The "General"

Excellent!
Deer have moved on to their winter yards here so no joy last week.

Now the wait till spring for turkey...
...gonna be a long winter.

 

Well I finally got to try out the deer hoist! It worked really well. Loaded 3 whitetails into the General and got back to the skinning rack with ease. I will say there was an issue when the gin pole got beyond 90 degrees, the pole slid forward and dropped the first deer close to the tailgate rather than the intended front of the bed location. If I kept pressure on it with my hand, it worked perfectly. Will redesign in the off season.

 

Gret to hear. Keep us updated on the redesign.

 

So I had a little time and decided to work on my headlights. I mentioned that I had gotten a headlight rewire kit and some 55w/100w halogen headlight bulbs previously and they were much brighter than the stock bulbs. They were bright, but 16 amps was really taxing the little stock alternator to the point it was cutting into the engine rpms more than I cared for. So I picked up these LED headlights that use about 1/10 the amps that the halogens did on high beams. https://www.amazon.com/Cougar-Motor...table+Beam&qid=1581728455&s=automotive&sr=1-1

They do take up a little more room than the halogens, but they look just as bright on high beam and even brighter on low beam. They are also a nice white color. I've attached photos that show the low and high beams of each, the comparison of the two, and the size difference. There is no noticeable rpm difference when I turn them on now. I did have to ditch the rubber round pieces as the new bulbs were too big in the rear to get them to fit.

 

Oh, and I've washed mud off of it at least 4 times and still have it in all kinds of crannies. Looks mostly white now on the exterior..

 

I decided to put on some fender flares to cut down on the muddiness. I got them off of amazon, and they had 3" rear and 2" front ones. I put on the passenger side, but decided to stop at the rear on the drivers side. I really need 3" flares all the way around so I'm going to see if I can just get 2 - 3 inch ones for the front. I also repaired some weather stripping on the drivers side door and fixed the slight tire rub at the mud flaps with a few taps of a hammer.

 

Ohkei,
Looks good! I really like those on there! Never was a fan of mud everywhere.
Limestone

 

I really wanted to put the 3" ones on the front too. the bolt holes just don't line up well for it. You only end up with one bolt behind the door opening. All the flares I've found seem to be from the same mold. Was hoping a different brand might have different bolt spacing.

 

Years ago, I put a commercial grade rubber flair on my F-250 pick up. I liked it so much, that I did the same thing to the following new F-250. I had some left over, so I gave it to a friend for free to use on his truck, turning down any money for it naturally! So not to long ago, another friend gave me about a 10 ft. piece! LOL It can be added to your existing 2 inch flair, to enhance you front flairs if you wanted! It looks nice!
Limestone

 

Thanks Limestone, but I don't think it would work with those 2" flares. The angle is too sharp downward and would likely get taken out by the tires. I think I might have found a pair of 3" donors locally. If not, I might just run the 2" for turkey season and re-assess the situation after that.

 

Ohkei,
I did it to a Mercedes Unimog yrs ago at a heavy equipment shop. If you mount the flexible rubber flair material more horizontal, it's flexible, where as you won't be bumping into it every time you enter and exit, and it's flexible enough, that it works out really well, mounting to the hard rubber, plastic like flairs that you've added! Just a thought, not trying to argue with you, but I know it will work!
Limestone

 

Ohkei,
I understand, if you don't want to change, or add anything else to you're set up. It really does look nice!
Limestone

 

It's not that I don't want to make it better, maybe I'm just not understanding your flair material suggestion. I'm pretty close on tire clearance.

 

I did some more work on the General over the weekend. While I loved my gun grabber, it was in a bad spot particularly without fender flares. I moved it inboard to the next vertical on the roll bar where it would be less susceptible to mud. I also raised the barrel mount section so that it would accommodate carbines, rifles, and shotguns now that turkey season is almost upon us. I also added a passenger side companion to the original. I also went ahead and added the final front fender flare from the set I had bought. I decided that turkey season should let me know if I need to go bigger later, and that money was already spent. I also replaced the distributor cap that was arcing from #4 to the coil. Apparently there was a small crack in the cap (that had been replaced in Japan before I had it shipped) that allowed this to happen. I had patched it with some dielectric grease until I could get it back home from hunt camp. I'll attach a few pics later, as they are too large to post right now.

 

Ohkei,
All's good man! I especially like the idea of "Gun Grabber"! Not sure what you mean by that, but as a fellow hunter, I can't wait for pics!
Limestone

 

Here is the link to gun grabber: https://www.thegungrabber.com/ It was great, I just put it in the wrong place without fender flares. Here are pics of the old location and the new location. I later raised the barrel grip so it would also handle my shotguns.

 

I had some issues with the previous photos.. Here's the new location

 

Ohkei,
Great info, thanks!
Limestone

 

Where did you find a bush bar? Custom made?

 

No, I bought it online. I looked at my amazon and ebay accounts and didn't see it. I guess maybe Summit racing?