Destination Unknown - 2022 JTR journal

[chorky]

Today I installed the Road Armor Stealth rear winch bumper that I have had in the basement for the better part of 9 months. I didnt want to install it before as I was concerned about additional weight in the back before getting the higher capacity springs in the AEV lift. Although, it turns out that it really didnt cause much additional sag and weight added was minimal.

It started out the other day after installing the skid plates by installing the Baja Designs S2 Pro 'driving/combo' lights in their respective place. Doing so on the vehicle would be difficult. I also worked on making the wiring harness so that they can plug into the wiring I already ran and put in place for them months ago.

In the picture above you can see I originally had the amber rock lens installed, but it didn't fit right in the holes so I removed the rock guard.

The bumper is spec'ed out to weight 95 pounds. The factory rubicon bumper, bolts, recovery points, and removed brackets from the bed sliders came in at about 44 pounds. So a net gain of 51 pounds. I am happy about this as I expected the factory bumper to weigh much less, maybe around 20 pounds. And I am happy that it is not just a total gain of nearly 100 pounds, considering I will be putting in a winch.

Unhooking the factory harness for the trailer connector and license plate lights went easy enough. But crawling under the back to see what bolts had to be removed revealed the first issue. The Rubicon bed sliders are actually bolted to the bumper itself.

I was a little shocked to see this - but it does make sense with how those sliders need to hold up. I have a feeling this was a change made somewhere between the first version and my 2022. Road Armor, when asked, made no mention of this being a concern and did say the sliders would work with their bumper. More on this to follow. The second thing I noticed, was these bolts were in pretty darn tight, with a healthy amount of blue locktite. It was clear there was a strong connection. Also noticed, was the trailer hitch itself was bolted to the bumper from two bolts hidden under the license plate. And two more torx bolts going through the bottom side of the trailer hitch into the bottom of the bumper. These 4 bolts were not very tight, but snug

Next was the bolts to remove the bumper. I was SHOCKED that there was only 4 - 2 for each side. And very surprisingly, these bolts were SUPER loose. I doubt they were even 25 lb-ft of torque. I could not believe how easily they came off. It must have been a mistake at the factory, and no locktite either.

The bumper slid off quite easily, and revealed something very interesting that I didnt catch when unbolting it. The buyer itself was mounted directly to the trailer hitch. And the trailer hitch mounted to the frame. Since when did bumpers not mount directly to the frame?? I imagine this is a design put in place to protect the frame from damage in a collision or hard rock crawling since many people seem to ride down the rear bumper on rocks, and hit the sliders awfully hard. But still....I find this interesting. And it makes me wonder with adding a heavier bumper, and winch, if my towing (or rather tongue weight) capacity is effectively lowered. Here you can also see the brackets that the bed sliders have that mount to the bumper.

Here is were some fabricating started to happen. You can see in the picture above where the bumper bolted to the trailer hitch by the two bolts behind the license plate, and 2 torx bolts coming up from the bottom. Considering this is a winch bumper I am installing, these flanges had to go. I would suspect they would be removed for other aftermarket bumpers as well. So, with the help of a neighbors cutting tool, I took off the flanges, cleaned them with paint prep, and hit them with two heavy coats of paint. Hopefully it holds for a while before rusting.

The new bumper came with a few brackets to install. These brackets bolted to the trailer hitch (not the frame remember?) with the same two bolt holes that the tow hooks mounted to. The brackets sit behind and braced up against the factory hitch steel so despite them only being held by two bolts each side, they would literally have to rip the steel of the hitch for the bumper to come off. And the hitch is mounted to the frame with 3 or 4 very large bolts on each side, from under neath the frame and the side, so it's a very solid connection. These brackets allow for three points of contact on each side - much better than the factory 2. Unfortunately that top bolt would prove to be quite difficult to access.

With that, and with putting the bolts in the bumper side with retainer clips, it slid on nice and easily - sorta. Those brackets I mentioned before that the bed sliders bolted into the factory bumper with interfered - significantly. So I removed the sliders, 3 bolts on each side, to figure that out later and slid the new bumper on. Using some references passed along by @azmojave earlier today, I opted to torque the 4 side bolts to 85 lb-ft. The top bolt was in too tight of a spot for a torque wrench, and was only accessible by a shallow socket, with a wobbly joint, and a 6" extension - so any amount of torque wouldn't be very accurate. Considering how loose the factory bumper bolts were, I snugged these down as hard as I could - probably somewhere in the 60 lb-ft territory. All bolts were held on with thick washers and lock washers. The two side bolts I added a dab of blue locktite just to be safe.

