Ricks Bronco: 1and 1/2

[rookieshooter]

There ya go, custom dash from top to bottom from side to side including the Oh Sh#t bar And all tied into cage including the OS grab bar.

Now that I have more room in the cab and under dash. One day I would love to do a Carbon Fiber radio/cb console angling from tranny cover to under side of dash. I would have to do it in a way that it would be removable so I can get the removable tranny off of hump.
Over kill, without a doubt, fun

 

[rookieshooter]

Been toying with the idea of an Aussie locker for the front. Not a bad price and what I've read, work well.

 

[mynameisaric]

Just say "NO!" to powertrax no-slips. I know people have raved about them, but i had both blow up. I have no comment on the aussie, since i've never used one, nor do i know anyone that uses them, but i hear good things too.

I'll testify to the $90 mini spool found on ebay for the 8.8 rear end. But i know you want better street manners than that will provide.

 

[rookieshooter]

Aric thanks for the heads up

Forget what I said about "Carbon Fiber", must have had a moment of weakness. And that includes Fiber Glass also.
Just would not compliment the build being all metal.
Going with steel and aluminum.
CB bracket only, no radio.
Went to my friends sheet metal shop and cut and bent some 3/16" aluminum plate.

Cut out the hole and slid in CB. I made the aluminum bracket larger then need be in case I go with different CB.

Made a little triangulated brace.

Be nice if it had a little bezel around it. Or I might just try a thin bead of RTV.
I also have the bracket bent up so it's easy to read and adjust.

This is up at my friend " HotRod". That's his little 350 CI S10, I call it the "Galloping Grape" ha ha. Roller cam and rockers also.

Any way he and a friend are getting all the material I need to build a trailer off of other trailers. In the back of his other truck is the tongue.
His friend has two axles that were taken off a mobile home just like the tongue. All heavy duty stuff.
They have the good rims also. I'll just have to cut down and sleeve the axles, too long.

Hey, us retired Farts have to stick together.

 

[rookieshooter]

Removing the old fan shroud that really does not fit that well.

And replaced with this one. Just had to make some brackets and get the radius right.
IMO it cleans it up a little.

 

[ragajungle]

Rick,
Spent the last 3 days reading through this thread - reads like a book I cant put down! I just wanted to tell you how awesome it is! .
-Mike

I'll def be keeping a bookmark on this thread!

 

[MrQ]

Its one of the best threads on EF. Definitely worth the bookmark.

 

[hoss_hanna]

my fave tread on ef, like a favorite tv series gotta see what rookie is gonna do next

 

[rookieshooter]

Hey, guys I'm sure after reading about a zillion pages you read that I listen to guys that came up with some really cool stuff to do to this truck. And a big Thank you goes out to them

Been kinda laying low just cleaning up the garage after months of thrashing around on the truck.
I wanted to get a lot done before the cold gets here and especially before the hunting season arrives.
So this is not any major mod by any standards, but while doing the dash I inadvertently cut the wire to my Clock/Outside/Inside temp gauge.
Hey it was only $10, but I used it all the time ha ha.
So a trip to Walmart and picked up another one.
Mounted it on the same 3/16" aluminum plate, but this time mounted it on top of dash for easier viewing and hitting the light button mounted on the side.
Notice it says 57.7 F outside.

And a toasty 87.7 inside. This truck just gets so warm. The only complaint I had was the little spot on the bottom left of windshield that had a hard time defrosting when it was really cold coupled by a wet snow.
But the miniature Hood scoop should solve that problem.

Just in case your wondering why the Tach is reading 1100 RPMs, it's because you're right, the truck is idling.

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v81/honda2nr4life/Dash/?action=view&current=MOV06237.mp4

Something good came out of all that redoing of the dash.
There was always a slight vibration or bounce in the Vac gauge.
Which I thought was due to the more aggresive cam grind that I installed.
While truck was ideling and the dash was partialy out, I noticed the vacuum needle stopped vibrating and was rock solid. Hmmm. Well I moved the dash and it started vibrating again, another hmmm.
So I reached in and found the vacuum line and started to feel along the line to see if I could find a small leak, the whole time watching the gauge.
Nothing untill I grasped the nut that tightens the line to the back of the gauge....Bingo! Just tighten the nut a quarter turn and rock steady.


So I thought a little vid of the Vac gauge and some others may be interesting
But the main thing is the steadiness of the Vac gauge and tach.
Which is a good indication of what's going on inside the engine.

