Project "Danger Ranger"

[livetoride21]

Careful with the heated garage, she may just follow you there... Can't escape from mine anywhere, suppose it's my own fault for picking up a gearhead that's as bad as if not worse than I am, lol. Does have its advantages tho, she's my worst-case-scenario analyst and she excels at it, I'd say this is probably the single reason what we build together goes fairly smoothly and then performs mostly trouble-free

haha, I'm looking forward to getting a little more heat in there so she can give me a hand and hang out more while working on the truck.

 

[livetoride21]

Got a bit of work done this weekend while working on other things. Received my HID kids for fogs and Head lamps and got them installed. They are inexpensive Xentec 6000k HID kits from ebay. I've used these before and never had an issue, and man are they bright!
Nice bright White light. The head lights are BI-XENON so they needed a little bit wiring, and the fogs were straight plug and play.

BEFORE


AFTER



Didn't get much done on the truck, finished off my front skid plate mounting (pics soon) and think I figured out my gas tank skid plate and rock sliders.
Spent the rest of the weekend making window bars for the garage as well as fixing my girlfriends exhaust. Also started drawing out the plans for the sleeping quarters.




More on this to come.

 

[XJSuperman]

So telescoping hard sides, or collapsible soft sides?

 

[livetoride21]

So telescoping hard sides, or collapsible soft sides?

The plan is collapsible with soft sides. Right now I'm just working on budgeting out everything

 

[livetoride21]

Alright, small status update. Spent some time tonight doing some ordering
Ordered everything I need to complete a one inch body lift, some 1.25" hub-centric wheel spacers, and an add a leaf. I was on the fence about the add a leaf, but I've done a lot of research, and there are mixed thoughts. I think it will be good for my purpose ( a little more payload and a little lift) but if not, it's worth a shot for 50$.
Unfortunately I haven't been able to get much done on the truck lately. Was busy Theft proofing my detached garage, and today it was a bit colder outside than I felt like working in haha


So still to come is my gas tank skid plate, and rock sliders (which I will make once my body lift is done).
Right now I have a couple things that I'm on the fence about, and I hope someone can chime in.
First thing; I'm thinking about installing a safari style snorkel for an 80 series landcruiser on the ranger. I'm debating whether it's really necessary, or if I'm just overkilling things. My thoughts are for a couple hundred bucks installed, it's worth the peace of mind if ever I were to fall into a deep hole, or have a wave of water come towards the air box. Thoughts?

Second thing; I've priced out my over-cab camper top, and unfortunately it comes out to a good about more than I really want to spend (around 1500$ Canadian) because of the current exchange rate.
I've been thinking of alternatives;
1. Build a hard shell roof top tent (72"x48") and mount on top of a lower sleeker bed topper. (about 500$ for the roof top tent, and around 2-300$ for a decent topper)
2. Build a soft roof top tent (60"x48" folded, 60"x96" unfolded), and mount on a lower sleeker bed topper (roughly same price.)\
3. Re-waterproof and marine carpet interior of current bed topper. Make screens for windows and add roof vent. Modify sleeping platform for things to be more easily accessible. (around 300$)

The biggest issue I have with my current setup, is condensation, and lack of headroom. I figure I can fix the condensation problem with a carpeted bed area, but headroom is a little harder.
If I were to modify my platform for more headroom it would mean that all my storage bins would not fit any-more.
What would you guys do in my position??

 

[4x4junkie]

If it helps your decision at all,
I don't think carpeting is what will stop a condensation issue, that's a ventilation/insulation problem. Adding the vent up top of the roof should reduce or eliminate the condensation, of course the downside is you'll have cold air coming in through any cracks/openings below (a combination of insulation and (less) venting would probably be the way to go. You'll have to make sure no air can get in behind the insulation though otherwise you'll still have condensation, it'll just be behind the insulation).
Since you're having trouble with headroom, I'd probably suggest one of the RTT options.



I simply ran my air intake up into the cowl on mine. I didn't see the need to have a big limb-catcher hanging off the side of my truck... My thinking was if I end up in water deep enough to flood over the cowl vents, I'll probably have bigger issues to worry about (such as the rig floating and then drifting downstream).


