[Sid]

Installed UORP Packout plates and some Milwaukee Packout gear

Also put together a tool kit for the trail. Big thanks to BigCountry48 for the storage idea

 

[Sid]

A work in progress. I still need to fill the channels with nylon or hdpe to prevent damage to my tent or ez-up, but this is me trying to keep the honest people honest. The armrest isn’t mounted yet, I’m waiting for more stealth feet. The 3-way locked brace has about 1/8” of play total in the Packout slots and holds the 2 stacks behind the seats in the UORP plates. The brace to the cooler is rigid, the channel from left to right interlocks with 1/4” flat stock fit tight inside the channel, and keeps the cooler held forward in it’s plate. A thief could still get his prize, but he’d have to break sh*t to get them out. If we are riding, the front brace can be removed and it’s space at the lock is filled with a steel spacer, that way we can access the cooler during a ride while the rear brace still acts as an anti-rattle/misc equipment rack. I’ll need to get another armrest pad so there will be one in place for either scenario. I tried to make it as strong as possible while keeping weight down, using a single lock, and incorporating a tent rack with tie-downs. If I get to a point where I’m sure I like it, I’ll either paint it or have it powder coated to protect it from the elements. Like I said, it’s a work in progress.

 

[Sid]

I decided to change things up. I had some material that's been stored in my shop and figured I'd use it and come up with something better. The new setup keeps things more "out of sight, out of mind" and gives me a solid platform to use as another mounting surface or space to conveniently tie down tents, ez-ups, etc (or a kid's 50cc dirt bike like I had to do yesterday). The space between the packouts is taken by my recovery kit bag. Now I have to figure out where to install 2 rotopax mounts for 1 gallon containers. I want to be able to carry 1 gallon of 91 and 1 gallon of 2-stroke mix. Trying to make the most of the space available. Let me know what you guys think. Thanks!

 

[Sid]

I wanted to share my latest improvement while it’s fresh in my mind. I installed my Bandit tender springs on the 14th, but my wife had surgery on the 7th and can’t do anything rough or strenuous, so we haven’t gone wheeling for 3 weekends straight and I haven’t had a chance to really test them out. I’ve wanted to get them dialed in because my wife’s checkup went well and she can finally go wheeling next weekend. I had a couple of hours today and someone my wife’s weight available to do a little testing, but I planned to make it a short trip because I didn’t want to have to wash it 🤔….
View attachment 106321
🙃 Well, the springs worked great anyway.
My rears are still set at the initial setting - no end play, plus 5 turns of preload - and I started the fronts at - no end play plus 17 turns of preload. I’ve adjusted the fronts 2 additional times to get my desired ride height after doing some figure eights, braking and accelerating in the backyard. I stopped short of the typical “1/2 higher than the rear” because I wanted to keep my sag as close as I could to 30% without the front end diving on deceleration. The fronts are now set at 27 turns of preload My ride height, after beating on it a bit, is at 14 3/4” Front and 14 5/8” rear. For the testing today, I took it to a local trail that has a good variety of 30-40 mph whoops, high speed corners in loose and hard pack, and some sections of hard pack with rock croppings sticking up 3-12”, a few steep hill climbs, and low speed off camber stuff. The machine feels much more stable even with a higher center of gravity, it’s kind of messing with my brain lol. The same set of 7 whoops that used to buck the a$$ really hard and side step the rear, felt buttery smooth. No more bucking. They’re a big improvement, it felt better in every way.

 

[Sid]

Here’s the post test pic…

 

[Sid]

And here is after 3 hours of cleaning….

 

[Sid]

Tonight’s project was to build a Reese type hitch that wouldn’t stick out or get me hung up. As you all know, the factory receiver is way too low to be useful for anything but a snatch point, and I don’t want to be so limited if I want to haul something extra or have to haul a bike back to the trailhead, which happened earlier this summer. I threw my little cargo rack on for now, so if 7 year old granddaughter gets tired on the trail this weekend, I can haul her bike and she can hop in with us.

 

[Old man]

Tonight’s project was to build a Reese type hitch that wouldn’t stick out or get me hung up. As you all know, the factory receiver is way too low to be useful for anything but a snatch point, and I don’t want to be so limited if I want to haul something extra or have to haul a bike back to the trailhead, which happened earlier this summer. I threw my little cargo rack on for now, so if 7 year old granddaughter gets tired on the trail this weekend, I can haul her bike and she can hop in with us.

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Very very nice Sid 👍 Thankyou for sharing. Getting ready to put the Bandit tenders on myself looking forward to it . I wish you good luck with your wife hope and 🙏 she will recover 100% Have fun come home safe 😎👍🏁

 

[Old man]

Looking good 😎👍🏁

 

[Sid]

Very very nice Sid 👍 Thankyou for sharing. Getting ready to put the Bandit tenders on myself looking forward to it . I wish you good luck with your wife hope and 🙏 she will recover 100% Have fun come home safe 😎👍🏁

You're going to love those Bandits!! I'm happy to help if you run into a snag.
Thank you, we're on the downhill side now. 5 surgeries in 2 years, but she's doing great! She's ready to get out and start enjoying life again!

 

[Old man]

You're going to love those Bandits!! I'm happy to help if you run into a snag.
Thank you, we're on the downhill side now. 5 surgeries in 2 years, but she's doing great! She's ready to get out and start enjoying life again!