I may have skimped on a few things during this build, but not the gauges.
The Speedo alone was around $400.
Would like to point out that I just came from driving 15 miles and just parked in front of my garage, so all temps are standard operating temps.
Oil press. around 50+. Could have gotten a higher pressure oil pump when I built this engine, but do not like pumping too much oil up to the rockers, rather keep it low in the sump.
The oil temp which is not in the vid is a little higher then Water, which is standard.
Water Temp. around 170 which is average for this engine with a 180 T-stat.
A cool 140 temp tranny fluid measured at the tranny.
13 Volts with the lights and heater motor running. The heater motor draws the most volts of anything in the truck including the Hella 1000 headlights.

Just added: I think a vid of the truck coming straight at you over a rise in the road as the front end lifts or rounding a curve would be cool.
The way that I did the bottom engine brace by removing it and installing the tubed engine crossover really shows off the Dana 44 front with the links.
Have plenty of trail shots but none on the highway.
Plus I personally would like to see what it looks like also LOL.
Just need to find someone to stand there and film it while looking silly haha.

 

[kstrayhorn]

Don't know if you've seen this, but here's a post from another site. These guys seem to really like your rig, and rightfully so, I love it, and have showed it to all of my friends!

http://www.rangerpowersports.com/forum/showthread.php?257420-Roof-mount-off-road-light-bar

 

[Lowdown89]

Yeah, this thing is super sick I have thumbed thru quite a few pages and it looks badass!

 

[rookieshooter]

Hey guys, thanks for the words. I did not know it was on that site cause I really don't surf the webb that much.

Now back to "The Never Ending Story".
These Light Force 170s are going to be on this build, either as High beams or auxiliary lights. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GrRv-WcFeNA
Right now as the truck sets there are no High beams. Now it did just last month when it passed the modified Inspection. But sense then, due to the radiator mod I had to use another light cause all the sheet metal that was behind the light for adjustment was cut out...imagine that. But I love the way the Hella 1000 Driving lights, light up the road. They have a cut-off line and I have them set so not to blind people. And are set as low beams.
I have been researching about Lightforce on the Performance lighting forum.
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=294158

 

[rookieshooter]

OK, here is one of my next mods.
Just placed an order. Going to install some LightForce lights on the front of this beast. They have about the best reviews I've ever read and wait untill you see the vid of them being shot with a shotgun. My kinda of light ha ha .
I going to get them from the link below. Great price and extremely helpful.
http://www.off-roadlights.com/xcart/home.php?sl=en&is_https_redirect=Y
And I'll have plenty of pics to show.
Did not order the wiring kit, but I'll try to do using what I have, if not, then I'll order from above link.

Might just use them for High beams also. My Hellas driving lights are used as low beams and have a definite cut off line as not to blind people.
To pass next years modified inspection I need to have a set of high beams.
Now I know these Lightforce beams are super bright, but I'll set them pointing just higher then the Hellas. I really won't even drive with them on unless no oncoming traffic is around.
These are the super bright Halogen bulbs, not HIDs.
I'll see if I can find some reviews and post.
I'll be getting the Strikeforce 170s

Just found the vid on the torture test of these lights. Hey gotta be tuff if made in Australia Ha Ha.

http://www.youtube.com/user/LIGHTFORCEDOTCOM

Oops, just realized I posted that link before, Oh well, it's an age thing.

Anybody that's been following this "Older then Dirt Thread" knows that this time of the year I'm out hunting about every morning and evening.
So time to travel some nice Forested trails and set up some tress stands.
No it's not rocks, but this will be just fine for a few months out of the year.

Hey, anybody out there have any experiance with Lightforce lights?

Thinking of mounting the light just to the inside of the Hella driving lights.
Or about 4' directly above this evenings dinner.

 

[rookieshooter]

Now on to the next Mod. I'm really going to like this one.
When I opened the box and checked them out for the first time, the WOW factor went to 10.
So far I have two that are for driving and one that is clear.
And I plan to even get more, their just that good. And that was just a temporary wiring just to check them out. The 100 watt Xenphot bulb is just plain Wicked Bright.
The US Military liked them so much they were used in Desert Storm.
Actually the dimension of the light is the same whether it is spot or driving, it's the filter that changes the pattern and color. Plus the filter can rotate to allow for any angle that arises from mounting so the driving pattern can still be made to be horizontal with the road.
My plan is to use the Strike Force 170 lights as my high beam. Two of the lights were shipped with the driving filter that has a wide narrow beam and the third has a clear spot. I will eventually get another light to pair up with the spot. Or might even get a few more style filters to really mix it up.
Like blue for driving in snow.

Thinking about mounting somewhere close to this location. Or up on the support tube.
This will give it dual headlights. I'll have it wired so low stays on with the high beam lights.
Whatever mods that I need to the brush guard will be done.
So now I'll have a Multi National lighting system ha ha, one set from Germany which are the ones that I have been using recently for my driving lights and one set from Australia which are the Light
Force lights.

