Kingsize24
Well-known member
MUCH better! The posted fine now. 🙂
And awesome job!
And awesome job!
Trestle 2022 Ram 3500 Cab/Chassis Build Thread
- Thread starter Trestle
- Start date
Tunnel Box Installed
Picked up the tunnel box from the powder coater who turned it around quickly. New owner of this company, Marine, and think we're going to enjoy working with him. We hit it off pretty well, and he is about getting things done. Two of us lifted it fairly easily, so not a lot of weight added to the truck.
Bulb seals, shocks, and door hardware installed. Had to cut some access for electrical, and still have to cut access for power cables from under the deck which I hope to finish tonight (weather permitting). It will be nice to have a spare tire on our trips, as this has held us up for going into certain areas based upon perceived risk. Should also house some larger items such as a deflated SUP, and other bulkier stuff.
Picture from a bit further away. It's nice to have the blank area filled in to complete the deck. We still have to add a water filler for the 12.5 gallon tank imbedded in the tray between the tray rails. Filler and vent parts on order. Hope to have them Friday before we take a week off.
Picked up the tunnel box from the powder coater who turned it around quickly. New owner of this company, Marine, and think we're going to enjoy working with him. We hit it off pretty well, and he is about getting things done. Two of us lifted it fairly easily, so not a lot of weight added to the truck.
Bulb seals, shocks, and door hardware installed. Had to cut some access for electrical, and still have to cut access for power cables from under the deck which I hope to finish tonight (weather permitting). It will be nice to have a spare tire on our trips, as this has held us up for going into certain areas based upon perceived risk. Should also house some larger items such as a deflated SUP, and other bulkier stuff.
Picture from a bit further away. It's nice to have the blank area filled in to complete the deck. We still have to add a water filler for the 12.5 gallon tank imbedded in the tray between the tray rails. Filler and vent parts on order. Hope to have them Friday before we take a week off.
Reach out to Alcan Spring in Grand Junction, CO. I exchanged e-mails back and forth with Lew to get things dialed in for our needs. I think he is one of the owners, and was thorough/easy to work with. Give them your year/model, desired lift height over stock, and expected rear spring load. They design a pack for your setup, custom make it for you (no off the shelf prepackaged numbers), and then either ship to your or you can have them do the installation. They can do the spring u-bolts too. They can provide a lead time, but it was around 6 weeks (quote 7-8 weeks so they under promised) when I worked with them. I can provide my specifics in a PM if you think you will end up in the same ballpark build weight/lift. I paid around $1750 by the time you roll in springs, freight, and U Bolts. If the timing was right, I would have had them do the install. Tax and installation was not much more than freight with no sales tax (unless you live in Colorado). It was a PITA to do them by myself, especially when each leaf pack weighs more than I do. Mostly handling them as the install wasn't difficult otherwise. They do the springs for the RAM setups that Earth Cruiser is building. My specs were slightly taller (37s vs. 35s), and slightly heavier than what they specify for their builds.
By building in the lift to the arch of the springs, we were able to fully eliminate the stock factory lift blocks. Axle wrap, even compared to stock, is nearly undetectable. It makes a huge difference when accelerating uphill in washboard conditions. We have large weight swings due to fuel (74 gallons capacity) and water (64.5 gallons capacity) alone, and it rides well at both ends of the weight range we operate in. It also removed the two stage spring feeling that the factory setup had (though we were always into the load springs later in the build as weights went up). It remains linear across the compression range. We do compensate for any larger impacts with tuned rear shocks and SumoSpring style extended rear bumps from Thuren, though we have not had to increase the low or high speed compression for higher weight loads as the speeds we travel at off-road are moderate in order to preserve the camper and its contents. I messed with increasing the low speed compression. It firmed up the attitude of the truck at the loss of some small bump compliance. We're talking 1-2 clicks out of a range of 8 or 16 (can't remember which), so you can definitely tell a difference.
Some pics and notes from a few trips we've done over the past few months.
Late August/Early September we did a trip hitting the North rim of the Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon, Kanab. Exposing on the weekends, working during the weekdays.
A few shots looking into Bryce Canyon
We hit the entrance to this national park, asking if they had any Veteran discounts. As it turns out, there is a 100% discount at national parks. Wish we knew that years ago, but a nice surprise none the less.
