Any Members in Arkansas?

I have 00 cable running through my frame and then Heavy duty quick disconnects. It works great and has saved me a couple times. I have a front plate bumper with a hitch on it. It’s a little inconvenient at times always having a winch in the bed of my truck, but nice to winch both directions.

 

I think it's going to be a while until I am brave enough to get into a situation where I actually need a winch. I'm going to start with a Hi Lift and related accessories.

Well, my 2nd Ride Rite install was an eventual success, although my kit was missing the 2 smallest clamps and I was already way into the install before I even noticed. They are the least important, so will get them to ship some out next week, it works fine without them for now. I remembered the first install being a pain, kind of like remembering that Tequila hangover from a couple of years ago, just didn't remember how bad it was. Once the memory fades enough you are willing to try it again. Not particularly hard, just a frustrating puzzle. A few pointers for those that might attempt this ( @CRASHMAN50 ):

1. Have a good 6-8 hours available.
2. Be in a calm state of mind. Remember your breathing. Be patient and persistent. What may seem impossible is actually not.
3. Do not allow children, your mother, or grandmother to enter the area. Wives/girlfriends are optional, but prepare them to hear new strings of curses being invented.
4. Have an extra vehicle available for trips to get any tools or hardware that might be needed.
5. Suggestion: Make a trip to the hardware store and get better bracket bolts (8) and carriage bolts (8).
6. It's nice to have a Sawzall and angle grinder. Sawzall makes cutting the bump stop down a much easier task.

Not sure what is up with the hardware they provide, maybe someone can enlighten me. It seems like the threads on the nuts don't exactly match the bolts, or the bolts have some coating on them. They start off OK, but then get difficult to turn, like they are cross-threading - but they aren't. I guess they are not likely to come loose, though. For a few bucks you can get better hardware and just use some Loctite, which I wish I did to start with. When I was putting the last leaf spring clamps on, I had gotten it started and realized I needed to turn the front one around to avoid interference with the gas tank. Here's what happened when I tried to loosen the carriage bolt:


Luckily it was the one on the outside that was easy to get a cutting wheel on. Lowes had appropriate replacements.

Anyway, I like how it rides and am glad to have the adjustability, but dang, what a pain.

 

Hi Lift's in the mud are not only a pain, but nearly impossible if it's watery and deep, and with a few exceptions, mud is about the only oops situation you can get into unless your hardcore wheeling/crawling. I've seen even some mud hole bypasses that were tough to get through due to their frequent overuse, and depths are deceiving until it's too late. Trying to hi lift (as a winch or jack) yourself out is quite a feat. For me, personally, a winch is a better idea, faster, cleaner and way more efficient.

And curious, how much weight would you have to put in the bed in order for those ride rite bags to have a real effect? I understand you can change the pressure, but for daily driving, do they really make that big of a difference? Do you have to monitor pressure, is it prone to leaking at the valves, and do you carry a compressor? I could probably read up on them, but easier to ask .

If I was this guy, I'd totally get it:

 

I have airbags and Dakar’s and find the airbags a necessity on overlanding trips. When my truck is unloaded I have around 400 lbs in my bed (camper shell, winch, hi-lift, tools, etc). I just got a hc rear bumper, so we will see how that affects it. When I go on trips I have an rtt, wood, food, water containers, coolers, etc in addition to the normal stuff. Craps get heavy quick. Without the airbags I’m sagging in the rear on trips. Day to day driving I’ll put minimal air in them 5-10 psi. My Dakar’s probably hold my rear up more than the airbags do outside of trips. I haven’t had a big issue with leaks. I’ve lost a couple psi over 2.5 weeks or so, but since my Dakar’s probably hold most of the weight when not on trips I don’t have a problem with that. I’m about to go on a big trip and I’ll likely see every temperature between 30 and 100. I’m interested to see if I have to add air. I have air lockers, so I obviously have onboard air.

