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Last year I had the opportunity to meet up with Mike S for a few days of mine exploring north of Las Vegas. I had seen photos of Mike's Jeep but this was my first time to see it up close. Mike has obviously spent a lot of time thinking through what he wants in a Jeep. He has achieved a good balance between off-road capability and street driving civility.
Our trip found us following his tablet based GPS system to the mine site. We tried to take the back way to the mine but found ourselves blocked by washed out roads. Mike's Jeep probably would have made it through but it was asking too much of my truck pulling a trailer. Although we had quite the off-road adventure, we ultimately made our way back to the main road and took our normal route to the mine.
The trip did make me take a closer look at my truck to evaluate my needs and wants. Of course Mike's Jeep provided a lot of inspiration too.
I recently let go of my '99 Isuzu Trooper which had been a great rig. I picked up a '95 Ford F-150 extended cab long bed 4x4. It’s silver and purple, so I’ve named it “The Purple Pig” in honor of its looonngg length. I was starting to have difficulty finding parts for the Trooper and knew that the Ford would be no problem to find parts for. In fact the LMC catalog has just about every part that I might want. My goal for the truck is to make it mechanically sound, comfortable to travel in, and be adequate when wandering around to the various mine locations. Its size alone will prevent it from ever being a serious 4x4, but that’s not what I need or want. I want a vehicle that will get me to where I want to go and back again. I believe that I can achieve that.
The truck has over 100k miles on it so it was due for some maintenance. I replaced most of the front end parts including rotors, calipers, pads, wheel bearings, and tie rod ends. I still need to do the rear brakes but that’s on the “to do” list.
Our little off-road adventure also highlighted that the truck sits a little too low for its length, so I decided on a Pro Comp 4” lift to get the truck just a bit higher and hopefully keep me from dragging the rear bumper in the ravines. I wasn’t sure how the lift would affect the handling but it drives just as nice as it did before the lift was installed. Sweet! I’m also thinking of trying to find a set of 16” rims so I have a wider choice of tire sizes. Mine are pretty torn up so new rubber is moving to the top of my purchase list. I'm thinking 33s would be a good fit but still not too big.
I had installed a CB in my Trooper some years back and pulled it out before I sold it. Unfortunately I had not reinstalled it before our trip and I realized just how nice it is to be able to be able to communicate with others in your party. The Cobra 29 and a new Wilson antenna are now in place. Since I was playing with audio, I decided to replace the existing stereo with an Alpine HD radio and four new JL speakers. The radio has an auxiliary input jack so I can plug my XM receiver in and listen to my favorite channels where ever I travel. I considered a small amp and sub, but decided to hold off for now.
I buttoned up the stereo this past weekend. I bought a stereo patch cord that has 90 ends, so that looks a lot nicer. The wire is routed behind the dash now so it can't be seen.
I really like Mike’s tablet based GPS system and am considering a similar setup for The Pig as well. I don’t have a tablet, but I do have a laptop that I can load the software up on. Not having to depend on cell coverage is important since much of central Nevada doesn’t have coverage. I’m not sure about the coverage in SoCal, but it gets pretty sparse north of Vegas.
While I had the interior all torn up I decided to bring some 12v power into the cab. The truck has a power outlet but when a few of us head out and we all want to plug in our cell phones, battery chargers, and all the fun gadgets there just aren’t enough outlets. I ran 10g wire directly from the battery to a fuse block I installed under the passenger seat. Then I installed two more power outlets under the front seat. Now I have three “always on” outlets and one that goes on with the ignition.
The outlets are out of the way, yet easily accessible.
Dedicated fused circuits for the XM receiver, CB radio, and each power outlet.
I’ve never had very good night vision and as I get older it seems to be getting worse. A little bit of research has led me to a method of ensuring the stock headlights provide the maximum legal output. The technique ensures that the headlights get the highest voltage possible by taking a large gauge wire directly from the battery and connecting it to a pair of relays, one for high beams and one for low. The existing headlight wires are used to control the relays which switch the direct feed from the battery. This reduces the voltage loss that occurs in the stock wiring system as the power is routed through the fuse block, headlight switch, and finally to the light. Measurements indicate that this can increase the voltage at the bulb by over a volt. That may not sound like much, but those who have made the modification indicate a noticeable improvement. This plus some high-output bulbs should improve the stock lighting.
Of course, what off road vehicle would be complete without some driving lights? I would like some wide beams for the slow going on the mine roads and then some long throw beams for those long, empty roads that Nevada is known for. I’ve looked at Hella 4000s, but even the halogen versions are pretty pricy. I may need to rethink my choice in lights. I won’t get Hella quality, but the savings can be significant.
Anyway, I just thought I would share my thoughts and progress on my truck. I would be interested in hearing about your current or planned ride.
