Which, of course, is why I bought this:
It's Leer 100XL off of a 2003 Ram. It popped up on Craigslist the next town over from me the day I posted my bleg. At the time, it was priced just a little more than I was looking to spend, but yesterday the price was dropped. I e-mailed the seller, we made arrangements to meet last night, and I'm now the proud owner. It needs new lifting arms and a crank for one of the windows (the back part of the windows cranks out for ventilation!), but otherwise is in fantastic shape.
Now, of course, I'm thinking of all the *other* things I could do with it now that it has a cap. This is going to get expensive, I think... First off is a bed mat of some sort - now that the bed is sealed from the elements, it can be covered with either a mat or a bed rug of some sort. Something to protect against (further) dents, dings, and scratches, nothing fancy, just a simple mat will do. Then I think I need to build a couple boxes - one to fit up front that will have slots for bike tires; the second will fit in the back for groceries. One of the big drawbacks to the pickup is that ordinary things like grocery shopping are more challenging when the trunk is over six feet long...
This is going to be the start of a beautiful friendship, I think...
That is all.
10 comments:
The first thing I thought when I saw the photo was, "that'd be great for staying overnight at an Appleseed!"
Dave H has a darn fine idea going there.
I forget where exactly but I saw pics where a guy built a platform that fit in the bed of his truck. There was a long drawer that pulled out that held several long guns, small hatches fore and aft of the wheel wells that could hold all sorts of stuff and a larger hatch at the front of the bed. The whole rig was like ten inches high and he had an air mattress and sleeping bag. Might have even been on the Appleseed forum. Made for a good hard shelled tent that wouldn't attract much attention.
BGM
My first thought was: Now you can put a Truck Vault in!
http://www.truckvault.com/Products/By_Vehicle/Pickup_Truck.php
Hopefully this doesn't go to spam
Before Rhino lining really took off, rubber mats seemed a lot more common, but I haven't seen on in a while. If you go with a rubber mat, spring for the hd one- the lighter ones have a tendency to play kite-without-a-string games at speed. Of course, the topper negates that. I've slept under a shell many a time- plenty dry, just don't expect a lot of heat! My brother and I were hunting the high country of western MT, made camp at about 9k elevation. I was glad to have a dog that night, I'll say that!
If you haven't already. The website expedition portal has a plethora of ideas for bed/trunk storage devices for the handy and not-so-much. -singing detective
Um? Where's the gun mount?
I tell ya Jay, I love my bed extender for corralling groceries & other smaller items. I have one similar to the one at www.bed-extender.com. It's been very useful and abuse-resistant (I'm not known for being kind to accessories).
Hey Jay. I've got a quick and dirty storage device (that I've used on many trucks) that's simple an d cheap. Just find yourself a 2 x 6, or a 2 x 12 board, and cut it so that it fits side to side in your bed. Then cut 2 more lengths of board (2 to 3 feet long) and sre3w them to the first board so that they fit right against your in-bed fender wells. Just lay it in there with the short boards pointing to the front, and you've got a nice little corral for your groceries (or whatever) that keeps your stuff toward the rear of the bed, making it unnecessary for you to have to climb all the way in and chase down your commodities. It's idiot-simple, dirt cheap, and works really well for a guy on a budget. Hope this helps.
I had Leers on both my Rangers, and I spent several nights in each.
You'll be happy with it.
The only thing cheap about them are the locks...but they're cheap to replace too, so there's that!
Definitely toss a folding milsurp cot and some wool blankets in the back. My two cents? Add a reserve fuel tank and double or triple your maximum range.
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