We managed to hike a few trails, bike Thunder Mountain, and took the 100 series to do some exploring in the area. The RAM flat tows the 100 like it isn't even there. This was our first test of towing that rig, and it went off without any issues. We'll bring it on trips where we think exploration beyond where we want to push the RAM is in order, or on longer trips where it is nice not to have to move base camp (RAM) every time you want to go do laundry/get groceries/hit a restaurant/etc.
Late August/Early September we did a trip hitting the North rim of the Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon, Kanab. Exposing on the weekends, working during the weekdays.
A few shots looking into Bryce Canyon
We hit the entrance to this national park, asking if they had any Veteran discounts. As it turns out, there is a 100% discount at national parks. Wish we knew that years ago, but a nice surprise none the less.
We managed to hike a few trails, bike Thunder Mountain, and took the 100 series to do some exploring in the area. The RAM flat tows the 100 like it isn't even there. This was our first test of towing that rig, and it went off without any issues. We'll bring it on trips where we think exploration beyond where we want to push the RAM is in order, or on longer trips where it is nice not to have to move base camp (RAM) every time you want to go do laundry/get groceries/hit a restaurant/etc.
Later in the trip, due to more favorable weather, we ended up in the Kanab, UT area. We've always wanted to explore some of the trails vicinity Peekaboo Wash, but never had a 4wd rig when passing through. Then I read about a slot canyon and we had a destination trip for the day. The 100 aired down to 20psi got us in and out. While not a powerhouse, it got the job done. Some errors in navigation had us backtrack twice, but we ended up finding the entrance to a small slot canyon. Reviews said it was short but worth seeing. If you string the two parts of it together, it ended up being plenty to see. Some shots from within, maybe a few our of 30 that we took. First time in a slot canyon reminded me of my first time in a crevasse up on Mt. Rainier to retrieve a tent and some gear that ended up blowing into it while we were away from base camp hitting the summit. The main difference, other than the color spectrum and temps, being that you didn't have to be roped up and weren't worried that the floor might fall out from under you at any moment.
We were there in the middle of the day. I can only imagine how much better the light would have been in the morning or evening. Definitely worth a visit, and free. I shudder to think what it would be like inside of one of these with a flash flood brewing.
We were there in the middle of the day. I can only imagine how much better the light would have been in the morning or evening. Definitely worth a visit, and free. I shudder to think what it would be like inside of one of these with a flash flood brewing.
We took another trip to Durango, working during the week and playing on the weekends. This time having Starlink allowed us to say in much better places with better connectivity. We did not tow the 100 this time. Most shots were north of town up in the vicinity of Purgatory ski resort. The first weekend all the leaves were green, but they transitioned during the week and started to show some nice Fall colors. We were probably one week early for peak Fall colors, but it was still good enough. Scouting the second weekend found some epic camp spots that we wish we would have found earlier in the trip. The addition of a Garmin Overlander to our navigation arsenal for this trip had us messing with it and learning a bit on how to best integrate it into our kit.
A nice trailhead camp spot
A second camp spot and some exploring by foot
Base camp during the week when we needed cell coverage to answer the phone, and Starlink to get fast reliable data for a lot of conference calls. Engineer Mountain in the background.
Some nice fall colors on our last weekend scouting and finding some amazing camp spots for our next trip.
This was the last trip we would enjoy with our boy before we had to let him go. It is our third dog together, and our third loss to cancer. The plan was all good days, and only one bad day and we kept to the script. He had more good days than the vets predicted by a wide margin and we're grateful for that additional time with him.
May he rest in peace.
A nice trailhead camp spot
A second camp spot and some exploring by foot
Base camp during the week when we needed cell coverage to answer the phone, and Starlink to get fast reliable data for a lot of conference calls. Engineer Mountain in the background.
Some nice fall colors on our last weekend scouting and finding some amazing camp spots for our next trip.
This was the last trip we would enjoy with our boy before we had to let him go. It is our third dog together, and our third loss to cancer. The plan was all good days, and only one bad day and we kept to the script. He had more good days than the vets predicted by a wide margin and we're grateful for that additional time with him.
May he rest in peace.
Our most recent trip, another work/play trip, was to Moab. We typically hit this area in late October/early November. This time we brought the 100 series so we could explore more and leave base camp intact. Not a lot of pics of the trip, but we did manage to run into some Petroglyphs that caught our attention. A few pics, albeit not the best photography on my end.
A couple runs on the MTB down Captain Ahab were good for the soul, but revealed just how out of shape I am. We'll have to work on that a bit.
