Love mine and you can even program it to PCI or Rugged channels.
CK5
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'89 R3500 Crew Cab 2wd to 4wd conversion & beyond
- Thread starter mrk5
- Start date
Started out with 2wd TBI350 with SM465 to current 4wd with 454, 700r4, NP241
I have a few of the different cables for programming the rugged/baofeng etc. radios. I'll have them at Blazer Bash.
I've found that once you match the denting on the door near the tracks it all starts to work again pretty good. There is a period of time when they are only partially dented where the windows gave me trouble. Once I powered through then I had a good couple years where they worked perfect, in their dented fashion.
Not to back track from radios to power windows, sorry, carry on.
Not to back track from radios to power windows, sorry, carry on.
What are these "power windows" you speak of?
That's funny.I'm going to pretend like that's not true.
Better communication is always better on the trail. I'm the same way as my CB has been very good on range, but getting every one else we go out with at the same level was like playing whack a mole.
Most of my wheeling buddy's switched to GMRS radios from Midland. No tuning or programming. Just turn it on and pick a channel like CB. But being FM over AM the sound and signal quality is far better. You should be able to program in the GMRS bands to those too to expand who else you can talk to.
However, that radio is not technically legal to transmit on the GMRS frequencies. But I know it gets done. I did mine and my ham radio that way. I'm pretty sure the FCC isn't sitting in the woods listening in on a bunch of off-road guys talking smack to each other on the GMRS bands and coming to see if we are on legal radios or have GMRS licenses.
Rugged Radios say that they have licensed channels that are available for their customers to use. Regions have different channels available to use. In the document below, they say you can transmit on nationwide channels with up to 35 watts.
More info on website: https://www.ruggedradios.com/pages/licensing
I made little stickers for the radios so I would know which channels are the nationwide.
I actually have a GMRS license. I registered and paid for it when I bought the first Boafeng radios. I have a HAM license too. I have the programming cord and all that stuff. Problem is no one else I wheel with on a regular basis has all that stuff. I figured the Rugged stuff would be easier for more people to use.
As far as the radios being rebranded Boafeng, I figure it's near impossible to find a radio that isn't made in China. My hope is that by using a US based company to buy them thru there is a little better quality control and accountability. I'd rather be able to contact Rugged Radios if I have an issue than trying to get some sort of satisfaction thru Boafeng on Amazon.
I didn't mean anything by bringing up the Baofeng radios. I could have swore you had some or more because I dug up an old thread about ham frequencies used at Blazer bash before I went.
Having a group of people you go wheeling with you have to get them all on board to something, rugged, GMRS, CB or ham for it to be workable for all. If your group is going with rugged it's all good. We went GMRS for simplicity and Midland has great options for hard mounted radios in the trucks with more wattage for better distance. I'm odd that I went with a ham unit I could unlock the GMRS channels on and do both out of one unit. We've been able to have 10+ miles of straight line communication with our setups. We hand out our extra baofengs that I already programmed the channels in to new people that didn't have a radio.
Having a group of people you go wheeling with you have to get them all on board to something, rugged, GMRS, CB or ham for it to be workable for all. If your group is going with rugged it's all good. We went GMRS for simplicity and Midland has great options for hard mounted radios in the trucks with more wattage for better distance. I'm odd that I went with a ham unit I could unlock the GMRS channels on and do both out of one unit. We've been able to have 10+ miles of straight line communication with our setups. We hand out our extra baofengs that I already programmed the channels in to new people that didn't have a radio.
No offense taken. I did find that if you Internet search Rugged Radios and Baofeng or FCC, you can go down quite a rabbit hole! There are a lot of ill feelings towards Rugged in the serious radio forums. It seems like overall they have been making changes to stay within the FCC rules. The biggest one most recently was to lock their radios so they can't be reprogrammed to unlicensed channels.
I did read one example of a Rugged customer having a radio stop working after about a year and Rugged replaced it. That's an example of why I bought from them regardless who actually makes the radio.
I should get a new battery for at least 1 of my Baofengs so I can communicate with @ZooMad75 if I ever get to run a trail with him.
Yesterday I changed out my front spring hangers so I could move the axle forward. I don't know how well the photos show it, but it is further forward.
The thing I was looking at was how the bump stop lined up on the pad, now it closer to the center. Also the shocks were tilted with the bottom further rearward. In the pictures you can also see the shackle is a little closer to vertical in the after photos.
Before:
After:
The new spring hanger:
It's always neat seeing the shocks near full extension.