 

Did I read in another thread you were going to do Big Bear Pass while in CO? Never done that one but it looks awesome, and has a couple serious exposed switchbacks. Excited to read your trip report. I'm leaving 8/17 to head that way and Mr. TenBeers is threatening to join me, hope he does. Open to anyone else joining as well that might be interested in a CO trip.

I just had the RTT on the racks and I dropped a 1/2" in the rear with 165 lbs. Once I add all the other gear...yea, now you guys have me thinking I might add a set of airbags too.

 

You likely did. I’m going to Moab and SW Colorado pretty soon for over 1.5 weeks.

 

For the Hi Lift, I'm thinking more about using it as a winch with some chain and recovery straps if the need ever arises. Then I only have to carry it when I might need it unlike a winch, and I at least have something to work with.

On the air bags, no compressor needed -- a cheap Walmart bike pump works fine. With my bed rack, tent, bed mat, bike rack, and tools I am carrying between 200 and 250 lbs. all the time, so I put the air bags at about 12 psi. It does make a difference. Like @cstallings says, once you start adding camping gear, food, water, fuel, etc., you start getting close to 800 even packing light. Adding a passenger or 2? Adds up quick. I carted my sister and nephew out to Colorado with all my camping stuff and their luggage, was probably at 1000 easy and was glad I had the bags. I will jack it up to 20 psi or so on a full load, 25 if I'm doing a landscaping run to Home Depot, but it doesn't take much. Empty, you can just drop it to 5 psi and they are basically just fancy bump stops.

Other than some crappy bolt hardware and a frustrating install, it's a solid design and construction. I never had an issue with any leakage over 5 years on my 2012. Installed them and never touched them again.

 

I’ve got the HD Dakar’s in the rear for DD 600+ lbs - cap, tools, boxes and rear bumper - spread out over a LB. Smooth ride for a DD. When I do shows and add my RTT, I’m up to 1200+ Lbs over the bed and still smooth ride, even off road - no rock crawling. Never came close to bottoming out. Camping is a lot less weight. I always thought bags were for towing when all the weights on the rear / hitch

 

The main reason I'm leaning towards bags is the adjustability. In that, I'll have times with 1000lbs in the bed...but most daily driving will be completely empty. Not the plushiest if I added hd leafs.

And with all the snow days we get in Arkansas, I'm obviously going to want to level out my truck when I load up cinder blocks to tackle the flurries. Lol!

 

@cstallings Carey, your truck looks great! Glad I could help with your trip a bit. Enjoy, be safe and stay way from the malls

 

Thanks for the great deal on the awning
Pete. Sporting double awnings now.

 

Thats a road trip right there!!! WoooooPig Moooab!

 

@cstallings Wow, nice rig and setup! Enjoy your trip!

Update on the air bag front: Called Firestone for the missing clamps, and apparently they don't deal directly with consumers on non-warranty issues and have a list of "authorized" retailers -- of which Walmart is not one. So be careful who you purchase from. They were nice enough to get me the full part number and pointed me to a couple of authorized dealers. Turns out those little clamps are $35 each! They are the smallest hunk of metal in the whole kit (besides the hardware)!

Off to Lowe's today to get some steel angle, I'll make my own dang clamp. Not paying $70 plus shipping for an L-shaped piece of metal with 2 holes in it. The guy at Michigan Truck Spring thought it was ridiculous as well and didn't want to sell them to me. I could just cut some out of my old bed rack, but I'm still hoping somebody local with a 2nd gen will eventually want it for something.

It sure does ride nice, even just running 10 psi.

 

Rain is good in July if you can get it...

 

Yes, and my grass responded immediately.

 

Mine, too, but it needs it. I made the mistake of raising my mower too high -- it went nuts after I fertilized and I didn't catch it in time. I took it back down to proper Bermuda height and stressed it a bit, plus the heat, but it's going crazy again with all the water.

 

Ber-who-da? Ferta-whata? In my yard, if it's green, it's grass!

 

Anti Glare Mod

 

Oh heck yeah, cool dad award right there. No way my parents would have done that for me!

 

It works