The Build

Holy crap I'm tired of writing. I'm going to sit in the tub and watch some Family Guy.

 

Thanks! It's really weird for me that I finally have a vehicle that's like this and other people stare at in a good way!

Once you actually sit down and write it, you come to realize how much has actually been done and you quit beating yourself up about how much more you haven't accomplished yet.

 

Updates!

-New Current Status picture
-CB radio and antenna installed
-Aux Lights installed
-Light hoop installed

easy quick links are in the first post.

 

i like how you mounted your cb antenna, pretty clean

 

Nice antenna bracket!

 

Wheels and Tires

Snagged a deal on Light Racing UCAs from Metal-Tech from the group buy they posted on the FJ forum.



I spent a good time researching tires. I originally had ideas of running 255s, but talked to some guys who said it can get kind of tippy feeling, so I went with the standard 285s. I didn't want spacers and didn't want the extra cost of 17", so I started searching for 285/75/16.

My other goal was to find A/T tires. The thought that I was able to get a lot accomplished in the stock Rugged Trails and wanting to maintain some gas mileage for my daily driver led me to looking for A/T tires. However, I
found a good deal on some mud terrains that I couldn't pass up.

A guy on craigslist bought a brand new set of tires and rims for his 1st gen, which he drove around on for a week. His wife decided that the truck was too small for them and the new baby, so they traded the truck for a used F350 diesel which blew the engine which the dealer wouldn't cover because "the previous owner installed a lift, which therefore voids the warranty" So, he had to escape from the tire purchase.

I managed to snag them up for just a little over half the cost of new:
285/75/16 Maxxis Bighorns
Ultra 164 rims



Got things put on. I had to remove flaps and cut some flare, but I haven't done any frame changes.

I did grind the caliper, which I later learned is a no-no. However, I didn't learn about that until I had already driven 400 miles, so I think I'm OK. For you who are reading, make sure you mount things up before buying!!



They are very quiet in city and highway speeds, and perform great in the fun stuff



EDIT: added this pic in here on 09/18/12 just to show another few action shots... note some of the mods in this pic didn't come until later!)

 

You'll enjoy the LR UCAs. Mine have been great.

 

Hey Chickenmunga, glad to learn a little more about your rig prior to our run on the 19th. Did you run into any issues with the shop tuning your CB system? I haven't tuned mine yet and I'm hesitating to do so because I don't want to buy the $45 SWR meter from radio shack and run the risk of something happening that they wouldn't take it back since I'm only going to use it once.

 

If you can make a run out to D&R Communications in Clackamas, they will do it for cheap/free. Their tuner is twice as big as the one from Radio Shack, so I hope it did a better job of tuning. Seems that way at least.

You will want to tune it because if you try to transmit you could burn up your CB.

The only way you could probably kill an SWR meter is if you peg it for too long and break the needle. I don't know return policy on them, either.

If you tune yourself, read through this guide.

 

I'm down in Corvallis so I probably won't be up in Portland before this meet. I guess I'll just use the CB to listen in and save transmitting for another day. Really don't want to buy the $45 Radio shack SWR and don't want to deal with the return policy of purchasing online (really will not have a reason for it after I tune mine)

 

Nice pickup...

 

Try this:

http://www.wearecb.com/support/about_us.htm

 

Good call.

 

Updated Wheels & Tires section

 

You like the rims better with the centercaps? I thought they looked sweet W/O those

 

Haven't really decided. I was just glad to get another item checked off the to-do list

 

Winch


Purchasing

I've gotten to the point where I've seen enough recoveries first-hand where a winch was the only option. I also knew that I'd eventually get myself somewhere where it was going to be necessary.
My needs were:
-Getting my dad's 2WD Dodge diesel unstuck during firewood trips. He's about 6800 lbs dry, so having some overhead power would be a good idea
-I anticipate pulling myself out of some nasty situation in the middle of nowhere. It's gotta be dependable

I was struggling between Superwinch and WARN. Both make great products, both had pluses and minuses. My final logic was that WARN costs more, but their service center is 15 minutes from my house, and the next one is about 3 hours. Compare this with Superwinch, which was a 10+ hour drive.
I briefly considered a Harbor Freight unit. Before you think me crazy, read this article where the HF unit kept up with the big boys. Recently, HF has updated their product, which looks disturbingly similar to Smittybilt. However, I know I'm going to be in some wilderness areas, and I wanted to make sure I bought something that wouldn't fail.

After much deliberation, I got a WARN 9.5XP. I could have possibly gone with a smaller unit, but at the time, but I had the cash and wanted plenty of power. I purchased from gowarn.com, which had a great deal at the time.

Getting some amsteel blue (aka dyneema) synthetic line was a must. The benefit was less weight, more power, and if the line fails it won't sever heads. Sounds like a no brainer!
I purchased 5/16"x125' line from metaltech. Mark told me they had some promotional limited-edition Viking rope, which was yellow with an Excel hook. You can't buy yellow, so I'm probably the only Taco running around with this color Price was similar to Amazon, so I was thrilled.

Install

With my Relentless Fab bumper, getting the winch in was a bit tight, but I didn't have to pull the bumper off. I had to remove the front grille and lower it in. Having a friend hoist the winch in was key, though!

The solenoid box was a bitch (NOTE: I found an alternative and somewhat better location, read more here). The mounting plate from WARN was very impractical, I opted to toss that piece in the trash. That left me with getting someone to make me a custom mount, or getting creative. I opted for creative.

