over due prep

[joeyf]

So summer is right around the corner and with a big trip to California, figured I should finally get to some things I have been putting off for quite some time.

Started with tilting my seat back. Was sitting to straight up, after a long day of wheeling it felt like I was leaning forward and my back was sore. Its much better with the front up two".




With tilting the seat my sub box was to big to fit behind my seat. This gave me a reason to redo my stereo system. Got a small eight in to replace the ten.





The old amp just ran the sub. So I replaced it with one to run the six and halfs to. Put it in a sealed tackle box and got rid of the deck because with no windshield I run through them quick. It runs straight to my phone or i-pod with rca to 3.5 headphone jack.

[joeyf]

This is something I have been putting off for years. I had to limit my ram because it was to far forward and at full lock the shaft would flex back just enough, over time it would wear the outer seal and start to leak.

[joeyf]

Got some lower shock tabs welded on so I could run rear shocks again.





Even with the extra cab I have no room to store anything. This was never a concern for me because there really isn't any trails around me long enough to need to camp over night on. But going to the Con this summer it looks like i better make some room. when i ran 35's i make room under the flat bed to hold a spare. 35's are long gone so there is a big empty space I can use.

[joeyf]

With the storage done I need to mount the hilift in a new spot. Going to mount it on the frame of the bed.

[joeyf]

[joeyf]

Prep is done. Last thing was getting rear bump stops on.

[85Buckett]

Joey,


Cool Looking bed i like that it's well thought out. Any idea on what it weighs?

[joeyf]

Thanks. It's about 200 lbs more than a stock bed.

[T-Revv]

ah man so much of the same stuff i need to do my truck to get it ready for the wheeling season. Including finishing my compartmentalized flat bed. remounting my seats, and wiring in a stereo. glad to see someone getting it done   

[joeyf]

It's easy to put off the little stuff when you are wheeling close to home all year. 

[joeyf]

The dash bar is a little out of reach for the little man. It sucks not having anything to really hold onto when you are out all day. This should help quite a bit.

[joeyf]

This thing has been on the back burner since the end of summer, but it's time to put it back together. Sold the steering and it's been on jacks so I finally tackled it. New knuckles and steering.

[joeyf]

Picked up a cheap plasma so I could cut out the new notches for the ram. Moved the ram down the mount about 3" that helped get it away from the oil pan.






Chopped the excess off

[joeyf]

Went bigger with the tie rods. Had to make new tabs on the ram side because of that.






Ram didn't line up at full lock like it should but it's not that far off. Picture looks worse than it really is.

[joeyf]

Steering pump started giving me a little bit of a problem. The old reservoir is non filtered and not flushing the fluids out enough is most likely the problem. Flushed the system and got a filtered res, hopeful I cought the problem soon enough so I don't have to rebuild the pump.

[joeyf]

Started the propane conversion. Pulled the 4 port intake and 390 carb.




Stock manifold back on for propane. Hopefully finish it up tomorrow

[jimbo74]

you have 2" of suspension travel before the bumpstop?

[joeyf]

3 1/2 flat to the stop. Then they over arch whatever the stop smash down to.

[joeyf]

Didn't get much of anything done on this. Made the mixer mount and plumbed carb and mixer.





One thing I did differently than the instructions. Instead of taking the spring off the throttle screw, I just tacked a spacer in.

[joeyf]

Picked up a small tank to carry for those really long days.



Mounted the tank in the same place as the old gas tank.








Lucked out, my two big tanks just barely fit in the bed so I put the mounts you get in there.

[joeyf]

a friend picked me up a couple fiber glass tanks for dirt cheap at a swapmeet.




had the parts to make a antiwrap bar laying around for some time, so i finally made it. made it as long as i could without making a new crossbar and cutting out the stock one. ended up four foot long.





a little hard to see but i platted the sheet metal housing before i mounted the mounting plates.




found that my rear ubolts where loose and the spring bolts toast.




checked the fronts and they where good but found the passenger motor mount was broke. so i cleaned it put and welded in a 3/16 plate.






the driver side is starting to go, most likely because of the torque on it with out the passenger mount helping.