Back to the bed sliders. With the same cutting wheel used to remove the flanges - it was simple work to cut away the welds that held those mounting brackets onto the bed sliders. So, after cutting away, paint prepping, and painting, they went back on - with a perfect fit - and saved probably 4 pounds in the process.

Unfortunately in this process I made a critical error of cutting a harness too short for the aftermarket license plate lights. Note it was the aftermarket light harness I cut, NOT the factory harness - that is in tact and set off to the side currently. So, only one light is working for now until I order a replacement. The Baja Designs S2 Pro lights I had wired up a while ago when running wires for all the bed stuff in the first place, so they were just plug and play after mounting to the bumper itself. They are set to turn on at reverse utilizing a jumper harness from Oracle that ties into the reverse lights and is situated behind the left tail light. I believe I did a writeup of this a while ago. And the three S1 scene lights installed a while ago are turned on by the push of a button on the dash mounted Switch Pros panel talked about several posts ago. The S2 Pro lights are the 'driving/combo' pattern and pair well with the S1's. I will likely be putting in an orange lens for the S2 Pro's.

Overall, I am happy with the result. The light locations could be better, but with how it mounts to the frame they're not a lot of different places they could go. They will work plenty good. I will say that mounting lights for the license plate is awkward and not super straight forward. Not really sure though how this could be done any different unless road armor made major changes. It will work fine though. I am looking forward to getting a winch installed! And possibly the best part....I can see through the rear camera very well and without any glare from the factory license light positioning. This last picture is with the reverse lights only and does not include the three rear S1 lights. I think it turned out well, and looks really really good!

Oh and also, it didnt add so much weight that there is any visible sinking of the suspension - another great bit! The only concern is how well the powered coating will hold up. My luck with powder coating is it is pretty terrible stuff and doesn't last long, leaving the steel under it ready to rust within 6 months.

Sponsored

 

[azmojave]

Today I installed the Road Armor Stealth rear winch bumper that I have had in the basement for the better part of 9 months. I didnt want to install it before as I was concerned about additional weight in the back before getting the higher capacity springs in the AEV lift. Although, it turns out that it really didnt cause much additional sag and weight added was minimal.

It started out the other day after installing the skid plates by installing the Baja Designs S2 Pro 'driving/combo' lights in their respective place. Doing so on the vehicle would be difficult. I also worked on making the wiring harness so that they can plug into the wiring I already ran and put in place for them months ago.

In the picture above you can see I originally had the amber rock lens installed, but it didn't fit right in the holes so I removed the rock guard.

The bumper is spec'ed out to weight 95 pounds. The factory rubicon bumper, bolts, recovery points, and removed brackets from the bed sliders came in at about 44 pounds. So a net gain of 51 pounds. I am happy about this as I expected the factory bumper to weigh much less, maybe around 20 pounds. And I am happy that it is not just a total gain of nearly 100 pounds, considering I will be putting in a winch.

Unhooking the factory harness for the trailer connector and license plate lights went easy enough. But crawling under the back to see what bolts had to be removed revealed the first issue. The Rubicon bed sliders are actually bolted to the bumper itself.

I was a little shocked to see this - but it does make sense with how those sliders need to hold up. I have a feeling this was a change made somewhere between the first version and my 2022. Road Armor, when asked, made no mention of this being a concern and did say the sliders would work with their bumper. More on this to follow. The second thing I noticed, was these bolts were in pretty darn tight, with a healthy amount of blue locktite. It was clear there was a strong connection. Also noticed, was the trailer hitch itself was bolted to the bumper from two bolts hidden under the license plate. And two more torx bolts going through the bottom side of the trailer hitch into the bottom of the bumper. These 4 bolts were not very tight, but snug

Next was the bolts to remove the bumper. I was SHOCKED that there was only 4 - 2 for each side. And very surprisingly, these bolts were SUPER loose. I doubt they were even 25 lb-ft of torque. I could not believe how easily they came off. It must have been a mistake at the factory, and no locktite either.

