RockRangerII refresh

[RangerSVT]

You will have to make a mounting bracket, but from everything I've looked at when I was going to do this, it'll be a fairly easy and simple bracket to fab...

SVT

 

[RockRanger]

The interior of the truck has been sparse. I added some aftermarket seats and hate them. The fabric on them began failing quickly after they were installed. They are on the list to be replaced but haven't yet. Having a standard cab and stuffing things behind the seats has always been a challenge. Anytime I need something I slide the seat forward and then everything falls down and has be reorganized before the seat can go back. So I built a box out of some ply with a grid of bungee cord to hold everything in place. I used wood this round as a proof of concept to see how I like it and what changes I will make after using it a while. I used wood as it is cheaper and faster for me to work with. The next one will be made of steel and painted.

20150330_165646 by dresselhausfc, on Flickr

20150330_170543 by dresselhausfc, on Flickr

 

[RockRanger]

I never had a center consul once I swapped to bucket seats. I had some cheap pepboys cup holders but that was it. I again made it out of wood so I could see what I liked and didn't for the next steel version. I needed a spot to add some switches as well. These switches are in easy reach. Time will tell if they get hit to much on accident to stay there in the final version.

20150330_171930 by dresselhausfc, on Flickr

20150330_165602 by dresselhausfc, on Flickr

20150330_165617 by dresselhausfc, on Flickr

 

[RockRanger]

Needing a place for a flashlight I was talking with a friend and he said some land cruiser guys make a mount that goes to the front seat mounting bolts. So I drew up a bracket put a bend in it to give it some strength and now have a mount I can get some maglight mounts and a maglight and it will always be in easy reach. One for each the passenger and driver sides. Also might mount a fire extinguisher to one of them.

20150330_120225 by dresselhausfc, on Flickr

20150330_151034 by dresselhausfc, on Flickr

Driver
20150330_151550 by dresselhausfc, on Flickr

Passenger
20150330_160100 by dresselhausfc, on Flickr

 

[RockRanger]

Got a little time to work on the ranger and the garage. First I am always wanting more workbench space so I built one. I added plugs to the front to make plugging in tools easy. In addition I cutout holes that will be for three receiver hitches. Plan is to mount a vice and other accessories on 2" tube that can slide in and mount to the workbench but be easily removed when not needed. I also added a shelf even with garage door track for storage up high of seldom needed items. Also made a good place to hang a light from.

20150507_180848 by Matthew Dresselhaus, on Flickr

Next I made a mount to hold the gas filler and cap. They have been flopping around sense I built the bed.

20150509_135540 by Matthew Dresselhaus, on Flickr

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

 

[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

 

[Rowdy Fitzgerald]

Dang if you guys need more help let me know I'm willing to help when I can!
Yeah I love being up high this time of year. It's nice to get storms like that when its blistering hot down here.


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[RockRanger]

Think this was one of the few times we were overstaffed. It was nice as many hands made light work. We loaded the Forest Service Jeep trailer with 5 loads of rocks by hand and moved it into a 30' section of the trail that was eroding. Made for a quick few hours and it was complete.

 

[Rowdy Fitzgerald]

Oh good! Better to be over staffed than under in that situation


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[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.

 

[Gudda]

Looks good, how much for a set? HA Good replacement for the flimsy Belltechs

 

[RockRanger]

Looks good, how much for a set? HA Good replacement for the flimsy Belltechs

I could make another set. Let me first get these mounted up and do a few test runs with before I sell any. If you are serous send me a PM and I will keep you updated on progress.

 

[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

 

[Rowdy Fitzgerald]

I did the same with my leaf packs. It makes the truck look better plus it helps keep the squeaks down.


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[country0001]

I love that home made brake. That's awesome