Hypoxic Chronology

Any concerns about damage to the synthetic after the cable left things unsmooth?

 

Not really.
1. The cable didn't do anything to the drum except scrape the paint off.
2. The line doesn't slide around the drum, it just lays on it.

That said, I got the line used and I've used it quite a bit myself so it's probably due for replacement here before too long.

I'd like to find a good source for amsteel or something similar. I think I could make winch lines for myself and maybe others.

 

I would trust you pulling me nice work Eric!

 

I might be able to source you line if you want to do it yourself. Let me know and I will talk to the owner of custom spice. I wanna get some line extensions myself.

 

A brief Google search makes it look like there's not much money to be saved by buying raw line through conventional sources even in bulk.

You'd have to find a good wholesale source or something.
It'd be nice though to make your main line and some custom length extensions.

 

Well If you need a line let me know I will be contacting Custom Splice soon for some extensions.

 

I hate tape residue.
So I taped the holes on the inside, filled them with silicone from the outside and removed the tape once it cured.
Worked well, but I have no idea if it'll hold up at all or not.

 

Holes on top too did you get them?

 

Yep. I'm sure they'll be fine. Silicone might fall out of the bottom holes with use though. We'll see.

 

Total Chaos bedside stiffeners are in.
I had to order these from Toytec, but apparently they're going to stock them now.

This is the gap I was trying to fix, or at least prevent from getting worse


First issue was that the stiffeners want to share a bolt with the kbvoodoo bed rails


Stiffeners outboard of the rails would work against what the stiffeners are supposed to accomplish. Fortunately, I was able to loosen all the bolts and pry the bed rails out enough to slide the stiffeners behind them.


The quarter inch gap I had at the top of the bed is the result of a very small angle so bolting up the stiffeners really didn't do anything to change it.
I wanted to cinch it closed if at all possible, so before I drilled the extra holes for the stiffeners, I loosened everthing up and used ratchet straps to pull the bedsides together.


Then I drilled the three extra holes on each side, put those bolts in, and tightened everything up with the ratchet straps still tensioned.

It worked! Closed up the gap and hopefully with these stiffeners in place, it'll stay that way.

 

Nice!

 

One last thing to take care of before putting the topper back on....

The kb voodoo bed rails come with a gasket to keep them off the bedsides. It doesn't go the whole length though and so there are gaps at the front and back of the rails.

This wouldn't be any big deal if I weren't running a topper, but I don't want another gap for dust and water to get in.

I got a roll of this thick rubber from the shop guys at work that I'll install between the rail and the bedside, closing up any gaps.

 

kinda sorta glued the rubber to the bottom of the rails with some spray adhesive just to make installation easier. Had to trim the rubber where the rails get narrower.


Looks like it'll work great. Truck is finally ready for the topper again.

 

Bout damn time!

 

Well crap...

Topper DOES NOT FIT!

the problem as best I can tell, is that the topper has lips on the inside that used to sit just above the rails that the cleats bolt to and those lips won't go down inside the rails.

I may have to cut the lips off.

 

doesn't that just piss you off.
Do one mod, have to do another to get your stuff to fit again.
Right there with ya bro.

 

There's your turtle @Wishbone Runner

 

First I rotated the topper 180 and hung it off the back to cut a foot or so of the lip with a Dremel.
Still wasn't going on.
Next I set it on some sawhorses to cut the rest of the lip but it only sat about 4 inches off the ground.
Finally flipped it upside down in the yard and went at it with an angle grinder and a cut off wheel.
Much easier
It still doesn't sit quite right but I think that's the huge gasket in the front causing that.
Going to take a better look at it in the morning.

 

Stock, the bed against the cab is much lower than the plastic side rails.
So when they installed the topper they had to place this huge gasket


I'm going to cut the top off of it and see how things fit then