We have been intentionally pushing the power system in the camper to find out its limits. While the 30 amp DC to DC charger is now hooked up, we did not move base camp during the work week as we had the 100 to do those types of things. Two fridges, Starlink, leaving the inverter on full time, espresso machine every morning, inverter cook top in the evening for meals. All good until two consecutive days of low solar input finally found the limits. The solar log shows just over 2kW of solar input per day. Then one day with limited input capped us at around 60% of that, though we did not reduce demand accordingly. We weren't even monitoring much. A second day with minimal input was enough to push that deficiency from the day prior into an actual issue. Needing Starlink to work that day we ponied up for a pay spot where we could plug into shore power. Fortunately a warm indoor shower was part of that mix. On days off of work, where we don't need 8-10 hours of continuous data and associated power draw from Starlink, it would not have been an issue. Finding the limits in a controlled environment is not an issue for us, and part of our testing for larger more demanding trips in the future where a plug is likely not a short trip away.
We also explored a little with the 100, as I've not had a 4wd with any kind of capability in Moab in the past. We do need to pick up another dock for the Overlander though for an easy swap between vehicles. This is a mild section with a nice river view on the trail that goes over Hurrah Pass/Chicken Point to a dead end overlook. Nothing super technical, and the RAM would have had no problem with the trail but we find it a bit more comfortable exploring some of these places in a more off-road capable and maneuverable rig.
The trip was necessary for our minds, but very melancholy for much of it. We're already looking at doing something more in the Hurricane, UT direction as things cool down.
A couple runs on the MTB down Captain Ahab were good for the soul, but revealed just how out of shape I am. We'll have to work on that a bit.
We have been intentionally pushing the power system in the camper to find out its limits. While the 30 amp DC to DC charger is now hooked up, we did not move base camp during the work week as we had the 100 to do those types of things. Two fridges, Starlink, leaving the inverter on full time, espresso machine every morning, inverter cook top in the evening for meals. All good until two consecutive days of low solar input finally found the limits. The solar log shows just over 2kW of solar input per day. Then one day with limited input capped us at around 60% of that, though we did not reduce demand accordingly. We weren't even monitoring much. A second day with minimal input was enough to push that deficiency from the day prior into an actual issue. Needing Starlink to work that day we ponied up for a pay spot where we could plug into shore power. Fortunately a warm indoor shower was part of that mix. On days off of work, where we don't need 8-10 hours of continuous data and associated power draw from Starlink, it would not have been an issue. Finding the limits in a controlled environment is not an issue for us, and part of our testing for larger more demanding trips in the future where a plug is likely not a short trip away.
We also explored a little with the 100, as I've not had a 4wd with any kind of capability in Moab in the past. We do need to pick up another dock for the Overlander though for an easy swap between vehicles. This is a mild section with a nice river view on the trail that goes over Hurrah Pass/Chicken Point to a dead end overlook. Nothing super technical, and the RAM would have had no problem with the trail but we find it a bit more comfortable exploring some of these places in a more off-road capable and maneuverable rig.
The trip was necessary for our minds, but very melancholy for much of it. We're already looking at doing something more in the Hurricane, UT direction as things cool down.
DirtWhiskey
Western Dirt Rat
Trestle, I'm so sorry to hear about your dog. Never is easy letting our loved ones go. Reading about his case of Valley Fever, the first I've read of on this forum, but I'm seeing more and more buzz about it in the desert southwest. Mostly in the Mojave and Chihuahua/Sonora but more and more in the Colorado Plateau. A great word of caution to us all. I've added real face masks to my desert kit for the dust storms. Did you guys experience and dust events? I also wonder if your poor little guy's immune system might have played a role?
Love this thread. So much useful info. Great lead on those springs and I'm about to do onboard air as well. Cheers!
Love this thread. So much useful info. Great lead on those springs and I'm about to do onboard air as well. Cheers!
Appreciate that. As it turns out it was an aggressive tumor on the heart instead of Valley Fever with very similar symptoms all things considered. We do stay out of the dust storms as much as practicably possible for us and our pets simply because of how prevalent Valley Fever is down in the Phoenix and Tucson area.
A trip in and around Sedona to meet up with some of the boys for MTB shows me just how out of shape I am in. On day three, the wife and I did a hike up Bear Mountain trail. It's a short distance of about 2.5 miles but climbs over 2k feet so it takes some time to go up and back down. You are scrambling in places, and occasionally lose the route for a second.
