Recent content by TheMoneyPit

I've got a strange attachment to Larry Ragland's Nelson and Nelson built truck "Butch". A class 8 truck in actuality, but ran in TT near the end of its "career". Sometimes something just tickles your nether regions and you can't quite explain why.

Optometrists would probably be horrified if they found out, but I keep an old neodymium hard drive magnet stuck to the hinge of my bathroom cabinet for just this purpose. As soon as I realize I've got metal in there, I just hit the bathroom, pry the lid open, and the magnet snags the shaving...

Step 1: Realize every notcher on the market blows ass for one-off projects. Step 2: Acquire AmeriBrade.

Very minor updates, but I needed to knock a few things out to really enjoy driving this thing. Spent all of last Sunday trying and failing to recharge the AC system. In the end, the rented O'Reilly Auto manifold gauge set was faulty. Amazoned a new set, pulled vacuum, and recharged with zero...

Gotta love it. 105 peak today here. Might have to accelerate my plans to throw some more power at this thing as well. I was hoping it would feel a bit peppier off the line after the 3.73->4.88 upgrade, but the larger tires and extra ~800 lbs definitely crushed those hopes. It's still faster...

Nah, still need to wrap that up. Passed inspection and got the truck re-tagged today though. Going to daily it for a few weeks. Break in the gears, figure out which noises need fixed, and which I need to learn to ignore. Weather has been 95+ consistently here for weeks, so I may have to hook...

Nah, I've just been extra lazy lately. I finally finished welding up the bedside mounts and mounted the tail lights. Tail light fitment wasn't amazing with this glass, but it's a solid ten footer. Turned out that a 6" flare wasn't nearly enough, so the bedsides required a further 6" kick to...

I'm definitely in the "cut a giant-ass hole and patch it later" camp now after doing the opposite on my truck. Welding through tiny-ass access holes and slipping tubes through exact-sized hole saw holes? Nah, gape it and patch it shut later. WAY less hassle.

Stock Ranger fuel sender reads from 15-156 ohms, and all of the universal senders output the generic Chevy 0-90 ohm readings. Added a 15 ohm resistor in-line, which should theoretically make my empty reading accurate, and the gauge will read ~2/3 when the tank is full. Gauge shows right at half...

Didn't think I'd spend three days building a bumper, but this shit is finally done. Finished encasing the frame mounts, notched lower tubes, and bent/notched the upper tubes. Fully welded the bumper/mounts afterward. The last notable fabrication project is complete. Only things left to weld...

In keeping with the theme of the build, the bumper is equal parts ghetto fab yet also overcomplicated. All out of virgin .120 wall tubing, so I'm re-using tubing from the OG bumper where I can. Upper hoop bits re-bent and spliced together. Don't mind the gap. I'll slip a filler piece in there...

Nah, just an A->B trip for the windshield install. As always, new build means a dozen new noises I'll have to either fix or learn to not care about.

Managed to dodge the cops on the way to and back from the glass shop. Installed the rear window myself back at the house. Cab (mostly) sealed up. Time to mow the grass and clean the ransacked garage.

Needed the gussets to land on the bend in the roof tube while also forming an equilateral triangle. Those are the result of that.

119" with long bed axle positioning and the LT kit kicking the front 1" forward.