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.

The lights are very robust in construction. Quality was evidient everywhere. You really do get what you pay for!

Here's one thing that's going to have to either go completely or change. The dash lighting is red/orange.
I need it to be a NVG friendly blue green. I'll have to figure out how to fix that while I tear into this little monster!

With the inner holes drilled you mount the lights and thread the wires up through the hollow studs and assemble the wires into the supplied plugs

You can see it fits well and integrates well with the body work and the new rear bumper. Here it is all assembled:

Next for the rear bumper install. It's a simple 4 bolt 10 min max operation. I like this because the kids or rear passengers now have a step up into the bed.
Here's the before shot and the bumper alone installed:

From Shawn:

OK, I'm going to watch this thread closely and if Don gets into any custom fab stuff may even be able to help him out with a project or two. I am interested in purchasing one of these side by sides next year but have not really taken the Green seriously thus far. So here is the challenge Don, convert me from Orange (yeah I'm an Allis fan even though they don't have a dog in this fight) to JD Green......

From Ashley:

Don, where is the switch located for the wiper motor?? Is it up high, next to the actual motor itself, or is it down on the dash? Or maybe you havent even gotten to that part yet. I may be jumping ahead too far...

Just curious. I like the windshield. The bottom section does flip up. I was about to call you out on that one, because the majority of them, the top folds up, and the bottom stays put. But, you are right. Bottom piece folds, not top. Maybe you already know this, maybe you dont, going to interject it either way...

In the summer, when it is dusty, when the windshield is down, all that dust and dirt will come around the sides, and settle in behind the windshield, right where you sit, and fall out all over you and everything there with you. When you raise the top, or in your case, the bottom, it allows the air to flow through, and carry the dirt with it. Now, you will still get some dirt on ya, but, not nearly as much as what will fall out on you with the windshield down. We had these issues out in west texas where we were hunting. Even though it was winter, it was bad dry. You pack about 6 guys and gear on one, and take off. After we all got to our destination, we would be covered in dirt, as well as our guns and gear. So, we opened up the windshield, and battled the cold air, but not the dust.

Again, just interjecting a small point, in case you were not aware... Not trying to hijack. Keep up the good work. You're going to convince me into buying one now!!!

The windshield is held in place by way of the same cool cam lock system

First I removed the top. Accessories like the poly top is held in place with a cool cam lock roll bar clamp that allows you to pop off things like the roof and windshield in a minute or two. Pretty stout as well!

Installed a windshield and wiper kit today. Still wading through John Deere parts and have a ton more before I start getting all custom.
Here's the box and what's in it:

And the new cool parts:

There are a little gymnastics to get everything bolted up, but it goes pretty fast. A third hand or a jack is necessary for this step.

All righty, moving to the swing arm CV boot(s) guards. I learned with my older 850D gator that you need a lot of protection on the swing arms. I have busted a number of boots on that gator so literally the first thing I speced with this purchase were the front and rear guards. Here's what it all looks like stock.

Earlier we were joking about my seat belt extenders. You'll have to read almost 2.5 thousand posts over in my other build thread to get what I am talking about, but these extenders are actually seat belt re-positioners.
Here's where we will be working next:

Reversing the process the muffler installs easily and just like that I am as done as I am going to make it. I decided I don't need no stinkin heat shield! Extra weight carried around to protect some bonehead from burning himself because he's not smart enough to avoid hot stuff. In this case we'll allow the law of natural selection to deselect such a person. (Now having made that statement, watch the bonehead be me!)

With just the removal of 2 bolts, the muffler can be wiggled free and removed. Here it is side by side with the new stainless replacement:

THat is all pretty heavy stuff in there. I was not all that happy to find the aftermarket exhaust was also pretty weighty. Makes me think it just might go bye-bye sometime in the not too distant future!
Here the box of stuff before I started removing things:

You see how it is configured stock.
I have the following parts either sitting here on the floor or enroute from all over:
1. Tempered Glass windshield with an electric wiper
2. Rear side tubular slider/armor
3. Rear tubular bumper
4. Hi perf stainless exhaust
5. Seat belt extenders
6. High back racing bucket seats
7. Hella long range lights, 2 ea.
8. Roof mounted flood lights
9. Front facia long range pencil beam lights
10. Front 4500 Super winch with:
50' of synthetic line
Bobbin
Poly roller fairhead
11. Frame to mount stock 21" buckets into the bed for passengers
12. Rear head rest and back protector
13. Poly roof
14. Fox coil-over shocks w/remote resevoirs
15. front and rear steel CV guards
16. RotoPax 3 gal gas can
17. Rotopax first aid kit
18. 2ea 2 gal RotoPax water cans
19. Rotopax gear box
20. M4 carbine mount
21. Fire extinguisher
22. SHovel
23. Axe
24. Self Recovery kit
25. some more stuff, but my brain is getting fried...