As you can see in the pics there were multiple controlled burns in the surrounding area negatively affecting air quality. These burns have been going on for days. The scenery on that trail makes the effort worthwhile, but be prepared for some effort.
As you can see in the pics there were multiple controlled burns in the surrounding area negatively affecting air quality. These burns have been going on for days. The scenery on that trail makes the effort worthwhile, but be prepared for some effort.
Another weekend in Sedona, this time hiking Hangover. It starts up Schnebly Hill road, often parking at the lot before it turns into a Jeep road. We got a late start so parking was full. That and it is a bit crowded in the lot in general. We opted to drive up the Jeep road and park at one of the pullouts along the way. On the way up, 4 low, only to keep the chassis from rocking around and speed control without excessive use of the brakes. None of this really needed, so we left it in 2wd on the way out. No limitations on this trail other than preserving the contents of the camper. To be honest, you could do the trail in a 2wd pickup, but I would never take the Sprinter we had up it voluntarily. Way too much head toss and noise with everything rattling around. In this truck you just go slow and lumber through it.
The hike is up Munds Wagon Trail, past the exit (this is typically done counter-clockwise) of Hangover, then divert Left on Cow Pies onto Hangover. Them a right when exiting Hangover back onto Munds Wagon and out. This trail was built by mountain bikers, and adopted into the trail system by the Forest Service. Other trails near the top were demolished by the Forest Service, reportedly as they went through a Wilderness Study Area. Demolition was more harmful than the trails and use, but the FS wanted to send a message at the time. Tomahawk and Damifino were lost in the process. They were some great trails to both ride and hike back in the day.
Do this trail if you like views and are not afraid of exposure. A saddle sits between two vertical rocks (one of the two shown here), so you can turn around at the saddle and backtrack if exposure is not your thing. The views at the saddle are amazing too.
The same rock from further up the trail after having topped and passed through the saddle.
We took pics of why they call it Hangover, but they did not turn out so a description is in order. You are traversing a shelf single track section from North to South. There are sections with wind carvings that hook over you (imagine surfing inside the pipeline of a wave) at various heights. When riding a bike, they can bump you off the cliff if not paying attention, though most of the time there is some foliage to grab onto before plunging toward Oak Creek below. You traverse this for a while before zagging back through a series of steep rock roll ins, then back across the top away from the Oak Creek side of the ridgeline via another saddle (shown here).
I used to relish riding this trail. After a rough trip OTB when being too cautious on a steep decent on a windy day, I realized it is probably wise to ride with others or not go out here. Fortunately I was able to walk out with only a suspected wrist fracture that turned out OK after a few months.
A view of Uptown Sedona prior to hitting the second saddle that takes you back towards Munds Wagon Trail (away from the Oak Creek side).
We lived in this town for just under five years before spending a year and a half on the road working/traveling full time back in 2017. At the time we took these views for granted. To be honest, I hate the town for a lot of reasons, but it is close and the views/trails are worth the jaunt for us so we visit again and again. That and we have quite a few friends that still live there.
The hike is up Munds Wagon Trail, past the exit (this is typically done counter-clockwise) of Hangover, then divert Left on Cow Pies onto Hangover. Them a right when exiting Hangover back onto Munds Wagon and out. This trail was built by mountain bikers, and adopted into the trail system by the Forest Service. Other trails near the top were demolished by the Forest Service, reportedly as they went through a Wilderness Study Area. Demolition was more harmful than the trails and use, but the FS wanted to send a message at the time. Tomahawk and Damifino were lost in the process. They were some great trails to both ride and hike back in the day.
Do this trail if you like views and are not afraid of exposure. A saddle sits between two vertical rocks (one of the two shown here), so you can turn around at the saddle and backtrack if exposure is not your thing. The views at the saddle are amazing too.
The same rock from further up the trail after having topped and passed through the saddle.
We took pics of why they call it Hangover, but they did not turn out so a description is in order. You are traversing a shelf single track section from North to South. There are sections with wind carvings that hook over you (imagine surfing inside the pipeline of a wave) at various heights. When riding a bike, they can bump you off the cliff if not paying attention, though most of the time there is some foliage to grab onto before plunging toward Oak Creek below. You traverse this for a while before zagging back through a series of steep rock roll ins, then back across the top away from the Oak Creek side of the ridgeline via another saddle (shown here).
I used to relish riding this trail. After a rough trip OTB when being too cautious on a steep decent on a windy day, I realized it is probably wise to ride with others or not go out here. Fortunately I was able to walk out with only a suspected wrist fracture that turned out OK after a few months.
