Ah I see part of my security system got into the pic. Here's the other biological units. These eat about the same as the ones which ride around with me, don't wear clothes, seem to like me and never complain.

Next came the knucklehead retention system. I went to summit to get some lap belts and shoulder harness made of 2" webbing which I vastly prefer over the way over done 3" stuff you see. Heck I flew most things that can produce lift and they all had 2" shoulder straps, so me thinks, ya know, that must be good enough!

 decided to keep the seats mounted low to keep my CG as low as I could get it. I figure as the biological asset consuming units grow, they are only getting heavier. Right now I want to keep them safe in secure. In about a decade I'll want them to be ejected on a hard corner about a thousand miles from here, but for now we'll keep them as snug as a bug in a rug!
I built the frame 1.5" above the floor and fabbed up the aft mount

No, Shawn, I did not use 1/2" A400 (or whatever that stuff was) plate. just a piece of steel about as thick as, well, who cares...
After that I took notice of a couple bolts ah' holdin' that bed together. What better place to use as an anchor point me sez! So's I's duz just like the picture:

Next I assembled the base unit and then bolted it to the roof

My first marks were too close to a seam so I moved everything to the left a tad, checked the fit, then while holding the lock device in place marked the 4 mounting holes locations.

Yessir, they are good looking, sturdy, and now I can say, easy to install.
So, I just pasted the Roto-Pack first aid kit onto the roof of the Tac-Gator.
Here's some pieces parts of the latch kit:

Originally Posted by KensAuto View Post
I really like the seat upgrade. First thing i noticed was how thick the bottom cushions were compared to the stockers, i bet that combined with the shocks will make it ride Caddyish

Ken,
Right you are, the ride is already great, but I will tune it after I add a few more pieces parts and get the thing up to fighting weight.
Still going to add a spare tire, some pioneer equipment, extra battery, winch, roof rack, gas can (s) and a couple widgets. I want to space the wheels out about 1.5" on all four corners, so after I get there, I will start screwing with the shock settings to get it to be able to terrorize the local terrain with reckless abandon!
But those seats do help. And the numbskulls sitting in the back don't weigh enough to need a lot of padding, and besides young bones heal quickly!

 knocked out the right side, then took some time to paint the rotors and touch up any area that was not factory painted

As you can see, these things are fully adjustable for rebound and compression and of course ride height (Can anyone say "lift"?)

I started with the left front, then noticed the directions started at the right front. Significant because the picture of where to mount the resevoir mount is all reversed if you're on the wrong side...

Here's the knuckleheads already occupying their new homes. I took them for a ride with the seats sliding all over, they didn't seem to mind!

And here's the new seats fully installed:

One very pleasant surprise was the ability to move the mount around to achieve 4"-5" more leg room which is important in the space restricted Gator.

The factory supplied seat only has a 21" back which I think is sufficient for passengers, however I would like more in the front. THe stockers tilt forward exposing the 4 - 13mm head bolts which I quickly removed.

It's laser cut out of a piece of maybe 11 gage mild steel, or a tad lighter. Anyway to install that you just open the clamps, losen the poly roof, slap in in place and lock it down. Here it is going in:

There will be a bunch more photos of this ProMark 4500 winch when it gets installed

A few more:

At this point I am lights complete in the front except for converting the headlights to HID. Next for lights is a "scene illumination which will turn on 360 degree floods and then som aft worklights and finally a dash light mod to NVG compatibility

These lights attach to a heavy duty bracket which in turn bolts to the main uprights of the brush guard with carriage bolts

Lets do another light install. This time I will be installing the John Deere pencil beams in the facia panel below the brush guard. Here's what came in that box:

Bobby wrote:

Chief,
I decided that my inaugural post should be in your build. Since I can't sleep at anyway I was thinking about what I'd do if I had a gator like yours. Remember those ODA humvees with the TC side mounted 240? More specifically the mount?? Or the DPV's the seals had? More specifically the MG mounted in front of the TC (yet removable so you can use the windscreen)... I think you see where I'm going with that line questioning. If anyone can make it work on a gator I'm sure you could. Shouldn't be hard to make a mount for a 12ga or M4, with your metal skills.

That would allow the vehicle to be used in the recon mode, but allow the TC to fire accurately, with out inujring themselves or others in the gator.. Now that I left you with an idea on top of your other ideas, I'm off to hunt down that woodpecker that woke me up.

Originally Posted by Armalite View Post
Have you debated on installing a seperate back up battery supply? I only ask because I know in the past, with my utv, I was checking out a few things on the lease. Had a low battery, but was enough to crank. Needless to say, I got stuck in a creek. Tried to winch out, and utv died on me. Not enough power to crank, or run the winch long enough to pull me out. Had to walk back to truck, get it in there, and pull myself out using the truck. Bought a new battery the next day. A deep cell battery would have helped a ton. Just curious if you've debated this, with running all the aux lights. And apparantly you have enough alternator to keep a charge on a deep cell aux battery...

That's a very good idea Ashley!
I was initially eyeing the roof for one of those solar panels you sent me, but after I decided to fill up the bed with all two seats, aux fuel, some storage containers and the dog, I canned that idea. The roof will now be the future site of a roof rack.
As I develop this project in my mind I am seeing big changes. I will definately need about 100Hp on tap to move it around more quicklier (as they liked to say in the SERE course I went to once) especially with all the extra weight.
I think the vehicle might end up operating at near gross weight, hence the need for mo-power. After rulling out a duramax as a possible powerplant and the LS1 will not fit either, I have to stir up the soup in this little screamin' me-me! I figure a good head port, intake work, maybe a blueprinted bottom end and a turbo with an intercooler and mugo bigger injectors capable of sucking the fuel tank dry in a single throttle burst...that should be about right.
Did I ever mention I used to own a business? Called it Harward Performance. Know what our motto was?
"When too much is not enough!" Yep, seemed to retained that philosophy...

So looking at it, after I complete this bolt on blitz of JD happy homeowner pieces parts. I'll add the cool gas can parts. OOH, you haven't seen that, sorry, I have Yep, cluttering up one end of the garage. I think I am going to trash the whole air intake system. THis thing needs a custom airbox, Don built along with a snorkle, big K&N and tubing much larger than the current straw it is sipping through.
Then the more I look at it the more it is screaming for a full cage, as in over the rear as well. If I roll it over and one of the future rangers gets wiped out, I am possibly damaging our nations future security. so I have to take steps, based on our national security to keep those numbskulls somewhat protected.
Besides, with a roll cage, I'll have more room to bolt stuff onto the tactor. (That's Tac for tactical, and tor from gator)
So by the time you guys decide I's gots to have one, I'll have it all ciphered out! Maybe I'll sell the design to my SF buddies in one of the groups!

Shawn wrote:

 don't drink coffe or tea, what then? On a similiar note I ordered in for one of my friends a warn 4500# a few years back for his polaris side by side, it wasn't long before he burnt it up. You may contemplate bigger is better, or longer lasting at least? I also understand at some point you will be stressing the frame into breaking in half, say if you tied off the rear to a tree and were pulling from the front......

I also spoke with the warn winch rep at KOH in 2011 and those cheapo M8000 units they sell for $500 are the best selling and one of the most durable units they have. Just info to feed you with from the horses mouth so to speak.

A simple test confirmed everything was working just fine.

No time to waste, onward to installing the intermediate range spot lamps next.

Next you simply plug the auxilliary lighting harness into the existing factory harness and route the wires according to instructions, then zip tie it all in place.
The dash has slots already for multiple lights, so I selected a slot and glued on the label trim and installed the switch.