wow thats ambitous! sounds like a plan though!
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colbystephens' build and wheelin' thread! Post 289: my NEW truck body!!!
- Thread starter colbystephens
- Start date
i'm thinking i'll use these to mount my cage to the floor:
should the cage be tied to the floor in 4 or 6 places? initially i was thinking one in the front foot wells, one in the rear foot wells and one in the cargo space. is it sufficient to only do the front foot well and the rear cargo area?
i'm thinking this for the gussets:
should the cage be tied to the floor in 4 or 6 places? initially i was thinking one in the front foot wells, one in the rear foot wells and one in the cargo space. is it sufficient to only do the front foot well and the rear cargo area?
i'm thinking this for the gussets:
I would have to say tie the cage to the floor in as many places as possible. At least 6 for a blazer with cagework for rear passengers. I have a 6-point cage (each point refers to how many places it connects to the floor) in my pickup cab. So I would say a blazer should have 6, 8, or 10 points
i better do some serious research on cage building!
MNorby had a nice thread going on pirate 4x4 about cage design for his 1st gen blazer, that would be good to look at to get ideas
Thanks!
this is also a great resource:
http://www.coloradok5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=68447&highlight=cage
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i wonder if i could modify this to work? perhaps add to it so that it covers the cargo/rear space??
thoughts?
http://www.jegs.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/KeywordSearchCmd?storeId=10001&catalogId=10002&langId=-1&N=0&Ntt=550-946905K&Ntk=all&Nty=1&D=550-946905K&Ntx=mode%2Bmatchall&Dx=mode%2Bmatchall&searchTerm=550-946905K&x=0&y=0
thoughts?
http://www.jegs.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/KeywordSearchCmd?storeId=10001&catalogId=10002&langId=-1&N=0&Ntt=550-946905K&Ntk=all&Nty=1&D=550-946905K&Ntx=mode%2Bmatchall&Dx=mode%2Bmatchall&searchTerm=550-946905K&x=0&y=0
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heres how I ended up doing roof. Didn't want to kink those bars but otherwise headroom became a concern and that fits tight against my soft top. THIS IS NO NEAR DONE just the roof bars installed.
Don't get that cage, I've heard the jeg's cage is junk. S&W cages are a little better (thats what i have) but still not the best. You are probably better off building your own, or taking it to someonei wonder if i could modify this to work? perhaps add to it so that it covers the cargo/rear space??
thoughts?
http://www.jegs.com/webapp/wcs/stor...=mode+matchall&searchTerm=550-946905K&x=0&y=0
ok, i'll build my own. 
"if you're not part of the solution, then you're part of the problem."
that's my new motto. i did a ton of thinking today. i headed up a crew to clean up a local hunting and OHV area. i've been asking for volunteers for this for a while now, and half backed out last minute - usually due to legitimate reasons. in any case, we were 7.5 people in all (what do 3 yr olds count for?
) Much thanks to those who were out there with me!!
i had decided to do this clean up event a while back when i was wheelin up there and noticed how much trash had accumulated in the last year. well, today, when i was actually looking for trash, i was apalled by how much was up there.
so it occurred to me, in all this thought provoking time, that this is our earth - this is our home. if you're not actively trying to take care of it, then you're passively hurting it. guilty by association, i guess. anyway, just want to encourage you all to get out and clean up your local forests!
here's some pics:
found a pick up cab out there.
IGOR winched it out with his wife's expedition.
then we went down a ways to some trail heads. i had planned on running about 3 relatively difficult trails. now that the rains have set in here, these trails get much more difficult because the rock is slick and wet, and my mt/r's get caked with clay mud.
well, i started up one trail and had some difficulty, but was making slow progress. part of the problem was that no one else brought a wheeling rig, so i was attempting this trail on my own. well, i guess i was pounding the clutch pedal too hard and somehow, to my surprise, i popped that tube with the zerk fitting on it (mechanical clutch linkage) off of the ball at the transmission. took a bit of fenagling to get it all back together, but we got it back and decided not to do any more trails with anything remotely difficult on them. unfortunately, this got us permanently separated from one of the rigs in our group.
my question: is there a way to extend the ball away from the transmission so that it fits farther into the tube? mine only barely sits on the end of the ball - thus why it popped out.
anyway, more pics. here we are cleaning up a campsite:
people go shooting up here and leave all their broken glass and trash behind. it is still a serious mess up there. there was no way for us to pick up all the broken glass.
so i pulled a car out of a ravine. it was a super old datsun. can you say rust??? the thing fell apart in three places!
cruised up to the peak of the mountain, hoping to find a view, but all i found was fog. apparently, and i've never seen this, but on a clear day you can see over 30 miles to see the sky scrapers of downtown portland. that'd be pretty cool.
this cliff is a shear 500 foot drop!!
everybody had to leave at about 1 or so, but i decided to stay for 3 more hours to keep cleaning up. this is what i ended up with:
that's my new motto. i did a ton of thinking today. i headed up a crew to clean up a local hunting and OHV area. i've been asking for volunteers for this for a while now, and half backed out last minute - usually due to legitimate reasons. in any case, we were 7.5 people in all (what do 3 yr olds count for?
