jesusgatos
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- on the road - in CA right now
Here's the deal; I'm a product designer and... I'm building a Deuce. I'm going to make a lot of custom parts for it. A lot of those parts are going to be laser-cut sheetmetal parts. The kind of stuff that it's a shame to make only one/two of. So if anybody else is interested in any of this, let's talk. I can create SolidWorks models of all these parts and: 1) we can either share CAD files and all have parts cut locally, 2) have a batch of parts made and ship laser-cut parts in weld-it-yourself kits, 3) work with a company that might be interested in making/selling these parts to us as a finished product.
We already share a lot of parts-files like these here and have worked with a lot of companies to develop off-road products. I'm just sort of new to the MV market and don't even really know who all the players are, so I don't know who to talk to about designing/making/selling any of this stuff. Can I get some feedback on a few of the things that I've been thinking about lately? Some of this stuff IS being made or will be made (at least for my truck), but I'd like to get input from anyone that's interested.
modular rear bumpers
I've been thinking about adding a read bumper to Mah Deuce. Maybe I'll replace the bumperettes with something that wraps-around, like a formed wrap-around sheetmetal bumper or maybe some tubework. I'd like to protect the rear corners on my M109 box, and would probably turn that top surface into a step of some sort. This probably wouldn't be very useful on a regular truck, so there's a limited appeal.
But the other thing I've been thinking about (related to rear bumpers) is the pintle hitch. I'd like to replace it with something more like a typical 2" receiver hitch. I'm going to be towing an M353 trailer with a Lunette eye 80-90% of the time, but I'd like to have a 2" receiver hitch too (for a lot of reasons). I've seen pictures of all the 2" receiver hitches that people have adapted to their trucks and I don't want to go that route. I would rather add-to/modify/replace the stock rear crossmember. This would be something like the center-section of a nice aftermarket Jeep bumper, with some sort of an over-sized receiver hitch. I wouldn't want to lose the swiveling pintle-hitch, so I'd figure out how to re-use that.
Hydraulic winch mounted between the framerails right behind the rear bumper? Might be a good reason the chop-up a front bumper to use as the starting point for a rear bumper center-section. What else?
front bumpers
Would be cool, but this is a much lower-priority project for me. A nice custom front bumper with a built-in winch mount and some storage boxes would be sweet though.
hub steps
I've seen these used on the big safari trucks, and I'd like to make some for our trucks. I've already got these designed and I'm waiting for the sheetmetal shop to make some sample parts. I think I might just have a small batch of these made up and offer them for sale myself. I try to avoid that, but these are pretty simple parts. EDIT 07/01/09: more pics & info here
custom hard-tops
Does anybody have blueprints for these? Taking those dimensions would be super-simple, but I don't have one.
AC compressor mounts
This might end up being a product offered for sale by one of the companies that I'm working with on the Air Conditioning that I'm adapting to Mah Deuce.
What about the highly controversial axle chain-up brackets?
EDIT 6/27:
Shock mounts! I forgot about these, but I'm planning on adding shocks to the both of the rear axles, and I'm going to upgrade the front shocks too - probably to some type of 2.5" diameter remote-reservoir desert racing shocks. Hydraulic bumpstops might be difficult to package, but I'm going to look into that as well.
We already share a lot of parts-files like these here and have worked with a lot of companies to develop off-road products. I'm just sort of new to the MV market and don't even really know who all the players are, so I don't know who to talk to about designing/making/selling any of this stuff. Can I get some feedback on a few of the things that I've been thinking about lately? Some of this stuff IS being made or will be made (at least for my truck), but I'd like to get input from anyone that's interested.
modular rear bumpers
I've been thinking about adding a read bumper to Mah Deuce. Maybe I'll replace the bumperettes with something that wraps-around, like a formed wrap-around sheetmetal bumper or maybe some tubework. I'd like to protect the rear corners on my M109 box, and would probably turn that top surface into a step of some sort. This probably wouldn't be very useful on a regular truck, so there's a limited appeal.
But the other thing I've been thinking about (related to rear bumpers) is the pintle hitch. I'd like to replace it with something more like a typical 2" receiver hitch. I'm going to be towing an M353 trailer with a Lunette eye 80-90% of the time, but I'd like to have a 2" receiver hitch too (for a lot of reasons). I've seen pictures of all the 2" receiver hitches that people have adapted to their trucks and I don't want to go that route. I would rather add-to/modify/replace the stock rear crossmember. This would be something like the center-section of a nice aftermarket Jeep bumper, with some sort of an over-sized receiver hitch. I wouldn't want to lose the swiveling pintle-hitch, so I'd figure out how to re-use that.
Hydraulic winch mounted between the framerails right behind the rear bumper? Might be a good reason the chop-up a front bumper to use as the starting point for a rear bumper center-section. What else?
front bumpers
Would be cool, but this is a much lower-priority project for me. A nice custom front bumper with a built-in winch mount and some storage boxes would be sweet though.
hub steps
I've seen these used on the big safari trucks, and I'd like to make some for our trucks. I've already got these designed and I'm waiting for the sheetmetal shop to make some sample parts. I think I might just have a small batch of these made up and offer them for sale myself. I try to avoid that, but these are pretty simple parts. EDIT 07/01/09: more pics & info here
custom hard-tops
Does anybody have blueprints for these? Taking those dimensions would be super-simple, but I don't have one.
AC compressor mounts
This might end up being a product offered for sale by one of the companies that I'm working with on the Air Conditioning that I'm adapting to Mah Deuce.
What about the highly controversial axle chain-up brackets?
EDIT 6/27:
Shock mounts! I forgot about these, but I'm planning on adding shocks to the both of the rear axles, and I'm going to upgrade the front shocks too - probably to some type of 2.5" diameter remote-reservoir desert racing shocks. Hydraulic bumpstops might be difficult to package, but I'm going to look into that as well.
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