Colinb17's kinda sorta build thread

luckily, no mud this time. i think john found a puddle, but that was it. would have been nice to have a little drizzle though, because it was dusty as hell on the sand trails. clay and rocky stuff was good though.

 

Ya that last meet I went to when I was down there we had that terenchal down pour

 

Yeah, that's deffinately the wettest i've ever seen Ocala. pain in the ass to clean the truck after that one. also blew an idler pulley that meet. sounded like i had a supercharger for a few days though

 

Buddy of mine stopped by today to drop off some solar panels for a design project we're working on. 2 panels for the project, and 1 for me





may try to work on a set of quick release mounts so i can switch the panel between the truck and trailer.

 

just need to get one of these, so i can take the high voltage DC output of the panel and turn it into 12v with higher amperage.

http://www.solartown.com/store/product/solar-boost-sb2512i-solar-charge-controller/#null;

 

very cool buddy bet those were pricey

 

ive been thinking of getting a small one to charge cell or run radio/light etc.

 

most solar panel manufacturing is subsidized by the government, so they aren't as bad as you'd think. that being said, they are still pretty expensive as far as a truck accessory goes. thank god for sponsorships

I bed you'd be able to mount and wire a smaller one in half a day for something like that.

nice thing about the smaller ones is that they are usually 12 volts already, so you can run it straight to where you want, or hook it up to a standard battery maintainer/trickle charger. no need to step down the voltage like on these big panels.

 

hmmmmmm.....its officialy on the todo list now...lol

 

in addition to the panel, all you need is one of these
I actually have one, just made by a more reputable brand (though i can't recall the name off the top of my head).

the left lead is a trickle charger that you connect to the battery, to constantly maintain it. the middle lead goes to the panel, and the right lead goes to whatever else you are powering, and recieves full panel output, unlike the trickle charge for the battery.

 

Anthony's girlfriend just posted some more shots from the meet. she got some cool ones from one of our night runs.







little victory dance after bench pressing jason's truck over a hill

 

Looks like a lot more fun then slip-sliding through Rausch...

BTW - totally trashed my passenger side headlight and grill. Both are hanging on by a thread.
Started a new Satoshi for myself and have a new set of BHLM's coming from another member.

 

always a good time in FL. did find out that i rub a lot more with these new tires than i originally thought. turns out you only stuff so far crawling/going slow, but when you start going fast on the stuff we have down here, things other than your spring (bushings, control arms, frame, etc) flex more, causing more rub. took the flares off today so i don't beat them up anymore. if i put them back on, i'll be doing something similar to what you did........which is a way of saying i may PM you for some plastic welding advise in the future

that's too bad such a low speed hit did so much. you trying anything new and crazy with this grill, or sticking with the billit?

 

We'll see how Anthony's flares turn out first.
As far as my new grill - I'm doing away with the Billet and going with an M4 Mesh with the TRD embossed in it painted red. I'm also going to attempt a deeper satoshi grill. By this I mean a satoshi that will be almost 4" deep vs. the standard 2 5/8 depth. I just want to try it.

 

is the 2 5/8'' the thin lip, or the standard lip that you get with the DIY fiberglas/bondo route?

the billit was realy clean, but the new one sounds like it will fit your truck's new direction a little better.

 

The thin lip satoshi's are only 1/2" to 3/4" deep and a standard "full depth" one is about 2 5/8" deep...
I'm moving away from the chrome as my next set of wheels will be 17's to accommodate a 35x12.5 tire. All the good 17" steel wheels are black.

Gonna murder that bish out yo!

 

wow, so the 4'' lip is going to be pretty intense!

you need to get beadlock kit from balistic fab for those new steelies

 

One thing at a time...

 

Subbed, I have to say it looks capable in real life