It seems like only yesterday we were getting the Stupid Duty ready for the journey to Colorado by sweeping the trash and leaves out of the bed (interior too), throwing the abandoned and rusty parts over the bedside, and then testing its roadworthiness by driving a few hundred miles. Afterward we made a call to James and Stephen Watson at Offroad Design and told them, "Hey, it's ready. Meet us in Vegas and pick the truck up." Crossing our fingers, we didn't look back as they drove away; we ran back into the hotel room and locked the door behind us, hoping the Stupid Duty would get them home.James and Stephen drove all night. We received a call the next morning around 6 o'clock: "OK, we made it home. The truck runs great, the ride is horrible, there's lots of bumpsteer, and there's so much racket we could barely think." Initially we thought the chubby Super Duty was going on a diet and a thousand or so pounds would be shaved off its gross weight, but that didn't happen. Over three and half months the truck morphed into an incredibly agile trail machine, but never shed any weight. In fact, it gained 1,000-plus pounds, but that additional weight turned the Ford into a tougher trail truck that was quite highway-friendly.
During the Ultimate Adventure, our Ranch Truck performed exceptionally well on the trail. There were a few sections we didn't think the 10,000-pound ranch truck would squeeze through, yet she always proved us wrong. The 7.3L turbodiesel engine didn't know all the additional steel and weight was there! We had a few minor issues with some factory equipment, but the trick modifications such as the custom suspension, body armor, boatsiding, and work bed, did their job. We'll give you the final rundown of how the Ultimate Ranch Truck performed in Part 6 of the build, so stay tuned.
 1. Bolted to each end of the...  1. Bolted to each end of the custom radius arms are giant Currie Enterprises rod ends, which proved their worth after 1,100 miles of extreme trails and long highway runs. The rod ends were bolted on and forgotten; 1x11/4-inch Teflon lined joints are used at the frame mounts, and 11/4x55/8-inch rod-ends are used at the axle. |  2. The rear suspension is...  2. The rear suspension is damped by Bilstein 9100 remote reservoir shocks and a custom set of Atlas leaf springs. The Bilsteins produced a good-quality and controllable highway ride and performed very well off road, even mounted under 10,000 pounds of truck. The guys at Atlas Spring nailed the right spring rate on the 65-inch long-travel leaf packs, which weren't too stiff or soft on the trail. Each pack comprises eight load-bearing leaves and one rebound leaf. |  3. The shiny remote reservoir...  3. The shiny remote reservoir on the front 14-inch-travel 9100 coilovers almost looks out of place on the crud-encrusted diesel engine. The coilovers were fitted with 600-over-600 springs from Eibach, which proved to be the perfect combination and rate. In fact, while driving over 4,000 miles roundtrip we didn't notice any quirky performance that needed fine tuning. |
 4. Amsoil was used for all...  4. Amsoil was used for all vital fluids on the Ranch Truck. The engine, transmission, transfer case, and axles received the synthetic goop. Amsoil is a quality product, which we've been using for years. It's a little more expensive than other brands, but worth it. |  5. The plug-and-play TS Performance...  5. The plug-and-play TS Performance switchable chip and basic installation consisted of unplugging the harness, unbolting the ECM from the kick panel, and pushing the chip into its open port. The chip features a six-position tuning switch that can be mounted anywhere along the dash. This definitely isn't some snake oil product; we noticed a major gain in horsepower and torque. |  6. To handle the numerous...  6. To handle the numerous electrical accessories that had been fitted on the truck-Light Force HIDs, an ARB fridge freezer, a Lowrance navigation system-and for heavy-duty winching, two deep-cycle Odyssey batteries were installed. The trick bedside toolboxes that James designed and built securely held the batteries in place. |
 7. The newly designed Baja...  7. The newly designed Baja RS seats from Master Craft reduced driver fatigue and provided us with a comfortable place to sleep at night. The seats are 11/2 inches wider and offer more comfort on long hauls. The race seats are superior to the factory seats, and they also helped us get rid of the goofy Ford seatbelts. We scavenged the UASD's new/used seatbelts from a '90s Chevy Suburban. |  8. Tuffy provided us with...  8. Tuffy provided us with its Super Duty center console. The console was mounted up higher on the custom seat brackets for ease of elbow resting. The console has lots of room inside to store junk, in addition to the security compartment for the CB. Casey Jackson took some time to skin the console's elbow pad with the same material as the seats. |  9. OK, so we went for some...  9. OK, so we went for some creature comforts. Sony provided us with high-quality Xplod stereo equipment. The head unit, amp, and speakers were a great upgrade over the junky head unit that was jammed in the dash and the paper speakers in the doors. The Sony equipment made traveling across the long lonely highways of Nebraska much more enjoyable. |
 10. Big Horn Graphics designed...  10. Big Horn Graphics designed and wrapped the Super Duty in this cool two-toned ranch theme. The vinyl wrap turned out amazingly well and saved time over painting the truck. It took Scott Riley and his crew a few hours to wrap the truck, whereas it would have taken days to paint. |  11. There's always one cool...  11. There's always one cool centerpiece on every build! Besides all the neat components we had on the truck, the one we ogled at the most was this custom toolbox by Pro-Tech Industries. We just faxed them the specifications of the box we needed, and Pro-Tech shipped this box to us in about two weeks. |  12. Part of the Ultimate Adventure...  12. Part of the Ultimate Adventure is fixing your breaks on the spot, then continuing with the rest of the group. Some of the repairs on the Ranch Truck couldn't have been competed without a good set of tools. Snap-on fitted the truck with everything we needed, including the company's apprentice tool set, Blue Point sockets sets, rechargeable impact gun and drill, and an assortment of other handy tools. |