Update time:
March 2016 I blew out an o2 sensor when one of the studs broke off. Timmy at A1 Exhaust in Fort Mill, SC welded in new bungs, used new hangers and replaced everything back of the cat. $160 well spent. The local Meineke wanted over $800. Thieves.
August 2016 Went to the HAMOM at Dave Rushing's place and replaced the radiator and all related hoses & clamps (OEM from
@beno). Kept the 3-yr old thermostat that was already in there. Put in new green coolant since that's what was already in there. We removed the fan and shroud but didn't have to mess with the belt tension. Also replaced the crusty, leaking O-ring on the distributor. Also checked torque on all bolts regarding steering and braking.
Tires.
The BFG KO2's are holding up well after 9 months and maybe 3000 miles. No signs of cracking tread like some people are recently reporting. I've only had them in the dirt three times - all easy trails - and have nothing to say except that they worked. I hope to get to wheel at Logan's Run this year and will try some harder trails. I'm sure they'll do fine. They're very smooth on the highway, WAY quieter than my old Hankook MT's and handle rain and slush well. I felt so much safer in the couple of winter storms I drove them in. I decided to do a 5 tire rotation with these and just knocked out the first one.
Storage.
I'm reevaluating my storage/sleep system that I made back in 2013 (and never posted much about). Can't find a pic right now other than a partial in post #51. I yanked out the 2nd row seats. It's been great but it was designed around being a sleeping platform for two people (the IKEA futon fits perfectly after trimming 3" of length). I made it just tall enough to hold a 1 gallon water/milk jug in the 'drawers' but I stopped sleeping in the truck over a year ago when I started feeling claustrophobic. It's also a pain to exit and enter via the side doors in the middle of the night while barefoot. Even worse for short Sarah. Especially bad when combining the sliders with bare feet, plantar fasciitis, arthritis and winter temperatures. I'm really missing cargo room lately so I might try to remove some of it and modify it a bit to the plans in my head.
Bumper.
The 4x4 Labs rear bumper has been great. It's no secret that I consider it mostly as a spare tire carrier. An expensive one. But it's built like a tank. Yes, it's a pain to open and close every time I need access to the rear interior. The ladder on the PS serves mostly to mount the HiLift and the license plate. I think I've climbed it twice. It
probably will be handy if I use the roof rack more, but that's normally accessed from the sides, so it's doubtful. I'm gonna put a couple Quick Fists on it for my shovel at Logan's Run. Running the spare on the bumper does limit my use of a cargo carrier in the hitch. The spare largely blocks the DS half of the carrier unless a loooong extension tube is used, but there's still a problem because the swing arms won't clear the rack if it's loaded, so you can't drop the hatch open.
Roof rack.
Heavy. ARB steel model. I'm happy that it doesn't seem to make any noticeable noise. I was worried when switching from MT to quieter AT tires but I just can't hear it. The size is very convenient, and so is the mesh floor. I'm overly anal about strapping things down; the mesh gives plenty of places to do that for every item. My two 10' kayaks just barely fit side by side, upside down, without any kind of additional mount. I strap a fishing rod carrier (4" PVC) to the side sometimes when I wish I was an architect. I really can't say if a flat rack would be better than a sided rack, I only know that I like the peace of mind of having the sides as cargo barriers.
