Visting the Mothership

So, I spent a good day with Justin and Jay from Redline Land Cuisers today.  Note a bad view from his front door, Pike's Peak in the distance:

We were working out the details on some options decisions.  Before I get to that stuff in another post, here are some pics of Truck #1.

Armored Gas Tank, in the rearward former spare tire location on a stock 80:

Justin added a dash-box, just below the winshield and above the glove box door and gauge cluster.  A vendor who makes these for 40's was given the wider UTE dimensions and made it for Redline.  Looks nice, flip up locking lid.  I think I'll opt for it since the glove box is no longer functional thanks to the upgraded HVAC inside right side of the dash (terrible exposure, sorry):

Justin really sweats the details.  I hadn't noticed on the SEMA pics, but the front and rear side lights (required driving lights) are in the stock locations but much smaller than stock 3" x 1" lights, he's using 1/2" LEDs, amber up front, red in the back.  Here's the front passenger fender with amber light:

Another point in the picture above, note the battery:

• the location has been moved closer to the center of gravity of the truck
• a custom metal dual battery tray is bolted to the firewall, stronger than having a lot of battery weight at the stock location stressing the aluminium body
• Justin is running a dual battery system, which is out of my budget for now.  But I am adding the "dual battery tray" as an option, even if I'll only have one battery to start.  We measured and my wider Sears Platinum 31M will fit.
• No room for the legacy air-filter canister.

Justin showed me the new front bumper design.  Turns out the original, based on Redline's successful 40 series front bumper, wasn't sitting right with him.  The additional width to fit the UTE's stance was in the end, too wide aesthetically. And the whole unit stuck out too far from the front grill.  Here's the original:

This new one will be 2" closer to the front grill, and is angled back toward the wheels.  This makes it visually appealing and will improve the attack angle** on corner approaches.

** We took it wheeling!!!  And it handled very, very well.  We had no problem going through 40 degree up/down gullies and didn't catch the current bumper.  So, again, Justin is sweating the little things like a pro.

And away we go...

On an icy evening, the truck's ramps covered in snow and sleet, they hauled her away...

Inside, I packed a waterproof case with:

• A new front ABS kit, hoses, lines, plates, sensors - I damaged the one on my vehicle wheeling last year
• My Warn M12000 winch/ a fairlead/ my synthetic line, since I have no bumper to mount them on for now
• The 2nd row heater fan moter/blower (since I have no doors/windows I didn't want it to get wet)
• A new dash-based winch switch from 12Vguy, similar to the ones shown here.
• Wheel security lug nut "socket key"

The case is pad-locked on 2 corners and the whole thing chained to the body, hopefully it ends up in CO with the truck.  I wrapped the area under the drivers seat heavily with plastic in an effort to keep the ECU dry, and covered the fuse panel area as well.

A few items will come back east in this case (IPOR skid plate, MetricTLC wrapped steering wheel, instrument gauge cluster).