The bumper slid off quite easily, and revealed something very interesting that I didnt catch when unbolting it. The buyer itself was mounted directly to the trailer hitch. And the trailer hitch mounted to the frame. Since when did bumpers not mount directly to the frame?? I imagine this is a design put in place to protect the frame from damage in a collision or hard rock crawling since many people seem to ride down the rear bumper on rocks, and hit the sliders awfully hard. But still....I find this interesting. And it makes me wonder with adding a heavier bumper, and winch, if my towing (or rather tongue weight) capacity is effectively lowered. Here you can also see the brackets that the bed sliders have that mount to the bumper.

Here is were some fabricating started to happen. You can see in the picture above where the bumper bolted to the trailer hitch by the two bolts behind the license plate, and 2 torx bolts coming up from the bottom. Considering this is a winch bumper I am installing, these flanges had to go. I would suspect they would be removed for other aftermarket bumpers as well. So, with the help of a neighbors cutting tool, I took off the flanges, cleaned them with paint prep, and hit them with two heavy coats of paint. Hopefully it holds for a while before rusting.

The new bumper came with a few brackets to install. These brackets bolted to the trailer hitch (not the frame remember?) with the same two bolt holes that the tow hooks mounted to. The brackets sit behind and braced up against the factory hitch steel so despite them only being held by two bolts each side, they would literally have to rip the steel of the hitch for the bumper to come off. And the hitch is mounted to the frame with 3 or 4 very large bolts on each side, from under neath the frame and the side, so it's a very solid connection. These brackets allow for three points of contact on each side - much better than the factory 2. Unfortunately that top bolt would prove to be quite difficult to access.

With that, and with putting the bolts in the bumper side with retainer clips, it slid on nice and easily - sorta. Those brackets I mentioned before that the bed sliders bolted into the factory bumper with interfered - significantly. So I removed the sliders, 3 bolts on each side, to figure that out later and slid the new bumper on. Using some references passed along by @azmojave earlier today, I opted to torque the 4 side bolts to 85 lb-ft. The top bolt was in too tight of a spot for a torque wrench, and was only accessible by a shallow socket, with a wobbly joint, and a 6" extension - so any amount of torque wouldn't be very accurate. Considering how loose the factory bumper bolts were, I snugged these down as hard as I could - probably somewhere in the 60 lb-ft territory. All bolts were held on with thick washers and lock washers. The two side bolts I added a dab of blue locktite just to be safe.

Back to the bed sliders. With the same cutting wheel used to remove the flanges - it was simple work to cut away the welds that held those mounting brackets onto the bed sliders. So, after cutting away, paint prepping, and painting, they went back on - with a perfect fit - and saved probably 4 pounds in the process.

Unfortunately in this process I made a critical error of cutting a harness too short for the aftermarket license plate lights. Note it was the aftermarket light harness I cut, NOT the factory harness - that is in tact and set off to the side currently. So, only one light is working for now until I order a replacement. The Baja Designs S2 Pro lights I had wired up a while ago when running wires for all the bed stuff in the first place, so they were just plug and play after mounting to the bumper itself. They are set to turn on at reverse utilizing a jumper harness from Oracle that ties into the reverse lights and is situated behind the left tail light. I believe I did a writeup of this a while ago. And the three S1 scene lights installed a while ago are turned on by the push of a button on the dash mounted Switch Pros panel talked about several posts ago. The S2 Pro lights are the 'driving/combo' pattern and pair well with the S1's. I will likely be putting in an orange lens for the S2 Pro's.

Overall, I am happy with the result. The light locations could be better, but with how it mounts to the frame they're not a lot of different places they could go. They will work plenty good. I will say that mounting lights for the license plate is awkward and not super straight forward. Not really sure though how this could be done any different unless road armor made major changes. It will work fine though. I am looking forward to getting a winch installed! And possibly the best part....I can see through the rear camera very well and without any glare from the factory license light positioning. This last picture is with the reverse lights only and does not include the three rear S1 lights. I think it turned out well, and looks really really good!

Oh and also, it didnt add so much weight that there is any visible sinking of the suspension - another great bit! The only concern is how well the powered coating will hold up. My luck with powder coating is it is pretty terrible stuff and doesn't last long, leaving the steel under it ready to rust within 6 months.

Looks great. Nice work!

