Ownership Verified: Blind_Io's Garage

Those are FF75s on it in the picture.

550s are a bit on the large side - I have two 550 driving lights mounted on my grille guard and my Series III carries two 550 fog lights. The 450 and 530 are the same idea, only a bit smaller.

I recommend rallylights.com to your attention. They have pretty good prices and a good reference section for the Hella lights. Here's two interesting links from them:

http://www.rallylights.com/hella/ISOLUX_fog.aspx
http://www.rallylights.com/hella/ISOLUX_driving.aspx

You can, of course, get more info on a particular lamp from Hella's site.

Here's a listing of the current lineup:

http://www.rallylights.com/hella/AuxiliaryLampsGrid.aspx

You might want to consider the FF100s as well.
 
I was this close to asking how was the VFR. I missed her. :p
 
Niiiiiiiice!!!!!!!!

Man, the car and the bike are awesome. Yellow Honda is really nice-looking :D
 
I hope to have something like that some day. Something like a kitted out Land Rover Discovery 1 or 2, since they tend to go cheap.

First trip: Stockton Sand Dunes in Port Stephens.
 
^ good idea. Don't go in an old beige Subaru wagon though, you WILL break down as we did when I was 5 years old :lol:

Going to Anna Bay (in Port Stephens, about 10 mins away from Nelson Bay) soon for Schoolies, I can't wait!
 
Nice, a beige Subaru. I think I'd be more worried about crashing into a camel and tourist than breaking down.

Have fun at schoolies, by the way.
 
Looks great. Any interior shots?

So how is the XTerra ownership experience so far?
 
The interior is very clean. I did build a removable CB radio mount for the dash.

There is a tray over the radio for keeping a phone or other small items and it has a removable rubber mat in the bottom. I removed that and used it as a template to cut a wood board which I painted with a spray rubber (nice and grippy, no rattles, won't chip). I mounted the radio to the board which fits in the tray. I have some Velcro sheets on order and I will replace the rubber inset with the soft Velcro "upholstery" and put the matching hook Velcro on the bottom of the board so it doesn't bounce out when wheeling.

So far I've been driving around with the radio up there without the Velcro and it's not moved a bit. I might be able to just leave it as-is.

https://pic.armedcats.net/b/bl/blind_io/2009/10/17/2zdq8i8.jpg

https://pic.armedcats.net/b/bl/blind_io/2009/10/17/otjafc.jpg

I have a shorter antenna that I can stash in the roof gear box when not in use. To get the radio on I just pull it out and stick it to the roof and I'm ready to go.
 
I wanted to ask this ages ago, but I forgot.
Anyways, why the radio? Is listing to truckers in your area that funneh?
If you're using it to contact other people you know, whats wrong with a cellphone?
 
Noodle, the CB radio is used to talk to other drivers and spotters when offroading. It is especially useful in many Western offroad areas where there is no cell service. Even where there is service, it is very useful to have as other offroaders will advise when a trail is blocked due to a breakdown or even a terrain collapse, or just to call for help.

One of the things on the projects list for my Pathfinder is a big whip antenna mounted on the (soon to be installed) external tire carrier.
 
Yeah Spectre pretty much covered it. I don't keep the radio on when I'm on the highway unless I am traveling with another vehicle that has a CB - and in that case we go find a quiet channel to use.

I have, on rare occasions, contacted truckers on the CB if there was a major weather system moving through or a traffic back up. They usually know what's up on the roads, including speed traps (which don't bother me because I don't speed much these days at least in the car).

I put the radio in because I plan to do some wheeling with 4x4 clubs in the area and it's very handy for on-trail communication and sheepdogging the group of drivers to the trail head. Also, the weather changes very quickly in Utah and my CB is equipped with the NOAA weather radio. It's an automated weather forecast service that gets it's own special channel. My CB can tune that in so I can get weather updates and alerts.
 
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NooDle said:
I wanted to ask this ages ago, but I forgot.
Anyways, why the radio? Is listing to truckers in your area that funneh?
If you're using it to contact other people you know, whats wrong with a cellphone?
Click to expand...

a cellphone you have to pay...over the radio you talk for free

when we are driving long distances with several cars, we always make sure each car has a walky-talky. so much more fun than a cellphone :D
 
And more reliable in the areas I like to go. Look at the coverage map for any provider for Utah, there's a ton of wilderness out there with no cell towers.
 
Well, in that case i'd just buy a regular walkie and be done with it, I see no point in having a fixed system installed. But whatever. :p
 
^isn't walky-talky one-to-one communication, while the system he installed is broadcast?
 
bone said:
^isn't walky-talky one-to-one communication, while the system he installed is broadcast?
Click to expand...

No, most walkies are broadcast, too (i think all CB equipment is). The question wheather it's broadcast or not depends on the specs of the unit in question, not the shape of it.

If you use a mobile phone or a carphone makes no difference, too, if both are built to comply with the same standard.

I, for one, would prefer a built-in system while offroading by a mile. A walkie, no matter how good a mount you got for it, is much more likely (one could even say: guaranteed) to go off in rough terrain at some point, while a bolted-on unit isn't. Even the handset thingy you talk into is on a spiral cable and thus won't give you a hard time picking it back up.
 
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Handhelds are fine, but you get better range and clarity on a car-based system. Plus you don't have to worry about batteries. My radio isn't fixed, I can take it off the dash in about 2 seconds since nothing is drilled; the antenna stashes in the roof box until I need it.

The roof antenna can send and receive better than a handheld because it's not inside a metal cage that blocks radio waves.

Also the CB is quite common here in the US and most fourwheelers have one. Some walkies only broadcast to other walkies of the same style. I could show up with a Motorolla and the rest of the guys in the group might have a mix of CB and any number of walkies. In mixed terrain those walkies are only good for line-of-sight and are kind of useful to have so a spotter can talk to a driver, but other than that they suck for vehicle-to-vehicle communications.
 
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besides all that ....CB's are just the coolest thing ever

Such a shame they almost compleetly disappeared over here....even trucks hardly have em anymore.
 
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