LETS TALK BUMPERS

Lets talk bumpers…

In the overlanding game bumpers are well needed to protect the body of the vehicle, also to attach recovery gear, that bulky spare tire or some sort of overland equipment you need for the trail. Everybody wants something different other then a ARB or some other off the shelf bumper. Maybe you have a vehicle that nobody makes a bumper for, or the bumper doesn’t fit the application you want to us it for…

So here in New Mexico, deep in Billy the kid territory there is a family-owned company named S.O.B Fabrication that can make anything you can dream about for your Rig. Travis at S.O.B started out part time as he worked full time working for the fire department for 6 years! Travis is also an avid off-road camper that puts his product to the test every time he goes on the trail. “Witch is nice to know”

Travis and his father now pursued a full-time operation this year “2021” and putting their amazing fabrication skills to work on custom bumpers/armor. No job is big or small with a CNC plasma table, CNC press brake, Tube bender and all the stuff that you can dream about in a Fab shop. The design of each bumper is very put together to accommodate LED lights, winches, sensors for new vehicles, etc. He is highly recommend for high clearance rear bumpers, which cuts the bed sides behind the rear tires allowing for the bumper to be tucked up as high as possible and also provides protection.

A few members from NEWMEXICO-EXPEDITION have recently took there overland rigs to S.O.B for a transformation❕

LEE from NM-E took his Tacoma overland build to Travis for a pair of custom bumpers front and rear with a dual swing out. Once Lee got his Toyota back from S.O.B we headed out camping. At camp I had a chance to look closer and was very impressed on the construction and the welding of the bumpers. The trails Me/Lee takes are extreme so over the months he has put the bumpers to the test! They are rock solid and he doesn’t have to think twice about hitting a rock or crunching down a tree or two.

  • The results of Lee’s Toyota Tacoma ⬇️

  • This thing see’s more dirt then most⬆️

Corey from NM-E was looking for some custom bumpers for his Power wagon with dual swing outs aswell. Lee recommended S.O.B. so the NM-E CORE-SIX members ended up taking an overland trip to Lincoln County to meet up with Travis from S.O.B at a remote camp site in the Capitan mountains where Billy the kid and Pat Garret roamed.

After meeting Travis in person and checking out his overland Tundra with a A/T camping unit and custom S.O.B bumpers. I was impressed how down to earth he was and very genuine. The next day after dropping off Corey’s rig we all made a new overland friend. We will be seeing Travis on the trail with us soon!

  • The results of Corey’s Power Wagon ⬇️

  • One of the best or if not THE best full size overlanding rig in New Mexico ⬆️

As for me coming from a fabricator aspect, I am really impressed with Travis abilities and the Fab work mixed with the welding skills to make a good product to put on the market. I would definitely recommend S.O.B to anyone looking for a bumper or Fab work on their next overland Rig❕

 

S.O.B Fabrication

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NEWMEXICO-EXPEDITION LLC

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SOMEWHERE UP NORTH

“Some mountains only require a good pair of shoes. Others require an entire team to conquer. Knowing which is which is the key to success.”

NewMexico-Expedition guided a group of avid campers through the remote Brazos wilderness of northern New Mexico skirting the border of Colorado for an epic 3-day adventure!

We started out above Tres Piedres near Ute. After airing down we headed west into the darkened deep green Carson National Forest to find our two NM-E team members that secured a camp a day earlier.

As our convoy was winding through the forest you can start to forget the everyday life of the grind, work, stress, releasing from you mind and body.

After 43 miles on dirt to the first camp we unpacked and started to relax to enjoy the forest. Our team started a fire pit we broke out the chainsaws, cut up a dead tree, and showed our youth that was with one of our members how to chop wood with an axe.

That night it got into the high 30s with some rain which was very nice!

I got up at 530 to watch the sun rise over the Carson with some coffee in hand. I must tell you there isn’t words to describe how the feeling/seeing a sun rise or set, I always try and capture that moment and take it with me home.

After breakfast we packed up and headed deeper in the forest to link up with the Cumbres and Toltec iron horse train that stems through Osier pass from Colorado to New Mexico. Once we made the 30-mile trek through some switch backs and water crossings we made good time and hit the train at the depo.

 

Walking up to the train with the coal in the air, hot stem blowing the roaring sound of this iron beast can bring you back to the 1800s. You can only imagine how the old outlaws stopped and robbed these huge machines.

After taking pictures we headed west to set up camp in a valley near where the train stems through hidden from people. Once there we unpacked, I pulled this fishing rod out to find the browns lurking in the water. But only found a few small guys that wasn’t worth eating so we started dinner using my oven for some pizza! My wife also baked a cake for my Birthday in the woods!

