Not many cars get such a radical second lease on life, but not many cars are Dora the Ford Explorer. Captained by Chicanol climber Xavier Bravo, this renovated 2006 Ford Explorer lived much of its life in the city before being converted into a strike mission climbing mobile. Learn more about this rad rebuild as the HEST Rigs We Dig series rolls on.
Location: Boulder, CO
Make & Model: 2006 Ford Explorer
Nickname: Dora the Ford Explorer
Bed dimensions: 78” long, 30" wide (at narrowest), and 12" high
HEST products: Foamy Wide, Foamy Fitted Sheet, HEST Pillow, HEST Down Comforter
Is this your daily driver or getaway car?
What do you like most about your rig?
Before me, Dora used to belong to my grandpa. He was an immigrant from Mexico who worked in janitorial services for most of his life. When he passed away, I was proud to inherit his trusty steed. Although Dora only saw a handful of streets in the suburbs of Chicago for most of her life, I think my grandpa would be proud to know just how much of the world she has seen since.On your average weekend adventure, what gear setup are you bringing with you? How did you integrate gear storage into your rig setup?
If I’m going away for just the weekend, it's probably because I’m going to climb. The beautiful thing about my rig is that it's pretty much ready to go at the drop of a dime. If I want to leave right after work on Friday, all I need to do is toss my climbing gear in the rooftop box and make sure I have enough food to sustain me. All my cooking equipment stays in the pullout drawer beneath my bed and my fridge battery is hooked up to my car’s alternator to automatically charge anytime I drive. Removing the back four seats entirely gave me plenty of room to build a bed platform, storage for clothes, a Goal Zero 1000x Yeti battery, a Dometic 35L fridge, and Starlink. I still have a passenger seat so my adventure buddies can ride along. A nice perk of removing the backseats was it gave me enough room to build an additional cabinet right onto my back window!
Any custom details?
Scarpa was one of my first climbing sponsors. During my year in the Scarpa Athlete Mentorship initiative I became close with my friend Dustin who also worked for Scarpa at the time. He is incredibly handy and built his own camper for the back of his truck pretty much from scratch. He had a few extra pieces he was using for his camper’s wall laying around when he helped me build my rig and we used an old Scarpa Ad as the finishing touch to my bed platform. Now, when I pop the truck to get ready to climb, cook, or go to sleep I get to remind myself of how far I’ve come in my climbing journey!
Coolest place you’ve taken your rig to?
For her 18th birthday, I took Dora on a cross-country trip from Boulder, CO to Bishop, CA. I spent the better part of November getting a chance to explore the best the West had to offer: climbing in Indian Creek, Joshua Tree, The Buttermilks, Red Rocks, hunting for petroglyphs in Arches National Park, driving through dust storms in the Mojave, and countless hours watching beautiful desert sunsets and endlessly twinkling stars.Any projects in the pipeline to get your rig even more adventure ready?
I haven’t changed a thing about my rig for a little over a year now and I’m quite proud of how efficient my setup is! At 165k miles, most of the money I budget for Dora is for general repairs and maintenance—my goal is to make it to at least 200k miles with her!Biggest challenge in your build out?
Tips for others looking to do the same to their vehicle?
If you don’t have power tools or a garage, make some friends that do. I learned a lot from Dustin and it was a great bonding experience working until 10 p.m. most nights covered in sawdust and oil. I smile every time he texts, “How’s Dora?” like he’s our Uncle checking in on the family.
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