What Did You Do With Your Rig Today?

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HIALT2D

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Lov'in my new penthouse top from Colorado Camper Van. The guys at CCV did a great job. Everything was finished very cleanly and worked perfectly.

Being 6'-5" tall, I went with the high top. I love the added head room (I can actually sit up in bed) and longer bed length (7'). I also love that we can store all bedding in the top while it's down, which saves a ton of room below.

I went with the insulation package and was glad I did as the first night testing everything out it was 26 degrees. I slept fairly comfortably in a good quality sleeping bag and no heater, although it will be one of the first items added.

Next is a seat upgrade, then some interior cabinets, fridge, stove, port-a-potty…
 

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Lanlubber In Remembrance

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Lov'in my new penthouse top from Colorado Camper Van. The guys at CCV did a great job. Everything was finished very cleanly and worked perfectly.

Being 6'-5" tall, I went with the high top. I love the added head room (I can actually sit up in bed) and longer bed length (7'). I also love that we can store all bedding in the top while it's down, which saves a ton of room below.

I went with the insulation package and was glad I did as the first night testing everything out it was 26 degrees. I slept fairly comfortably in a good quality sleeping bag and no heater, although it will be one of the first items added.

Next is a seat upgrade, then some interior cabinets, fridge, stove, port-a-potty…
Great rig ! Is it 4x4 as well ?
I just ordered a ton of parts for project "Adventure Machine", my 1989 ford Bronco is going to get some sticks, 3 more of them to be exact.
WHAT, is a stick please ? Do you have a thread on your "Adventure Machine" ?
 
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MOAK

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With the exception of my past race cars, I don't do major front end work on my daily drivers. I prefer to leave most of that work to people who have the equipment. I'll do brakes and hub bearing repairs, or tie rod end replacement, but only when I do not change caster, camber, toe in or toe out settings. I recently added 2" lift spacers. The supplier said it wouldn't change the alignment. After driving for about 300 miles I feel a very mild tremor at 40 - 50 mph. So I'm going to have the front end checked for alignment. It's time for a tire re-balance and rotation anyway.

Were your tie rod ends shot after just 75k miles when the first ones lasted beyond 200k ?
At 204,000 a shop in Atlanta did a semi resto on all things steering, suspension, front axle rebuild, all new door seals, all new rubber under the hood, new breather lines, water pump, alternator, etc etc. I purchased the vehicle with 206,000 on it after a ton of research. In hindsight I could have elected to simply replace the ends for my first time . But yes, with the 285 tires I can expect 60-75 out of a set. Drag links were done only a couple months ago. The 80 has solid front axle so all we do is toe in. With 33s 1/8” tow in is factory spec. I’ve been doing my own alignments for decades.
 
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RoarinRow

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Lov'in my new penthouse top from Colorado Camper Van. The guys at CCV did a great job. Everything was finished very cleanly and worked perfectly.

Being 6'-5" tall, I went with the high top. I love the added head room (I can actually sit up in bed) and longer bed length (7'). I also love that we can store all bedding in the top while it's down, which saves a ton of room below.

I went with the insulation package and was glad I did as the first night testing everything out it was 26 degrees. I slept fairly comfortably in a good quality sleeping bag and no heater, although it will be one of the first items added.

Next is a seat upgrade, then some interior cabinets, fridge, stove, port-a-potty…
Wow that's one nice penthouse!
 
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M Rose

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WHAT, is a stick please ? Do you have a thread on your "Adventure Machine" ?
Going to swap the automatic Ford AOD 4 speed Transmission to a manual Ford ZF5 5 speed Transmission (stick 1), then swapping out the stock Borg Warner 1356 transfer case (has 1 stick) for a NP 208 range box (front half of a NP 208 Transfer case, 1 stick) in front of a modified NP205 transfer case (2 sticks, or more commonly called twin stick). So all in all this gives me 4 sticks, but already had one so only 3 new sticks.

I know you will have more questions Landlubber, but I will try to address the most obvious ones first.