Around the campfire the NM-E members sang HAPPY BIRTHDAY to me which was awesome and something I will never forget!

After a great night we woke up and headed to Antonito CO for fuel and to head home. Me and a few others stayed and had lunch and checked out the train station.

I have the say this trip is definitely one for the books!

 

 

The deserts of New Mexico

This past weekend me and the wife wanted to check out some new parts of New Mexico west of Albuquerque. So we headed out Saturday for a night in the desert.

We made out way through two track roads passed New Mexico ranches that no longer had inhabitants, just the lasting mark of there history.

We made camp 63 miles from the nearest highway, in some high cliffs surrounded by big rocks. Searching around the rocks we found numerous rock shelters that could of been from  Indians or a lone cowboy trying to get away.

After walking around we made our way to a abandoned rock house.

We encountered a few rattlesnakes to add to our dinner.



Fun fact rattlesnakes are also used as clan animals in some Native American cultures.

 

 

HONEYMOON ADVENTURE

“Of all the paths you take in life, make sure a few of them are dirt.”

This past weekend I got married in the mountains to my lovely wife. As I go on this new path of my life I wanted to get out and explore new land and new water to fish with my wife so, we set out for an epic adventure north through the Colorado mountains.



Our journey started Saturday morning leaving Rio Rancho New Mexico near Albuquerque. As we drove north, we enjoyed the fresh air and the amazing views listening to country music. Once we got into Colorado the mountains got bigger and more intriguing…



We filled up in Center Colorado and headed into the Rio Grande National Forrest. As we climbed switchbacks over Honeymoon Pass, we made our descent down into a valley. The trek down wasn’t too crazy but you could feel the weight of the RIG baring down on us from the steep downhill slop over big rocks. As we crossed the Veil, we made it to camp near a running stream. I could not resist putting a line in the water …. I caught numerous Blown Trout for dinner that night. We were 92 miles into the Rio Grande National Forrest and no one around – just like we like it.

There is just something about the night sky in the mountains that makes you feel like your part of something bigger than just the day-to-day grind….

As we woke up on that Sunday I fished and made some coffee and enjoyed the small critter noises all around that our ears were taking in. Around 9 AM we left camp and headed north, we passed through the boundary of the Gunnison National Forrest over Mexican Pass. After another 90 miles from camp, we got to Gunnison CO for some whiskey and supplies. Was not really impressed with this small Colorado town (too many tourists, and too much like a big city for us) …. But we continued to our next camp.


We entered the Forrest far west of town and headed north to Pitkin CO for a bit to eat and to fill the truck up with gas. We aired down outside of Pitkin and climbed up the Rockies to Cumberland Pass. As we reached the top at 12,045ish ft in elevation, stopped and enjoyed the wonderful views and looked at the other peaks that Colorado has to offer. As we set off down the mountain to Tincup CO I left a little piece of me at the top of that mountain.





We entered Tincup CO at 10,000 ft around 5 PM, as we drove through this small ghost town you must admire the 1800s structures and be amazed at how the people lived back in the 1800’s.


I pushed north of Tincup deeper into the Gunnison National Forrest and found a remote camp near a stream where the fishing was good! The weather held but a little windy at 10,036 ft. We broke out the Heated shower for a fresh night’s sleep.






The next morning, we set off to climb Tincup Pass to St Elmo’s. The trail up Tincup Pass was easy in my RIG as we climbed over big rocks and in altitude. Once we hit the top at 12,152 ft you get a sense that we humans are tiny in this world of ours. After about an hour of enjoying the company of some folks and a Wedding/Trek celebration shot of some Colorado whiskey, we headed down the mountain into San Isabel National Forrest to St Elmo’s before the rain set in. St Elmo’s is a very small ghost town with a small single store, we did find a very nice silver ring that my wife had to have. Then is dumped rain lucky we got off the pass by them or it would have been an interesting trek down.




We set off south after our 4-hour trek over the mountain and headed to Salida CO for some lunch. after lunch we continued south to New Mexico near the border of Colorado into the Carson National Forrest. We made camp along a Trout stream in New Mexico where the trout are abundance eating off the topwater. So, I took out the flyrod and did a little dry flyfishing before we made camp. My wife was making a delicious dinner while I was soaking in the stream that I had to take advantage of! The night was amazing next to the campfire with my wife wishing I was rich so I didn’t have to come back to work… but those memories that we had together will not be lost.




The next morning we set off home to enjoy our future together and plan the next trip next weekend!

“The choices we make lead up to actual experiences. It is one thing to decide to climb a mountain. It is quite another to be on top of it.”





So in 4 days we went through four National Forests , over four mountain passes and camped in some super remote places.