 

[Jaxmax]

Looks good! Are you planning on mounting a winch behind license with a flip up bracket. I would be looking for a narrow spool small size , short cable winch with removable control box to relocate in bed. My front winch is a 9000 pound very expensive Warn that weighs 54 pounds including all hardware, line and large hook , there has to a lot of small winches out there. You might not really have a weight issue then. I always look forward to your posts, thanks!…..Jack

 

[chorky]

Looks good! Are you planning on mounting a winch behind license with a flip up bracket. I would be looking for a narrow spool small size , short cable winch with removable control box to relocate in bed. My front winch is a 9000 pound very expensive Warn that weighs 54 pounds including all hardware, line and large hook , there has to a lot of small winches out there. You might not really have a weight issue then. I always look forward to your posts, thanks!…..Jack

Hey Jack, yes I am. I have a 10K superwinch on order but it is backordered. I dont think it will fit though now that the bumper is on and I can see the space between the winch mounting location and spare tire. So I will just put it on the TJ, so its not waisted cash. I got to looking at this last night (https://www.superwinch.com/en/produ...00sr-12v-9500-lb-synthetic-rope-winch-1595201) and i think it will fit since the control box is off to the side. Its 60 pounds, so lighter than the 10K that is on order.

 

[chorky]

This weekend I went out for the first shakedown run since everything has been installed. It was the first camping trip with the Gladiator. I started Thursday afternoon by taking off from work early and having Friday off since I worked almost 60 hours last week. The plan was to camp at the Thompson Chain of Lakes Thursday night, then head to Whitefish to visit and camp in the back yard of a friend from Homeward for Heroes.

I loaded up as if I was going for a 3 night trip to see how things will work. There was one small section of side road that required 4Lo just because it was steep and I didnt want to put unnecessary strain on the torque converter being in 2Hi. The rest of the drive was a standard well maintained forest service road (since that's all we are allowed to drive on here - outside of work of course) with the typical combination of potholes and washboards.

By the math, I was sitting at 6,500 pounds. So a little over GVW, but under GAW. This is without the rear winch, front bumper and winch, winch wiring, and recovery gear. Everything else was onboard - well except for a future upgrade of the LRA tank and extra fuel.

I am very pleasantly surprised to report that the AEV lift, with the combination of other components discussed in post #65, worked flawlessly. The springs I currently have are their Standard Duty springs, which are 'advertised' at +400 pounds over stock, but what really means +400 over GVW. Being I was about 250 pounds over GVW the springs were PERFECT. Naturally on harder bumps and dips you could feel the weight and the striking of the bump stops. But the progressive bump stops, being a little longer than standard ones, worked perfectly. I did hit them often - because they are longer, but that was the initial intent anyway knowing they are progressive and a cross between standard ones and hydro stops. I would say the ride feels like - sitting on a pillow. It was not firm or harsh or even 'sporty' once off highway. And on highway, since I had more weight now than after picking it up from the shop, that 'sporty' feeling turned more to 'smooth'. Still not soft like factory, but smooth like a Cadillac. Even on washboard sections, it was softer than expected, and right in line with what I personally desired. (@smlobx tagging since you were interested in the feel). There were also no rattles, no weird or awkward movements, sway, bounces. It was just as I had hoped it would be. I think switching to the HD springs would certainly offer less contact with the bump stops - however, I do think the ride would be harsher and not as pleasant. Seeing as how I am not often in a rush, especially now that I can just pull over and camp whenever, I think these springs will do fine for a while. I may, just for comparison, try the HD springs at some point - but likely I will do that next year after putting a solid year's worth of camping on these. AND - since several in the past have mentioned the concerns of the Quadratec skid plates reducing some clearance, I can report that on a few sections of side road with a good amount of potential contact due to brake over angle - I did not contact the skid plates even once. The only time they hit something was when a branch in the road went upwards due to a tire rolling over it. And thankfully I had the skid plates then because that branch could have punctured the oil or trans pan with how hard it hit. Again - exactly what I was hoping for. So very pleased with the $$ spent on these items.

Since I got a later start than planned, I was getting frustrated at how many other campers I saw once reaching the lakes. The expectation of all camp spots being taken became a high potential - however, the one campsite I was hoping for was still un-occupied. Which was awesome! I could load, unload, move things around, test the camping setup without worrying about others staring wondering why things kept coming out of and going back into the Jeep.

