Manny's Vicarious Adventures

Good news. My Extang Revolution tonno will be up for sale shortly on Craig's List. (CO members with 6.5ft bed might be interested.) Just bought an A.R.E. topper for $200. It's blue and needs a window and a new screen. Jason is the seller. He was asking $300. Turns out he is a Toyota Tech/Mech (new acro:TT/M) at Larry Miller Toyota, CO Springs. All my truck's records are from same dealer.(weirdness). Picking it up after work Wednesday.
(Yes it is getting a new MGM/eerrhh "Slate" paint job) Probably saved a cool $grand when all is said and done. New "best " deal off of Craig's List.

 

If you are in CO and have a 6.5ft, $200 :

 

Must of done one hell of a mod to push 50W for an AM 40 band CB without being an amateur ham CB setup. Even with amplification mod, eventually you get some serious over- modulation, excessive VSWR, and lots of distortion with the 4 watt AM CB. VSWR is very critical. Most CB shops have"SWR" testers for about $30. My network analyzer at work, HP 8757D, ( Cost us $50,500.) is what I use to verify VSWR (voltage standing wave ratio). "SWR" is not the proper nomenclature but widely used for some reason. I've seen people report "SWR" to be less than 1 with their CB setup, which is impossible since 1.0 is the baseline. VSWR of 1.0 is "perfect". VSWR of 1.0 represents zero reflection/mismatch from a perfectly terminated metrology grade load. Next to impossible to achieve in the real world. RF/Microwave is my realm.

 

Its not uncommon for cobras to push good and listen good. I have a galaxy radio (ham) and its almost on par with the cobra. Galaxy, striker to name a few.all good units and push 70 plus easy that ham for ya.

Guy who did mine uses old navy stuff to tune and works damn good. You need ball park numbers. If I want to play, I will play skip on galaxy.

Btw the cobra if I key up with no load I have to replace the all ic outbound chips they will be toasted.

 

The Galaxy is very nice. There is a local CB shop (the only one left in Denver area) that will mod. I have a coworker that is a big time ham. I wouldn't mind getting a license. I'd like to have a ham CB radio like the Galaxy.

Edit: Yeah, RF output circuits have tendency to nuke themselves under no load conditions with power applied. Kind of cool to watch as long as it is not mine. poof heh heh.

 

SOLD SOLD SOLD to Lars.

 

Pretty sure a CB is handy in certain parts of S Carolina right about now. Many areas have zip/nil cell service. Sometimes shit happens and most people aren't prepared. Northridge earthquake. No cell service. Cell towers were down. I could still communicate. SSB can reach out for miles. Do I need to mention Katrina? Sometimes when there is no cell service due to natural disasters a CB or ham radio are the only/best source of communication. Twisters have a tendency to make cell towers disappear. No doubt in OK this past couple of twister seasons, truckers/hams came in handy. I was in Florida the summer of 2004. Hurricane Ivan, Charlie, Frances. All three times, no cell service. I could still communicate. I want to do more than just listen to a cheezy emergency wind up radio in the dark. I will never rely solely on my cell phone. Same reason I have a 6000 watt generator. Some people just don't get it and regret after the fact not being prepared. I'm not one of them. (Oh, I almost forgot, no plans, overages, free, limitless.)

 

Hi Matluth,
I'm a brand new member. I saw this thread you created about your grille guard update. I'm loving it. Sorry to jump in in the middle of a conversation. But I have a question. I recently bought a ranch hand grille guard (I think it is the exact same as yours). I'm having trouble mounting it though (my truck is a crewmax rock warrior limited 2013). The specific problems I have are:
1. the lower brackets (mounting to the tow hook) seems to be pushing against the rubber bumper.
2. I'm not exactly sure where to mount the upper brackets.

Greatly appreciate any info you may have about these issues.

Again, sorry if it is not appropriate to jump in in the middle of a thread like this.

Luu

 

No problem. You did remove the tow hooks first? Not sure what you mean by "rubber bumper". As far as the upper brackets, get underneath and look at the end of the frame. You will see three unused studs with nuts on each side. You will attach the upper brackets to the top stud on each side. I thought I had some pics here already. I'll take some more tomorrow and post.