PECOS RIVER TREK

This past weekend my buddy Jason invited Me and Lee to camp with him on the Pecos River where the river snakes through the desert of New Mexico. There’s just something about when the sun sets on a New Mexico night.



Camp was very tight ! Good thing I like these guys lol!







On the way out of camp a few rock shelf’s .

 

FIRST NEWMEXICO-EXPEDITION COFFEE & RIGS

Today NewMexico🇺🇸Expedition had its first Coffee&Rigs at Oval Dogs Coffee House in Rio Rancho New Mexico! What a great turnout! Seen some amazing Rigs with there setups and got to meet a lot of new people. Today’s turnout we had 28 RIGs pass through. we will be doing this every month !

Sorry I didn’t have more pictures of each rig I was too busy talking with people.















WEEKLY RIG WALK AROUND #5 NICOLAS

NAME : Nicolas Villescas

PERSONAL : Since I was born I always felt a calling for the outdoors. After reading books of the great men that blazed the trails of the west i felt a connection with the Mountain Men like Lewis and Clark, Jedediah Smith, Theodore Roosevelt and The Rough Riders or even Butch Cassidy and The Wild Bunch robbing a train , they all were seeking adventure and I wanted a peace of that. Throughout my life I always had some sort of crazy off-road vehicle to get me away from civilization so I can feel the fresh mountain air on my face with new eyes everytime I go out. I was always in the mountains with my father when I was a young boy either looking for old relics left over from the past, trout fishing on some remote stream or looking for that great camping spot that you can’t resist coming back to…

So right before the pandemic hit I purchased this Toyota pickup to do a Overland build to travel in very remote locations (I couldn’t stay home lol) I needed to get out and explore. So after hundreds of hours spent under the hood/truck and Fabing up everything my self, we also encountered some trial and errors on gear that we had to fix before we set off . Our adventures took us through numerous states with some amazing off grid camping , some epic flyfishing and those memories that we made will always be cemented in me . 

“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.” – Marcel Proust

VEHICLE: 1993 Toyota Pickup 

IN CAB: Custom rear floor plastic welded deck for dogs, Inreach with dash mount, HAM radio with dash mount, PA/siren, 15 watt solar panel trickle charging engine battery .

BUMPERS: Front- ARB front bumper, 10,000 lbs Warn winch with Warn remote control, Aussie 9in LED lights, ARB compressor.

Rear- Custom rear bumper with full size spare tire, Krazy Beaver shovel mount, axe mount , high lift mount, pelican case / shower, Sak-it trash bag .

DRIVETRAIN: refurbished 3.0 V6, Toyota helix snorkel modified for stock air box, 160 amp high output alternator, Manual transmission with heavy duty clutch.

SUSPENSION: Front – 83 Toyota pickup front differential with 4:10 gears, Trail gear 3in SAS kit with frame reinforcement/ Trail gear heavy duty springs , Custom splined driveshaft I made, Fj80 third member, custom HUB LED lights that turn with the vehicle.

Rear – Stock 93 rear differential with 4:10 gears, ARB old man emu springs, ARB shackles, ZUK mod for the extra weight of the overlandy gear, braided brake line.

CAMPING UNIT: 23ZERO 62 walkabout soft shell tent, 23ZERO winter insert, HARDKORR amber/white flexible LED light for inside the tent, HARDKORR amber/white LED light outside the tent, custom-made stainless steel tent rack, Rotopaxs gas/water/diesel, custom diesel heater, ARB 47zero fridge, custom-made stainless steel fishing rod holder, Expedition Essentials 5lbs propane holder, custom heated shower unit.








POWER: 2 Renogy lithium 100ah batteries, one Renogy 100 watt solar panel fixed with custom stainless steel mount on isolators, one 200 watt Renogy suitcase solar panel, custom waterproof control box. This set will power the heater/fridge/lights all night long. 


EXTRAS: Adventure Trailer Chaser with one 100ah AGM battery, 23ZERO 72 soft tent , Rhino rack batwing , matching set of rims, air bag suspension, Maxtraxs with mount on trailer. 





 

 

 

WEEKLY RIG WALK AROUND #4 COREY

Name- Corey Ryan

From- Originally from CA but relocated to Albuquerque when I was in the military and have been here for over 20 years. I got into off-roading early in my youth as I lived an hour from the Rubicon Trail and would often ride shotgun with friends and family on that famous trail as well as many other in the area. My first vehicle was a 1977 Jeep Cherokee with 33” tires which I thought was huge ha ha ha. Fast forward many years and I owned several Jeep’s. Going to Moab and Las Cruces frequently was fun but I also loved camping and often wished I could do both which lead me into the overlanding lifestyle. This was a better fit for me as my family was growing and wanted to participate as well. Our family outgrew my last Jeep that we loved but decided to transition into a full size vehicle capable of doing all the things we loved.