Camp setup was relatively easy. About what I expected considering it was the first time with this stuff. Everything worked flawlessly. The tent opened up great and I have put actual bedding inside so it is more comfortable and easier to wash than a sleeping bag. However, I need to consider a heater of some sort. Temps the first night were below 40 and although I slept ok with silkies and waffle top on, the inside ceiling in the morning did have dew on it. Now a huge deal because I was camping a second night with warm morning temps to dry everything out - but if I decide to camp in the off season more, since I do not have abilities to dry things out at home without good weather, then I will need to prevent dew. The only way I can think to do that is with raising inside temps. The pad in the tent was sufficient - however I will be removing it soon for a exped inflatable option. The reason for this is not so much for better comfort, although that is also desired, but also for easier closing. Since I put in a bed topper, sheets, and a super thin down blanket, it is noticeably more difficult to close, which seems odd but easy to fix.

The kitchen setup worked well but also there is room for improvement. The main issue here is the storage of the table in the bed. I knew this would be an issue but wanted to try it first. Since it covers up the location for water tank storage, and is almost the same width of the bed, it is rather difficult to get the water tanks out for use, and it kills the storage location desired for recovery gear. So I will need to find a way to have the table mounted to the top of the inside of the canopy. Additionally, crawling into the bed to remove the water can's is a MAJOR difficulty for me. So, before any lengthy trips this summer, I absolutely need to get a water pump installed. However, I did have this little thing (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0B71LJL2W/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s05?ie=UTF8&psc=1). In the absence of a on board pump, this worked very very well. And, to my surprise, it was able to connect directly to the sink faucet after removing the spray nozzle. How convenient is that?! I did boil a pot of water and put it in this with some 'cold' water and that worked perfect for good temps to wash dishes and take a shower.

Everything else in the camping setup worked well. But I do need to also revisit some storage methods. As it is my back seat and home made platform were totally full. I used the platform to store my luggage for clothing. And the passenger rear seat held a box of typical camping stuff (lantern, cards, this cool little wood free fireplace since it gets too dry here in summer for fires - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07B5L9JS5/ref=emc_b_5_i, and other things), a small pack, first aid box and air hose stuff. But overall I am very pleased with the setup and it should work great for many trips.

And of course the views were outstanding. With loons calling each other in the evening.

 

[smlobx]

A couple of points…

in my Alu-Cab canopy I have a pair of C channels that allow the table to be mounted on the ceiling of the canopy..see post #19

https://americanadventurist.com/forum/threads/meet-sherpah-my-gladiator-build.7090/

Secondly, I travel with my wife but we use an RV Superbag to sleep in and have been very happy with how it performs and it will fit in our RTT.

Thirdly, you will love the LRA fuel tank! The additional range is impressive and the ability to buy gas where it’s cheaper and drive right through more expensive locations has probably paid for the tank itself.

I’m jealous of your scenery!

 

[chorky]

A surprise item came in the mail yesterday that allows me to carry all the recovery gear. After asking @Northridge4x4 if there was any way to get the AEV bag in time for a film crew arriving on the 9th they pulled through. Much appreciation to them!

Here is a layout: AEV recovery bag, warn epic snatch block 12K x1, warn epic 3/4“ shackle x4, warn epic tree protector 2” x2, factor 55 load distribution plate x1, factor 55 fast fid x1, warn winch extension (still en route), voodoo off road 3/4” soft shackles x4, voodoo kinetic rope 3/4” x1, rugged ridge line damper x1

And it fits right where I was hoping after taking measurements prior to ordering the AEV bag. Easy and quick access.

 

[chorky]

I have always loved maps. Since being a kid I could just stare at a map all day long every day. Studying every ridgeline, every contour line, section lines and elevation markers, abandoned mines, swamps, signs of old railroads. Imagining just what the topography and vegetation and views would look like over that next hill from the end of a road or trail. Or figuring where the perfect campsite would be. Admiring the high level of accuracy of early
mapmakers before GIS and GNSS was even a thing much less GPS. Rarely, if ever, has studying a map ever been disappointing. In fact, the only time I can recall that a map has left me disappointed was during deployment - and more underwhelming rather than disappointment. So when we had the huge blow in of smoke over the weekend I was curious where it was coming from.

For those not aware, there is a super awesome website that shows allll sorts of atmospheric conditions. Things meteorologists use to predict (well their models do) the weather. Or even what the chances might be of seeing the aurora, or trade routs via sea travel. This first photo shows a green circle, my approximate location, with surface wind movement direction and intensity with a fire point source overlay and surface carbon monoxide levels. You can clearly see the fires in Canada. And days before this picture was taken, the air movement in the area was counterclockwise, so pushing all that smoke southward. The second picture shows particulate matter at 2.5PPM, representing smoke, and said smoke matches with the previous picture of carbon monoxide from burning. This map also shows other super awesome things like seen in the third picture which overlays ocean currents and intensity - so you can see the southern tip of Africa is quite turbulent. Now imagine back in the day before this existed and maritime explorers had to map out and know ocean currents for fast travel. Also note, that the same fire point source overlay is on and Africa is burning up like crazy!

