Saddle Hunt Texas

[spaner]

The big Astro? (e.g. a 1442 or 1450)
Maybe it's moving/twisting while you're applying force?

I have the 1450 but haven't started on my RivNuts/PlusNuts yet.
I also got the wrench-based tool (for tight spaces) from McMaster, but it only does 1/4-20 and 1/4-28.

I have the 1450 - I suggest practicing first on hole size and the setting adjustments on the mandrel - the fan cutout makes a great test piece

For sure compressor is the way to go - father in law has decent size one that I snag once in a while - but he has limited tools so I have to work up my justification for new tools

 

[mograb]

Appreciate the recommendation for cerakote trim restorer, works wonders. Also, the sliding door lock shell casing ended two years of my wife and I asking each other to unlock the sliding door with the front door locks 🤦‍♂️ having the window covered most of the time, never realized it was there.
Reading these posts and spun a rivnut for an upper cabinet. I have the Astro 1450, but trying to undo a bolt with loctite did it, usually have luck drilling bolt and Rivnut out with 1/4” bit, but I’ll see as this one has a 8020 bracket already installed.

 

[Spare_Mag_Mike]

Appreciate the recommendation for cerakote trim restorer, works wonders. Also, the sliding door lock shell casing ended two years of my wife and I asking each other to unlock the sliding door with the front door locks 🤦‍♂️ having the window covered most of the time, never realized it was there.
Reading these posts and spun a rivnut for an upper cabinet. I have the Astro 1450, but trying to undo a bolt with loctite did it, usually have luck drilling bolt and Rivnut out with 1/4” bit, but I’ll see as this one has a 8020 bracket already installed.

Haha yeah slider door is main door for us so the lock pin needed to be accessible! And riv nuts are great! Seems like everyone has their own way of dealing with the issue. I love the ideas.

 

[Spare_Mag_Mike]

Living the van life at the fish camp is roughing it. Getting ready for the deer season and it’ll be here before I know it.

 

[Spare_Mag_Mike]

Been MIA lately getting some social obligations knocked out and trying to get my deer camps ready for the season. Havnt done much work on the van and I’ve hit a lil lul on the projects and I’ve broke a few things along the way.

Juggling alot and trying not to let the van be my top priority in life. No one mentions how much sacrifice you go through to try and complete a van build.

that said ima try to get back focused on the van as some of the other things are settling out. I need to figure out why the driver side roof lights aren’t turning on now. (Prolly blew a fuse a few weekends ago when my wife bumped the switch and left them on for who knows how long) hoping that’s just the case and something more serious didn’t happen…

I need to wire the switch for the grey water tank drain so I can get that project complete. There’s some new noises in the van after reinstalling the galley cabinet I can’t figure that out either.

and I need to pull down the rear ceiling panel and try to reattach the messed up rivnut I tried gluing the fender washer in the space but the sikaflex I used was bad I think and I rushed the job trying to make a trip happen.

lastly I need to check the plumbing connections on my outdoor sprayer system. Couple seeps prolly just need to re set a hose clamp and tighten a fitting that has a small seep. The pump is pretty high pressure set to 100 psi output and the accumulator is charged with 55 psi.

once I make the minor repairs I’ll get back to my paneling.

been getting after deer camp activities tho. Small deer camp property was way over grown. So I had to get my lil tractor out there and get that handled.

 

[Rocksnsalt]

Bro even has a tractor and a brush hog. All the toys!

 

[Spare_Mag_Mike]

Bro even has a tractor and a brush hog. All the toys!

Haha I obviously take deer shit seriously.

lil red is a newly acquired toy to try and take my wildlife property management to the next level. Was surprised how it cut the overgrowth. It’s only a little 16hp tractor.

 

[Rocksnsalt]

Haha I obviously take deer shit seriously.

lil red is a newly acquired toy to try and take my wildlife property management to the next level. Was surprised how it cut the overgrowth. It’s only a little 16hp tractor.

That thing is awesome, just the right size, who makes it and Is it 4x4?
I would make the freeloading gophers/moles miserable if I had one of those.

 

[Green Maned Lion]

Haha I obviously take deer shit seriously.

lil red is a newly acquired toy to try and take my wildlife property management to the next level. Was surprised how it cut the overgrowth. It’s only a little 16hp tractor.

Man, you shoulda gotten an IH Farmall. Older Is Better.

 

[Spare_Mag_Mike]

Who makes it and Is it 4x4?

It’s a 1983 Yanmar 1401D. Yes 4x4. Lil 3 cylinder diesel and it is just so cute haha. Really surprised with it. Running a 48” brush hog pretty well. I got the brush hog and blade off FB. Had a shit ton of welding to do on the brush hog as it was destroyed by dragging behind a much larger tractor but it’s solid now and fits the bill for my lil red tractor.

 

[Spare_Mag_Mike]

That thing is awesome, just the right size, who makes it and Is it 4x4?
I would make the freeloading gophers/moles miserable if I had one of those.

