RockRangerII Refresh

[DB_1]

Nice job Matt...you keeping the interior cage or taking it out for more room? Got any more of that diamond plate you wanna part with?

 

[RockRanger]

Interior cage is coming out. The cab is just to small for an interior cage unless you gut all the trim. I'm not going to have much if any of the diamond plate left over. I am going to need to get some other sheet metal to finish it off as it is.

 

[FROADER]

Looking good, Matt.

 

[RockRanger]

Finally got a chance to work on the truck for a few hours today. It has been over two months sense I have touched it. Cut and drilled all the pieces of aluminum that make up the floor of the bed. I need to get material for the rest. I am thinking 18 ga aluminum but am open for suggestions if something is better. Really would like to have a bead roller for the sides but it isn't in the budget right now.

20141102_160950 by dresselhausfc, on Flickr

I also pulled my tracbar trying to find my death wobble over 35 mph. Both heims were toast so I need to get some new ones.

 

[Tbars4]

..Need more pictures of the bed frame so I can copy in the future..

.I think our vendor Ruffstuff has a better option to replace heims..

 

[RockRanger]

Planning on calling them tomorrow. Hopefully they have a dealer that is local that might have them in stock.

 

[Tbars4]

See if the code pumpkin is still good for 20% off

 

[MidnightRebel07]

That code is supposed to be good til tomorrow. I like the bed, would like to see more pictures as well.

 

[RockRanger]

I started out by making cardboard templates of the panels I needed for the bed.

20141105_105402 by dresselhausfc, on Flickr

Once I got all the pieces made in cardboard I laid them out on a sheet of 18ga Aluminum to try and get them all to fit.

20141106_083416 by dresselhausfc, on Flickr

I went to harbor freight and picked up a swivel head shear. It seams to work well enough. You can tell it is a cheap Chinese tool as it doesn't fit the hand well, its not balanced well, and the offset on each side of the head is different. If I had to use it everyday I would get a different one. It did this project so it was worth it in that sense.

I got all the panels rough cut and started installing them. I still need to add tabs to support the pieces but it is coming along.

20141106_161902 by dresselhausfc, on Flickr

 

[Rick]

Do you know if there are replacement blades for the shear? I used one when I built the '70 Dart and the blades are dull and practically worthless now

The bed looks great! Nice job

 

[BKennedy]

That is starting to look very cool indeed. I don't think they sell the blades. Maybe you could have them sharpened, but it might be cheaper to buy a new unit. I almost bought one last week they were so cheap.

 

[RockRanger]

http://www.harborfreight.com/swivel-shears-replacement-blades-and-bushings-96599.html

It is my first time trying sheet metal like that. There is a learning curve to it. The pieces in front of the tires have four bends in it. They turned out okay. Wish I had more material to try them again but for a first try they will work.

 

[mrboyle]

Bed is looking great.

 

[MidnightRebel07]

Awesome work as usual. I'll be using design cues from you and DB1 for my cage bed when I build mine.

 

[RockRanger]

Awesome work as usual. I'll be using design cues from you and DB1 for my cage bed when I build mine.

Thanks. I talked with Dave (DB1) about his design. He said one of the things he missed was having storage in the bed for gear. That was on of the things I tried to keep with mine was as much storage as possible.

 

[BKennedy]

I don't know if this was mentioned before, but are you planning on having a spare tire?

 

[Stic-o]

I don't know if this was mentioned before, but are you planning on having a spare tire?

DOH!



Matt what's with the "diet" Dr. Pepper?

 

[RockRanger]

I don't know if this was mentioned before, but are you planning on having a spare tire?

Yes. It will lay flat in the back area of the bed. If you look close there are 4 button head screws in the middle of the floor that it will bolt to.

DOH!

Matt what's with the "diet" Dr. Pepper?

Tracy's not mine.


Now if I could get my death wobble solved...

 

[BKennedy]

Yes. It will lay flat in the back area of the bed. If you look close there are 4 button head screws in the middle of the floor that it will bolt to.



Tracy's not mine.


Now if I could get my death wobble solved...

Now, I see, said the blind man. The bed looks much narrower in the pics. I thought you just accelerated through death wobble??
Its not the track bar?

 

[RockRanger]

Here is roughly where the spare will sit.

20141107_170317 by dresselhausfc, on Flickr

Just put new joints on the trac bar. Now I can go 45 instead of 30 when the death wobble starts. Between lifting the back of the truck nearly 4" with the swaped springs and the redone lower link mounts it looks like I took out nearly all the caster out. I added a bit more in tonight so I will see if that helps tomorrow when I finish putting it back together.