The thing I was looking at was how the bump stop lined up on the pad, now it closer to the center. Also the shocks were tilted with the bottom further rearward. In the pictures you can also see the shackle is a little closer to vertical in the after photos.
Before:
After:
The new spring hanger:
It's always neat seeing the shocks near full extension.
No offense taken. I did find that if you Internet search Rugged Radios and Baofeng or FCC, you can go down quite a rabbit hole! There are a lot of ill feelings towards Rugged in the serious radio forums. It seems like overall they have been making changes to stay within the FCC rules. The biggest one most recently was to lock their radios so they can't be reprogrammed to unlicensed channels.
I did read one example of a Rugged customer having a radio stop working after about a year and Rugged replaced it. That's an example of why I bought from them regardless who actually makes the radio.
I should get a new battery for at least 1 of my Baofengs so I can communicate with @ZooMad75 if I ever get to run a trail with him.
It's funny you should mention that because I went down that rabbit hole the other day. Holy cow. Those guys really got in serious trouble over FCC licensing issues for sure. I can totally see why old school ham/amateur radio guys get upset over what they are doing. I can't say much because since I'm using my Baofeng and Anytone Ham radio in my truck in the same way on bands they aren't type certified for.
As far as getting a replacement battery, don't sweat it.. I can program any frequency you are on pretty quickly.
I finally bucked up and shortened by winch rope. When I bought it, the choice was 100' or 75'. 75' seems way too short so I went with 100'. Problem is it rubs the tie-bars and it has busted the tie-bar out of the drum support when the line stacked up on one side.
I cut about 15' off. That stuff is hard to cut!
I really like how the end of this Trail Gear rope has the red, heat resistant covering. My previous rope had signs of getting really hot and partially melting. I also like having that indication that it's on the final wrap of the drum. I found some similar sleeve by Taylor (as in spark plug wires). It barely fit but I think that's actually a good thing. Made my fingers sore pushing it on.
On the last trip in the snow we had trouble with my winch line spinning on the drum. The bolt that holds the end had come off. It's not the first time I've had trouble with it, so I bought this to use instead:
It was a little bit of a pain to get started, because the rope has the extra abrasion covering plus the heat wrap I added. It didn't want to lay down tight around the drum and I had to work it a little while before it finally cinched tight.
I cut about 15' off. That stuff is hard to cut!
I really like how the end of this Trail Gear rope has the red, heat resistant covering. My previous rope had signs of getting really hot and partially melting. I also like having that indication that it's on the final wrap of the drum. I found some similar sleeve by Taylor (as in spark plug wires). It barely fit but I think that's actually a good thing. Made my fingers sore pushing it on.
On the last trip in the snow we had trouble with my winch line spinning on the drum. The bolt that holds the end had come off. It's not the first time I've had trouble with it, so I bought this to use instead:
It was a little bit of a pain to get started, because the rope has the extra abrasion covering plus the heat wrap I added. It didn't want to lay down tight around the drum and I had to work it a little while before it finally cinched tight.
Just did a 6ft strap conversion on a atv winch for plow lifting only. Its held on with the set screw swapped for a hex head bolt and 1.5ft of line wrapped on drum before the strap hits .
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still have enough slip in that front shaft right?
Should be. I think it only moved the axle 1/2" judging by the hole location in relation to the body mount bracket.
I've made the mistake of watching Engine Masters and now I decided I need to put a better flowing muffler in the crew cab.
This is the giant Flowmaster I've been running. No complaints about it, but it is a little on the quiet side.
I bought a MagnaFlow Race muffler because of it's straight thru design. Quite a difference in size.
Sound level wasn't much different from the driver seat, but all I did was back out of the shop and park in the yard. I have a feeling it will sound more rowdy when on the accelerator.
This is the giant Flowmaster I've been running. No complaints about it, but it is a little on the quiet side.
I bought a MagnaFlow Race muffler because of it's straight thru design. Quite a difference in size.
Sound level wasn't much different from the driver seat, but all I did was back out of the shop and park in the yard. I have a feeling it will sound more rowdy when on the accelerator.
What are the dimensions of the magnaflow?
What!? No video clip for sound?? Shame on you...
Haha! Yeah I’m betting it’s going to be quite a bit rowdy WOT.
My old pile isn’t loud idling, if I’m having fun and the wife is in the house she asks WTF are you doing out there! Lol! Oh you can hear that! Sounds cool right!?
Since I have single, I did 3.5" from the merge. It's a 5"x8" oval. 14" case length, 20" overall.