Mostly still stock

Hmmm...

Originally Posted by Armalite View Post
Little more market info...




Quandary in the Markets




Stay the Course...do not be swayed by the Mainstream Media or others.






Obviously, the market right now is in a bit of a quandary - not knowing which way to move. Coming off of some poor job numbers last week this created some pause in the markets, yet this should be perceived as "good" news because it indicates that the Fed is likely to continue quantitative easing. While this may be good news for the markets, it is not good for the economy.



There is also an incredible amount of bad news coming out of Europe, as the European nations are apparently continuing to get worse. Their unemployment still limps along at over 12% - and in some countries, such as Spain and Greece, this is over 25%. Some believe that the debt which the Eurozone has racked up has become insurmountable for the European economy to ever recover from. We are seeing unrest in Nigeria and possible interruptions in the flow of oil. There are also tensions coming out of Iran. While the overall supply of oil is still fairly decent, this turmoil is beginning to drive the oil markets back up.



All in all this is a very difficult situation, as I continue to recommend good, solid companies that, in my opinion, are relatively well-priced for the 8 to 10 year time horizon. But I would like to suggest to you that you stay on a steady course - maintaining a position of cash that is considerably larger than I would certainly like to see, but nevertheless is necessary in order to hedge for the downside or potential pullback in the market that could be relatively big and sustained for a fairly long period of time. If you are at 50% in cash and 50% in stocks, in the worst case scenario (if I am wrong and stocks go up another 10%), you will only make 5% on your overall portfolio. Or, if I am right and they go down by 10%, you are only down 5% and will recover much faster than those around you.



I believe, in these uncertain times, this is a smart and prudent strategy. I write this to encourage you to stay on course and do not be swayed by the Mainstream Media or others around you.

Brother Ash,
The last you posted is a short term view not a long term forecast.
While the Fed maintains control, they have the ability to artificially control the market, well the stock market.
That's while they maintain control.
The Fed has control because, well they have by defacto, been granted that control by China and the others holders of our debt.
The very minute China says no more, that is over.

Remember the fact that without artificial manipulation of the market, our Government and financial system would have failed some years ago. We have been running, essentially hooked up to life support since then. So what happens when a family member signs the forms and the nurse flops the on/off switch to the O-F-F position?
Sadly, death!
Same thing here.
As long as we play cards well with the Chinamen, we be OK.
We piss them off, say when they decide to take back Taiwan, or do a little empire building with Vietnam, then they can throw that switch! Then all those super carriers will cease to be in short time.
Americans are extraordinarily stupid
Why?
Because they are not smart enough to have figured that all out. The very fact that 9 out of 10 of us are so dumb that we don't have a clue about what I am talking about, and/or no spine that they allowed it to happen.
Let's think about that...
One man didn't do it.
Destroying an economy isn't the work of a committee, , a group, a fortune 500 company or even a small Army...It took lots of mid level manager types convincing the stupid people that all is well, not to worry.
Yep, we had ample opportunity to see it. We became so dumb and self absorbed, so entertained while being shepherded toward the slaughter that even semi-smart people manipulated us. And on a large enough scale to get a closet Homosexual, Muslim, extremely liberal, America and freedom hating man elected to our highest office. If they could do that, do you think anything is impossible for them now?
Read people, wake up from your meth and American Idol comma. Look around! Take pictures and paste them in your scrap book and label that section, "Last Days of America"
Getting back to the markets, forget about the market. Forget about cash. Soon, it aien't gonna work!
Get out of all markets, like completely out.
If you have any money, which almost none of you do, because you became weak and needed more stuff than your income would allow you to have, get it into your own right and left arm extensions.
Get yourself a solo 401K or self directed IRA. Get the numerical and theoretical 807.555 shares of Holy crap's emerging market fund turned into money which you can put the habeas grabeus on and buy something.
Buy a ton of silver in small pieces. Forget about gold. Say you need to buy a bag of corn...yep you'll be making your own flour someday soon enough... well trying buying that with a 1 oz bar of gold! How, shave off a sliver with your buck knife?
Nope, buy pre 1965 silver coins and get ready to put a fire under all of that. Then buy some guns and as much ammo as you think you can keep from being looted from you. Ammo will trade very nicely. Forget about the latest mag wheels and maybe put away a set of extra tires and maybe a few hundred gallons of chicken grease to power your diesel with. Remember, without a job, you won't be driving all that much. Besides the DHS and TSA checkpoints are going to be a PITA!
I'm saying if you're thinking about shorting stocks, longing this or collecting that, you may just be thinking on the wrong plane of reference. No worries really, because most of you don't really have a chance anyway, but a few just might. Oddly, those few are already well into their prep phase...
Anyone try to buy ammo lately? Did you know the DHS has already intimidated manufacturers to send the stuff to them, to fill their orders first! Now why would that be??
Why do they need 2700 mine and ambush resistant vehicles? Hurricane season going to be that bad this coming year?
Tell you what, take look at this piece. Then view it as truth or fantasy, black and white please. Either see it as nonsense written by a kook, or accept it as truth and do something. The one in a thousand who takes action will be better mentally suited for hard times anyway.
May God Bless us all, and protect our nation, but I fear that he will not protect a nation that has already killed more unborn babies than all the soldiers we have lost in our wars. I hope at least that he protects his people and allows us some small piece of his grace, we're gonna need it!