A view of Uptown Sedona prior to hitting the second saddle that takes you back towards Munds Wagon Trail (away from the Oak Creek side).
We lived in this town for just under five years before spending a year and a half on the road working/traveling full time back in 2017. At the time we took these views for granted. To be honest, I hate the town for a lot of reasons, but it is close and the views/trails are worth the jaunt for us so we visit again and again. That and we have quite a few friends that still live there.
A quick trip East of Phoenix to Roosevelt Reservoir for the first time. It rained the night before and earlier that day so there was a bit of light mud on a track that climbs away from the lake to the East towards the Arizona Trail (AZT). We found a nice spot to camp for the night, seeing only one side by side, and separately a hiker and their dog.
Even with a bit of slip, and some steep sections, we left the truck in 2wd. It just idled up without any issues save for one side slope that was just wet enough to fell both ends of the truck squirm back and forth a bit. The only other symptom of mud being what flung off our tires and what stuck to our shoes when on a hike. I would not want to be on this road in any kind of heavy rain though.
A hike up the road to the AZT we had some clouds to add depth and interest to the terrain.
Devoid of any trees larger than a bush, and peppered here and there with some suguaro cactus, you would think nothing would be there. Fortunately the bird life was beyond plentiful. Hundreds of birds singing and a nice back drop kept us entertained until moving into the camper for the night.
Waking up to a nice view from the camper bed the next morning before coffee.
We had but one overnight here and barely scratched the surface. 2 - 3 bars of 4G Verizon but you could barely do anything on the phone. No problem just bust out the Starlink and you're good to go. So far it has been working very well.
Even with a bit of slip, and some steep sections, we left the truck in 2wd. It just idled up without any issues save for one side slope that was just wet enough to fell both ends of the truck squirm back and forth a bit. The only other symptom of mud being what flung off our tires and what stuck to our shoes when on a hike. I would not want to be on this road in any kind of heavy rain though.
A hike up the road to the AZT we had some clouds to add depth and interest to the terrain.
Devoid of any trees larger than a bush, and peppered here and there with some suguaro cactus, you would think nothing would be there. Fortunately the bird life was beyond plentiful. Hundreds of birds singing and a nice back drop kept us entertained until moving into the camper for the night.
Waking up to a nice view from the camper bed the next morning before coffee.
We had but one overnight here and barely scratched the surface. 2 - 3 bars of 4G Verizon but you could barely do anything on the phone. No problem just bust out the Starlink and you're good to go. So far it has been working very well.
Warehouse Space
It's been a while since posting, and a lot has gone on in the past 6 months or so.
This past Winter was an average one, especially as compared to last Winter with over 200% snowfall. Having said that, it makes things difficult to work when dealing with snow and ice.
Example...
Day 1 AM shot before clearing vehicles and snowblowing:
Day 1 PM shot before clearing vehicles and snowblowing:
Day 2 AM shot before clearing vehicles and snowblowing:
Wash...rinse...repeat until Spring.
Combing Craigslist for space to work, I came upon an add to purchase a "storage condo". No idea they were in my area, have always wanted one, and they had one of the smaller ones available. After a week and a half's discussion with the boss (wife) I was able to convince her of the merits vs. leasing out a space. We did our due diligence and purchased a 16' x 65' unit. The ceiling is 15' at the front and just under 22' at the back, so why not add a mezzanine. They are $30-60k turn key, but we don't do turn key. We do guerrilla, i.e. sweat equity.
The plan was to build it out deck style. I ran into something on a work trip called a pallet stacker. Basically a hand pulled forklift...sort of a hybrid between a pallet mover and forklift if they had a baby. Another Craiglist search brought me to a used one. Not the exact model I wanted, but the best I could find without spending $8k for a new one. They make powered lift/powered drive (desired but not available used) and powered lift/manual driven. I found the latter. They also happened to sell pallet racking and the brain got to thinking. Deck vs. some sort of steel structure with pallet rack as the base. I worked out the different options and came up with a plan. The next day, I was at the warehouse and bumped into the realtor who sold and also has two units in the complex. When asking what we're planning to do with the space, he referred me to another owner who happened to be there. I asked, and he introduced us. Lo and behold...this guy paid a company $15k to build a custom unit for him out of used pallet rack which I got to inspect. He had to pay to ship it from Phoenix, then rented a forklift and put it together in two days with his sons.
