My Rangie trail rig build continues with Tubeapalooza!

After a great weekend with everyone's friend AFIRover, my Rangie is getting there.

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Jake1996D1

Well-known member
Mar 28, 2011
3,363
1
West Des Moines IA
Holy shit he actually bent and welded tube!! this whole time I thought he was full of it..

I like it PT good work, cant wait to see the rest you're inspiring me to start another crazy project.
 
Jake1996D1 said:
Holy shit he actually bent and welded tube!! this whole time I thought he was full of it..

I like it PT good work, cant wait to see the rest you're inspiring me to start another crazy project.

That is why you will rarely see anything from me until it is at least completed as far as the current stage/incarnation.

I have been ridiculed for not starting projects (somewhere around here there is a very expensive piece of steel laid out to be made into a mono-block for my O/U 12 gauge that I started 15 or 20 years ago that hasn't seen a mill yet). My three-link I've been wanting is awaiting two more pieces from the plasma table guy. The list goes on.

I try to always have the truck back to moving under its own power after every step, if for no other reason than that I can't justify it remaining on the lift at 0900 Monday.

I might have some of the cage done in time for the Chicago trip next month but I don't think anyone is holding their breath for that. I have enough work for myself in tidying up the tube-work. I still need a left rad support, the air intake/snorkel isn't finished, if I don't have longer front bumpstops, I run the very real risk of catapulting the battery out with the right front tire on compression suspension, and while I may have gone WAY overboard labeling the wiring harnesses, the harnesses for the headlamps are coiled up and tied out of the way, there are some fairly large holes in the floor/bulkhead, etc.

I will be the first to say that by the end of both days, I was fatigued. This sort of work in short periods of time is exhausting.

I have some more pics I'll post up if time permits. I have a business-related tele-conference in two hours and I'm not ready yet. Let's just say my plate has filled up even more.
 
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Jake1996D1

Well-known member
Mar 28, 2011
3,363
1
West Des Moines IA
Oh we all know you're a busy man, needless to say since you're doing this on your weekends after 5 days of hard rover work. - I dont think I could do it.

I'd be interested in more pics of the project and hearing about the plans for the rest of the truck
 

Mongo

Well-known member
Apr 19, 2004
5,731
2
59
We need extreme close-ups of the welds so they can be over analyzed and ripped to shreds because they don't look like a stack of dimes...

Only kidding...more pic's, please
 
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The axle is just a tiny bit forward of stock. Future plans for the three link include moving it as far forward as I can without having to move the spring perches, although at this point, there isn't much reason to not extend it further.

As for the welds, it ain't coming apart. Some are beautiful, some are functional-they are now all painted over:D

There were several points during the weekend where Gary and I stepped back to consider the strength (note, do not EVER allow yourself to spend a weekend in a shop with not one, but two engineers.) and each time, we realized that what we were building was attached to either sheetmetal of the frame that was thinner than the tubing, or the bulkhead where the A-pillar material was thinner than the tubing and we kept on pushing wire and blowing gas.

Between the bent/folded/overlapped sheetmetal of the bulkhead/frame and the inherent properties of tubing, I don't think we have any risk of lack of structural integrity.
 
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Mongo said:
you know where that comment comes from...

Oh yeah!:rofl:

I came petty close to HGTD-land, and someone knows exactly why I posted what I posted as he has been egging me on to post up pics for just that purpose.

You know who you are... Yes, I'm LOLing here because I know the instigator will be here soon to claim his place of honor.

Sometimes the most fun is when the last person in the world you'd expect to be stirring the pot encourages ME to stir that same pot.

Unless you know this person well you'd never expect him to be stirring the pot.
 
Taking time away from paying jobs, I"m progressing on old Theseus.

Ove the weekend, I relocated the coolant expansion bottle and got a smaller battery, but ran out of time to relocate teh battery box, it was hard enough to have it back and moving by Monday noon :).

I'm now in the remove a wire, stop, try to start engine mode.

When we built AFI's truggy, it was part of the adventure to weigh the pile of wires removed. Now that I know that there will be a coupla hundred pounds of wire removed, I don't feel the need. So far, the only thing I removed that I will need to reinstate are the back-up lights. I realized after I removed the wires that if wheeling at night, having back-up lights could prove to be a handy function. It's gonna be a hard struggle to have enough back together for this weekend at the Badlands, but if I try to fit an hour in here and there, I'll make it.

One thing I found curious though. When I removed the sheathing around the wiring harness for the EFI, it was FULL of mud and was wet. This truck hasn't been moved much since last April!

I'm off and back to work. I've got a dash of a P38 to put back together and a pile of 4.4 RRs with electrical problems screaming my name.