Builds Treebeard (1 Viewer)

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Nice job! Glad to see folks putting big miles down like they are meant to! Any wheeling along the way?
Thanks! As I said on IG your trip in the 40 was an inspiration. Sadly no wheeling on this trip. I found a few dirt roads here and there but nothing challenging. I need to spend more time in Utah soon.
 
Thanks! As I said on IG your trip in the 40 was an inspiration. Sadly no wheeling on this trip. I found a few dirt roads here and there but nothing challenging. I need to spend more time in Utah soon.
That's what I'm talking about ☺️
 
Treebeard is running great and is still my daily driver.

Last month I hosted the Seattle Cruiserheads at my shop for a "fluid film day". We took turns on the lift and sprayed the underside of each truck with black fluid film. Gotta fight the salt!
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Last weekend Treebeard and I joined the Seattle Cruiserheads 2021 Christmas Tree run. It got slippery this year and we all practiced using our tire chains. I skipped the tree but couldn't miss the trip. I need to buy some traction boards!
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I haven't done much work on the rig recently but I have made some bolt-on additions. I added chrome side mirrors from an FJ62 (cheers @red66toy!), some White Knuckle sliders, and a Rhino Rack Batwing awning. I found all of these second-hand and jumped on them when I had the chance. This isn't the best photo but it shows everything. The Scheel-Mann is out for now. I wanted to compare it to the old seat again and if I keep it the next step would be to remove it and work on the bracket. We'll see.
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Thursday night was really productive. I got my Blue Sea panel installed (sweeet!), tightened up my steering box a bit, installed new front speakers using @TheNeek's awesome adapters, installed @Ophir's hand throttle mod, and put the finishing touch on my kill switch install. For the panel I ran 10ga speaker wire (red/black) from the battery through the PS firewall grommet, along the PS door sill, under the rear seat near the front hinges, then paired it with the harness over the DS rear wheel well and into the quarter panel. It's entirely hidden and I didn't have to cut any new holes anywhere. The panel has an on/off switch, a 15amp circuit breaker, and a voltmeter so I can safely monitor the starter battery. I bought a Noco jump starter for this trip... just in case.

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Yesterday I drove down to Portland to pick up the seat and a fridge (tax free!). This morning I went and picked up the bracket from Planted and headed to the shop to get everything installed. I was really excited. When I finally got the seat and bracket bolted into the truck I faced the moment of truth... and was disappointed. The seat is amazing and the bracket is rock solid, there's nothing wrong with either of these products. I'm just damn tall and my head was pressed firmly into the headliner when I sat in the seat. This has been such a disappointment today... the seat is huge but it's the right size for me. I've never had a seat that fit me like this. I'm going to try ditching the sliders to gain some headroom and long term I may fab a more low-profile bracket. Honestly I'm considering returning both of them (if I can) and giving up on the idea of the 60 being a comfortable road trip vehicle. It's a depression, hopefully I snap out of it.

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In better news I was able to fix my rattling shifter today. It's been rattling ever since I re-did my carpet. It was very noticeable and particularly annoying on the highway in 4th gear. I've gotten used to resting my hand on the shifter to keep the noise down. Today I pulled the seats, carpet, and trim back out in hopes that I could diagnose and fix the rattle. It turns out that the pins on the trans that hold the shifter in place were replaced by bolts at some point… for some reason? The clamp shown has to be tight around the bolts to keep the shifter from rattling. 🤦🏻‍♂️ I didn’t know why it was there when I re-did the carpet so I didn’t reattach it. The rattle is now gone but... why would a PO have needed to make this repair?

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Tonight I tried to make progress on bolting the drawers into the truck. This also ended in disappointment as I lacked the necessary hardware and felt that I was cutting it too close to the gas tank to make the holes I needed. I'm going to do the trip without bolting them down. They'll be loaded down, I'll keep the rear seat back in place, and I'm going to be doing mostly highway miles. It's not ideal but I think it'll be fine. Tomorrow I need to get some tie-downs installed on the roller drawer so I can strap my fridge in place.
such a bummer.... man, thats a great looking seat!!!
 
WTH? which meeting was the fluid film meeting? I don't remember hearing about this. Also, where the heck did you find used White Knuckle sliders? Good work!
 
WTH? which meeting was the fluid film meeting? I don't remember hearing about this. Also, where the heck did you find used White Knuckle sliders? Good work!
I missed it to? I ordered white knuckle sliders from them and got them within 4 months or so. I installed them last month.
 
WTH? which meeting was the fluid film meeting? I don't remember hearing about this. Also, where the heck did you find used White Knuckle sliders? Good work!
Sorry, it wasn’t an official event, just something organized by a few of us. If anyone has access to an outdoor lift we should open it up next year!

The sliders came up on OfferUp in Portland on a Wednesday afternoon for $350. I dropped everything to drive down that evening and buy them. I was home by midnight!
 
Treebeard has been making easy work of the snow in Seattle over the last week. I’ve had some really hard starts but once it’s running it feels great. Next week I’m registering it with a restored WA plate. I have stickers for February 84 on the way for the tags. :)

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Dude, cold starts suck. Gotta do that ignition upgrade. It’ll give you some extra oomph too.
 
I should note that my battery was the rough part of my starts this week. It didn’t like sitting in the cold and I unfortunately went on some short drives during the coldest part of the week. My Noco GB45x jumped it twice yesterday and could have done it at least once more if needed.
 
I can't believe you scored sliders for 350…

Also that historic plate is nice. OR is stuck with a catch-all special purpose reg/plate which doesn't officially accommodate using a classic very much— you're supposed to only drive it for 'club events' or something like a 60 mile radius of your home. I'm not too concerned as a TLCA member but it isn't a real historic/classic category.
 
I agree. Really nice score on the sliders, I usually don't scan that far for "stuff." Would running a battery tender mean 200 feet of extension cord for you? We're likely at the end of needing cold weather help this week out here anyway. I dig the vintage plates too. Nice that Wa allows them.
 
I recommend setting up local alerts for things you want, however rare, and jumping on them when a deal comes. I’ve gotten pretty lucky but I also think there’s something about the PNW. We have lots of cruisers, 4x4 culture, and used markets like Craigslist and OfferUp seem to be more heavily used out here.
 
I scored my ARB bumper on CL that way, but wasn't aware you could set alerts on Offerup. I'm not on FB and I know that means missing out on a lot of deals.
 
Also that historic plate is nice. OR is stuck with a catch-all special purpose reg/plate which doesn't officially accommodate using a classic very much— you're supposed to only drive it for 'club events' or something like a 60 mile radius of your home. I'm not too concerned as a TLCA member but it isn't a real historic/classic category.
Wa is the same. A classic plate has the same conditions. You can only drive it to car shows and within a certain mile radius of your home and under a certain mileage every year. You don't have to keep buying tags every year for it. I considered it but I drive mine all the time and didn't want any questions or problems so I didn't get the classic plate.
 
Wa is the same. A classic plate has the same conditions. You can only drive it to car shows and within a certain mile radius of your home and under a certain mileage every year. You don't have to keep buying tags every year for it. I considered it but I drive mine all the time and didn't want any questions or problems so I didn't get the classic plate.
I went back and forth about it quite a bit. There are no mileage restrictions in WA and there's a lot of gray area in the use restrictions. My conscience is clear about it but I totally understand the decision to use normal plates.

Honestly my decision was primarily driven by the aesthetics (restored plate, no front plate) rather than by the cost savings.
 

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