) Much thanks to those who were out there with me!!i had decided to do this clean up event a while back when i was wheelin up there and noticed how much trash had accumulated in the last year. well, today, when i was actually looking for trash, i was apalled by how much was up there.
so it occurred to me, in all this thought provoking time, that this is our earth - this is our home. if you're not actively trying to take care of it, then you're passively hurting it. guilty by association, i guess. anyway, just want to encourage you all to get out and clean up your local forests!
here's some pics:
found a pick up cab out there.
IGOR winched it out with his wife's expedition.
then we went down a ways to some trail heads. i had planned on running about 3 relatively difficult trails. now that the rains have set in here, these trails get much more difficult because the rock is slick and wet, and my mt/r's get caked with clay mud.
well, i started up one trail and had some difficulty, but was making slow progress. part of the problem was that no one else brought a wheeling rig, so i was attempting this trail on my own. well, i guess i was pounding the clutch pedal too hard and somehow, to my surprise, i popped that tube with the zerk fitting on it (mechanical clutch linkage) off of the ball at the transmission. took a bit of fenagling to get it all back together, but we got it back and decided not to do any more trails with anything remotely difficult on them. unfortunately, this got us permanently separated from one of the rigs in our group.
my question: is there a way to extend the ball away from the transmission so that it fits farther into the tube? mine only barely sits on the end of the ball - thus why it popped out.
anyway, more pics. here we are cleaning up a campsite:
people go shooting up here and leave all their broken glass and trash behind. it is still a serious mess up there. there was no way for us to pick up all the broken glass.
so i pulled a car out of a ravine. it was a super old datsun. can you say rust??? the thing fell apart in three places!
cruised up to the peak of the mountain, hoping to find a view, but all i found was fog. apparently, and i've never seen this, but on a clear day you can see over 30 miles to see the sky scrapers of downtown portland. that'd be pretty cool.
this cliff is a shear 500 foot drop!!
everybody had to leave at about 1 or so, but i decided to stay for 3 more hours to keep cleaning up. this is what i ended up with:
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mud hungry
1/2 ton status
Kudos to you Colby
Way to go Colby. That is something that i will be doing with my rig when it gets up and running. I was also thinking about offering my services and truck for things like search and rescue. Any way that we can be publicly proactive will help all of us to get on the better sides of the ones who would like to shut down our trails. Maybe we can show them that we care just as much as they do and hopefully keep the trails open.
Way to go Colby. That is something that i will be doing with my rig when it gets up and running. I was also thinking about offering my services and truck for things like search and rescue. Any way that we can be publicly proactive will help all of us to get on the better sides of the ones who would like to shut down our trails. Maybe we can show them that we care just as much as they do and hopefully keep the trails open.
original balzer
1/2 ton status
Right on man, definatly a good thing to do. My question is this. Is there a way to get reconized for the efforts, without just seaming like brown noseing? I mean this goes towards the battle of land/trail closures but how do you show the effort to people that matter when the closure thing comes up? I know here in utah business' and organizations can "adopt a highway" but never seen anything to do with trails and OHV parks.
By no means am I saying its not worth doing If you dont get credit for it. But I do think credit should be given.
Balzer
By no means am I saying its not worth doing If you dont get credit for it. But I do think credit should be given.
Balzer
pvfjr
1/2 ton status
Nice job with the cleanup Colby, says a lot about who you are. 
That piece of linkage is known as the Z-bar. If your engine or transmission mounts have a little too much play in them, you'll find that it likes to pop out a lot. You can try to tighten things up a little, or you can pop out the two bolts in your clutch linkage bracket that's in the frame, and use a plate with holes in it to shift it over a bit, or just drill new ones in the bracket depending on how far you have to move it. I'd look into the mounts first, make sure they haven't loosened, shifted, or gotten worn out. Moving the bracket seems like more of a bandaid to me.
Oh, and I can't remember how that ball mounts, but I think there's a possibility that it may screw into the bellhousing, you might be able to shim some washers under it to push it out a little. Gotta make sure you leave enough thread engagement though.
colbystephens said:
That piece of linkage is known as the Z-bar. If your engine or transmission mounts have a little too much play in them, you'll find that it likes to pop out a lot. You can try to tighten things up a little, or you can pop out the two bolts in your clutch linkage bracket that's in the frame, and use a plate with holes in it to shift it over a bit, or just drill new ones in the bracket depending on how far you have to move it. I'd look into the mounts first, make sure they haven't loosened, shifted, or gotten worn out. Moving the bracket seems like more of a bandaid to me.
Oh, and I can't remember how that ball mounts, but I think there's a possibility that it may screw into the bellhousing, you might be able to shim some washers under it to push it out a little. Gotta make sure you leave enough thread engagement though.