Edit: My perdiction is a market correction of 60%-90% (Not right away, banksters are not quite ready yet)
Followed by a run on banks
Followed by closing and nationalizing of all banks, all retirement accounts, all money that can be found everywhere.
Followed by lines of sheeple collecting their daily bread from what is left and distributed by the goverment
Followed by martial law
Followed by reorganization and forced labor
Followed by running civil war
Then the UN
Then the Chinese and the Russians
and, oh what the heck...

Good information here, I thought I'd pass it on:

I personally paid over 50K in taxes one year to the feds alone! By the time Kintucky taxed me nearly to death and I got to pay to support abortions, the building of mosques, financing of Mexicans free educations, free housing for families of 90 from Guatemala, and of course food aid to the North Korean Army (and the PLO as well), I almost had to take a loan out to buy food!
It was a good thing that I was working in Afghanistan at the time, obviously doing nothing to support my country...At least I got to eat some great Armee chow for 5 years while over there!
Don't we all live in a wonderful country! ;-))

Here it is

I'm in, all real Americans, all 200 of you, need to join me in this effort!





The Honorable Wyden
731 Hart Senate Office Building
Phone (202) 224 3254
Washington DC, 20510



Dear Senator Wyden,


As a native Oregonian and excellent customer of the Internal Revenue Service, I am writing to ask for your assistance. I have contacted the Department of Homeland Security in an effort to determine the process for becoming an illegal alien and they referred me to you.


My primary reason for wishing to change my status from U.S. Citizen to illegal alien stems from the bill which was recently passed by the Senate and for which you voted. If my understanding of this bill is accurate, as an illegal alien who has been in the United States for five years, all I need to do to become a citizen is to pay a $2,000 fine and income taxes for only three of the last five years. I know a good deal when I see one and I am anxious to get the process started before everyone figures it out.



Simply put, those of us who have been here legally have had to pay taxes every year so I'm excited about the prospect of avoiding two years of taxes in return for paying a $2,000 fine. Is there any way that I can apply to be illegal retroactively? This would yield an excellent result for me and my family because we paid heavy taxes in 2004 and 2005.


Additionally, as an illegal alien I could begin using the local emergency room as my primary health care provider. Once I have stopped paying premiums for medical insurance, my accountant figures I could save almost $10,000 a year.


Another benefit in gaining illegal status would be that my daughter would receive preferential treatment relative to her law school applications, as well as "in-state" tuition rates for many colleges throughout the United States for my son.


Lastly, I understand that illegal status would relieve me of the burden of renewing my driver's license and making those burdensome car insurance premiums. This is very important to me, given that I still have college age children driving my car. If you would provide me with an outline of the process to become illegal (retroactively if possible) and copies of the necessary forms, I would be most appreciative. Thank you for your assistance


Your Loyal Constituent, (hoping to reach "illegal alien" status rather than just a bonafide citizen of the USA)
Dale B. Rilyeu
Lebanon, Or




Get your Forms (NOW)!!
Call your Internal Revenue Service at 1-800-289-1040

I think the stuff he says is quite interesting. Do you know him personally or just know of him? This would explain your ability to do all the mods on your truck?

What do you think about what he says?

not personally, but have read his stuff for years.

He seems to understand the obvious. Let me explain. Most people drink the media and uncle sugar kool-aid. However if one has half a brain, I estimate maybe 10% of the population, then all one has to do is to process what they see and run things to their natural conclusions. Anyone can see a total socital collapse right at our doorstep.

