really good with a timer and the tripod!Avery4jc said:looks like fun...so who was with you to take the pics? Or were you just really good w/ the timer and a rock?
we were all alone up there. 
CK5
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colbystephens' build and wheelin' thread! Post 289: my NEW truck body!!!
- Thread starter colbystephens
- Start date
we were all alone up there. 
mad skills
thanks avery!
cool pic of the truck during the sunrise:
when it got light again, i wanted to ride my rig to the top one more time.
we got down the mountain just fine and headed on our way. it was an outstanding trail thru the mountains. lakes, rivers, etc. nothing about the trail was hard/difficult but you definitely need 4wd and a bit of ground clearance. you could do it in a stock 4x4 of almost any type. the 2 or three areas that you might need a slightly built rig for had bypasses. i'll post up pics of my map, gps points and route later. anyway, here's a few shots from that trail. unfortunately, we didn't stop often to snap photos.
along the trail we found someone had dumped a car out there, so i snagged the VIN and i'll be calling the forest service later today.
this will be our next camping spot! Irish lake... truly incredible!!
we did a couple miles thru a huge burn site. this happened in '96, and burned 10K acres.
i'd like to try to get out to Irish lake in the snow too. but i gotta find a few rigs willing to go out with me, and i tend to have a VERY hard time getting anyone to wheel with me.
the trail ended at Waldo Lake. Another place we'd like to camp, but theres actually a campground there and you have to pay to stay the nite... so maybe not. anyway, it's Oregon's second largest lake and it's GORGEOUS. a sign by the lake said that on a clear, clean day, one can see up to 120ft down into the water! 
that's it!
cool pic of the truck during the sunrise:
when it got light again, i wanted to ride my rig to the top one more time.
we got down the mountain just fine and headed on our way. it was an outstanding trail thru the mountains. lakes, rivers, etc. nothing about the trail was hard/difficult but you definitely need 4wd and a bit of ground clearance. you could do it in a stock 4x4 of almost any type. the 2 or three areas that you might need a slightly built rig for had bypasses. i'll post up pics of my map, gps points and route later. anyway, here's a few shots from that trail. unfortunately, we didn't stop often to snap photos.
along the trail we found someone had dumped a car out there, so i snagged the VIN and i'll be calling the forest service later today.
this will be our next camping spot! Irish lake... truly incredible!!
we did a couple miles thru a huge burn site. this happened in '96, and burned 10K acres.
i'd like to try to get out to Irish lake in the snow too. but i gotta find a few rigs willing to go out with me, and i tend to have a VERY hard time getting anyone to wheel with me.
the trail ended at Waldo Lake. Another place we'd like to camp, but theres actually a campground there and you have to pay to stay the nite... so maybe not.
anyway, it's Oregon's second largest lake and it's GORGEOUS. a sign by the lake said that on a clear, clean day, one can see up to 120ft down into the water!
that's it!
y5mgisi
1 ton status
Damn dude! I live in oregon to and you are defintly putting the travel bug in me! Beautiful!
well, then you better join me next time i go out!
tomford
1/2 ton status
Wow Awesome pics, i wish we had that kinda scenery and trails that were open to trucks...
Nice pics, hope to see some from the next ride
Tom
Nice pics, hope to see some from the next ride
Tom
original balzer
1/2 ton status
Colby your simple, but great build, and your travels are always fun to read, keep up the good work. Your also lucky to have a beutiful woman that enjoys the same things you do, dont loose her.
Balzer
Balzer
thanks for the props!original balzer said:
i'll hang on to her - i put a ring on her finger a few years ago so she's not going anywhere.
post 4K in my build thread.colbystephens said:thanks for the props!
jonathon
1/2 ton status
So when is there snow up there?
probably as soon as late october - maybe november... you gonna get your rig together so you can wheel with me??
jonathon
1/2 ton status
Working on it! Now that I've got it running much better(still need to replace the Edelbrock 750, working on rebuilding a q-jet and the jets are frozen in place, and I think I boogered them 
). I need to fix the drivers side door too.. haven't pulled it yet to find the damage, though if the hinge is the culprit welding it back together shouldn't be a problem...
Snow is a blast.. last big snow up in the hills I went up and played around, though where I went is a lot lower in elevation and only a few miles up the road from me
No one ever goes with me anymore either... not many rigs around here that aren't dedicated mall crawlers.
