Front receiver socket is attached to subframe, not skin, so it stays with the subframe (along with the winch) when the outer shell is removed. It's also raised as much as reasonable for better approach angle
Found some more bumper pics that are out of order (sorry)
showing C channel, upper plates mount to factory location, lower legs welded to C and held in lower frame horns with factory bolts.
Mud play day with my helper (can't believe it's been 3 years or so)
New Treadwright retread tires. 315/75/16 (35's) w/BF Goodrich casings (I specified) and Treadwright Guard Dog tread.
They were cheap ($650/4 shipped) and had great reviews, so I went ahead and tried them out. They were awful. One failed within a month, two others didn't last 10k miles before premature seperation/treadwear.
Removed fender flares, pic shows (barely) solar panel mount on roof rack (unfinished project)
Can't see it in the pics but this was about the time my wife borrowed my truck to take to work and drove it under the parking deck. Hitting 4 concrete underhangs before exiting. Top tube on rack was waved badly and all for corners of bed were caved in .5" or so.
Once I got it back from the body shop, I fixed the rack and ringed the bed with 2x3x.25" angle and frenched the corner mounts into that framework, so now any weight on top of the rack is supported by the entire top of the bed.
Initial work on raised bed box. It's 1" square tube w/.75" plywood on top. This is pre-drawers/lids. Shown loaded out for working with my churches disaster relief chainsaw crew.
bunch of pics missing due to stolen computer. Will try to add more old pics as I find them.
Current pics from this year:
Joined up to do the Ozark Overland Challenge this last spring. Covered 187miles off road in the Ozark National Forest in 2.5 days
It was a lot of fun and very interesting. Only gave waypoints and each team had to figure out what trails to use to end up with the least amount of distance overall at the end.
So, I needed to armor up a little.
built rock rails from 5x5x.25" plates bolted to frame, 1.5" DOM round tube for support legs and rub/step rail, and 2x4x.25" rectangle tube (at angle/boatsided) for main rock rail. MUCH better than the Westin step bars. I can lift each side of the truck off the ground with these and they stay stiff due in part to triangulating the support tubes that go to the rock rails.
bent/welded/painted rub rails. Added grip tape to top (painted later). Truck is now old enough it's got some dings/dents in it and I'm using it offroad frequently, but also DD'ing it.
TBC