The Frankenstein Build! LT/Expo/Trail rig..and BS

Says the guy with a plastic truck

 

I went the route similar to you. Gears at dealer price, install for extremely cheap from a local master tech, and doing the rest myself. Most expensive part of the entire process is tires/wheels. I haven't gotten the chance to test out the gears on the trail yet, but I don't think the drive around town is terrible by any means. It isn't worth the cost of 35s solely for aesthetics, but I think if you commit to them and do it correctly, it's well worth the funds and effort. At least that's how I feel so far lol.

 

Yea i mean i got my gears in a GB. Did them myself and Jon gave me steal of a deal on the wheels and tires, which is really what forced me into 35s lol I know I have a very bitter memory on dealing with the diffs but if someone had set them up for me, Id have been much happier haha

Again, Im not saying i regret it. Im just saying that for 95% of people that want 35s, they don't really need them and they are necessary at all for what these trucks are capable of and how the majority of people wheel them.

The Cost vs Performance here though is pretty off balance no matter what. I mean, even you are what, on your 4th day with no truck due to this project haha and it is a PITA and the gains are noticable but not like out of this world. Plus the extra weight and big ass tire affects the rest of the truck in a negative way too. So....again...its not worth it for a DD truck IMO.

Which is just my opinion.

Plenty of people DD with 35s.

But with the extra stress and other parts your modify to make them work, the chances of something breaking go up quiet a bit. So to me its not worth taking that chance on a DD. That and if you think you have bad MPG before...lemme tell you..you didn't haha

 

Citizen Band radio is 27Mhz so it's actually HF and is not really line of site. Back in the old days of CB before power restrictions you could talk all over the country with a CB. The 10 meter band is just right above the CB band and you can talk hundreds of miles with it.

The reason why range sucks with CB is the FCC limits CB radios to 4 watts of power.

Now your 2m/70cm HAM radios are VHF and that is line of site but they are MUCH more powerful than a CB radio so that is the only reason they have more range.

IMO if trail riders want more range you don't need to use the HAM bands.

You can get a GMRS license without taking a test and covers your entire family and can be used up to 50W of power. GMRS radios are cheaper and you can get a cheap Chinese radio and program it for the GMRS freq to be legal.

Source - I've been a HAM for 6 years now and am currently a IT/Radio guy in the military.

 

33 12fiddys fo life

 

@O906

What would a programmable GMRS radio look like? The equipment seems hard to find other than the 5W handheld models.

 

I'm a huge fan of Chinese electronics. IMO they are the best value/price point around. Baofeng has really stepped up their game in the last 5 years in terms of quality and I own over a dozen of the handhelds.

I've been wanting to get my hands on one of these but I run an unlocked Yeasu mobile rig so I can TX on all the UHF bands already so not worth the money for me.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Pofung-Baof...045913?hash=item1e9e407f59:g:r-wAAOSwstxVSI~9

The GMRS radio band is between 462.550 - 462.7125 the above radio fits within the legal power limits of the GMRS band and would work well for the price.

If you didn't want to buy a GMRS license for you and your family you can use the MURS frequencies. MURS means Multi-Use Radio Service and is part of the VHF band and are free to use for any U.S. Citizen.

A radio like the one below could be programmed to the MURS frequencies which are

1 151.820 MHz
2 151.880 MHz
3 151.940 MHz
4 154.570 MHz
5 154.600 MHz

This could be a good cheap option for an entire off-road club to get onto the VHF bands and a more powerful radio.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/BTECH-MINI-...431481?hash=item210cb9ea39:g:BGYAAOSwgApW~8m5

As a side note because the radios I mentioned above are capable of TX/RX on the entire UHF band you can also program them to TX/RX on the Family Radio Service bands (those cheap motorola handhelds you can buy at Walm-mart) however that would be illegal due to the TX power. The chances you would ever be caught are almost none but I know we all like to stay within the color of the law .....

Of course every rig I have built and my DD still has a CB in it because that's what 99% of people use despite it's draw backs.

 

I don't see the point.