I kept looking at these factory bolt holes, and decided to give things a try. You can see where I used a black dry erase pen to mock up the location


I noted that the solenoid box had to make sure it didn't smack into the fuse box or that secondary smaller fuse box



You can see I needed to do a bit of repositioning from where my dry erase marks were. I probably should have moved it even more towards the cab, but oh well, I had already drilled the solenoid plate and it was good enough.


Putting everything on requires a specific process, because everything fits so tight together
1. take everything off the solenoid mounting plate
2. insert the mounting bolts for the solenoid, but don't put the solenoid on
3. insert the two top mounting bolts for the case cover
4. Use two 8mmx1.25 threaded bolts, about 40mm long, to mount the plate. To access the case cover bolts, you need some spacer washers between the plate and the wall of the truck. Because the bolt holes aren't completely parallel, I used a spare nut and two washers on the bolt closest to the bumper, and a thicker nut on the bolt nearest the cab.
5. Thread the large 4 gauge wires through the plate and attach them to the solenoid
6. Screw the solenoid on to the plate
7. Attach the control wires from the cover to the solenoid
8. Place the cover flush onto the plate, but don't let the mounting bolts for the case cover fall out. As you are putting on the cover,you will need to pry upwards on the plate so you can clear the small black fuse box. If you have learned from me, you will have drilled better holes so you don't have to do that.
9. Screw in the top cover mounting bolts
10. Screw in the bottom cover mounting bolt closest to the cab
11. Throw the last cover mounting bolt in the toolbox. It's insane to try reaching that last bolt hole, and the cover is not going anywhere.

Here is step 8 where I need to pull up on the box so I can clear that small fuse box.


Here you can sort of see my 'offset washers'. Cheapest hardware I could use, and it works really well.


I have just enough room to fit my 1/4" wrench in to reach the top cover mounting bolts


Yes, it is upside down, but it's for a reason. The box is mounted on a bit of a lip. The 4 guage wires feed out through the top of the box normally, so I needed to turn that upside down. Now the wires can feed out and along the lip. I tried turning the box cover rightside up and mounting it to the upside down base plate, but the control wires won't stuff themselves in the box when you do that.



I kept the roller fairlead rather than switching to a hawse:
-reduced friction on the rope = less heat = less wear
-it came with the winch, no need to pay more
- Everyone thinks a roller will pinch sythetic rope. However, the situation is rare and correctable with a better line angle
-Roller is recommended by Bill Burke for the above reasons

 

Updated my winch section a wee bit. Also noted that I switched to 886 springs.

 

Bed mounted shovel

I did this some time ago, but never did a write up. A fairly simple mod, but quite helpful.


After a tough snow wheeling trip, I learned that a shovel is indispensable.

Gear
-T-handle shovel from Harbor Freight. You want something with a spade point for digging. Also, a full size shovel gets MUCH more work done. the t-handle makes it easy to mount and helps with the work, though a regular plain jane will work. At $10, this was a great option. Home Depot would have changed around double or better.
-Quick Fists for mounting, purchased through End of the Road, Inc. Great prices and excellent service
-mounting hardware. Refer to this thread for what to use, you don't have to try getting the same stuff I have. (Note: I used a 1/4"x1.5" carriage bolt - it works if you mash it in there through the fist)

Quick Fist Packaging
Everything came in an oversized first class mailing envelope. Opening the package revealed the following contents. Note that I haven't thrown anything away, this is the exact contents.



The sheet on the left gives two examples of how to mount the product, tips on mounting to tubed roof racks (which could be clearer), and a detailed install guide for Hi-Lifts.
The actual product includes the Quick Fists and two plastic washers, which mount to the inside diameter of the fist
Finally, you get a complimentary sticker

There were some good thoughts that went in to making these. The Fists are made out of a good thick rubber and feel like what the soles of my boots are made of.
When you clamp them shut, the fist makes a completely enclosed circle, so it could easily handle odd shaped gear. The nubs in the inner diameter also help to prevent rotation of whatever's being held.




Install

On a previous project, I successfully used the below hardware to install a bike mount. It consists of a 1 1/3" carriage bolt, a special square washer, cut washer, lock washer, and nut. I found out later just how special that square washer was - Dad (an electrician) must have had a few spares in his pants pocket when he came home one day from work, tossed them on the workbench, and I grabbed them. I tried finding them again in 5 different stores to no avail, no one even knew what they were. I found later the washer is specially designed for state electrical crews to hang wiring on telephone poles, and has to be special ordered. Now that I know what they are, I've had Dad pick up a few more spares!

Again, you can use alternate hardware as I linked to above




I did a test install with the hardware I had, but noticed things weren't quite right - the Quick Fists didn't have enough support on their back side, and they would flex too much when securing things. This left the shovel kind of floppy, or made it take a long time to properly cinch closed.
To solve this, I added a 5/16" fender washer. The fists have a much more secure feeling when you cinch them closed, but I would recommend some metal stock if you have the chance just for that added stability. Also note that I used the plastic washer that came packaged with the Quick Fists.

Once I had parts, the install took about 10 minutes. Since I had the T-handle, I decided to turn one of the fists sideways, but really, that shovel isn't budging. I could technically drive around with just one of the fists holding.







I really don't know how I would have mounted the shovel any other way, so this comes as a godsend. Price is reasonable enough, shipping is fast, and installation was easy.


After having this on for about 2 years, the only thing I changed is that I moved one of my bed rail tiedowns so that it sits right behind the base of the shovel's spade. This helps keep the shovel from flopping around.