because you can still have water in there that can’t make it out of the hose.

50246049593_bc9eb44b42_c.jpg

The Icon option 2 leaf springs are not enough to keep the truck level with eibach springs in the front. Fully loaded I ended up with ¼” negative rake. Even without the extra weight it visually looks like the front is higher even though it is ½” lower in the front. I’m also getting some squeaking from the rear suspension. Icon said it could be the spring clamps rubbing and I’ve read it could be the poly bushings. I ordered some new centering pins, poly bushing grease, and MPHD to swap the springs to option 3 in the next couple of weeks.

As I said in a previous post, I gave up on the dog ramp since the tent is too high now and it is really just faster for me to lift them up in there. They average around 65 lbs each so not terrible.

50246892867_9d8c7b160e_c.jpg

On a much more positive note, I picked up a Cobb Accessport from a user on here. I loaded the 91 AKI Map 1 and still need to test it out tomorrow. Reading up, it seems I will have to buy a new intercooler to really get more power. I’ve been used to BMWs with air to liquid intercoolers so was hoping there was an option to make that happen on this truck…I imagine it would be a huge hassle to add an additional radiator, pump, and reservoir which is why no dice. I’ll have to research the real efficiency in that sort of system anyway. In any case, I’ll be on the lookout for a used FMIC.

50246049438_5664faf983_c.jpg
 

sixshooter_45

2019 Ruby Red Metallic SC, 3.5 L Twin Turbos.
Joined
Jun 17, 2012
Posts
1,561
Reaction score
845
Location
Arnold
Gents,

I went camping this past weekend out in the boonies near Mount Rainier. The trip out was nice and we stopped to checkout wild flowers and let the pups play in a stream. Before going off-road, I aired down to 26psi which made everything a lot comfier. We found a nice spot, setup camp, and let the dogs run around off-leash. Around 9pm we all passed out in the tent. At 1AM we were woken up because one of the dogs wet the bed…we have a mattress protector so not a huge deal, just had to soak it up with an extra towel and planned to deal with it the next day. At 2AM she wet the bed again and wouldn’t wake up…we all got out of the tent and she couldn’t stay standing…she staggered and tumbled over before throwing up. This was a big deal and she was in bad shape. We packed up as fast as we could and I hauled butt on the trail until we got to the hardball road. I had to air back up. This took 15min and I was a little scared that the Viair 400P would overheat before I could fill the tires all the way up. Luckily, it did not overheat and I went very very fast to the nearest emergency clinic which, despite the speed, was still 2.5hrs away. She peed in the truck on the way there but was a little more responsive when we arrived. The tox screen came back positive for THC. Apparently, someone left some form of weed behind at the campsite and she got into it while off-leash. They gave her an IV and, since we didn’t know what type of marijuana it was, the doc told us to watch her and make sure she doesn’t go into a coma. Fortunately, she is back to normal.

50246684811_8d38dc57c2_c.jpg

The weekend was cut short, but it wasn’t all bad. We did a couple short hikes and I got to try out some new stuff. I had purchased some tire deflators from a local shop and they worked okay, but the high-rate deflation didn’t last and I ended up doing a lot of manual deflation. I may have to play around with the pressure adjustment.

50246684821_abf38ab339_c.jpg

The Viair 400P worked well, but not having a 100% duty cycle is scary in an emergency. I’m not able to return this one, but I definitely think I should have gotten the 450P.

The road shower worked great to clean dishes, but it has a lot of limitations. The hose is pretty short so it makes it difficult to rinse the dogs off properly and everything has to be done in a small area. Also, the capacity isn’t really the capacity because you can still have water in there that can’t make it out of the hose.

50246049593_bc9eb44b42_c.jpg

The Icon option 2 leaf springs are not enough to keep the truck level with eibach springs in the front. Fully loaded I ended up with ¼” negative rake. Even without the extra weight it visually looks like the front is higher even though it is ½” lower in the front. I’m also getting some squeaking from the rear suspension. Icon said it could be the spring clamps rubbing and I’ve read it could be the poly bushings. I ordered some new centering pins, poly bushing grease, and MPHD to swap the springs to option 3 in the next couple of weeks.

As I said in a previous post, I gave up on the dog ramp since the tent is too high now and it is really just faster for me to lift them up in there. They average around 65 lbs each so not terrible.

50246892867_9d8c7b160e_c.jpg

On a much more positive note, I picked up a Cobb Accessport from a user on here. I loaded the 91 AKI Map 1 and still need to test it out tomorrow. Reading up, it seems I will have to buy a new intercooler to really get more power. I’ve been used to BMWs with air to liquid intercoolers so was hoping there was an option to make that happen on this truck…I imagine it would be a huge hassle to add an additional radiator, pump, and reservoir which is why no dice. I’ll have to research the real efficiency in that sort of system anyway. In any case, I’ll be on the lookout for a used FMIC.

50246049438_5664faf983_c.jpg

Nice write up, sorry to hear about your dog, I'm glad It turned out good for you.

I definitely want a 100% duty cycle air compressor and if you want a really cool set up look into the Air up/Air down system. I imagine that you could also route the compressor to a manifold and from there you could run a hose to each tire underneath terminating it with a quick disconnect allowing you to connect all four tires at once which would dramatically speed up the process.

Also, perhaps you could install a shutoff valve near the water shower tube which could be used to hold the pressure while you break a quick connection and the slip in an additional length hose for added overall length.

That thick red tacky grease might be the ticket to quiet down those squeaks.

May also want to do some research on installing a 170° thermostat if you going with a FMIC which seems to block some air getting to the radiator, so I've read, especially if you're going to be wheeling in high temperatures.

Don't forget to also research running a one step colder plug which seems what a lot of folks due when running a tune.
 
Last edited:
OP
OP
JAndreF321

JAndreF321

Full Access Member
Joined
Mar 20, 2020
Posts
194
Reaction score
160
Location
Lacey, WA
Been a while...busy with work. I decided to take off the tent and rack for the winter since the wife doesn't want to camp in the cold. I also got around to swapping the icons from option 2 to option 3. This took a while because I wanted to do the MPHD on them to prevent rust and I lubed up some parts to prevent squeaking. I was so proud of myself for measuring the truck height after removing the rack and tent but I didn't take a picture so I feel stupid now. In any case, it raised the back a little over an inch after 150 miles of driving to let it settle. The fronts are at about 42" so now has 2" of rake. I did this by myself again and it was a massive PITA. Somehow the springs felt way heavier and nearly crushed me a couple times. Took about 7 hrs total but that is because I had to wait for the MPHD to dry and would have taken longer if I didn't do both sides at the same time.

OPTION 2 with Decked and gear (250lbs)
50561702507_62244700ef_c.jpg

OPTION 3 with just Decked and gear (250lbs)
50560831083_d29de97fb2_c.jpg
50560831133_8bf32dbb10_c.jpg

I was really surprised how much rust was on the Icons. These have been on for only 3 months and 3k miles. I had to scrub them down and coat with MPHD.
50560831053_f9f51952a4_c.jpg
50561702487_dcb6888c05_c.jpg
 
Top