I haven’t mentioned this yet, but I’ve been confirmed for a good bit of time now. Me and two other folks from Outbound Overland will be teammates while competing in the 2019 Red Clay Rally (RCR). Give them a follow on Instagram — @carlos.elmotor and @gfxcruncher.
The RCR is a long weekend of “racing” to test your navigation skills, off-road skills and mental and physical endurance. Last year, 57 teams with 138 trucks started and only 22 teams with 69 trucks finished. As it stands right now, I feel fully unprepared! I’m starting to get anxiety about not having my truck set up so it is comfortable, useful and reliable while spending many hours on dirt, gravel or worse. This winter, my hope is that I can spend some time getting my truck more prepared.
As some of you have read, I currently have a FJ axle sitting in my garage waiting to go to ECGS for a solid spacer rebuild. Unfortunately, it has been moved to the back burner for now due to other priorities. Although the big project has been put on hold, I still have hopes for smaller projects.
I’ve already wired in an upgraded Northstar Group 27F AGM battery and Blue Sea Systems fuse panel to help power my fridge and other (future) accessories. There will be a short write up on that soon.
I will also add lighting to the rear cargo area, under hood area and some lighting off the roof rack. I am not a huge fan of big light bars and spot lights, etc, but it will be nice being able to see around the truck when you’re in a remote area with no light pollution. Dark means DARK in places like that.
Lastly, I want to make sure that my rear cargo is used to it’s fullest potential. To do that I will probably make some tweaks for tie down points and to my fridge slide.
As we get closer to the event, I’m sure more projects will pop up. When (not if) that happens, I’ll be sure to write about them.
While we’re here, though — we need a team name. Any thoughts?
