UTAH (and Surrounding Areas) BS Thread

Nicely accomplished. They are pretty simple. Sorry I have been busy as all hell lately but life takes hold sometimes

 

heh, no worries. I was going to try it myself first anyway -that's why I bought the SWR meter. Getting the coax through the firewall is what scared me the most.

In the meantime for anyone who actually gives a crap, I've now determined that this 4' Firestik Firefly antenna is frickin' huge. When it's mounted the truck looks like a giant RC toy, and I can tell that removing it to get beneath the carport or into the garage each time I come home is going to become a royal PITA, even with a Firestik quick-disconnect installed on the antenna mount. I can't imagine what the 5' model would look like! (And BTW, it really, really deflects into a substantial arc at highway speed.)

So...

I ordered a 2' Firestik II FS for $16.99 + $5 S&H from CB World, which isn't much of a marginal expense. I'll keep both antennas and when I install the radio I'll pre-tune each antenna's length with the SWR meter so they'll each be ready to go. I'll use the 4-footer as an "expedition" antenna when I'm traveling and need the added range that the 4' antenna will provide, whereas to leave on the vehicle for daily use I'll use the 2-footer. I'll sacrifice a bit of range with the shorter aerial but I'll still have 50% of the antenna above the roof line, which shouldn't be too bad. When it's time to go on a trip it'll take no more than a minute to switch them, which is a lot less hassle than removing the longer one each time I come home. With the spring and the quick disconnect, the tip of the two-footer will clear both the entrance to my carport (where there's a low-hanging crossbeam) and my garage door by one inch.

This whole idea was inspired by the final paragraph at http://firestik.com/Tech_Docs/pickup.htm .

 

Hey Utah, peeps, I've got a 20lb CO2 tank I'm selling. I don't want to ship it so I'm hoping it can find a home locally. Let me know if anyone is interested. Here's the link
http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/buy-sell-trade/333384-co2-tank-fs.html#post8806663

 

Just a reminder, 3 days left:

1st Official Meet and Greet: AF Canyon 2014 Meet and Greet / Trail Run.

Meet at Cabelas off the Thanksgiving Point exit on Sunday June 22nd, 2014 at 11am. I confirmed today that we are good to go to meet there and we will need I the south end of the parking lot.

Cabelas Address:
2502 Cabela's Blvd, Lehi, UT 84043

We have not had a meet and greet for UTAT or for the TW Utah group. Most of you are on the forums but it is hard to organize any type of event. So let's meet up, BS a bit and then go have some fun in AF Canyon. Even is your not gonna come wheel come stop by and say hello and meet some fellow members.

Trail to be run would be:

Forest Lake
Mineral Basin
Mary Ellen Gultch
Another I can't remember the name of

 

I know somebody will want to air up their tires after the run on Sunday. Somebody buy my CO2 tank before the meet!

 

Ha ha I see what you did there. How much are the regulators anyways?

 

Looking to upgrade my UCA's, I am not looking to go uni-ball since I live in SLC and all of the death salt.

I'm looking into LR UCA's but want to see if anyone has any recommendations.

I was also told this should work for my Taco, does anyone have any first hand experience with these? or know if they are a good buy?-
Any input would be much appreciated.

Thanks,

 

I have the Light Racing and they have been great. No complaints at all. Pretty easy to install as well. Did it myself in my old parking lot.

 

I also have the LR and installed them myself in my driveway. Piece of cake.

 

I picked mine up at Bevco (used) for $40. That was for a fully adjustable regulator. If you don't need it to be adjustable, like if you're just filling tires, then you could probably find a non-adjustable one for $20 or less.

 

Any input on this the very knowledgeable Box? ^^^

 

are you asking about the UCAs? I'm a fan of the LR arms. There are a few stories out there of people having issues with them but from what I've found those are very isolated cases and IMO we're not getting the whole story, like how they have been used. I know of several guys here locally that have run the Light Racing arms with excellent results. One of those is Kurt Williams from Cruiser Outfitters who ran them on his Tacoma. I wheeled a bunch with Kurt and that Tacoma so I've seen how the LR UCAs work and I like them. If you talk to Kurt who does a lot of work on local trucks he will tell you that he would only run the Light Racing arms here in Utah. The open uni-balls just take a beating in our climate. Yes, you can rebuild them, but I'd rather not have to worry about that any more frequently than I have to. The sealed ball joints in the LR arms hold up to the climate and salt much better.

The new Camburg arms that allow the use of the OEM balljoint is interesting. They might be a good option too but there isn't a lot of long term feedback on them yet. The downside to them is the OEM balljoint just doesn't have the same range of movement so you'll have some limits on how you push them. The other thing I like about the Light Racing arms over the other uniball ones is the adjustability and that you can change the caster. The uniball arms from everyone else has additional caster built in but isn't adjustable.

The LR arms probably don't have the same "hey-look-at me-and-and-my-badass-truck-with-its-badass-suspension" bling factor that some of the other ones do, but I'm old and that doesn't matter to me.

Edit: I forgot to mention that I am in the process of changing my UCAs and just bought Light Racing arms, if that tells you anything.

 

Kris, now I expect you to buy my CO2 tank.

 

Awesome thank you so much for the input!!

I was a little concerned that the price tag for the LR was more expensive but it was because the joints were not included with the Camburg's hence making them cheaper.

I feel like the LR's would be perfect for my need, especially since I don't wheel near as much as you










PS. If I had any extra money I would have actually already PM'd you.... I WANT THAT TANK

 

Finally done:

 

Looks awesome^^^^ Perfect fit too!

 

Thanks! That was the goal.

And for today's final step here's the "everyday" 2-foot antenna:



Atop the spring and quick-disconnect it barely brushes that crossbeam at the entrance to the carport, and clears completely the garage doorway. Following a quick radio check it's confirmed that it's good to go. The four-footer sits pre-tuned and barely fits securely just behind the horizontal cushions of the jumpseats.

All ready for tomorrow's meet-up/trail run. I'm bringing the dog along, too, and possibly a friend. Are there any plans to BBQ or something up in the canyon? That doesn't seem like a bad idea.

 

Anyone north of Layton wanna meet up tomorrow at the walmart truck parking area around 10ish and drive down together.. ?

 

I was thinking of bringing some hot dogs or something. I have a little single burner stove. Or we could do a small fire.

My son may come with me. We have some Traxxas RC cars we may bring up too.

 

I've got a small portable propane grill I can bring. Anyone else is welcome to use it to heat their roadkill. Much easier than dealing with a fire and, more importantly, ensuring that it's dead out.