A ham license is cheaper and it opens up way more doors and its just as powerful and the range should be near the same since you have access to the 70cm and 2m band. Plus you get to use repeaters that are all over and APRS.

Doesn't seem worth it.

 

Only those with a license can use the HAM bands, if I'm running a GMRS rig in my truck and have several GMRS hand helds I can hand them out to anyone else for whatever use is needed like SAR. You can't just hand anyone a HAM hand held and let them use it without your direct supervision.

I would also say not having HAMS on the band is a benefit. I love being a HAM and am friends with a lot of local HAMS but anyone that has spent time with HAMs knows that sometimes they can be a bit stuffy... I could easily see a local club getting tired of having wheelers within range of their repeater tying it up every weekend if they were near a popular wheeling area.

 

Some good points all around. HAM might end up being best for me. I don't really need a new hobby but I'm in Candada currently and it looks like there are more restrictions here on GMRS.

 

Not how it works around here. People are always stoked when their repeaters get used.

But yea plenty of drama in Ham stuff.

but the benefits to getting a HAM license is way better then just passing out walkie talkies. Anyone can do that. But if you get too spread out like how my groups do they won't cut it. So then everyone needs one of those 50w rigs. And at that point, might as well get a real HAM license and a dual band 70cm/2m radio to take advantage or repeaters and APRS. Its more useful in the long run. And if you continue into HiFi then you don't need repeaters and can talk across the country..

 

I'm in no way saying that a HAM radio doesn't have a place in an EXPO rig. The one I'm planning on building (As soon as I find my Tacoma ) will have a VHF/UHF mobile rig tuned to the 2m/70cm HAM bands for sure. HAM has a lot of benefits for an expo rig. Like someone always listening so for an emergency in the back country you can see the benefits.

I was just saying that if a group of wheelers who were wheeling together in the mountains or at a more traditional off road park wanted to get on the VHF/UHF bands there were other and better options than getting a HAM license and using the 2m/70cm bands.

 

Gotcha.

CB's are just too popular and cheap. And really, they do work great for wheeling groups in a major of all situations.

 

You're right for sure.

My expo Taco will have be able to get onto all the major bands used today.

10m, 11m (CB), 2m, 70cm, GMRS, MURS, FRS... options are always awesome!

 

Pretty much how my dad's is right now minus the GMRS/MURS/FRS i think. Has a Icom 7100 and 5100 and a few handhelds and is getting into DMR right now.

 

I really like having GMRS/MURS/FRS capabilities. The FRS band is probably used more than CBs in the woods. I've actually saved a hunters life onetime when I lived up in the U.P. I was driving on the highway in my DD and was just scanning pre-programmed bands and heard a hunter calling for help on a cheap Motorola radio. If I had not been scanning the FRS bands he might have died out there. I was able to alert the local authorities who after a short SAR case found him. He was actually less than 2 miles from the highway....

 

Is there a mobile radio (HAM obv) that allows you to TX/RX on all the commonly used bands? I mean I guess CB would not be allowed due to power restrictions unless the radio automatically adjusted power based on band.

 

No store bought Ham radio talks on the CB band. But there are some out there that you can modify to work on the CB band. Most radios can be turned down to 5w 10w and then 50w.

Radios that do all the bands though are VERY expensive. My dads 7100 does 70cm, 2m, 4m, 6m,10m and more i think, basically all the Ham bands plus you can mod it for the CB one. But its a 1000 dollars for just the radio...haha

 

Nice. Ok thanks. I will look into equipment more after I pass the test. Just good to know at high level what the options/requirements are and what bands are popular for what.

 

The tech license is most popular and is for 70cm and 2m which is what most people work on. You can access some of the HiFi stuff but nothing like you can with a general license. HiFi takes usually a different radio all together and antenna setup. Or you get one of the radios that does it all and pay a ton and get an expensive tune able antenna.

Timmy and my Dad and even the guy above will probably be able to tell you more as im not as involved in HAM as i should be due to time restrictions in my schedule.

Most likely you'll be fine with a tech license and simple radio unless you wanna get deep into it and do other stuff which is pretty easy to do.