It’s time to flip the calendar over again, which means it’s time for another DECKED Build of the Month! We connected with Travis Becker of Becker Family Adventures, and got the skinny on his family’s ’18 Ford Raptor. It’s DECKED out for life off pavement and their pal Maverick Kirk has the photos to prove it! Soak it all in and start planning your next camping trip.
“Becker Family Adventures is a snapshot into the adventures that we the Becker Family (Travis and Alexa, our daughter Kaci and 3 dogs) get into as we have dove into the world of overlanding. Just before Covid hit, we knew we wanted to get out more and begin camping and getting off grid for some fun and relaxation.
“My wife and I have careers that demand exorbitant travel, computer and phone time including nights and weekends. One of our key goals was to just get out of town and away from the city to restore some work-life balance. We enjoyed 20+ nights out last year and have already logged 10 this year as we are just getting started. One of our key philosophies as we have been on this journey, is to always try and learn and adapt our set up to make camp easier, faster, and more relaxing. Below is the current build on our truck but this set up is ever evolving.”
“Truck: 2018 Ford Raptor 802A package. Starting with our Raptor, we had what I considered a strong base vehicle that needed few mechanical and suspension upgrades to be able to reach the destinations we’re headed to.”
“The DECKED Drawers are the foundation of this entire build. The drawers have amazing capacity and allow us to always keep the camp necessities in the truck. The driver’s side drawer is our ‘camp supplies’ drawer. The DECKED Drawer System gives us the ability to store, secure, and organize all of our comfort items. We have our chairs, tables, hammock, and tent accessories (stakes, hammer, guy lines and annex) additionally it holds lanterns, camp lights and extra batteries and our camp blankets for when the temp drops overnight at high elevation.”
“The passenger drawer is our kitchen drawer, holding our D-Box/chuck box, stove and Jetboil for the important morning coffee. This drawer also has enough room in the rear to store tools for trail repairs along with additional tow straps and recovery gear that is not in the Leitner box. Each of the ammo cans on the side hold tie down straps for any additional gear that Is placed in the bed before we head out. With this set up, we can load up and be out the door in under an hour.”
“While the Raptor comes with a fully built off road suspension, a bit more height was necessary to get the full look and feel for the truck. For this, I chose to start with Icon Vehicle Dynamics 2.25 AAC front leveling kit , paired with the Icon Raptor Multi Rate leaf pack set on setting 3. This gives more functionality with the added height along with weight carrying capacity for the overland build.”
“I chose to go with upgraded wheels to get the overall look I was going for, for this I added KMC Grenade Wheels in matte bronze paired with 35×12.5R17 BFG All Terrains . When doing the wheels, I chose to get all 5 wheels upgraded so every wheel would match and be fully functional even in the event of a flat on the trail.”
“For lighting, a simple Rigid Industries light bar behind the grill (20”) and Rigid cubes for fog lights all wired to the stock Raptor upfitter switches.”
“I have been slowly building and adding to the overland set up, taking lessons learned from each trip and either adding or upgrading gear until it becomes a fully functional system. Currently the main items are:
-
Leitner Designs ACS Forged
bed rack
-
Two small
GearPODs
- One for recovery equipment and air compressor
- One for a dry goods pantry
- Three Rotopax mounts (2x 2-gallon water and 1x 3-gallon Fuel)
- Quickfist shovel mount with Krazy Beaver Shovel
-
Two small
GearPODs
- iKamper Skycamp 2.0 RTT with upgraded E X PED mattresses
- 23 Zero Peregrine 270 Drivers Side Awning
- ARB 50 Qt Classic Series fridge mounted in the bed (to the DECKED Drawer System)
- Fridge slide is a DFG Offroad tilt slide
- Fridge power comes from the main vehicle battery wired into the bed ( Optima Yellowtop )
- Jackery 500 with 100 watt solar panel serves as the fridge’s camp battery
- Waterport 5-gallon pressurized water container for washing and shower duty
- Mountain Hatch tailgate table
-
Kitchen
- DECKED D-Box serves as a chuck box to hold all the everyday necessities for overland cooking including all utensils, plates, cups, coffee, and spices.
- Jetboil Genesis single burner stove
- Jetboil Java Coffee Press (essential)
- Stanley Adventure Base Camp cooking kit
- Tembo Tusk Skottle with accessories
- Tembo Tusk Tables x2 with lantern and paper towel holder
- 10lb Flame King propane tank strapped to the Leitner rack.
-
Recovery Gear
- ARB tire repair kit
- ARB deflater
- MaxTrax Recovery Boards
- Multiple straps, D rings and soft shackles
-
Protection
- Custom made Rock Sliders from Adaptive Vehicle Systems (AVS)
- Stock underbody Skid Plates
“For on-the-trail communication and navigation we utilize a few different options:
GMRS:
Hard mounted
Midland MXT275
on a built right dash mount,
Midland Ghost Antenna
with a hood mount and a set of
Midland Handheld X-Talker T290VP4
GPS:
Garmin inReach Mini
“
