Dispatch55126 Build Thread

I think I've settled on the Fabtech truck bed mount. It mounts the spare flat in the bed and if I need to haul something, removal is easy and doesn't leave anything sticking out.

I really tested the skids this weekend. The reduced clearance caused by the current 30" tires meant I was dragging, scraping and slamming them on rock harder and more often than I'd like. They now have a few well-earned dents due to the skid hitting rocks before my tires could ride over. Also high-centered myself a few times. Still, these skids held up extremely well and more importantly, didn't allow any damage to the parts that matter.

T-Case skid:



IFS skid:



Gratuitous trail pics:

 

Wow that is some good wheeling; open diffs still right?

The stock skid would be DOA after that...!

I like the simpler design of RAT skids, but went with budsbuilt since I could get them.

Question for you; what do think of bedlinering the skids. Trying to figure what to do with mine. Sad to see that nice paint all scraped up so soon...

 

Yep, I still have open diffs. I got stuck once because of it and couldn't make it up an obstacle but I still got through 99% of the trails.

Bedliner wouldn't hold up any better when being dragged over the rocks. Since this is rattle can paint, it'll be easy to touch them up.

 

Cool; thanks, will go that way with mine.

One thing I've notice on here is that a lot of folks that do a 2" & especially 3" lift in front have their cv boots fail not long after; you may want to concider doing a 1" diff drop. I think the extra cv angle is creating friction/heat on the boot itself; causing older one to fail.

It should also put a lot less strain on the cv's too since it looks like your are running without the swaybar and the tire can hang pretty low with a significant amount of angle on the cv but but still get good traction so get loaded pretty hard; just my 2 cents.

Again; love this build...

 

Sweet build! Like what you have done with it so far

 

Thanks. Haven't done much in awhile. Was going to get a bumper but I needed a new ice auger first. Bumpers, winch and relocate the spare are next on the list. Tires/gears/lockers will be last.

 

What bumper are you looking at?

 

Any updates?

 

None recently. Too cold to wheel or work in an unheated garage. We'll have to see what the spring brings...

 

Okay, finally took some pics. Having received my General License a few weeks ago and since the only CB traffic in my area is some hillbilly spammer, I decided to install a mobile HAM radio.

The antenna mount is a CBI Offroad, comes painted (which is a nice touch since everything else seems to come unpainted) and is very beefy. The install was easy and took about 30 minutes. The antenna is a Comet Super Slim Dual Band with a NMO base. The coax is RG-58.



I didn't take any pics but the wires were run through the firewall and down the drivers side kick place and into the drivers side storage compartment.


I used a 6-gang Blue Sea fuse block in the storage compartment. The positive and negative are 10 gauge run directly from the battery. This will allow me to add additional radios or other things in an easily accessible area.


The radio itself was screwed to the hatch cover measured 3" from the rear of the hatch to the rear of the mounting bracket. This allows easy access to the fuses and for programming.


The speaker was mounted to the back of the center console, has good sound and is out of the way.


The head unit is mounted to the top of the center console between the mic and my Steelie phone mount. It's within easy reach, easy visible without taking my eyes completely off the road and works well. The vents are also accessible so this isn't an issue. There is also a reason my the plastic trim around the radio looks hacked up. I originally had a Bearcat 980SSB CB below the radio. However, in order to make everything fit, I had to dremel the trim piece. I'll eventually replace the trim piece but it isn't a high priority right now.


Since I took out the CB but this is the method used while on the trails, I relocated the CB coax to one of the switch panels. I have a

$90 Midland 75-822 40 Channel CB-Way Radio

Midland 75-822 which will connect to the coax and the power plug is right next to it.