Point Five Ambo Build

[patoz]

Tom, you had me confused for a minute with your last post, but then I realized that was directed at Jeremy and his E350 van.

Since you have all that equipment, how about I buy a kit and have it shipped to you? Then you can find a 1999-2004 F250 for mock up and build it for me. I know Momma is going to make you come back down here this summer, so you can bring it with you.

How about it buddy, does that sound like a deal? I'll even buy the beer when you get here! :beer::friday:


Update: I just found their Facebook Page and am looking into these more!

 

[tgreening]

That's the year split, 1999-2004? Too bad it wasn't another year longer. I've got an '05 F-350 and might've taken you up on that. Let's see, a guinea pig bumper to practice on before doing the main "this-ones-mine" event, and free beer? Sheeeet.... Sign me up bubba!

Seriously though, I'm torn between pulling the trigger on one of those, or trying to modi-fab the factory bumper into a winch bumper. I like that the factory hugs the body without sticking out there like Pinocchios nose, which most aftermarket winch bumpers do, but not sure how far back between the frame rails (if at all) I can tuck a winch and still make use of the factory metal.

Like I need to dive into another project.

 

[patoz]

Tom, since you mentioned the 2005 F350, I assume that's what you want the winch bumper for and not the Ambo, right? If so, have you thought about something like this:

It's the Warn Hidden Winch Kit. With this kit, you can mount a WARN winch using factory frame holes while retaining the factory bumper. It requires you also purchase a vehicle specific Skirt Kit. This kit only moves the factory bumper out about 5", and no modification to the vehicle itself so it can be returned back to stock later.

Here is the kit you would need from Amazon. It and the Skirt Kit together are $762.17.

I purchased one for my 2004 F250 from Amazon about a year ago, but after fighting with it for about a week, I sent it back. Nothing wrong with it, but when you're trying to install it by yourself, working in the yard with 90° temps. and no lifts or even a hard surface to roll a floor jack on, it got to be a real pain. Besides that, trying to get all of the pieces lined up, all the bolts in place when the nuts are on the inside, then the bumper lined back up with the body, really requires two people. But, with your setup, you shouldn't have any problem.

For me, it was just temporary anyway, so I went with the front reciever and portable winch setup that I have now.

 

[patoz]

Pat have you looked at MOVE bumpers? They're a diy bumper kit but for the price you could pay someone to weld it up and still be WAY under most other bolt on deals. I'll be danged if I'll pay $1,500+ for a stinkin bumper just to hold a winch.

Tom, I sent them an email, but never got a reply, so I guess they don't want my business!

 

[tgreening]

That's not encouraging. I don't have a lot of patience for companies that don't respond to customers. Poor poor business practice.

 

[patoz]

Well, here was my project for this afternoon. I built a synthetic winch line for my Warn XD9000i winch mounted in a cradle to be used in the front or rear of my F250 tow vehicle.

The cable is 100' of 3/8" AmSteel-Blue Dyneema AS-78, 19,600lb. Breaking Strength, Gray in color, with a 19,600lb. breaking strength. The eye is a Locked Brummel Eye Splice, which I did myself. The thimble is for 3/8" line and made out of Stainless. The heat shrink is 1" with adhesive inside. The orange abrasion guards are 1" tubular nylon webbing, and the anchor lug is a 1 gage tinned battery terminal.











I think I would rather make up electrical wiring harnesses; easier and less time consuming.

BTW Bob, the foil idea worked great!

 

[patoz]

That's not encouraging. I don't have a lot of patience for companies that don't respond to customers. Poor poor business practice.

Same here!

 

[rlrenz]

I'm impressed, Pat. Splicing a 12 part line takes a bit of time, and a lot of practice. I have the tools for 12 part line, but I've never had the ambition to practice on 12 part. AmSteel is amazing stuff - I regularly see it used to tie a 130,000 ton ship to the pier, and all six lines are wound tight enough to hold the ship tight in a heavy cross wind. The same on tugs - they all rely on 12 part lines for towing.

An electrical harness can be easier - or not. I once volunteered to make a new wiring harness for an M151 Jeep (Vietnam vintage). I had the right wire, the right "bullet" terminals, the right aluminum wire numbers, and the old harness for a sample. I wound up spending an entire day by the time I had the whole thing done. Thankfully, I had an aircraft crimper that could do the terminals perfectly. If I had done the job for pay, I'd have come out fine on time and materials, but I'd have lost my shirt on a fixed price bid. It was a freebee for an Army museum, though.