Why swap the 4 speed overdive automatic transmission to a 5 speed overdrive manual transmission? First reason is I like to be able to lock the transmission in the gear I want/need for the given road and engine conditions and while I could put a manual valve body in the automatic transmission there are draw backs such as not able to skip gears fastly. Another reason is the AOD has a first gear ratio of 2.40:1 while the ZF5 has a steep first gear ratio of 5.76:1 ratio (the larger the number the lower the gear, the more torque you put to the ground). Then the AOD has an overdrive ratio of 0.67:1 ratio for overdrive, and the ZF5 Ffith gear is 0.76:1 ratio (the smaller the first number, the more efficient lower the engine rpm to maintain 55 mph = better gas mileage). So the trade off for better fuel economy vs better crawling power won out for me.

Next I talked about range boxes, twin sticks, and transfer cases. All of us here pretty much know what a transfer case does. But just for a refresher :
A transfer case is a case of gears designed to split (or transfer) the power of the engine to both the front and rear of the vehicle. We also know not all transfer cases are createdequal. Some are stronger than others, some of them have low range (some do not), some are full time gear boxes while others are part time (AWD vs 2wd/4wd) some have axuillary ports for adding things like a Power Take Off, some are gear driven, while others are chain driven, and lastly the case itself can be made from different kinds of metals.
The 1987-1996 Ford Bronco came with a few different variants of the BW1345 and 1356 transfer cases. But we are only going to talk about the BW1356. First off its one of the strongest chain driven transfer cases with one huge flaw; the back half of the case is made out of magnesium while the front half is made out of aluminum. The magnesium is a very brittle material and off roading means a great chance to crack it. Especially since the case hangs lower than the front differential. Another drawback to the transfer case is the underdrive (low range) gear ratio at a mild of 2.61:1. Another thing to consider is there arent any twin stick conversions offered at this time. And lastly there aren't any replacement low gear options available for it.
The 3rd thing I touched on was twin sticking (adding a second shift lever to the transfer case). There are only a very small amount of transfer cases that allow for thisconversions. The Dana 300, NP205, and some Toyota cases allow this mod. So what exactly is the benefits of adding the second snifter. Well the single lever gives you the option of Rear 2wd high range, 4wd High range, Neutral, and 4wd low range. When you twin stick you now have the ablity to select fwd high, fwd low, rwd high, rwd low, 4wd high and 4wd low. Each stick controls an axle, allowing the axle to be engaged in high, neutral or low range. There is a saftey mechanism built into the conversions that wont allow one axle to be in low range and the other in high range. to understand the full benifit of being able to control each axle independently research "front digs".
The last thing I mentioned was the doubler (also known as the crawl box) box (4th shift lever or stick if you will). Like I said earlier the BW1356 has a low range of 2.61:1 which is ok, it can be better when given 4:1 and even lower gears are options for certaia low range n transfer cases. But going with such steep gears comes a huge price to pay, your top speed in low range is greatly reduced. Adding a doubler using the same range box as the original transfer case (if this is an option, as in some cases there isnt a kit or adapter to do it) Doubles the low range when the range box is engahed. On the BW1356 this would give me a low range of 5.22:1 low range with the doubler engaged (2.6:1 x 2, or low range doubled). With the doubler disengage (high range) I would have the stock 2.61 low range available. Now all of these numbers are using stock BW1356 gear ratios, but I said im getting rid of the stock transfer case and using a NP208 trnasfercase mated up to an NP205 amking a 208/205 doubler. the Np 208 has a fsctory 2.76 low range, but a gear swap can achieve a 4.0:1 low range then backed behind the 205 with a 1.96:1 (may as well say 2.0) low range would give us a 8:1 low range with both transfer cases set to low range or 4:1 with the range box in low and the 205 set to high, or a 2.0 low range with the 208 range box set in high and the 205 in low range. Then combined that with the 5 speed transmission and now you have 15 forward speeds and 4 reverse speeds.
 

M Rose

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@Landlubber, I dont have a thread on my rig yet. I am waiting until I get all the stuff for my conversions in and springtime when I cam finaly start wrenching on it to start the build thread.
 

