RockRangerII Refresh

[Stic-o]

I haven't had a fire extinguisher in my truck for a while. It needed to be easy to access and not buried behind the seat so I drew and cut these brackets.

20150509_133008 by Matthew Dresselhaus, on Flickr

It is designed so either side can be bolted or hose clamped on. It could be used for more then just fire extinguishers. I used hose clamps to mount a fire extinguisher to one side.

20150509_135443 by Matthew Dresselhaus, on Flickr

The other side I left the plate off and welded it directly to cage. Pull the upper pin out and it drops out and is ready for use. No tools needed to remove it.

20150509_135339 by Matthew Dresselhaus, on Flickr

Love the fire extinguisher mount. Where were you when I built mine with a grinder Zukmam is making me a nylon pull for mine that is red and has word FIRE sewn into it. I'm sure she could make two

Just be careful with the garage work bench. It gets piled up with stuff fast and becomes unusable

 

[RockRanger]

Love the fire extinguisher mount. Where were you when I built mine with a grinder Zukmam is making me a nylon pull for mine that is red and has word FIRE sewn into it. I'm sure she could make two

Just be careful with the garage work bench. It gets piled up with stuff fast and becomes unusable

Should have asked I drew it up over a year ago. I am just now getting around to installing it.

The only bench I had before was my welding table. Hopefully now I can spread the mess around more.

 

[RockRanger]

Went to Red lake on Saturday with the local club we are in to do trail maintenance and get it ready for the season opening in a week or two. We fixed up the two toilet buildings at the lake and added rocks to some muddy areas to help with erosion.

Here we are airing down to head in. Yes the Commando is sweet running a 5.3 to a sm420 atlas tcase and dynatrac 60s front and rear.

20150606_091349 by Matthew Dresselhaus, on Flickr

I didn't take any pictures on the trail but had some fun on a few optional paths. This is why I have a rear driveshaft made of .134 tube.

20150606_170528 by Matthew Dresselhaus, on Flickr

Just as we were getting to the highway on the way home we hit a heavy snow/rain/thunder storm for about 20 minutes. Pushing 90 degrees at my house and in the mountains less then 2 hours away it was 38 degrees.

20150606_163140 by Matthew Dresselhaus, on Flickr

 

[RockRanger]

To hookup my York I had to get some custom made fittings made. The york uses a tube-O style fitting. I needed to convert that to NPT to make the system work. A local A/C shop that does a lot of tractor repairs was able to make these up for me.

20150608_160843 by Matthew Dresselhaus, on Flickr

Here they are mounted up on the york with an air filter from amazon.

20150611_133721 by Matthew Dresselhaus, on Flickr

I also picked up an LED bulb and some maglite mounts and mounted my 3D flashlight at the front mounting holes of the driver seat. Easy to remove and secure.

20150611_125830 by Matthew Dresselhaus, on Flickr

The bushings in my Belltech shackles are starting to wear out so decided to build some new shackles out of 1/4" plate. A 3" wide bushing kit from Ruffstuff or Ballistic and the three plates cut on my plasma table will make one shackle. They are roughly 7.25" from bolt hole to bolt hole.

20150609_141257 by Matthew Dresselhaus, on Flickr

They need a slight bend in them to work so got out my fancy brake and put the bend needed in them.

20150609_141941 by Matthew Dresselhaus, on Flickr

Assembled before welding.

20150609_142616 by Matthew Dresselhaus, on Flickr

They will have to wait a few weeks for install till I have time to work on the truck again.

 

[RockRanger]

Getting ready to install the shackles and noticed the bushings in the springs were bad. This was the best one and it fell out when I removed the spring.

Untitled by Matthew Dresselhaus, on Flickr

My new shackle next to the belltech I am removing.

Untitled by Matthew Dresselhaus, on Flickr

Also took the time to pull the springs apart. Wire wheeled them and then painted them. New spring bushings get here tomorrow.

Untitled by Matthew Dresselhaus, on Flickr

 

[Blue91Ex]

Hey I found this thread from your skidplate build, truck looks awesome, I love all the custom metalwork! The fire extinguisher mount is genius. Keep up the good work on this truck, man, inspiration for my rusted ranger project, though It won't be going the same route, I have a lot of fabrication left on it and there is a lot of great stuff in your thread!

 

[RockRanger]

Thanks it is coming along. Getting ready to try and hit the Dusy Ershim trail in a few weeks. 4 days on the trail should be fun. I have wanted to run the trail again sense my last time in 2003.

 

[RockRanger]

Order yukon front axle shafts, an air tank for my york, and rock lights. Now to get them installed before our trip.

 

[Tbars4]

..We need to have a build party at your house like the old days......

 

[RockRanger]

Did you get an axle?

 

[Tbars4]

...I heard I did and its sitting empty at a shop but I haven't actually seen it yet...

I will be in Rancho Cordova the weekend of the 8th when I get back from Washington State.

 

[RockRanger]

Have fun in Washington. What are the specs on the axle you got?

 

[Tbars4]

...:scratch:....To tell the truth I cant remember and the last time I saw a picture of it I had sent it to you...I should probably get it home and get the parts for it first...

...iirc I need to get cheby outers for it...

...You guys have a great time on trail and tell Fred and them hey for me...

 

[RockRanger]

I got a 2.5 gallon air tank and mounted it above the rear axle.

20150728_101401 by Matthew Dresselhaus, on Flickr

20150728_175752 by Matthew Dresselhaus, on Flickr

I also stubbed the chuck connector out on the drivers side behind the tire.

20150728_175821 by Matthew Dresselhaus, on Flickr

Not sure how I will like it there. I am in a bit of a time crunch as I am getting ready to head to the dusy ershim trail next week. Trying to get a bunch of things ready.

 

[Stic-o]

All this work is making me jealous. Need to get cracking

 

[BKennedy]

Matt, a 7/8" vacuum cap fits tightly on most of the quick couplers. It will keep the dirt and debris out of the valve. At least turn it around so its facing away from the tire before you hit the trail.

I like those 2.5 gal tanks. Mine is only 1.5 and empties fast while airing up tires.

 

[Blue91Ex]

At least turn it around so its facing away from the tire before you hit the trail.

I second this idea, no need to aim it so the tire throws crap directly into the end of the fitting..

 

[RockRanger]

All this work is making me jealous. Need to get cracking

Hurry up. It is almost wheeling season in socal. I will spin it around. In Tracy's jeep we have kept a pluged coupling in it when not in use and it has helped keep it from filling with mud. It was a nice 106 in the garage today. I assembled and installed my new Yukon shafts for the front axle. I have broke I think 5 front stock shafts (inner,outer and ujoint each time) so it was time to upgrade.

20150729_095050 by Matthew Dresselhaus, on Flickr

I also added a fuse panel under the hood. Not real impressed with it but for $9.00 what do you expect. It should work for a while. Where is the best place to get a keyed hot lead from? I will run it off a relay so what ever circuit it is on wont see a ton of extra power.

20150729_190255 by Matthew Dresselhaus, on Flickr

 

[BKennedy]

Where is the best place to get a keyed hot lead from? I will run it off a relay so what ever circuit it is on wont see a ton of extra power.

Cruise Control module activation. I don't know what color the wire is in the Rangers but it runs from the cruise control module down towards the frame in the Explorers. Hot in accessory or run only.

 

[RockRanger]

Cruise Control module activation. I don't know what color the wire is in the Rangers but it runs from the cruise control module down towards the frame in the Explorers. Hot in accessory or run only.

What if your truck didn't come with cruise control?