The reference to foil is simple: If you wrap a piece of aluminum foil around the line (rope, for those not nautically informed) next to the heat shrink, the heat gun won't melt the line when you are shrinking the heat shrink. I like to fold a piece in half so I have a double thickness.

 

[DzlToy]

The reference to foil is simple: If you wrap a piece of aluminum foil around the line (rope, for those not nautically informed) next to the heat shrink, the heat gun won't melt the line when you are shrinking the heat shrink. I like to fold a piece in half so I have a double thickness.

Since Dyneema is not a "rope" in the traditional sense and is instead made from an Ultra High Molecular Weight Polymer (plastic), it does not take kindly to being hit with a heat gun. Cool trick, so here is a :beer: for the both of you.

 

[patoz]

Bob, I folded the foil in half and wrapped it around the rope several times, leaving a small space of air between the layers. The melting point of the line is around 300°, so this worked out fine. Actually, since the Brummel Eye Splice is self locking the heat shrink is not even really needed, but it gives it a more 'finished' appearance.

And speaking of crimpers, I'm in the market for a set(s) of hydraulic ones. I used one of those manual crimpers that you ********** with a hammer to put the anchor terminal on the end of the line, and I was not impressed with it. It'll do the job but it's ugly, and for my battery and electrical system I want something much better.

I looked at these two on Amazon last night, but what would you recommend?

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00KHY7SOA...UTF8&colid=C37WRDE8K0A2&coliid=I1Q2TO8G5DV5D6

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GXQ2E5E...UTF8&colid=C37WRDE8K0A2&coliid=I3SN4UHESDY27A

The problem with these though, the dies are numbered but the numbers don't correspond with the wire gage. Nobody can figure them out, so they just guess at the correct die by comparing size.

 

[patoz]

Since Dyneema is not a "rope" in the traditional sense and is instead made from an Ultra High Molecular Weight Polymer (plastic), it does not take kindly to being hit with a heat gun. Cool trick, so here is a :beer: for the both of you.

Thanks, and after fussing with that all afternoon I can use one!



There is still one thing I'm uncertain about. That winch comes with 125" of steel cable normally, and I'm changinging it to 100' of synthetic. Everything I've read says it will fit, but that sure looks like a big pile of line to get on that awfully small drum. We have two days of rain coming up (again), so I won't know until this weekend.

 

[rlrenz]

About a year ago, I realized that my large crimper was too large -- it can handle a terminal about an inch in diameter, and it's primarily intended for heavy industrial use. I wound up buying one from Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Best-Choice-P...1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_search_detailpage.

This one isn't too bad to work with, and the dies are identified with a set of numbers that don't appear to match up with anything. It does a decent job, but I had to do some trial crimps to figure out what die to use. I used a pull test (vise, Vise-Grip pliers, crow bar) to verify that my experiment was valid.

I also have a hand crimper for un-insulated terminals: http://www.amazon.com/Pro-Crimp-Too...1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_search_detailpage.

This is rated to handle #8 - #2 Gauge terminals. When you get into terminals over 10 gauge, insulated terminals start to get expensive very fast, and at that point, I switch to un-insulated terminals and adhesive heat shrink.

Plus, I have about a bushel of aircraft-type crimpers, but they are all for wire up to about 10 gauge maximum. I used to have an air operated crimper (4-indent), but I passed that on to a friend of mine who's an ambulance electrician, and his hands couldn't take squeezing his old crimper for 1/0 terminals any more.

 

[rlrenz]

Pat, if all else fails, and you have to chop a bit out of the line, save the splice you did, and trim from the drum connection instead.

 

[patoz]

About a year ago, I realized that my large crimper was too large -- it can handle a terminal about an inch in diameter, and it's primarily intended for heavy industrial use. I wound up buying one from Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Best-Choice-P...1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_search_detailpage.

That one looks to be the same as one that I looked at, just a different name on it. And I agree, the other one I looked at is much too big.

Pat, if all else fails, and you have to chop a bit out of the line, save the splice you did, and trim from the drum connection instead.

Oh, that was the plan before I ever started! No way am I going to redo that eye splice if I don't have to. Again, it's not hard to do, just time consuming. I will eventually buy another 50' piece of line to make an extension out of, but if I had to cut off 20+' or more of the winch line, I would just use that and it will need eyes on each end as well. However, instead of metal thimbles I may just use soft eyes reinforced with tubular webbing, since it would get very little use anyway.

 

[rlrenz]

Here's my big hog crimper --

Because it makes a 4-point crimp, the terminal and the wire have to match pretty well - but it does do the job!