Good looking truck man keep at it I'm a lot like u save money do alittle save more do alittle more lol . Good luck keep on posting

 

Thanks, it is definitely a work in progress always something new to do. I think I need to replace my inner seals on the front axle of the truck because they are leaking all my brand new fluid out the axle tubes and it always reeks of diff fluid!


To do list:
Front axle inner seals
Find good oem tailgate
Find a truck cap to turn this into an overlanding vehicle and find decent 12v heaters in back for when the cap is on and the dogs are back there.
Locate a seat bracket to install captain chairs front and rear
Tackle rear main leak and timing cover leak

 

Where did you find the military take off tires?

 

Ebay seller name is bergsupplyinc. They are in NC and like I said shipped in 4 days to Michigan for $100.15

I purchased the 95-99% tread life tires. Talk to them they are good and ship good tires.

 

So I picked up a used truck cap for $45 today to start doing the work to turn the truck into a vehicle I can camp out the back of. I am planning to clean it up paint it (first sort of major painting project that I am tackling myself, I figure since its finerglass it shouldn't be too hard no body filler or anything to mess up we will see how it turns out) I will be looking to add some 12v heaters to the cap area also!
if anyone has any recommendations on what kind of paint to use or the process in which to do it as far as sanding and primer and things like that (I plan to spray paint it and take all the windows out etc, etc) I don't have painting tools and at this time I can't afford them.
Anyways here are some pictures of it on the truck...





I know lots of people hate caps and whatever but I think it looks awesome, and I don't think it looks that bad with the cap being red!





I have all that crap between the bed and cap so that the bottom doesn't scratch up the bed rails because it did not have any weather stripping on it worked well the tailgate got a little rubbing but I have touch up paint!

 

Lookin' good - be a great rig for camping. Load of firewood and still plenty of room for gear. Gotta love my Ford Ranger but there is just no bed capacity in modern pickups.

 

Keep in mind that electric heaters suck power. They'll kill a battery in no time if the engine isn't running and most still won't really add any significant amount of heat, even when the engine is running. I just got a better sleeping bag! And don't forget a good sleeping pad. That steel floor will suck all of the heat out of you if you're laying right on it.

 

That's what I was afraid of with the heaters thinking about putting a battery back there maybe just to run for the nights charge it up in the day off the alternator then let it drain over night. I also planned to put in one of those fold up camping cots with a sleeping pad and such. I need to get someplace for my dog and his food also. Doesn't take up much space but I want to make sure he's comfortable.

Suggestions are welcome!

 

Carpet helps quite a bit, but without insulation underneath you'll Freeze Yer *** Off even with a bag rated to -40 below. Conduction is a bitch. The problem with a cot while it gets you off the cold ground or truck bed, the air circulating underneath isn't much better. A hard closed cell foam pad works slick. I bought a Therma-Rest when those first came out and used one ever since. Even better, put down the closed cell pad, then a Therma-Rest in extreme cold. Anything will work though, layers of cardboard, ropes, extra clothes. Years ago the old timers would make a pile of fir boughs or something, but that will probably get you arrested today.

The Mr Buddy propane heater work pretty well and are rated for enclosures. Still need ventilation though, propane generates condensation. They work great though. It eats those little one pound canisters like crazy. Buy the filter and hose and connect to 20 lb barbie tank.

 

I have a nice -20°F rated Marmot down bag and a 2.5" thick thermarest. Never been cold in that setup down to about -10°F. Thought about the -40 but figured I'd just stay home in those conditions. Plan was to use it for backcountry snowboarding missions but it's tough to find partners for that kind of trip! It is however awesome for winter car camping and such. It's not the sleeping part you want a heater for but the getting up in the morning part..

 

Thanks for the tire information. I just picked up some 16.5 inch rims. Love the paint, looks good, sucks about the tire coming apart. Nice truck

 

Probably more on the order of draining the battery in the first hour or two, then not putting out any heat the rest of the night. Personally I wouldn't bother with electric heaters unless you want to heat a SMALL volume while you are driving (I have an electric heater for a dog kennel I used to have in the back of my truck, it was marginal for that).

As to other suggestions, I built that kennel to mount across the bed rails with enough space below it to fit my Action Packer storage box. So even in a short bed truck I could lay with my feet under the kennel and have plenty of room (sorry, I don't have any pics of the kennel).

You can use a cot if you want. It'll be a lot warmer than sleeping on the steel bed, but it does use more space. I used a 2.5" ThermaRest-style sleeping pad and a -15F (or so) sleeping bag. That was plenty good down to about 20F (I never tried it lower than that).

If you've got the money and don't mind taking up the space (or hauling the weight) something like a Truck Vault (Google it) is nice. It gets you up off the steel bed and lets you store stuff under where you sleep. But it does give you less head room.

 

Doing some more research on the electric heaters they probably would not be the best route to go to keeping the truck warm at night/morning. I am now leaning more towards a bed mat then maybe some insulation like what is under the carpet in our trucks and a cot with a thermarest sleeping pad and for the dog something along the lines of what Nothing Special said (he is a winter dog so he may not want the insulation nearly as much). Probably a propane heater would be better for what I am looking to do without draining my batteries!
I do not camp heavily in the winter but I like the option of being able to if I ever needed to!

 

I did not get pictures but on the drive to pick up the truck cap I had a coolant hose burst on me truck started smoking and everything I pulled over and luckily we in a nice rural town a guy stopped to help me gave me a ride to the parts store down the road (luckily it was only about a mile away and I got there just as they were closing)


I figured while I had the coolant drained I may as well replace the thermostat also so $6 and about 20 minutes later we were back on the road to pick up the cap.





Right underneath the thermostat housing is the hose that burst it sprayed coolant everywhere!

I keep some of all types of fluid in the bed of the truck in my toolbox I got from a work van, along with a variety of tools and very limited spare parts. I always feel over-prepared until something like this happens and it justifies the extra weight!

 

Driving through a dried up pond in my friends backyard grass in there is between 5 and 7 feet tall where I was driving it.




Looks pretty cool posing in long grass...




With a little help I was able to get the nerf bar bent back almost straight it is still pretty sturdy. (the cap is off for prep for painting and I am helping a friend move soon also)