Information like this makes it even MORE amazing to think about the map makers of early human history and those who developed and mapped the PLSS. Have you ever been in the middle of BF nowhere and found a super old blaze on a huge tree, or a marker on or carved into a marble stone? And then think people traversed every inch of these places. How amazing! So the next time you see a map, take time to study it for a while. You might find it is very intriguing. It makes it more exciting being able
to make maps
with that sort of history and evolution over the last 20 years.

https://earth.nullschool.net/#curre...graphic=-114.89,47.51,470/loc=-114.677,48.614

 

[smlobx]

I have always loved maps. Since being a kid I could just stare at a map all day long every day. Studying every ridgeline, every contour line, section lines and elevation markers, abandoned mines, swamps, signs of old railroads. Imagining just what the topography and vegetation and views would look like over that next hill from the end of a road or trail. Or figuring where the perfect campsite would be. Admiring the high level of accuracy of early
mapmakers before GIS and GNSS was even a thing much less GPS. Rarely, if ever, has studying a map ever been disappointing. In fact, the only time I can recall that a map has left me disappointed was during deployment - and more underwhelming rather than disappointment. So when we had the huge blow in of smoke over the weekend I was curious where it was coming from.

For those not aware, there is a super awesome website that shows allll sorts of atmospheric conditions. Things meteorologists use to predict (well their models do) the weather. Or even what the chances might be of seeing the aurora, or trade routs via sea travel. This first photo shows a green circle, my approximate location, with surface wind movement direction and intensity with a fire point source overlay and surface carbon monoxide levels. You can clearly see the fires in Canada. And days before this picture was taken, the air movement in the area was counterclockwise, so pushing all that smoke southward. The second picture shows particulate matter at 2.5PPM, representing smoke, and said smoke matches with the previous picture of carbon monoxide from burning. This map also shows other super awesome things like seen in the third picture which overlays ocean currents and intensity - so you can see the southern tip of Africa is quite turbulent. Now imagine back in the day before this existed and maritime explorers had to map out and know ocean currents for fast travel. Also note, that the same fire point source overlay is on and Africa is burning up like crazy!

Information like this makes it even MORE amazing to think about the map makers of early human history and those who developed and mapped the PLSS. Have you ever been in the middle of BF nowhere and found a super old blaze on a huge tree, or a marker on or carved into a marble stone? And then think people traversed every inch of these places. How amazing! So the next time you see a map, take time to study it for a while. You might find it is very intriguing. It makes it more exciting being able
to make maps
with that sort of history and evolution over the last 20 years.

https://earth.nullschool.net

The link just went to a Bing webpage…

 

[chorky]

The link just went to a Bing webpage…

Strange, not sure why it did that - updated the link to a different one.

 

[PsyRN]

I have always loved maps. Since being a kid I could just stare at a map all day long every day. Studying every ridgeline, every contour line, section lines and elevation markers, abandoned mines, swamps, signs of old railroads. Imagining just what the topography and vegetation and views would look like over that next hill from the end of a road or trail. Or figuring where the perfect campsite would be. Admiring the high level of accuracy of early
mapmakers before GIS and GNSS was even a thing much less GPS. Rarely, if ever, has studying a map ever been disappointing. In fact, the only time I can recall that a map has left me disappointed was during deployment - and more underwhelming rather than disappointment. So when we had the huge blow in of smoke over the weekend I was curious where it was coming from.

For those not aware, there is a super awesome website that shows allll sorts of atmospheric conditions. Things meteorologists use to predict (well their models do) the weather. Or even what the chances might be of seeing the aurora, or trade routs via sea travel. This first photo shows a green circle, my approximate location, with surface wind movement direction and intensity with a fire point source overlay and surface carbon monoxide levels. You can clearly see the fires in Canada. And days before this picture was taken, the air movement in the area was counterclockwise, so pushing all that smoke southward. The second picture shows particulate matter at 2.5PPM, representing smoke, and said smoke matches with the previous picture of carbon monoxide from burning. This map also shows other super awesome things like seen in the third picture which overlays ocean currents and intensity - so you can see the southern tip of Africa is quite turbulent. Now imagine back in the day before this existed and maritime explorers had to map out and know ocean currents for fast travel. Also note, that the same fire point source overlay is on and Africa is burning up like crazy!