It has happened in most great empires, so it's a familiar pattern. It's always born of moral decay. Looking at our once great culture, standing up for what is right, we now stand for nothing. Everything is acceptable. Marriage is down the tubes, something like half the kids now have two parents. The gay thing is especially damaging. That is an extreme perversion of normal human behavoir, however through the mechanism of PC, it is now widely accepted as normal or just another alternate lifestyle. It is not and most of us know it.
We roll over on everything, no one stands for anything. Worthless welfare people suddenly have a voice and their ignorant demands will voice over those of us who live productive lives. In fact these days if you oppose any of the freak groups that are all the rage, you become a bigot in the eyes of the same groups who seem hell bent on destroying us.

Those people think that they are so smart and visionary that they have closed their minds to alternatives. They do not and will not listen to convention, so in that sense alone, a collision course has been set.

Well, I say let it go. Unfortunately we will have to let the system burn itself down. It is the liberals, drug addicts, criminals, gays, illegal immigrants and so forth that will suffer the worst. THeir numbers and strength will all but dissapear. In the aftermath, common sense will rule, and without the artificial buttress of the thin veil of corrupt laws and a liberalized, increasingly socialized govermental system, they will simply not survive.

The way I see it we are headed over the clift. THe people who steered us along that path will be the ones who will be lost in the greater numbers, so in reality it all has a better ending for those of us who prepare and those of us who contribute.

Thomas Jefferson was well aware of this fact. Looking at things through his eyes, freedom at times needs a sacrifice of blood. THe loss of our system is only bad if you hold to and want the trappings of our current lifestyle. If, however, you desire freedom, then we will need to get through all this madness to get to a point to rebuild. So like Stansbury, I and millions like me are silently biding our time while the idiots rush headlong into the wall.

OK, well, here's the rest:


“Don’t you think you should call?” Call, what, what are you talking about?” Well, even though you’re engaged in surface combat with that fly, all along we have actually been moving across the ground and by now are in restricted airspace!” Restricted airspace, oh crap, Oh no, I wasn’t paying attention to where we were, and there had been a ROZ (Restricted operating zone) posted along our route of flight briefed to us earlier in the morning. You know the part before the coffee when I was still half asleep in the TOC (Tactical operating center). They were either flying a predator, or killing something, or raining artillery or exploding nukes or dropping nerve gas or something, (it’s always something) and we were right there where all the fun was happening. The thing about the GPS was that it displayed a pretty good moving map. We had actually programmed the various circles and rectangles of airspace along with the ROZ to use as reference. We would fly up to and alongside a ROZ, skirting it by a mile or so before proceeding along on our way. But because of that Da##$!!ed fly, none of that was now possible. Further because of those Da##$!! Engineers, the da!*#!ed thing wouldn’t turn back on until, perhaps the second coming so we were literally just winging it.

I made a call to Ridgeback to make some frivolous request to make it look like I actually was in control of this mission and was immediately answered. Roger, Swiper, show you inside ROZ tango alpha, but nothing is happening at the moment, continue straight ahead to vacate!

“Nice move” taunted Brent as I started to think of more and different ways to kill that fly. We no sooner cleared the ROZ at some eight thousand feet when all at once, BANG! My door flew open, well. not all the way open, but somewhat. Of course my lunch, the mission packet, about a dozen barf bags and yes, that fly were immediately expelled. I could no longer talk effectively on the radios since the mission packet contained all the daily frequencies. And I’d be going hungry now, and along with those barf bags were the passenger briefing cards, but you know what? None of that mattered in the least! You know why? Because that darned fly was dead! Yep I imagine he was smashed into a mist the moment he hit that wall of really fast air. That’s all that mattered to me. The fly was dead, he’s dead and all is now right with the world. Brent had slowed the aircraft a lot. He was actually in the cockpit, and doing his job. I was off in murder land enjoying a fresh kill, yea, the fly is dead! “Yo Don, wanna close the door?” “Oh, sure, I ’ll get it right away, can you slow down to about fifty?” The wind was creating a powerful suction which was pulling the door open.

“Hey lead, what’s going on? We thought we saw a bunch of trash fall out of your aircraft, and what’s the deal with flying through the ROZ?” Oh it’s just Don and some fly.” “Ok makes sense, everything OK?” “Sure, we got it, switch up to Qalat control tower.” Hey that was my job I thought in anger, the fresh kill still on my mind. I make the radio calls, not Brent. Then I realized I was also supposed to navigate and I didn’t do that either. Was supposed to look for bad guys on my side, and didn’t do that either, hmmm. Brent, I’m all better now, I’m back in the cockpit!” “Good to have you back, I was getting lonely up here all by myself, he poked back.” “It’s all good, bro, it’s all good, I said, however I wondered if it would be.