 

IT WASN'T BLUE!! Score!!!!!, Goooooaaaaaalllllllll!!!!!!! ( I hate "kick ball" by the way. "Ouch, you almost touched my ankle. Yellow card!!!")

 

Slight fading from sitting outside for three years on a trailer. $200!!! Moved into No#1 best deal off Craig's List by far. This topper has the optional sliding side windows, front drop down window, and color matching. If I were to order this new from A.R.E with these options= $2K plus FOB shipping. $two hundred.

 

Jason ,the seller, thought it was a blue color. . It didn't look blue to me on Craig's. Crappy photo. Jason: "gee it looks like the same color as your truck". I had a quote for $450 to paint it MGM from a local body shop. No more. Spent $30 to drive to Fountain and back. Total= $230.
SLAMMMM DUNKKK!!!!

http://cosprings.craigslist.org/pts/5221509883.html

Does it look blue? (cell phone photo, figures). Getting the window and screen replaced tomorrow for $65. $230+$65=$295 all day long.

 

Thank you for that. Need to dress the paint up a little bit and new weather stripping. Needless to say I'm very pleased how this went down. Most toppers on Craig's are 5.5 ft. (99.9%) What are the odds of finding a 6.5ft that ended up matching my paint for two bills? Crazy luck.

 

Next....... ??? Chrome nerf replacements.

 

(I can buy better beer with the money I saved)

 

Tomorrow if I can find it:

 

New
Hi Matluth,
I mean the part where you mount the front license plate. My lower brackets, after tightening them in between the tow hooks and the frame, push against the bumper.
I think I know the studs you're talking about. It seems to me that the upper brackets can only be mounted to the top studs, but it would be hanging above the aluminum bumper frame, instead of resting on it. Is this the same for you?
Thanks

 

My upper brackets went thru the bumper slots and will line exactly with the top frame studs. Remove the top stud nut and attach the upper bracket. I had enough room to get a wrench on it.. By the way the grille mounts/brackets are quite beefy. I'll take some pics on my 8:30 AM break.

 

I decided to replace the whole driver side window assembly. Suburban Toppers (A.R.E. dealer) on Colfax, Denver will install for $175 + $ 4 bucks for a new set of keys. New total=$379 for a $2K+ topper.

 

That's strange, but it may work out. Right now, I'm still trying to remove the top stud nut. I'm having a hard time with it since there's not much room to work with, and the nut is real tight. I'll also take some picture to share with you. THanks

 

I also dumped the license plate mount and moved the plate up:

 

Biggest issue I see with antenna placement is "Where does it look best?". Worst thing to do first. Aesthetics should be last on the install list. Never, ever mount the antenna on the side of your truck. It's all about "ground plane" not just SWR. You can mount your antenna on the side and still be able to get decent SWR but zero, I repeat zero ground plane. The ideal placement for an antenna is on the roof but not practical if you hit the outdoors a lot. (TREES) The roof placement will give you a 360 degree ground plane. On the side? Maybe 180 degrees at best if you are lucky, if the antenna is high enough, otherwise zero ground plane. I mounted my 4' Fireflystik at the front. 360 degree ground plane. My hood is now the ground plane. Keep in mind that your antenna should be at least 2/3rds higher than the roof and at least 20" from any vertical metal. If you do this you will have a 360 degree ground plane. =maximum gain/reception and SWR near 1.1, 1.2 across the frequency band. Tomorrow, the rest of the install. (maybe) Going to be a nice weekend.

In the box.
Fire Flex 18ft cable. Don't go 9 ft to save 3 bucks
Used a vise at work to make the mount fit right. Couldn't see paying $30 for one made to fit. This one was $11. Takes a couple of minutes to reshape. Saved $20.
Notice the quick disconnect? Antenna will only be in place when I know I will be using it.
Proper antenna placement if positioned on the front of your truck for minimum SWR and optimal ground plane.

 

Thank you!
I finally got it. Took me longer than expected, but I like the results.
Before & After:

 

Sorry if this is showing up more than once. I'm having some issue replying to your post.
But thank you for posting this picture. I finally got it.
Here are the pics:

 

Glad you finally got it installed. You truck looks more bad ass. Was definitely worth the effort wasn't it? Very well built. (No I'm not talking about Kate Upton, hmmmm... or am I?)