Information like this makes it even MORE amazing to think about the map makers of early human history and those who developed and mapped the PLSS. Have you ever been in the middle of BF nowhere and found a super old blaze on a huge tree, or a marker on or carved into a marble stone? And then think people traversed every inch of these places. How amazing! So the next time you see a map, take time to study it for a while. You might find it is very intriguing. It makes it more exciting being able
to make maps
with that sort of history and evolution over the last 20 years.

https://earth.nullschool.net/#curre...graphic=-114.89,47.51,470/loc=-114.677,48.614

Such a cool site I bookmarked it.
Not sure what the "Misery Index" is, but doesn't seem to be happening near me. lol

 

[smlobx]

Thanks for the correction. The site is somewhat similar to the “Windy” app that we used sailing offshore. It can be addicting!

 

[chorky]

After the first camp trip with the Gladiator I immediately realized the table storage method was going to have to change. Since RLD appears to have shut down I was on my own. The most logical place to store the table was somehow against the ceiling of the canopy. This would allow water cans to be easily accessible and allow for easier access to stored camp chair and shower enclosure.

So I ordered a few more L-Tracks and got to work.

This was absolutely not an easy task. Not hard either but one requiring much patients. You can see how little room there is for accessing the nuts. I ended up having to use superglue to temporarily adhere the nut and washer together as it was the only way to get them together on the bolts.

Each track is 4’ long and has 10 holes. I didnt want to drill that much and the table only weighs 22 pounds so I used 6 of the 10 holes. Starting from each end moving inward skipping one hole. The two center holes next to each other are used as this is the center of the track and likely will hold most the weight.

The end result at first try works well. The table is easy to get up and secured being so light. I am sure lighter options exist but this has a built in sink.

I do have one concern though. The built in brackets of the canopy, after closer inspection, are not as stout as I thought. I am sure they are ok…. But I will monitor the spot welds close.

Hopefully this will work for many years. I do like the table being up and out of the way.

 

[Jaxmax]

Chad, just a thought if you are going to continue the strap setup, perhaps fab a bracket at front, or even a metal angle all the way across your brackets to just put the end of table up there lift up other end and strap in, have to make it easy or table will just end up on floor. The RLD, RSI, and Rebel table holders are an awesome idea, just pull a latch or pin rear end drops and slide it out,perfection no ratchet straps to screw with….Jack

 

[chorky]

Chad, just a thought if you are going to continue the strap setup, perhaps fab a bracket at front, or even a metal angle all the way across your brackets to just put the end of table up there lift up other end and strap in, have to make it easy or table will just end up on floor. The RLD, RSI, and Rebel table holders are an awesome idea, just pull a latch or pin rear end drops and slide it out,perfection no ratchet straps to screw with….Jack

That is actually what my initial idea was. The problem is twofold. I can't find the materials. I actually needed a 2" angle alum for a different project, and couldn't find it...... This would probably need a 3 or 4" angle alum for that. The other issue is fabrication. I just don't have the place or tools. No garage here so everything is done outside on the ground or small table with your most basic tools. I can drill holes, measure things, make rudimentary cuts what a sazall, but that's about it. Any bending, complex cuts, welding.... is out of the question for me, unfortunately. It's amazing I have been as lucky thus far with all the build for this Gladiator since so far nothing has required such fab work that I couldn't do it. So I am very restricted to what sort of parts I can find at the hardware store. Various nuts and bolts has been my biggest need thus far, and I have found almost everything I needed in stainless for that which is awesome.

I would like to get a shop. And more tools, but that stuff is expensive. Here is a google screenshot of where I want to put a 16x24. It is the old original garage this house had - from 100 years ago. So it fell down before my ownership. The foundation needs to be torn out and redone. I just got a quote from a local shed builder and they said, for a blank canvas assuming I did all of the foundation work ahead of time, no siding, no roofing, it would be $38,000. That is INSANE. So, it will be a while unfortunately. I think I would prefer to buy a new tractor with backhoe before spending almost 40K on a shell of a garage.

Once the Gladiator is finished I will probably work to rebuild the TJ and then the house/property.

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