Very cool - thanks for setting that up - it was fun! Gave me inspiration to get my rig done too!
thanks for the props, guys.
i met with a mt. hood national forest ranger to set up this clean-up, in addition to working with SOLV. when i spoke with the ranger, he said i could come meet with him sometime, if i like, and we could talk about the possibility of me adopting a portion of the national forest. while i'd still have to abide by many of the rules, this would give me a bit more free range to get out there and wheel in places that you aren't normally allowed so i can keep it clean. seems like a very cool possibility to me.
in terms of recognition, i don't think there's much of a way. i was thinking alot about that yesterday about the fact that wheeling is like janitorial work - in a sense. i was a janitor at a 10,000+ member church for a while, and the only time we were contacted was when something was wrong (i.e. we didn't set up a room properly or a trashcan wasn't emptied). We never heard when things were right - which was 99% of the time, because if we had done our job right, everything was clean and set up and just as it was supposed to be. people don't notice when things are the way they should be - only when something is wrong.
it's just like wheeling. if you're out there and you're wheeling in such a way that the earth is taken care of and you're being a good steward of the land - no one is going to notice. people only notice the trash and damage that a few leave behind.
so how do we get recognition? volunteer your time! people see you on the trail cleaning up and they're amazed. i was asked multiple times who was paying me to clean up and they were astounded when i said i was volunteering. also, the more you volunteer, the more you publicize your event - asking for volunteers, then more people will know that there are wheelers out there trying to take care of the land - not destroy it.
anyway, that's what i came up with. i think i'm going to start a club called "safari unseen". we'll be a wheeling group who takes care of the land on every event.
i met with a mt. hood national forest ranger to set up this clean-up, in addition to working with SOLV. when i spoke with the ranger, he said i could come meet with him sometime, if i like, and we could talk about the possibility of me adopting a portion of the national forest. while i'd still have to abide by many of the rules, this would give me a bit more free range to get out there and wheel in places that you aren't normally allowed so i can keep it clean. seems like a very cool possibility to me.
in terms of recognition, i don't think there's much of a way. i was thinking alot about that yesterday about the fact that wheeling is like janitorial work - in a sense. i was a janitor at a 10,000+ member church for a while, and the only time we were contacted was when something was wrong (i.e. we didn't set up a room properly or a trashcan wasn't emptied). We never heard when things were right - which was 99% of the time, because if we had done our job right, everything was clean and set up and just as it was supposed to be. people don't notice when things are the way they should be - only when something is wrong.
it's just like wheeling. if you're out there and you're wheeling in such a way that the earth is taken care of and you're being a good steward of the land - no one is going to notice. people only notice the trash and damage that a few leave behind.
so how do we get recognition? volunteer your time! people see you on the trail cleaning up and they're amazed. i was asked multiple times who was paying me to clean up and they were astounded when i said i was volunteering. also, the more you volunteer, the more you publicize your event - asking for volunteers, then more people will know that there are wheelers out there trying to take care of the land - not destroy it.
anyway, that's what i came up with. i think i'm going to start a club called "safari unseen". we'll be a wheeling group who takes care of the land on every event.
chopped&bobbed77burb
1/2 ton status
Good job on the clean up . However I do think it's unfair to go calling people out because they didn't show up to support your CAUSE ! Many of the people that do activities up at Goat Mt take their Trash back out with them SO it's just a few that actually mess it up . To say that if we are not helping then we are part of the problem is B.S. . So if you don't actively help in catching child molesters are you part of the problem ? If you don't actively hang out at the bar's to catch the drunk drivers are you part of the problem ? You can add any problem or CAUSE and say that if you aren't helping than you are part of the problem and that's a very wrong assumption . There is a large number of us that wheel up there that carry trash bags with us and haul junk out and we don't come here on line to beat our chest and point out the great work we do and then call out others for not showing up when YOU want and cleaning the trails up . Most of us have busy lives and weekend comitments and some of us work alot of hours and just haven't had the time to go wheeling at all this year let alone go up to the woods and clean up the trash .
I'm glad you and the few that went with you cleaned some of the stuff up . I really wish the forestry dept would just do more inforcing of litter laws and write some big $$$ tickets to some of these a-holes who are messing it up .
I'm glad you and the few that went with you cleaned some of the stuff up . I really wish the forestry dept would just do more inforcing of litter laws and write some big $$$ tickets to some of these a-holes who are messing it up .
i had no intention to offend, and no intention of calling people out. i'm sorry to have offended you. i suspect that there's some misunderstanding of what i wrote. i had intended my message to be more of an encouragement to action - not an attack. in any case, very sorry to have offended.
I do not think you owe anyone an apology. i read what you wrote three times and i do not think you said anything wrong. i think you did a stand up thing.
everyone should do their part if and when they can. either when you wheel or when you are able to make it to a trail ride/cleanup trip.
Kudos colby.