Joanne
P.S. - Mike, thanks for the inspiration!
Our trip found us following his tablet based GPS system to the mine site. We tried to take the back way to the mine but found ourselves blocked by washed out roads. Mike's Jeep probably would have made it through but it was asking too much of my truck pulling a trailer. Although we had quite the off-road adventure, we ultimately made our way back to the main road and took our normal route to the mine.
The trip did make me take a closer look at my truck to evaluate my needs and wants. Of course Mike's Jeep provided a lot of inspiration too.
I recently let go of my '99 Isuzu Trooper which had been a great rig. I picked up a '95 Ford F-150 extended cab long bed 4x4. It’s silver and purple, so I’ve named it “The Purple Pig” in honor of its looonngg length. I was starting to have difficulty finding parts for the Trooper and knew that the Ford would be no problem to find parts for. In fact the LMC catalog has just about every part that I might want. My goal for the truck is to make it mechanically sound, comfortable to travel in, and be adequate when wandering around to the various mine locations. Its size alone will prevent it from ever being a serious 4x4, but that’s not what I need or want. I want a vehicle that will get me to where I want to go and back again. I believe that I can achieve that.
The truck has over 100k miles on it so it was due for some maintenance. I replaced most of the front end parts including rotors, calipers, pads, wheel bearings, and tie rod ends. I still need to do the rear brakes but that’s on the “to do” list.
Our little off-road adventure also highlighted that the truck sits a little too low for its length, so I decided on a Pro Comp 4” lift to get the truck just a bit higher and hopefully keep me from dragging the rear bumper in the ravines. I wasn’t sure how the lift would affect the handling but it drives just as nice as it did before the lift was installed. Sweet! I’m also thinking of trying to find a set of 16” rims so I have a wider choice of tire sizes. Mine are pretty torn up so new rubber is moving to the top of my purchase list. I'm thinking 33s would be a good fit but still not too big.
I had installed a CB in my Trooper some years back and pulled it out before I sold it. Unfortunately I had not reinstalled it before our trip and I realized just how nice it is to be able to be able to communicate with others in your party. The Cobra 29 and a new Wilson antenna are now in place. Since I was playing with audio, I decided to replace the existing stereo with an Alpine HD radio and four new JL speakers. The radio has an auxiliary input jack so I can plug my XM receiver in and listen to my favorite channels where ever I travel. I considered a small amp and sub, but decided to hold off for now.
I buttoned up the stereo this past weekend. I bought a stereo patch cord that has 90 ends, so that looks a lot nicer. The wire is routed behind the dash now so it can't be seen.
I really like Mike’s tablet based GPS system and am considering a similar setup for The Pig as well. I don’t have a tablet, but I do have a laptop that I can load the software up on. Not having to depend on cell coverage is important since much of central Nevada doesn’t have coverage. I’m not sure about the coverage in SoCal, but it gets pretty sparse north of Vegas.
While I had the interior all torn up I decided to bring some 12v power into the cab. The truck has a power outlet but when a few of us head out and we all want to plug in our cell phones, battery chargers, and all the fun gadgets there just aren’t enough outlets. I ran 10g wire directly from the battery to a fuse block I installed under the passenger seat. Then I installed two more power outlets under the front seat. Now I have three “always on” outlets and one that goes on with the ignition.
The outlets are out of the way, yet easily accessible.
Dedicated fused circuits for the XM receiver, CB radio, and each power outlet.
I’ve never had very good night vision and as I get older it seems to be getting worse. A little bit of research has led me to a method of ensuring the stock headlights provide the maximum legal output. The technique ensures that the headlights get the highest voltage possible by taking a large gauge wire directly from the battery and connecting it to a pair of relays, one for high beams and one for low. The existing headlight wires are used to control the relays which switch the direct feed from the battery. This reduces the voltage loss that occurs in the stock wiring system as the power is routed through the fuse block, headlight switch, and finally to the light. Measurements indicate that this can increase the voltage at the bulb by over a volt. That may not sound like much, but those who have made the modification indicate a noticeable improvement. This plus some high-output bulbs should improve the stock lighting.
Of course, what off road vehicle would be complete without some driving lights? I would like some wide beams for the slow going on the mine roads and then some long throw beams for those long, empty roads that Nevada is known for. I’ve looked at Hella 4000s, but even the halogen versions are pretty pricy. I may need to rethink my choice in lights. I won’t get Hella quality, but the savings can be significant.
Anyway, I just thought I would share my thoughts and progress on my truck. I would be interested in hearing about your current or planned ride.
Joanne
P.S. - Mike, thanks for the inspiration!
I don't want to rely on cell signals so that eliminates the majority of cell phone based apps. Unless I see something that changes my mind, I think I've decided on DeLorme Topo 10 on a Windows tablet of some flavor. Do you have a similar setup for your work?
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