Builds Just another 79 build..... (1 Viewer)

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Nice - reminds me of the IPOR bumper on my old pig 🐷

Tucker

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G-turbo on and ready for some boost..............once that rear bumper that shouldn't have been started gets finished :)

We removed the 80 series cruise control as well.....went back to a standard style accelerator cable. I've got one of the Rostra universal cruise controls ready to go....same as my other 79.
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I’ve had good luck with the Rostra units on both the 40 and the 45. Simple.

Interested to hear the improvements with the turbo.
The Rostra units are great. I was going to try and fix the 80 unit but it took up valuable space under the hood(2nd battery will go there) and I got a little worried about trying to figure out a 30 year old part. Easier to buy new. The question is going to be.....will we be able to get the OEM stalk to work with the Rostra. That would make me pretty happy if so since I have the OEM stalk I the truck.

Cruise control on a 40 series is doing it right :)
 
More bumper work today.....I had messed with some of this on Friday. Playing around with the tail light setup. Kind of wanted to sleep on it over the weekend to see where to go. I've got some metal being bent so I can do a nice radiused corner.....IF that's what I end up feeling like doing.

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Using these trick little lights....they have an amber turn and reverse in one light and then brake/running in the red one. Bright lights.

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So there will be(maybe) a border that will go around the light and wrap over to the side. It looks really goofy in the pics, much better in person. Camera makes it look really long for some reason. I like the idea of how the frame kind of finishes them off....but....

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I like the no frame too. If I went this route, I'd have to redo the plates as I placed the lights for the frame...so they're a little offset(for removal).
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There's a middle radius somewhere in all that mess of Sharpie.....I wish I remembered what I had the sheetmetal guy bend up. I think we took him a sample of what we were trying to accomplish.

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Had to cut our rear panel to accommodate the receiver.....used a 12" universal receiver dealio.
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Made this plate for the rear crossmember....1/4" steel. We will not be able to use the 2 top holes in the center of the frame...just too close to the receiver to make them work. So we used the existing holes off to the sides from the old bumper which should provide plenty of strength.

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Shortened the receiver about 2" I think....I'll have to reach up under the bumper to insert the pin in the hitch. Not a big deal....this won't be something I use frequently but it's there just in case. Need to think about where I will hook up the trailer chains...shouldn't be too hard to figure that out.

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All good cuts today and no re-dos :)

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Kept the receiver tight to the bumper's face...

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Really like the lights not being framed.....adds some interest. I'm strangely looking forward to having a swing out.
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Annnnnnddddddd........more work on the bumper.....got our curved outer portions. Looks like we will be making a frame for the light buckets. Everything will flow a little more that way.

90 degree radius pieces. Glad I went with these....

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Had to remove a little metal on the corner
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Tomorrow we cut the bottom to match our bumper's angle and then we open up the light window. Pretty precise cut to make that perfect. Then finally we can start welding this thing together off the truck....I'm ready to drive it.

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Worked on some lighting today for the side of the truck. I've found the last couple trips I haven't put out the awning which has all kind of lighting under it....so without it open, it's kind of dark. My buddy bought a couple of these for his truck and we got to use them camping a few weeks back. Great lights. I was going to use some Rigid rock lights but I wasn't overly impressed with them.

Using Lumitec Lighting's Capri2 LED flood light....it has the ability to be dimmed and is a dual color light.....white and red(white/blue is available as well).
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The dimmable part is neat. They have a 3 second warmup....they go from dim to bright. During that warmup, you switch them off and back on and it holds the desired level of brightness. You can switch to the red light by switching it on/off/on quickly. It takes a couple tries to get the sequence right. I'm playing around with it on a jump box....I'm sure when it's on a switch it will be way easier.

Dimmed white....I think. Might be bright.
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Full bright red
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Cool little sand blasted stainless bracket my bracket maker made....he's getting very good. We'll powder coat it white tomorrow(new color for us to try).....

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This is where it tucks up....out of the way of the hatch door and the awning....maybe not the awning cover. Have to open the awning to see how things work but it doesn't matter.....awning has great lighting under it(amber and white). The T-slot channel was already on the canopy and on this side, unused. We slipped in some t-nuts in there...perfect mount. We'll lose the self tappers when we final mount it :)
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I dig that bumper.
I wish it wasn't a swing out.....I could have kept it narrow but with the flares on the rear, it's inline with them so no harm no foul I guess.

I looked at a TON of bumpers for the 79s and none of them are really very attractive. This one might be :)
 
Red lights are a nice touch for setting up camp late without disturbing the other campers or nature.
I cropped the Jeep out in this pic but it has the same lights on it.....pretty sure the camera made them WAY brighter than they were.

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Finished the light bracket today....the white powder coat turned out great. Also got the switch installed and wiring done....good to go.
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Cut the side pieces today for the lights.....good thing I had 3 of them made. I cut one too short 😔

A waterjet table would make cutting this stuff out much easier.....a jigsaw worked perfectly however.
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These will be the last pieced welded on.....
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I did some heavy tacks on all the pieces today....final welded the spindle mount in too. It's all there....ready to unbolt tomorrow and start the process of laying lots of melted metal all over it. I've got a new Miller welder coming in tomorrow that we're going to break in on it I think...

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Got to thinking about how things were going to be when the bumper comes off the truck for welding.....I was a little worried about the rear panel twisting once heat starts going in to it.

We came up with a good setup to stiffen the rear panel(top panel too) and keep the receiver nice and solid when removed.....We will tie in the sides of the bumper to the stiffening plates we put in today. The area under the receiver will stay open so I can put the pin in the hitch

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So this section will remain open on the bottom?
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