Haha that little plot has a couple homes from some type of naked ground animal. He’s fun to watch when hunting that spot. It’s good training for the eyes as he makes small little fast movements. Gets my eyes dialed in.

it’s crazy how my primal instincts take over when I’m hunting. It feels like I’m so in tune with all my senses and when I get back on the ground after a hunt I feel some type of energy in the woods. It’s just a weird hippy hunting thing I guess. Ahha

 

[spaner]

I have done a lot of back country hiking/running at night and its amazing how you senses get amplified , not hunted in a long while as I am typically trying to avoid gnarly animals but is for for sure fun to track red and green eyeballs...

 

[harraik]

Mounted the 400A terminal block to give power distribution under the hood. Used a 1/0 AWG wire that I wrapped in wire loom mounted to the big wire terminal on the driver side under the van. Slightly trimmed the factory cover plate for these lugs and it fit no problem covering the whole setup perfectly. Route that wire up through the engine bay securing everything with zip ties as many as I could literally. Used a hunk of that wire to give ground to the bus bar.

Man that boot for the firewall is tight! I had to use an arrow (you could use any rod) to poke through I was careful obviously… then I taped a big zip tie to the arrow and fished it through, and taped both unpinned switch wires to that zip tie and pulled it all through at once.

I wired up the switches and did my electrical testing to make sure I pinned the switches correctly. Then I tested the lights all function. The DIY van DPDT on-off-on switch was used to replace the switch in the BD LP6/9 harness. I used the DiyVan SPDT switch on-off switch to replace the switch in the BD Squadron wire harness. Both switches work perfectly and filled the 2 blanks next to the factory MB lighting controls. I think the switches turned out good.

Nice looking plate! I'm temped to ground to that point too even though it's not officially approved. Have you used your winch much and have you had any issues?

 

[harraik]

Still need to mount the LP9s and adjust the throw on all of the lights. Bout to go mount em up and deal with the enormously long wire leads. I might unpin the connectors and cut down the wire harness.

lastly I’ll note the bumper is completely installed including the skid plate. Overall a lot of work for one man. But I wouldn’t pay someone else to install it. It’s not that hard. Just a lot of up and down off the ground and a shit ton of zip ties for all the wiring. I also found the install instructions to be good per usual with FVCO. And the video really helps to use in conjunction with the write up. I will say some of the steps are in an improper order to me but I don’t think it’s detrimental to the project as a whole. Overall it turned out perfectly I’m very happy with the outcome.

Did you have to trim the bumper anymore than the template showed? I was meticulous on my tracing and cutting and I'm finding that even without the finishing trim piece I'm going to need to cut away a bit more. And that's with both the winch cradle and the bumper being on their lowest positioning with the bolts.

 

[Spare_Mag_Mike]

Did you have to trim the bumper anymore than the template showed? I was meticulous on my tracing and cutting and I'm finding that even without the finishing trim piece I'm going to need to cut away a bit more. And that's with both the winch cradle and the bumper being on their lowest positioning with the bolts.

I have not use the winch other than initial tensioning of the spool. But I don’t anticipate any issues. I use the lights often and havnt had any issues with the ground location. I wouldn’t worry to much about the beg for this particular mod. It’s a grounding stud to the body they’re all over the van. Not just what’s in the beg.

I did not trim any more than the template. However I did basically smash the bumper up into the plastic. I found this helps hold the plastics on pretty good. I havnt had any issues with the plastics moving or fog lights “bouncing” or rattling. Overall very please with the bumper decision.

I prolly would have done a different one had it been an offering during my time of purchase but still please with bumper none the less.

 

[Spare_Mag_Mike]

Van has been getting used lately getting my hunting properties dialed in for the season. Now it’s time to finish my paneling inside. Been crazy busy with hunting. Have provided $2 dirt naps to 36 pigs over the last few weekends.

 

[jep88]

Installed the solar panels this evening. Went smooth as expected. But I tried to save a few $ by getting the white top adventure solar brackets a try but the Tnuts they send in their kit are NOT compatible with the crossbars FVCO uses on their roof rack kit. They clearly use 10 series sized extrusions for crossbars but WTAs kit is sized for larger profile. So I had to wait on the correct Tnuts to come in which was the wait lol. Oh well it’s done. Moral of the story is just don’t be cheap.

roof work is done for now. May add something in the space down the road. Who knows….

So can you say why you chose the standard over the low pro from FVC? I've been looking at both. Mainly want to two panels just like your setup for my goal zero. The standard looks much taller than the low pro but do you need the wider version to fit your solar panels? And what did you notice about wind noise?

 

[Spare_Mag_Mike]

So can you say why you chose the standard over the low pro from FVC? I've been looking at both. Mainly want to two panels just like your setup for my goal zero. The standard looks much taller than the low pro but do you need the wider version to fit your solar panels? And what did you notice about wind noise?

the standard simply looks better to me with the faring integrated. Yes it taller and prefer that so I can cover as much of the ac and fan as possibly to give the overall silhouette a more streamlined look. And wanted the most aero I could get over something like a direct mount option such as the solar mounting brackets like DIY van sells.

 

[Spare_Mag_Mike]

Been grinding out at the fish camp. Been getting after the pigs and prepping hunting spots.

Time to turn my attention back to the van and see what I can get finished interior wise over the next

 

[vincesvangoes]

Been grinding out at the fish camp. Been getting after the pigs and prepping hunting spots.

Time to turn my attention back to the van and see what I can get finished interior wise over the next

Badass!!