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Adventr 2009 Championship Build

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adventr

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Ghostbuster said:
How'd you measure it with the flares on?
Click to expand...


Those flares are really just extensions. They don't hang down any further than the actual fenders do, so I just pulled the same measurement that everyone else does.

I did end up giving the bars another turn the other night. Brought the front up to 23", which does look better!







 
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adventr

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Got my antenna mounted for my quadband radio. I pretty much stole this idea from "ncalphadog" on here.... :whaa:
But it works really well!



Here are the steps I took during the process:





- Locate rear outer trim piece, as you'll be mounting the bracket to the body that is hidden by this piece







- Lower pop clip







- Upper pop clip









- Piece removed









- Make a cardboard template, making sure to allow for room around the outer pop clip, and also allowing room for the inners that were shown above







- Make the second piece of your template









- Transfer hole locations onto the body








- Transfer your cardboard templates into a CAD program, and print to scale to check for accuracy. Make any desired changes at that time.











- Fire up the CNC Plasma Table and cut your parts out of 3/16" steel. Or source your files out to a local fab/laser shop.










- Drill your hole locations into the body, being careful to select the right drill bit for your threaded inserts. You could also use some self-tapping screws I'm sure. I chose to TIG my inserts onto the body, so that required grinding down a small area around each hole. MAKE SURE you pay attention to which holes you'll actually be welding to, and DON'T do like I did and grind around the pop clip hole. LOL it's just not necessary!







- You can see how the threaded inserts fit into the new holes










- Then you'll need to grind off the yellow zinc coating, so that it doesn't contaminate the welds. TIG is very picky about that kind of stuff, and I didn't get it all off apparently, so my welds ended up looking like crap. Oh well, they're solid at least...







- Using 1/16" tungsten and a #6 cup for the light gauge stuff. Then switching back to my 3/32" tungsten and gas lens for welding the 3/16" plate together.







- Rear shackle works as a torch holder.






- First set of tack welds and a little grinding. Gotta be really careful with the head on those threaded inserts.... It's like 20ga and tries to melt away on you. Found it best to make a few tacks around it, then lightly grind down and then go over the spots I missed. When you're done, it will blend right into the body panel. No pic of that though....









- Test fit the panel








- Position your tab, and tack it into place. Once that's done, you can set the antenna on top, and level the tab out.








 
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adventr

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- Trim the black trim piece to fit over the new tab, and see how it all goes together.






































- I chose to run the coax down through the tail light wire grommet. Seems to have worked pretty well. This weekend, I plan to finish running the coax to the rear storage compartment, where I'll be mounting the radio.












 
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adventr

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- All done for now. Will go back in tomorrow and cut a gusset to weld onto that tab. After that, paint the bracket and touch up the areas around the threaded inserts. Overall, was pretty easy to do, and is a VERY sturdy spot to place an antenna.























 
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adventr

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Thanks everyone!


The radio is a Yaesu Ft-8900r. I think there are some pics of the radios headunit mounted on a RAM mount on my dash.
 
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adventr

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Also installed some upper control arm bump stops today. Saw this done by another member, and figured it was worth the $10 price tag (from Amazon).

These stops come with Nyloc nuts, but be warned, there is no way (that I found) to get any sort of tool to fit back behind the bump stop in order to tighten that nut... I spent a good 45min trying to get something back there. Short of removing the UCA, I just don't see it happening. LOL

You'll need to drill out that existing hole in order to fit the 3/8" stud. I believe I used a 25/64" bit (0.390") which worked great.

To get the nut started, I taped it to the end of my finger and then spun the bump stop until it started. In the end, I was unable to use the Nyloc nuts. Swapped them out for some standard 3/8-16 flange lock nuts, and was able to tighten the bump stops. Once the flange lock nuts are snug against the back side of the mount, they bite, and allow you to tighten the bump stop as much as your hand will allow. I'll keep an eye on them, but I don't think they'll be loosening up much. We'll see though....











 
amrg

amrg

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After experimenting I ended up adding a thick steel washer behind the stop (acts as a support plate). The shape of the metal mount is awkward making the bump stop deform alot when the UCA drops on it causing it to rip after a few K miles, the washer helps but eventually it started deforming! (Probably not thick enougg)
A rivnut helps alot for mounting btw since the rear is extremely hard to access!
 
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adventr

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Makes sense! I've got some washers that are big enough to do the job. Probably swap them in sometime this week.
Still waiting for my extended bump stops from trail duty... Going on a month now!
 
Ghostbuster

Ghostbuster

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adventr said:
Awesome, where at in AR? I'm in the northwest corner of the state.

Would like to take it out sometime soon. Also planning a trip to Moab in September.
Click to expand...

Northeast. Maybe we could plan a trip to Hot Springs. They have a pretty nice off road park down there. Hunner knows that place pretty well maybe we could convince him to go.
 
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adventr

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Ghostbuster said:
Northeast. Maybe we could plan a trip to Hot Springs. They have a pretty nice off road park down there. Hunner knows that place pretty well maybe we could convince him to go.
Click to expand...


Superlift is pretty nice. If you look at the first page of this thread, the pics with the beat-up landcruiser were taken at Superlift.

Look up SMORR offroad park and see how far it is from you. It's like 2.5hrs from me, so probably about the same for you I would imagine. It's in Missouri.
Also, running the forest roads in North Central AR is a lot of fun.


If you decide that you may want to venture out to Moab in September, feel free to join in! So far, there is like 1 other rig that's planning on going.
 
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adventr

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Thanks! The UCA bumpstops seem to be working out so far. I haven't felt them touch, but there are marks on the bottom side of the UCA where they have touched a time or two!
 
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adventr

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Ever since the snorkel install, I've been trying to find ways to reduce the air intake restrictions. From monitoring my Torque app, I was surprised to see how much air the 5.3 really ingests. Was even more surprised to see the little airflow restriction gauge (the one that's attached to air box) sucked down to the 50% line!

I've never gone full throttle in the H3, but under moderate acceleration, it's quite common to see 550-600cfm at the MAF sensor. That's quite a bit of air flow.


First up, is a better air filter. I have been running a new WIX brand filter, but figured a good aftermarket dryflow would be best. I went with the AEM vs the AFE, simply due to the fact that the AFE picture looked nothing like my air filter. It was at least missing the little "tab" that sticks out on one side. That, coupled with the fact that the AFE had poor reviews on Amazon for not fitting well, led me straight to the AEM.
So far, I'm impressed with the quality of the AEM filter. For less than $40, I think it's a decent buy. It easily weighs 3x what the WIX filter does, and the rubber seal around the edges feels like it will make a solid seal to the air box. If that makes sense. LOL



Here are some pics. You can see that the snorkel is pulling in fresh air, by the number of flying insects that have been ingested!
























 
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