AL.WVSN

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Ohhhhh boy, big car payments. Hope it dosent keep you from your travels. That happened to me years ago when I bought a passenger van for my wife.
Assuming your not loading either ! :-)
Work Smarter and harder so we can do things we want and need... And if you want to support me buying a new defender.... go to wantvsneed.com ahhahahahha
 

Lanlubber In Remembrance

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Going to swap the automatic Ford AOD 4 speed Transmission to a manual Ford ZF5 5 speed Transmission (stick 1), then swapping out the stock Borg Warner 1356 transfer case (has 1 stick) for a NP 208 range box (front half of a NP 208 Transfer case, 1 stick) in front of a modified NP205 transfer case (2 sticks, or more commonly called twin stick). So all in all this gives me 4 sticks, but already had one so only 3 new sticks.

I know you will have more questions Landlubber, but I will try to address the most obvious ones first.

Why swap the 4 speed overdive automatic transmission to a 5 speed overdrive manual transmission? First reason is I like to be able to lock the transmission in the gear I want/need for the given road and engine conditions and while I could put a manual valve body in the automatic transmission there are draw backs such as not able to skip gears fastly. Another reason is the AOD has a first gear ratio of 2.40:1 while the ZF5 has a steep first gear ratio of 5.76:1 ratio (the larger the number the lower the gear, the more torque you put to the ground). Then the AOD has an overdrive ratio of 0.67:1 ratio for overdrive, and the ZF5 Ffith gear is 0.76:1 ratio (the smaller the first number, the more efficient lower the engine rpm to maintain 55 mph = better gas mileage). So the trade off for better fuel economy vs better crawling power won out for me.

Next I talked about range boxes, twin sticks, and transfer cases. All of us here pretty much know what a transfer case does. But just for a refresher :
A transfer case is a case of gears designed to split (or transfer) the power of the engine to both the front and rear of the vehicle. We also know not all transfer cases are createdequal. Some are stronger than others, some of them have low range (some do not), some are full time gear boxes while others are part time (AWD vs 2wd/4wd) some have axuillary ports for adding things like a Power Take Off, some are gear driven, while others are chain driven, and lastly the case itself can be made from different kinds of metals.
The 1987-1996 Ford Bronco came with a few different variants of the BW1345 and 1356 transfer cases. But we are only going to talk about the BW1356. First off its one of the strongest chain driven transfer cases with one huge flaw; the back half of the case is made out of magnesium while the front half is made out of aluminum. The magnesium is a very brittle material and off roading means a great chance to crack it. Especially since the case hangs lower than the front differential. Another drawback to the transfer case is the underdrive (low range) gear ratio at a mild of 2.61:1. Another thing to consider is there arent any twin stick conversions offered at this time. And lastly there aren't any replacement low gear options available for it.
The 3rd thing I touched on was twin sticking (adding a second shift lever to the transfer case). There are only a very small amount of transfer cases that allow for thisconversions. The Dana 300, NP205, and some Toyota cases allow this mod. So what exactly is the benefits of adding the second snifter. Well the single lever gives you the option of Rear 2wd high range, 4wd High range, Neutral, and 4wd low range. When you twin stick you now have the ablity to select fwd high, fwd low, rwd high, rwd low, 4wd high and 4wd low. Each stick controls an axle, allowing the axle to be engaged in high, neutral or low range. There is a saftey mechanism built into the conversions that wont allow one axle to be in low range and the other in high range. to understand the full benifit of being able to control each axle independently research "front digs".
The last thing I mentioned was the doubler (also known as the crawl box) box (4th shift lever or stick if you will). Like I said earlier the BW1356 has a low range of 2.61:1 which is ok, it can be better when given 4:1 and even lower gears are options for certaia low range n transfer cases. But going with such steep gears comes a huge price to pay, your top speed in low range is greatly reduced. Adding a doubler using the same range box as the original transfer case (if this is an option, as in some cases there isnt a kit or adapter to do it) Doubles the low range when the range box is engahed. On the BW1356 this would give me a low range of 5.22:1 low range with the doubler engaged (2.6:1 x 2, or low range doubled). With the doubler disengage (high range) I would have the stock 2.61 low range available. Now all of these numbers are using stock BW1356 gear ratios, but I said im getting rid of the stock transfer case and using a NP208 trnasfercase mated up to an NP205 amking a 208/205 doubler. the Np 208 has a fsctory 2.76 low range, but a gear swap can achieve a 4.0:1 low range then backed behind the 205 with a 1.96:1 (may as well say 2.0) low range would give us a 8:1 low range with both transfer cases set to low range or 4:1 with the range box in low and the 205 set to high, or a 2.0 low range with the 208 range box set in high and the 205 in low range. Then combined that with the 5 speed transmission and now you have 15 forward speeds and 4 reverse speeds.
No, I don't have any more questions and I think you for all this info. I had not realized you were going for an extreme off road vehicle. All those STICKS indicates where your going with it. Overland is an understatement in your case. Overmountain more describes your rig. Years ago I had multiple transmissions in my circle track race car to give me choices of gears for different length of race tracks. (1/4- 3/8-1/2 and one mile tracks) it was much easier to have gear changes in the tranny selection than to change rear gears from track to track. So, I understand the process of multiple transmission gears. I understand many rock crawlers do something similar but for different reasons. Good luck there !
 