That's great to hear. 2 years wow that's awhile. So glad to hear she is getting better. Enjoy every moment the 2 of you can. Have fun come home safe 😎👍

 

[WNC1000]

Awesome job with the bed cover and hitch!! That’s would be huge to not have rack drag the ground.

If you do not mind was this using standard grade 8 hardware or did you also weld it to the frame rail? And is that a hitch meant for utility/camper trailers?

 

[Sid]

Awesome job with the bed cover and hitch!! That’s would be huge to not have rack drag the ground.

If you do not mind was this using standard grade 8 hardware or did you also weld it to the frame rail? And is that a hitch meant for utility/camper trailers?

Thank you! I really built it for attachments like cargo racks, dirt bike carriers, etc. to haul extra gear or recover a dirt bike without dragging the ground everywhere on the trail. A small utility trailer would be fine, but I'd probably need about a 20" drop hitch haha. I don't think I'd try hauling a camper trailer too far, I'm sure my receiver would handle it, but the bed rails might not be up for that task without some structural reinforcement. For what I intend to use it for, my testing consisted of a 4' long piece of 2" square tube stuck in the receiver, and then my 27 year old son (230 lbs) and I (220 lbs) jumped up and down on it together. Science 😁. I wanted the receiver to be removable, so I matched the factory hole layout on the bottom of the bed rails and drilled to continue those holes through the top of the rectangular tube. It’s through-bolted with M10 grade 10.9 bolts, roughly the equivalent proof load/tensile/yield as grade 8, just wanted to keep everything metric.

 

[WNC1000]

Thank you! I really built it for attachments like cargo racks, dirt bike carriers, etc. to haul extra gear or recover a dirt bike without dragging the ground everywhere on the trail. A small utility trailer would be fine, but I'd probably need about a 20" drop hitch haha. I don't think I'd try hauling a camper trailer too far, I'm sure my receiver would handle it, but the bed rails might not be up for that task without some structural reinforcement. For what I intend to use it for, my testing consisted of a 4' long piece of 2" square tube stuck in the receiver, and then my 27 year old son (230 lbs) and I (220 lbs) jumped up and down on it together. Science 😁. I wanted the receiver to be removable, so I matched the factory hole layout on the bottom of the bed rails and drilled to continue those holes through the top of the rectangular tube. It’s through-bolted with M10 grade 10.9 bolts, roughly the equivalent proof load/tensile/yield as grade 8, just wanted to keep everything metric.

That’s great, more than strong enough for most use! I use factory for a bike rack and we have a hitch basket that I’ve been hesitant to try since it’s so low. I think my wording was weird but I meant is that model hitch meant to be installed on a trailer or from a specific model of car?

 

[Sid]

That’s great, more than strong enough for most use! I use factory for a bike rack and we have a hitch basket that I’ve been hesitant to try since it’s so low. I think my wording was weird but I meant is that model hitch meant to be installed on a trailer or from a specific model of car?

Oh. I bought a small 2” step receiver tube from harbor freight. I built it with the step flipped upside down in case I bottom it on something. I cut the rest of the parts out of 2” square tube and 3” angle and welded it up.

this one….

3500 lb. Step Bumper Receiver

Amazing deals on this 3500Lb Step Bumper Receiver at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.

www.harborfreight.com

 

[WNC1000]

Oh. I bought a small 2” step receiver tube from harbor freight. I built it with the step flipped upside down in case I bottom it on something. I cut the rest of the parts out of 2” square tube and 3” angle and welded it up.

this one….

3500 lb. Step Bumper Receiver

Amazing deals on this 3500Lb Step Bumper Receiver at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.

www.harborfreight.com

Oh baller! Nice paint and welds!! Those pictures looked like it was a factory hitch
Thank you for the idea, going to copy this weekend!

 

[Sid]

I installed this a while back when installing my whips, but I don’t think I ever posted it. The MBWhip instructions said to tie into the tail light plug, but i didn’t want any accessories drawing from the factory circuits.

 

[Sid]

My wife and I have been wanting some bass to go along with the 200w worth of mids and tweets. The SSV system is loud enough, it just doesn’t have enough oomph. I’ve been thinking about buying the SSV subwoofer, but after seeing a lot of negatives about them leaking, shorting out, or not lasting long for one reason or the next, I decided to do something a little different and use some of that extra space under the high ceiling. I had a pioneer TS-WX1210A loaded subwoofer, so I stripped it out of the stock box and went to work with the room I had, the specifications, and a sheet of MDF. I’ve been a little under the weather this week, so this took me way more time than I’d like to admit, but the sound I heard coming from it tonight…priceless. The box is painted with 4 coats of flexseal and the subwoofer cone and surround has been soaked with scotchgard several times and allowed to dry between coats. I made a lexan cover for the amp and made a rubber gasket for between the lexan and the box. This was a ridiculous amount of work for some bass, but it sounds better than any of the add-on subs I’ve heard so far. I’m probably into it about $400 in parts ($180 amplified sub), hardware and consumables.

 

[Sid]

My subwoofer box soak test. I left it playing while soaking it with the garden hose haha, go big or go home I guess. All went well.

 

[Sid]

Today’s project was the button-less soft cab install.