Ironraven's random upgrade/mod/repair thread

A little preview of my adventures today I'll post up more later op:

Edited for larger photo

 

And the aftermath:


I think I need a better brush guard with a skid plate...

 

Nice pics..thanks for sharing yah looks like you took a few shots on the frame

 

I'm glad I already learned the wisdom of "Sh!t we fell into a rut... FLOOR IT!!!!" Because otherwise I'd have been screwed pretty bad. I actually had to turn around in the shot where you can see the tons of big rocks on the trail, I was pretty sure I'd get stuck on a big rock and didn't know if the truck would have hauled itself back UP the hill fighting against gravity... maybe but I didn't want to take the chance lol. Yeah, I fell into a BIG washout that you couldn't see on the way up the hill (right after the tree falling across the path) and barely scraped my arse out of there. It was TONS of fun though and I'm gonna do it again as soon as I can

 

Heh, I have some schemes for a brush guard/front receiver hitch/skid plate all in one device. We'll see if I end up being able to make it happen... I am thinking about running something all the way back to that frame brace I "decorated" but who knows if I'll be ambitious enough to pull it off

 

Doh! Got her stuck for the first time today. I guess I need to get some ATV tires finally... I actually would have been fine had it not been for following ruts that were too deep.









Video of me making it through this mess to follow tomorrow!

 

Lol I gotta get my lanes cut around my stands before deer season somehow!

 

looks like your having lots of fun with your new truck! cool. keep the pictures coming.

 

Actually it was limb saw, weed whacker with sawblade attachment, machete and chainsaw. My buddy had a tow strap but his wheeler didn't have the traction to pull me out

Here's video #1:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IexfsbOLgFc

You can see that the drop off is a little bit too steep so I scrape the brush guard when I come in... so instead of going in fast like the first time I wait until I get to the bottom of the ditch before flooring it.

Here's video #2:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9EjI02x-Ws
I almost got stuck in the tractor going across this... but the mini truck burned through it with hardly a problem despite having my friend in the cab with me. I honestly thought I was gonna get stuck again lol.

 

Lol I don't have that kind of money... But they would be sweet!

 

Rear bumper painted and I installed some tow hooks

 

U can probably pull a Mack Truck out of the ditch with that.

 

Sore ga totemo sukida o hiyasu fukkute iru
means me likey lots

 

Thanks guys Wait until you see what I have planned for the front/skidplate/brush guard setup... if I pull it off it's gonna be epic! Now I just need the time to work on it ya know? Hmmmm.... maybe it's time for another vacation day just to work on the truck

 

good work! I would like to see what you have planned for the skids. I just built a belly pan for mine last night! Ill post the pics if you want to see. putting a skid under the front pumpkin seems way more tricky.

 

Hell yeah, post up some pics for sure! It will be tricky but I'm down with it being hard... and I need to make a front receiver anyway (no way I'm spending $250.00 on $40.00 worth of steel...) it'll be an adventure. I'm still floating on what materials to use but I think it's gonna be a combination of steel tubing and aluminum plate, some bends, some welds, some headaches and a couple cases of beer op:

 

Oh yeah! This seems like what I need to do next to mine, I very interested to see what you do and how you do it, so PLEASE post some detailed pic's/instructions. And keep us posted on how it works out.

 

Damn straight, I'll have a full writeup I hope to have the framing of it done this weekend (shooting high, but you gotta have goals lol). I will try and draw my basic concept in paint or whatever and upload it today if I get the chance...

 

Here is the belly skid i built. Still looking for ideas to do the front skid.

In this photo you can see that when i dropped my front diff, i had to notch the engine mount to get the front drive axle to clear the engine mount. I it still had about 1/16" gap b4 i notched it, but as you can see rubbed a bit. Now its free and clear. This essentially is what started me on the path. once i had those 1x1 tubes welded to the engine mount. i did the same on the tranny mount and then put a 12ga plate in between them.


The mounting was a little lame but it will do (for now).

 

Very cool, I spent rather more time bow hunting and canning tomato sauce this weekend than I wanted to but still made a halfass wood template that will help me out when I'm attempting the real thing this week whenever I'm able to pick up the pipe bender...

 

So you gettin started on the skid this weekend? Post pics if ya do...

 

I'm hoping to borrow a neighbor's pipe bender so I can get started today... the wife's dragging me all over tarnation tomorrow so I won't have a chance to do crap then...

 

Fake a sickness! And then after she leaves get to work! Just don't get caught. Just kidding...

 

rotfl, believe me it crossed my mind...

I got some progress done; and by "some progress" I mean I figured out that I'm going to scrap my original plan and do something else entirely :frustration: which isn't all that unusual for me when I'm trying something new.

I decided I didn't like the idea of bent pipe for structural applications so I'm going to be cutting angles, using gusset plates and doing a LOT more welding than I had originally intended. An added bonus is my design will have more right angles which will match the lines of the truck better AND I think it'll be easier to mount my front receiver hitch too. I think. We'll see when I get to that point. I should be able to do some work tonight so with any luck I'll have pics galore this evening or tomorrow morning.