Chalk 2 (our second aircraft) dropped into Eagle and we spiraled into Qalat to drop off our troops. While there a Romanian sergeant who had become savvy to American ways came bouncing out to the aircraft and yelled, “Where to?” “KAF, we’re going to KAF.” “You have room for four?” Glancing at my mission sheet it showed I had to pick up six troops here and take them to KAF (Kandahar Air Field). Glancing over to the passenger marshalling area, I counted four bodies. “I’m supposed to pick up six”, I yelled back over the roar of the engines sucking in millions of parcels of air. “Your six guys got on an earlier flight that was here an hour ago.” “Who?” I yelled again. “Primus flight.” Primus, what the heck, that was a flight of Russian MI8’s. Flying with those guys was like playing Russian roulette with a revolver with 3 rounds in the cylinder. Coupled with the fact that US Troops were forbidden from riding on Russian birds!

Looking back over at the PAX eagerly awaiting their ride to KAF, I noticed they were all Romanians. Hmmm, now it all started to make sense. This Romanian sergeant had hooked his buds up. He controlled the LZ (Landing zone). He knew his buddies were needing a ride to KAF. He knew as well that we were coming, he had no doubt been briefed it earlier. So knowing that a sleek air conditioned helicopter was coming, he put the American soldiers in a crappy old MI8 made of boiler plate and chicken wire and flown by unemployed rail road workers and saved the Mercedes for his boys.

I knew this sergeant, this poker faced “player.” I unstrapped and jumped out of the cockpit. I grabbed his right epaulet and told him to come with me. When I got far enough away from the roar of those two big Pratt and Whitney’s, I took off my helmet and looked the sergeant right in his eye. “Dude, you put my boys on that MI-8 so your boys could get a nice ride didn’t you?” No, sir, I was only trying to get the priority soldiers out first. He was making fun of the fact that we tended to take better care of our boys from Texas than his band of thieving gypsies. “OK, bro, you win this time, but if you ever pull a stunt like that again, I’m going to personally skin you alive, capiche?” “OK sir, right away sir, what is stunt?”

What can you do except to just laugh it off. I gave him a solid punch to his shoulder, smiled and said “send your boys to the aircraft, we’re going to KAF.”

When he showed up with his friends he stuffed two cold Gatorades into my hands. Cool anything was good, it was better than a hundred degrees and as dry as a Kansas dust devil. I quickly checked the lid which didn’t appear to have been tampered with, Gatorade is the same color as, well you get the picture I hope. With a departure call to tower it was my turn on the controls. I pulled us up to a hover then dove down the embankment quickly gaining airspeed. In a moment I had us up to one twenty and I flared with aft cyclic and climbed like a homesick angel toward the safety of the blue sky.

You see in a lot of tactical situations low and slow, is not safe. Yea, I know the Army trains that concept and they call it low level, contour or nap of the earth flying. But in these wide open deserts, that is just a bunch of junk and it doesn’t work. The way to survive is to put distance between you and the speedy little things. If you have to be low, then be really fast and jerky, going all over heck’s half acre. Taking off from the base at Qalat when you break over the hesco barrier walls you are immediately right over a town. Sometimes kids stand on the roofs waiting to throw stones at our aircraft when we pass overhead. Towns are where people live, and people can and often do carry guns. So when taking off from Qalat, I use all the power those engines feel like supplying to get going just as fast as I can while snaking around and turning away from the greatest density of huts, then I’ll pitch aft which causes the bird to climb wildly, in excess of 4,000 feet a minute with this sleek Agusta.

Looking downward I checked fuel and got a heading off the once again functioning GPS pointing toward our first check point. Just then I saw him coming in from the side at about mach two. It was another large black fly! His body slammed into my cheek and rebounded onto my plate carrying vest coming to rest on my tourniquet pouch. It hesitated, stirred then launched with renewed vigor back into the windshield. Brent saw it, and slumped in his seat a little. Immediately my mind was right back at 9.5 on the rage/murder-Richter scale and I was thinking hateful thoughts of death! Brent made the all clear call on the radio and commanded the flight to switch frequencies. He thumbed 8500 into the altitude selector and punched the climb button. The fly bounced off the windshield again, obviously a victim of the same worthless gene pool his hapless twin had sprung from as well, and started his crazy spins and loops. I tried to think happy thoughts…