And many thanks to Dick at www.off-roadlights.com
in working with me on getting the right lights These are the StrikeForce 170 models.

The Quality of these lights are superb.
The left hand light has the clear and the other has the driving light filter.

And here is a light sans the filter.
As you can see the brilliance of the reflector is remarkable.
Hard to tell from the pic but the lens cone shaped with the point protruding outward.

This pic may show the cone shaped lens better. Hard to get a good pic of something so transparent.

Can't wait to start the wiring and mounting of these lights.
And the timing could not be better with the time change coming and the many hours of driving in the dark while going and coming from my up coming hunting trips.
Really need to get started on doing some roof mounted lights also.

But done in a way that I can clear the garage door, that means no roof cage mounted lights like I used to have. Those lights will be this brand also.

 

[rookieshooter]

I think I found the best place to mount the StrikeForce 170s.
Welded a piece of 3/16" angle on one of the brush guard supports.

Next I painted and then added some Disc brake noise eliminator. It really never dries hard but stays rubbery. I'm thinking this will keep the light from wanting to swivel around. Plus add some cushion.

Now IMO, that's just plain Sexy looking.
High beams on top and low on bottom. Now remember both High and Low have a cut-off line.

Also I understand that I can rotate the housing to adjust the beam from wide to a pencil point. I'll report later on that aspect.

Just plain Awesome.
The real test will be after I line them up properly on the garage door, then driving around tonight and early tomorrow morning before sunrise.

Now what to do with this light and eventually it's mate.
If I do put them on the roof they will have to be done in a way that I can still get into the garage, including having larger diameter tires on in a few months.

 

[MrQ]

Can you make a folding light bar?

Also the lights look good. I just put some new ones I my truck too.

 

[rookieshooter]

Can you make a folding light bar?

Also the lights look good. I just put some new ones I my truck too.

Thinking alike on this one. That will be my last option.
Read your build...Nice piece of work

Now to where the rubber meets the road, or should I say...Lights meet the road.
This is with the low beams which are the Hella 1000s driving lights as I was driving down this dirt road to my Deer stand.

Now here are the StrikeForce 170s.
Could even adjust them to shine down further into the next Zip Code ha ha.

Hella 1000s only. Excuse the blurred pics with the longer shutter speed with no flash. But for comparisons only, you'll get the message.

StrikeForce 170s. What a difference. I even turned off the Hella's and there is just no difference in brightness.
I love the brillant white light of these lights.
Notice how much they light up not only in front, but the increased side amount. Which are great in living in this part of the country where seeing deer is an every day occurrence on the sides of the road. Especially this time of the year when the Bucks are chasing those long eye lashed Doe.

 

[rookieshooter]

Now that I've got some actually night driving under my belt with these LightForce light, I can now see, no pun intended why people rave about them.

I think I have the perfect way to install the StrikeForce 170s on the cab.
And it won't be in the above pic. Reason...Garage door.
My other thought was to make a manual lever that all I had to do was to reach out window and pull on handle. Both lights would be connected to one long rod with bearings and just rotate down.
But upon further investigation the curvature of the front windshield would make the lights stick way out to far to get a straight shot through the pivoting holes in the lights.
Also even if I did make them to swivel down, I know within the first 24 hours I would forget to let them down upon entering garage

Going with a simpler idea and much more garage entering friendly location
And I think just plain better looking then sticking up so high.

Where you see the light at this attitude would make it unnecessary to pivot light down. All I'm going to do is to fab up a triangulation bracket from roof to the windshield pillar. The light would be closer to the snorkel then shown.
This way I can mount the light just a little lower then the windshield.
And make it in a way that the bracket stands off the glass just in case of a low branch. And strong enough not to bend back into glass.
This way don't have to worry about pivoting of lights
Can you only imagine how it would light up those off-road driving trips at night with both Hellas and 4 StrikeForce 170s on
Now to get the 4th light as soon as I can. I also would need to cover the cab lights to pass inspection while driving on state roads.
Need to see if they make a non-transparent cover, or just paint a clear one.

 

[lightforceguy]

Good Job rookieshooter. Normally, the Lightforce lights come with clear spot covers, so when customers buy, say yellow combos, they have no need for clear covers, so they paint them black and Lightforce does have black-out covers.

 

[rookieshooter]

Thanks lightforceguy. I'll be doing the cab mounted lights soon.

Nothing really going on with any mods just now. Too busy chasing Deer around.
Thought this would make for a good Autumn shot along the Potomac river with all the Maple trees changing colors. The river is only about 40 yards off this dirt road that leads to a farm where I'm hunting.

Later there will be plenty more mods to come.