Vehicle- 2019 Dodge Ram Power Wagon

Which comes from the factory with 2” lift, lockers front and rear, sway bar disconnect, skid plates, and Warn 12k lb winch.

Drivetrain:

Mostly stock since it’s all 1 ton stuff. Flowmaster 50 series exhaust with the resonator cut off.

Suspension:

Thuren front 1.5” coils with Fox 2.0 specially tuned shocks for the truck. In the rear I kept the factory coils to maintain payload ability but added 1” spacers, Fox tuned shocks, and Airlift 5000 airbags with Daystar cradles. The rear also got the Thuren rear track bar. Custom frame mounted rock sliders from AVS outfitters.

Wheels & Tires:

AEV Salta wheels in a limited run Bronze and the AEV trim rings that I had powder coated black. Wheels are wrapped in 37/12.50/17 Yokohama MT’s. Matching spare to complete the set.

Overlanding Setup:

With three kids storage is everything and the more stuff kept out of the cab of the truck the better.

Decked Drawers with dividers and boxes containing our kitchen, camp gear and off road recovery gear. I had 12v wired to the bed to power our fridge that is mounted to an Alu-cab tilt/slide on top of the drawers. Mountain Hatch tailgate table to provide a flat surface for cooking and bar duty. To get a stable platform for our iKamper 2.0, a Leitner ACS forged bed rack was added and allowed us more storage with the four storage pods and a place to carry extra gas and water. Ironman off road 4.5’ awning off the back was placed over the tailgate to give shade during cooking and hanging out.

Power/lightning:

Extra power is provided by a Jackery 500, some lightning was added but since it’s one of those rarely used items the good not great theory was implemented to same money. Baja Design Squadron Pro lights in amber were added to the A-pillar and the front bumper light mounting bar from Randy Ellis Design holds 4 China Design LED lights, two 9” clear and two 6” amber. Lights were all wired up to a Switch Pro knock off which works great.

Extra mentions:

Center-Lok brand overhead rifle rack, GOFSR Ready Light camp light, ZOLEO satellite communication, Jet Boil Genesis Base Camp stove, Waterport solar shower system, Krazybever Murder Shovel, Estwing camp ax, rum and coke.



Gas or electric chainsaws

Let’s talk chainsaws….. Most overlander never carry a chainsaw but it is definitely a NEED! over the years of cutting trees for fire wood or a fallen tree over the trail. I have always used gas powered . Seems like technology has caught up …..


I would say the benefits of having a gas powered chainsaw on the trail would definitely be power/long term use. But the reliability is sometimes a hit or miss depending on numerous circumstances. Also a gas powered chainsaw is super loud if your try trying to be discreet or unnoticed. You also have to pack extra fuel on your rig and normally the saw is mounted/carried outside .. but my STIHL MS 170 16in costs $200 bucks … Witch is nice!

So this last trip my friend took his 14in Electric Stihl chainsaw and wow I was amazed how reliable and durable it was . Also quiet! With the 40 min run time on the batteries, is perfect for cutting wood for the campfire or even a full tree . The weight/size of the saw is about the same weight as a gas powered 170 Stihl saw . You can also store it inside your rig with no extra gas to carry.. But! The price tag is steep ! $400 for the saw, $200 for each battery , $150 for a fast charger….. BUT she will turn on everytime with the same power as a gas powered chainsaw!


If you can justify buying the saw, it is well worth the money ! Each unit has its cons and pros . You can research the products on there website to compare all the details . I will be replacing my saw for electric after using/seeing how awesome this saw works on the trail!


Memorial day 4 day trek

This last Memorial Day weekend NEWMEXICO EXPEDITION set off north to Durango area .


The first night we stayed at my uncle’s cabin near Limon lake and enjoyed the comforts of the cabin !


The next day we set off in the afternoon north to Purgatory CO where we found a awesome place for lunch at “THE NUGGET”. THE TACOS/DRINKS ARE AMAZING! so stop by if you are ever up there .

From there we entered the San Juan  mountain range , where the Rockies makes you feel so small. We drove 40 miles in, over multiple stream crossings and found a awesome camp near the river .






The next day we wanted to camp at our secret location near Chama NM due to the overcrowding of people in Colorado. So we set off towards Pagosa springs and had lunch with more tacos lol. From there we went to Chama New Mexico where we came across a forest fire near the camp ….

After we made camp we all decided everyone wanted to shower ! LOL 😂






We ended the last night of our trek with some whiskey and enjoying the quality of the river flowing by .



Waking up on the last day and heading home is always sad but the memories will always be cemented in me