Nice work on the skidplates BTW (meant to post that earlier).

 

[XJSuperman]

Electrical will be having fits about the time you need a snorkle. I don't think youll need one with the setup you have right now.

 

[livetoride21]

Electrical will be having fits about the time you need a snorkle. I don't think youll need one with the setup you have right now.

I have-to agree with that, but its not so much to be able to do constant deep water crossings. My thinking is more that if I fall into a deep hole where my air box would be compromised, or have water splash over the hood (both of which I've had happen before) then it would save me a costly repair. Electrical can always dry out, the chances of causing major expensive damage are fairly low. But a hydrolocked engine doesn't take much.
Definitely going to take some mulling over before deciding. But I'm leaning towards the overkill approach haha

 

[livetoride21]

If it helps your decision at all,
I don't think carpeting is what will stop a condensation issue, that's a ventilation/insulation problem. Adding the vent up top of the roof should reduce or eliminate the condensation, of course the downside is you'll have cold air coming in through any cracks/openings below (a combination of insulation and (less) venting would probably be the way to go. You'll have to make sure no air can get in behind the insulation though otherwise you'll still have condensation, it'll just be behind the insulation).
Since you're having trouble with headroom, I'd probably suggest one of the RTT options.



I simply ran my air intake up into the cowl on mine. I didn't see the need to have a big limb-catcher hanging off the side of my truck... My thinking was if I end up in water deep enough to flood over the cowl vents, I'll probably have bigger issues to worry about (such as the rig floating and then drifting downstream).


Nice work on the skidplates BTW (meant to post that earlier).

Thanks for the compliments! I have to agree with the fact that the carpet wouldn't really stop the condensation. But what it would do would be stop it from dripping, and then dry out in the day time when the temperature in there is the same as outside. I've heard of others doing this as well, but I agree it really is a bandaid. I'm leaning towards the hard shell roof top tent build, but I still have-to see if the budget's there. I'm weary of building a soft roof top tent, as I really don't want to end up with something too cumbersome, or hard to dry out.

 

[livetoride21]

Well, got a little bit done this weekend. FINALLY, worked on my gas tank skid plate. Got it 75% done.



Just need to finish welding it up, and fab some brackets. the plan is to bolt into the stock gas tank straps. Once that is done, all vital organs besides my rear differential are protected underneath.
I also ordered a part that will take the offroad capability of this rig and more or less double it.
Stay tuned!

 

[Bushcoat]

Not sure what you have plans for the topper, I have been looking for a spacekap, made by fibrobec in Quebec, they are often found in kijiji for a good price. They are mega $$$ new, but sometimes they are available used. Biggest advantage is they are on.or off the truck in 5-10 minutes if you need to use the truck for other things. One guy on here had one on a ranger, bought in new Brunswick I think for a few hundred and added windows, nice interior, bed, flat screen lol. Can't remember the user name but he took a fishing trip out west with it, remembered reading the trip report on here.

 

[Bushcoat]

Search "appleyard77" , is the ranger with spacekap I was thinking of.

 

[livetoride21]

Search "appleyard77" , is the ranger with spacekap I was thinking of.

Wow, I usually hate the look of those space-caps, but that one's actually pretty sweet.
It doesn't look to be too much higher than my topper which is nice, as I want to keep the overall height down. (hence the thoughts of a pop up camper)
At the moment I think I may have resorted back to my original plan of carpeting the interior of my current shell and adding removable screens to the windows for budgetary reasons.
But thanks for the info Bushcoat, I'm going to keep an eye out for those space caps.
I did see a 3 year old ARE contractor cap for sale a week or two ago that I was thinking about taking a look at. All aluminum, Fully lockable, no see through windows. Perfect for putting a tent on top of.

 

[livetoride21]

Well, haven't got much done this week, work has been crazy.
But I still made progress, went and picked up some parts I had ordered tonight in the USA.
Picked up my 1.25" wheel spacers 4x

All the hardware for my 1" body lift, aside from lift blocks

and another front differential, which I'll explain more on once its in. Feel free to guess what its for, my current differential is in perfect shape by the way.

 

[32vsnake]

Torsen hiding in that housing?