Vicreo A Legarreta
Vicreo
:lurk:
Project "Danger Ranger"
- Thread starter livetoride21
- Start date
XJSuperman
OhIOWAn
Do you have drain holes in any of those skids? Gotta be able to let out that water, salt, mud, etc.
livetoride21
Adventurer
Yep, the transfercase skid plate has a few 1/2" holes in it for drainage as it's basically a captive bowl, and the front one will drain by gravity as much as any stock panel would. I may add some holes if drainage becomes an issue however.
XJSuperman
OhIOWAn
Glad to hear it. I didn't see any right off the bat, but the rest of your work looked great, so I thought Id check.
underdrive
jackwagon
Nice work on those skids. Should keep stray branches and such from causing havoc where you don't need it.
Question about your HID swap, are you going to use the factory headlamp housings for that?
Question about your HID swap, are you going to use the factory headlamp housings for that?
livetoride21
Adventurer
haha thanks for the compliments! if you look close there are three holes, centered with the width of the plate. I didn't want to compromise the branch stopping ability by having a bunch of holes in it. The front one I still may add a hole or two, but I haveto get it mounted fully first.
livetoride21
Adventurer
Thanks! That was the plan. I slid onto one stump last year and was so scared that it might be my T-Case or something vital, so I said never again.
I'm still yet to receive my HID kits for the headlights and stock fogs, But I'm planning on using stock housings. I had the same kit in my previous ranger (94 reg cab) and had no problem with the stock housings. Also had the same conversion on my 1998 honda civic. Tons of light compared to stock, and no real adverse effects. The main thing I changed on both was to remove the Day time running light relay so they would not be on all the time.
FLoffroad1
Observer
I really enjoy following this build, and those are some of the best skids I've ever seen for a Ranger - nice work!
livetoride21
Adventurer
Thanks! I'm really happy to be able to share this build with other like minded people.
There will be much more to come, and definitely some trip logs in the future.
livetoride21
Adventurer
Just to give everyone a taste of what's still to come. Once I am fully done my skid plates, this is one of the projects in the coming weeks;
Nothing groundbreaking, but my diff cover is not the most stout, and this will fix that.
I will also be building rock sliders, and my more ambitious project should start soon;
More on that later.
Nothing groundbreaking, but my diff cover is not the most stout, and this will fix that.
I will also be building rock sliders, and my more ambitious project should start soon;
More on that later.
underdrive
jackwagon
Are your factory housings clear-lensed, or there are light pattern "flutes" on the inside of the "glass"? The reason I'm asking is when you do HIDs in a housing with "fluted" lens what ends up happening is there is a lot of light escaping in directions you generally do not want it to go in, namely in the eyes of oncoming traffic and up towards the sky and such. Typically the successful HID conversions are done with aftermarket housings with clear lenses, if you don't already have that. To be honest your lenses already look pretty clouded in the pics (checked the first one too, just in case), so you will probably benefit from new housings anyways.
As for the diff cover, look around, there may already be something out there that is reasonably priced and can save you time and effort. I know building your own is cool and all (we do it all the time), but once you factor in the electric and supplies for the welder and such sometimes it ends up cheaper and easier to just buy something ready-made. Just a thought...
livetoride21
Adventurer
Thanks for the interest underdrive.
The stock housings are clear. They are a bit fogged out, but nowhere near as bad as others I've had before. In the past, a little bit of elbow grease with rubbing compound and I can get them back like new. As far as the efficiency of light, I'm sure you're right. But, as I said, I've had the same style HID kit before in much less ideal lenses, and they worked great so I'm not too worried. Always room to improve though!
As for the diff cover, I'm aware of a few covers that are reasonably priced, as a lot of jeep guys swap ford 8.8s in. So I'll decide that when I get to it.
I already have the material for it, and the weather's crappy this winter, so why not ? haha
Stay tuned!
underdrive
jackwagon
Clear and cloudy is better than fluted and clean! LOL Hit your local hardware or home improvement store and look for clear urethane deck coating, IIRC one of the MinWax products was also UV resistant. Then after you sand your lenses down to where the clowdy is gone enough to your liking, hit them with the urethane coating, this should hopefully keep the UV damage at bay for a while longer.
As for the cover, hey to each their own - personally I'd much prefer to spend my winter afternoons on the couch in front of the fireplace with a good book in my hand and a nice cup of coffee on the end table and a particular hottie cuddled up against me and taking a nap
Add a fluffy cat too, is she's not feeling jealous of the pretty lady. Yup yup, I like fab work as much as the next guy, but that there is the life At least till the girl wakes up and starts bossing me around, lollivetoride21
Adventurer
Clear and cloudy is better than fluted and clean! LOL Hit your local hardware or home improvement store and look for clear urethane deck coating, IIRC one of the MinWax products was also UV resistant. Then after you sand your lenses down to where the clowdy is gone enough to your liking, hit them with the urethane coating, this should hopefully keep the UV damage at bay for a while longer.
As for the cover, hey to each their own - personally I'd much prefer to spend my winter afternoons on the couch in front of the fireplace with a good book in my hand and a nice cup of coffee on the end table and a particular hottie cuddled up against me and taking a nap
haha I can fully appreciate that! I'd say 3/5 days so far in the winter that's what happens. End of the week and weekends are another story, I basically disappear to the garage most of it. My fiancé understands though. If my garage was fully heated though, I don't think I would be seen again loll
underdrive
jackwagon
Careful with the heated garage, she may just follow you there... Can't escape from mine anywhere, suppose it's my own fault for picking up a gearhead that's as bad as if not worse than I am, lol. Does have its advantages tho, she's my worst-case-scenario analyst and she excels at it, I'd say this is probably the single reason what we build together goes fairly smoothly and then performs mostly trouble-free