). I need to fix the drivers side door too.. haven't pulled it yet to find the damage, though if the hinge is the culprit welding it back together shouldn't be a problem...Snow is a blast.. last big snow up in the hills I went up and played around, though where I went is a lot lower in elevation and only a few miles up the road from me
No one ever goes with me anymore either... not many rigs around here that aren't dedicated mall crawlers.
y5mgisi
1 ton status
Should have my truck running next week. But then after that i gotta play the break in game for a while. THEN, i will be game!
no wonder my rig was a little hard to start recently! i pulled the gp's today to check them, because it was the most likely source of my problem, and found that 5 were dead! i knew i had one bad one, but this seemed to happen suddenly. one day, it just had a helluva time firing up. dunno what woulda killed 4 at once. 
whatever. i'm replacing them this evening, and when paired with that new gear reduction starter, i'd be willing to try to attempt to start this sucker on the south pole in August.
i knew i had one bad one, but this seemed to happen suddenly. one day, it just had a helluva time firing up. dunno what woulda killed 4 at once. whatever. i'm replacing them this evening, and when paired with that new gear reduction starter, i'd be willing to try to attempt to start this sucker on the south pole in August.
y5mgisi
1 ton status
THats strange. Hopefully it starts good now. And hey i got my truck running finally, so i just got to brake it in a bit, bleed the brakes, and get a new rear drive line and then were good to go buddy!
ok, let's talk exocages.
why do i want an exo, versus an internal cage, you ask? well, i don't care too much about my sheet metal being straight, however, i need it to continue to be functional. within a few months of eachother i killed two doors and replacing doors gets expensive and more than anything, annoying. while i don't care about if the metal is straight, i do want it to at least resemble the lines of a straight truck. so, i wanna protect it and put the exo on.
here's what i've thought up for a basic pattern:
the plan is to weld the doors permanently closed, cutting a shape out of them resembled by the gray. the gray is a "soft" door and window which, to open, you unzip. the hard top will be replaced with a soft top, but, while it'll be a really snug fit with the cage, the hard top could potentially go back on. i doubt the hard top will go back on tho, because i'm trying to not gain much weight by doing the exo - simply loose some door sheet metal and the hard top, while gaining the exo, thereby breaking even.
i'll mount the spare on the roof (the exo will cover the whole top - similar to a roof rack), and i think i'll fab up a crane that will fold down and lay flat on the roof rack so that it can lift/remove the tire from the roof.
the tube that crosses the door along where you'd step into the truck will probably be removable - at least on the passenger side, and i'd simply install it when i go wheelin. this is just so that tree trucks can slide right on down the body, rather than getting hung up there at the door. we'll see, tho, when i build it if it'll be too difficult to step over.
the hope is to do this as an independent study for school, and i'd study how it might load in a roll over, how the heat affected area from welding might affect it's strength. it would basically be a hands on study of statics, material mechanics, dynamics, manufacturing processes, etc.
your thoughts, please.
why do i want an exo, versus an internal cage, you ask? well, i don't care too much about my sheet metal being straight, however, i need it to continue to be functional. within a few months of eachother i killed two doors and replacing doors gets expensive and more than anything, annoying. while i don't care about if the metal is straight, i do want it to at least resemble the lines of a straight truck. so, i wanna protect it and put the exo on.
here's what i've thought up for a basic pattern:
the plan is to weld the doors permanently closed, cutting a shape out of them resembled by the gray. the gray is a "soft" door and window which, to open, you unzip. the hard top will be replaced with a soft top, but, while it'll be a really snug fit with the cage, the hard top could potentially go back on. i doubt the hard top will go back on tho, because i'm trying to not gain much weight by doing the exo - simply loose some door sheet metal and the hard top, while gaining the exo, thereby breaking even.
i'll mount the spare on the roof (the exo will cover the whole top - similar to a roof rack), and i think i'll fab up a crane that will fold down and lay flat on the roof rack so that it can lift/remove the tire from the roof.
the tube that crosses the door along where you'd step into the truck will probably be removable - at least on the passenger side, and i'd simply install it when i go wheelin. this is just so that tree trucks can slide right on down the body, rather than getting hung up there at the door. we'll see, tho, when i build it if it'll be too difficult to step over.
the hope is to do this as an independent study for school, and i'd study how it might load in a roll over, how the heat affected area from welding might affect it's strength. it would basically be a hands on study of statics, material mechanics, dynamics, manufacturing processes, etc.
your thoughts, please.
jonathon
1/2 ton status
Getting in and out of that would get real old fast I'd think...
newlyblzed
1/2 ton status
just finished reading your thread man...nice work. the electrical problems would have had me pullin out my torch
and those pictures are fockin phenominal man...I think I can have my truck ready to go in Nov. Judging by all the finds I've made in the last couple days with your help...I should be good to go within a couple weeks..after some thourough testing here of course! anyway nice build man
and those pictures are fockin phenominal man...I think I can have my truck ready to go in Nov. Judging by all the finds I've made in the last couple days with your help...I should be good to go within a couple weeks..after some thourough testing here of course! anyway nice build man
you're probably right, but if i was very concerned about comfort i probably wouldn't be driving a straight axle truck!jonathon said:
very cool! i'm stoked about the snow trip.newlyblzed said:just finished reading your thread man...nice work. the electrical problems would have had me pullin out my torch
