Wow. You do all that and you'll not want to leave the car park!

1 or 2 antennas for the ham? I'm guessing they'll go on the roof so does that mean demoting the CB to a mag?

2 antenna mounts mate, one for HF, which will also cover CB and another for VHF & UHF their mounted on the roof bars, using the aluminium roof rack as a ground plane.
I've fitted the mounts but the cable kits I got have a 30cm length of ultra thin coax for going in the door, so it doesn't get kinked and fcuk up, but unfortunately the thin bit is a about an inch too short and they cannot be extended so I'll need to send them back but I'll probably get hit with a handling charge
I'll be getting rid of all my CB stuff soon to help pay for all the amateur gear, the new radio alone was £400 second hand :0 and that's before antennas, mounts, antenna tuner, swr meter

That's some dedication to the 4x4 response group
I need to get my butt in gear and see if I can dredge up the enthusiasm to jump into the LR4x4 bunch.

Bummer re the cable length - how come they can't get extended? I'd have thought you could use a bit of RG58 (going bigger being easier than going smaller) and just tie the shields and core together?

And re the CB. what happens when you slum it with the rest of us? Surely you'll need a radio and a mag mount as an emergency spare?

Can't be extended as it's sealed fittings at either end of the thin coax, it's about 3mm thick, rg58 is too thick to go in doors, yes it will fit and it's common for cb-ers but will eventually break, or the kink will cause the SWR to rise, and is likely to damage the radio, not a big deal on a 40 quid midland, mega deal on a 400 quid Icom, there's a couple of air vents on the back of the cab, that I'm going to look at as a route in.
I could have got a basic dual band 2meter / 70cm set for about £80, that would have done the 4x4 response stuff but I wanted something that covered all the ham bands, i've got an old 40 channel CB that's worth nothing so I'll keep that, no need for a magmount, my HF antenna will cover 27mhz which is where the CB band lives.
My CRE 8900 and my cobra 148 multimode radios will be up for sale shortly, shame the CRE is a cracking rig and cost me £230 new a year ago, but i won't need it now so no point in it gathering dust.

A bugger re the cable. Will they be ok to exchange it?

I couldn't justify £230 on a CB as I only used it for 1 hour, 5 times a year

Who knows, I take it so but id expect a handling charge, I'll try to get rid elsewhere first.

Yeah the CRE is actually a computer programmable 10 meter amateur radio that can, and has been, programmed to cover 11 meters (cb) and 12 meters, OTT for a play in the mud once in a blue moon and is more for someone who is looking to do a bit of 11meter dx or progress to an amateur license.

Best laid plans and all, I went out at lunch to start on the back chassis, having jet washed it at work last week, however on closer inspection there was still about a half inch coating of mud and sand on everything, so had to get the oil skins on, get it up on ramps and get under it properly with my wee jet wash.
Underside is now clean but soaking wet, so hopefully we'll have a few dry nights this week to get it cattled.

Postie had a heavy bag today, so I thought I'd take this off him to lighten the load

Bild entfernt (keine Rechte)

Suppose I better get it fitted then

Wow - that looks very cool am jealous

I got it super cheap and for all I will probably use it, it was worth going for.

13000 lbs is a good size winch, I'm going to mount the control box in the engine bay out the way, so hopefully it will stay good and keep me out of trouble

Very nice Greig!

Well, it was a lovely day today so I thought I'd get a start on finally fabricating the Hilux ARB onto the L200, first step was to strip the l200 bumper off, as per usual with shitty Japanese hardware, just about every bloody bolt snapped

Finally got it off though, couldn't believe the bloody weight of it
The front panel is in decent nick just a couple off wee scabs that need wire brushed and painted.

With the bumper off I could finally measure the hilux bumper against the l200 chassis and it fits nicely between the chassis legs about 5mm clearance either side so in theory I should be able to make a couple of brackets from heavy angle iron weld it up and fannies yer auntie
I'll need to do a bit of jiggers pokers with the indicators and possibly extend the sides a little but that's easy enough main thing is to get it mounted in place.

Good stuff. Need to sort my bumper soon

hi Greigboy where did you get your winch and if you don't mind mate how much was it also do you no if it is water proof as i am looking for a winch

Wenn Sie hier auf Links zu eBay klicken und einen Kauf tätigen, kann dies dazu führen, dass diese Website eine Provision erhält.

Hi jimmy, the winch was 170 new it is this one
http://item.mobileweb.ebay.co.uk/viewite...nid=77932652975

I bought it off a guy on the Scottish Mud Club Facebook page who had bought it 6 months ago for his range rover and never fitted it, so it was a one off I'm afraid.
In terms of it being water proof, I don't know I would say probably not, however I plan to grease the shit out of it before its fitted and to extend the controll box cables so that its in the engine bay and unlikely to be submerged.

Its no warn winch, but I couldn't justify paying a fortune for a Gucci winch that would be used half a dozen days a year.

Rob, depending on how this works out I may be getting rid of my Warrior bumper

I drown every bolt with wd -40 the day before I start working on the truck, then I usually get at least half of the bolts of in one piece

Yeah Danne I did that, but 10 years working with cars every day taught me that Jap nuts and bolts are crap they seem to be made of a softer steel than European cars.
That reminds me I'll need to source some high tensile bolts for the winch bumper as the standard ones won't be man enough

I used screw fix for my bolt m12 x 50mm a2stainless steel 10.2mm drill and used a m12 tap

We're they hight tensile from screwfix Jim?

Couple of action shots, that is not the way it sits now, that was just offering it up

Bild entfernt (keine Rechte)

Bild entfernt (keine Rechte)

I must have had it on and off a dozen times measuring trimming off bits of the hilux mounts, test fitting trimming off a little more etc before I was finally happy with it, not easy doing it by myself, thank god for the engine hoist

I fabricated the brackets clamped it up and tack welded it before taking it off and buzzing round it with the mig and wire speed up full blast, it was drawing so much it current it popped the rcd in the garage 3 times, but its Clydebuilt now.
it still needs a little finishing and im unlikely to have time to get near it until next weekend, and I can't be arsed putting the old bumper back on, so I won't be using the truck this week and will probably be using the zafira for the meet next week

Pretty impressive, Greig. Some hardcore kit in there

Looks awesome! May well be interested in the bumper as it'll be a while before I can afford a winch bumper

I'll wait and see how the ARB turns out before I decide what I'm doing with the old bumper, Its here anyway mate and its got your name on it.

Sweet, you still wanting the early grille off mine?

i might need it mate, are u going to the meet next week?