Lanlubber In Remembrance

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Im doing this more or less because I can. If I hadn't found a killer deal on all of the expensive parts to this conversion it would probably have never gotten started.
Michael, just keep in mind that the more equipment you have the more complicated and the more likely for breakage. Simple but functional is a good path. It's not how much you have but how much you need !
 
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M Rose

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Michael, just keep in mind that the more equipment you have the more complicated and the more likely for breakage. Simple but functional is a good path. It's not how much you have but how much you need !
ohh I agree with you, I may just swap the the transmission and an atlass 4 transfercase, although I loose my front wheel drive only option wich was along the main reason for wanting to twin stick. Figure if I have to open the t-case up once, might as well do it all from the start. also the reason for adding the rang box is to help lengthen the ZF5/t-case length to closer to that of the AOD/BW1356 combo that is coming out so I dont have to mess with drive shaft lengths. I know more parts to break, but also stronger parts than stock. And since im never going to pu his behind any real horsepower, big tires, or extreeme abuse, it should hold up real well.
 
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HazMatt79

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Finished installing the Yaesu FTM-400XDR radio tonight. So far pretty happy with the install even with a Fender mount. Ran the coax through passenger side firewall to keep from coiling the cable and to keep away from the power wire that I ran on the driver side. Also, I took some pictures of the distribution block I setup a few weeks ago that I ended up connecting the power and ground to for the radio. Since I was fishing wires, I ran 8 more through the firewall for six different future switches and a power and ground for future GMRS radio. I may need to provide a better ground for the antenna with a flat strap. Fairly productive evening, mostly working with all the freebie Harbor Freight LED lights for lighting in the dark lol.IMG_3157.JPG
 

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Lanlubber In Remembrance

Rank V
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2,827
Mimbres, NM, USA
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Jim
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covey sr
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ohh I agree with you, I may just swap the the transmission and an atlass 4 transfercase, although I loose my front wheel drive only option wich was along the main reason for wanting to twin stick. Figure if I have to open the t-case up once, might as well do it all from the start. also the reason for adding the rang box is to help lengthen the ZF5/t-case length to closer to that of the AOD/BW1356 combo that is coming out so I dont have to mess with drive shaft lengths. I know more parts to break, but also stronger parts than stock. And since im never going to pu his behind any real horsepower, big tires, or extreeme abuse, it should hold up real well.
Well I feel good about what your doing because you know what your doing, know how to do it. That makes it a little better to know that you know what you have and what you want and how to do it. The worse thing that can happen is that your all torn down and something stops your work for awhile and it takes months to get it all back together. I think you'll be okay though. Good luck, wish I could help you, that's a lot of heavy stuff for a one man fix !
 