This affirmed my idea, but after seeing his setup I modified my design and reached out to the company selling the pallet stacker with the materials plan. $4,300 later, plus time and fuel, I had materials for a mezzanine plus a pallet stacker to use afterwords. Boo yah!
Note that by the ownership rules, one cannot attach anything structural to the walls or ceiling, so this has to be fully self supporting.
Retrieving the supplies from Phoenix in Spring. Work from the camper during the day, load up at lunch, move to a Home Depot parking lot, finish the work day, then drive up the mountain after work.
Using the pallet stacker to built out the mezzanine by myself:
Next step was to add a sub deck, then a sub floor for the platform. Decking and support material added another $500 to the total:
The floor was rough. Option A - pay someone 8-10k to do an epoxy floor. That isn't going to happen. Option B - Do the epoxy floor myself. Option C - Use the low speed buffer, the diamond disks we used to polish the floor in our previous home to hone the floor (think Home Depot level of finish), densify, then treat with sealant to protect from stains. You guessed it...option C as I had the tools, diamonds, and only had to purchase some densifier and sealant.
Applying the sealant and letting it dry (no it does not stay this shiny, it is a honed look now):
I did pay a company to add heat, which while mostly installed is waiting on final items before being fully functional. Fortunately it is in the mid 80s now, so no issues in timing.
It's been a while since posting, and a lot has gone on in the past 6 months or so.
This past Winter was an average one, especially as compared to last Winter with over 200% snowfall. Having said that, it makes things difficult to work when dealing with snow and ice.
Example...
Day 1 AM shot before clearing vehicles and snowblowing:
Day 1 PM shot before clearing vehicles and snowblowing:
Day 2 AM shot before clearing vehicles and snowblowing:
Wash...rinse...repeat until Spring.
Combing Craigslist for space to work, I came upon an add to purchase a "storage condo". No idea they were in my area, have always wanted one, and they had one of the smaller ones available. After a week and a half's discussion with the boss (wife) I was able to convince her of the merits vs. leasing out a space. We did our due diligence and purchased a 16' x 65' unit. The ceiling is 15' at the front and just under 22' at the back, so why not add a mezzanine. They are $30-60k turn key, but we don't do turn key. We do guerrilla, i.e. sweat equity.
The plan was to build it out deck style. I ran into something on a work trip called a pallet stacker. Basically a hand pulled forklift...sort of a hybrid between a pallet mover and forklift if they had a baby. Another Craiglist search brought me to a used one. Not the exact model I wanted, but the best I could find without spending $8k for a new one. They make powered lift/powered drive (desired but not available used) and powered lift/manual driven. I found the latter. They also happened to sell pallet racking and the brain got to thinking. Deck vs. some sort of steel structure with pallet rack as the base. I worked out the different options and came up with a plan. The next day, I was at the warehouse and bumped into the realtor who sold and also has two units in the complex. When asking what we're planning to do with the space, he referred me to another owner who happened to be there. I asked, and he introduced us. Lo and behold...this guy paid a company $15k to build a custom unit for him out of used pallet rack which I got to inspect. He had to pay to ship it from Phoenix, then rented a forklift and put it together in two days with his sons.
This affirmed my idea, but after seeing his setup I modified my design and reached out to the company selling the pallet stacker with the materials plan. $4,300 later, plus time and fuel, I had materials for a mezzanine plus a pallet stacker to use afterwords. Boo yah!
Note that by the ownership rules, one cannot attach anything structural to the walls or ceiling, so this has to be fully self supporting.
Retrieving the supplies from Phoenix in Spring. Work from the camper during the day, load up at lunch, move to a Home Depot parking lot, finish the work day, then drive up the mountain after work.
Using the pallet stacker to built out the mezzanine by myself:
Next step was to add a sub deck, then a sub floor for the platform. Decking and support material added another $500 to the total:
The floor was rough. Option A - pay someone 8-10k to do an epoxy floor. That isn't going to happen. Option B - Do the epoxy floor myself. Option C - Use the low speed buffer, the diamond disks we used to polish the floor in our previous home to hone the floor (think Home Depot level of finish), densify, then treat with sealant to protect from stains. You guessed it...option C as I had the tools, diamonds, and only had to purchase some densifier and sealant.
Applying the sealant and letting it dry (no it does not stay this shiny, it is a honed look now):
I did pay a company to add heat, which while mostly installed is waiting on final items before being fully functional. Fortunately it is in the mid 80s now, so no issues in timing.