I hate bondo....

vectorsc

Adventurer
Just bizarre. Fuel economy went up. A good bit. My tires are 33.5" instead of the stock 30.5". As such, I have to multiply this by 1.098 to get the real mileage.

I also actually managed 19.1 at the end of the trip, but I couldn't get a non blurry picture in the dark. Effectively 21mpg highway.

I took the trip the other way just to make sure it wasn't a big downhill doing it - I got 19 mpg that run.

The previous mpg was 14.2.

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vectorsc

Adventurer
Fabricated the other mount for the passenger side hood shock to deal with the weight up there.

040e88b4d0b5141ec5b60d398c41e88f.jpg



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McBride

Adventurer
You've done a really nice job. Great to see its a "family job". I like your use of the hood. The sight line over the hood of a G is awesome and you can have a lot of gear up there with no impaired visibility - just keep the tall stuff closer to the windshield? Many Expo folks tend to load up their roofs, cargo area and rear door/bumper and end up very heavy on the rear axle - hood racks make a lot of sense and I'm sure well be seeing more of them. And it can be used for gathering firewood when your a mile from camp - most established sites have been pretty well cleaned out.

Secure the gear well, like you've done, and its no riskier than carrying it anywhere else.

Again, nicely done.
 

vectorsc

Adventurer
Roof Rack

The main hood rack issue is the weight. I had to add the second gas strut for the hood to stay in the up position safely, and you have to do some gymnastics to get it open. I don't have any visibility concerns oddly. It obscures almost nothing.

I think a more aerodynamic truck might lose a tonne of fuel efficiency this way as well.

You've done a really nice job. Great to see its a "family job". I like your use of the hood. The sight line over the hood of a G is awesome and you can have a lot of gear up there with no impaired visibility - just keep the tall stuff closer to the windshield? Many Expo folks tend to load up their roofs, cargo area and rear door/bumper and end up very heavy on the rear axle - hood racks make a lot of sense and I'm sure well be seeing more of them. And it can be used for gathering firewood when your a mile from camp - most established sites have been pretty well cleaned out.

Secure the gear well, like you've done, and its no riskier than carrying it anywhere else.

Again, nicely done.
 

otiswesty

Regular guy
Interesting work you have done. I pondered the hood mounted second spare when I first had a 460 after giving up on the LR Defender concept.

Hopefully the paint will hold up, otherwise some more black trim paint on the exposed surfaces is a good interim solution. Also, those rocker pads are there for a reason.
These are great trucks, the m113 is an amazing high mileage motor requiring minimal maintenance.

Worst case scenario, let it rust and chip and just drive the ******** out of it.:bike_rider:
 

vectorsc

Adventurer
Easy touch up..

The thing I have noted about this tan paint is touch ups just blend right in with no work really. I put a ding in it already dropping something off the roof rack and you can't tell anything happened with 1 minute and an artists paint brush.

I am going to have 5" of 3/16 steel plate bent into the shape of the rocker panel, and then powder coat it. The holes that are there for the plastic screw inserts will get used for rivet nuts to hold the 5" steel plate on, and I will countersink some m6 bolts into the plate to make it work. The plate will go down over the pinch weld and be screwed into that as well.



Interesting work you have done. I pondered the hood mounted second spare when I first had a 460 after giving up on the LR Defender concept.

Hopefully the paint will hold up, otherwise some more black trim paint on the exposed surfaces is a good interim solution. Also, those rocker pads are there for a reason.
These are great trucks, the m113 is an amazing high mileage motor requiring minimal maintenance.

Worst case scenario, let it rust and chip and just drive the ******** out of it.:bike_rider:
 

vectorsc

Adventurer
Well, the truck lite LEDs and Porsche 944 buckets are in. Looks good and works good.

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