Lanlubber In Remembrance

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Mimbres, NM, USA
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Jim
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covey sr
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none - BREAKER BREAKER HAND HELD CB AND WALKIE TALKIE
Finished installing the Yaesu FTM-400XDR radio tonight. So far pretty happy with the install even with a Fender mount. Ran the coax through passenger side firewall to keep from coiling the cable and to keep away from the power wire that I ran on the driver side. Also, I took some pictures of the distribution block I setup a few weeks ago that I ended up connecting the power and ground to for the radio. Since I was fishing wires, I ran 8 more through the firewall for six different future switches and a power and ground for future GMRS radio. I may need to provide a better ground for the antenna with a flat strap. Fairly productive evening, mostly working with all the freebie Harbor Freight LED lights for lighting in the dark lol.View attachment 129771
Really like the illumination, My old eyes would love to have that set up.
 

HazMatt79

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Really like the illumination, My old eyes would love to have that set up.
My middle-aged eyes love the illumination lol. I even turned it down one notch from default. Very good contrast. Just wish it had an auto illuminate input from the truck for when the lights are on though.
 

M Rose

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Luckily I have frien
Well I feel good about what your doing because you know what your doing, know how to do it. That makes it a little better to know that you know what you have and what you want and how to do it. The worse thing that can happen is that your all torn down and something stops your work for awhile and it takes months to get it all back together. I think you'll be okay though. Good luck, wish I could help you, that's a lot of heavy stuff for a one man fix !
Well I feel good about what your doing because you know what your doing, know how to do it. That makes it a little better to know that you know what you have and what you want and how to do it. The worse thing that can happen is that your all torn down and something stops your work for awhile and it takes months to get it all back together. I think you'll be okay though. Good luck, wish I could help you, that's a lot of heavy stuff for a one man fix !
Lucky for me I was an auto technician for close to 20 years, so I picked up some tricks a long the way, made some very good friends that owe me some favors ;), and have access to heavy lifting devices like car lifts, transmission jacks, and even forklifts. Also a lot of though has gone into this swap thus far, and I am gathering all the parts needed so the only thing that is going to hold up the final swap process is going to be the transfercase support brace and possibly the rear drive line. Im going to be rebuilding the transmission, and the NP205 transfer case at the same time modifying it, and swappong the low range gear reducion into the NP208, before bolting it all together. I make it sound easy, bu there is a lot more work involved than that.
Also for said friends, they have already gone down this rabit whole in 1s and 2nd gen Broncos. This will be their first 4th Gen though.
any way Im going to leave I at this for now until the stuff gets unloaded from the truck nex monh. Then I will add pictures and a write up, along wih start my build hread.
 

Lanlubber In Remembrance

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Jim
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covey sr
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My middle-aged eyes love the illumination lol. I even turned it down one notch from default. Very good contrast. Just wish it had an auto illuminate input from the truck for when the lights are on though.
Not quite sure what you mean about input from truck and what that has to do with the headlights. I'm not up on all these new electronic terms and technology. For me it's getting to be annoying to have to pull over to the side of the road just to make station changes to my radio. Land Rover Discovery vehicle have too many electronic devises and control's on the dash. I have to pull over and search for what I'm trying to do. It's the only vehicle I have where I have these problems. I couldn't even find my drivers seat controls today until I got out of the thing and look all over for it. They hid the controls where you cant see them from a sitting position. I've only had it since Feb. and it's not my daily so I have yet to figure out how the damn thing's work on it. I love the truck but the English do things a lot different than us. It' s a dang computer on wheels and me and computers dont work real good together. LOL
 

M Rose

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Finished installing the Yaesu FTM-400XDR radio tonight. So far pretty happy with the install even with a Fender mount. Ran the coax through passenger side firewall to keep from coiling the cable and to keep away from the power wire that I ran on the driver side. Also, I took some pictures of the distribution block I setup a few weeks ago that I ended up connecting the power and ground to for the radio. Since I was fishing wires, I ran 8 more through the firewall for six different future switches and a power and ground for future GMRS radio. I may need to provide a better ground for the antenna with a flat strap. Fairly productive evening, mostly working with all the freebie Harbor Freight LED lights for lighting in the dark lol.View attachment 129771
That is a very clean install. I dig your distribution center. What did you use for the waterproof case?