"Uh... dude... look at your tire"

So, heading out the door to do some errands Saturday and look what we see...

Well... That's not good...


Let's get a better look...

Yeah... that's pretty bad actually...

Quote from the tire guy "Good thing you guys buy heavy duty commercial truck tires... I've never seen a sidewall fail that bad and hold together. If that was a normal consumer light truck tire it would have exploded. It was a time bomb".

Yeah...

Obviously, we had to grab two new tires on Saturday (the other two were replaced a few months back). Heavy duty commercial truck tires again, because yeah. They're not cheap, but they're worth it.

We were planning on replacing them this week anyway... we just moved our timeline up a few days.

Oh and this time we got the E rated load range. We tried last time but they were back ordered six weeks, so settled for the D rated. They DID last us 50,000+ miles of VERY hard use, from desert to mountains, to blizzard, to ice, and back again; at high speeds and heavy loads before they failed.

After We Get Back on Our Feet...

I want to make the back window of the truck look like this:

Right now we're down to so few firearms that it would be rather pointless to keep track like this. But soon, soon...

Mel

The Double Truck Shuffle

So, we're moved up to Idaho (again I say, long post about that forthcoming. The pneumonia has kept me from getting the pics I want to accompany the post); and among the MANY other changes, projects, acquisitions, and everything else we're going to be doing over the next... Oh two or three years let's say... I promised my wife we'd build her a truck when we got up here.

The Truck of Doom (Diesel Edition), is an awesome truck, and an incredible tow/haul vehicle. It's also 21 feet long (not including the hitch stinger), 8 feet wide to the mirrors, and over 7 feet tall (now that it's got 35" tires on).

Frankly, it just doesn't fit some places; and she's terrified of trying to park it in tight spaces. She absolutely will not even attempt to parallel park the damn thing at all (really, it's not THAT hard. It's got good mirrors, and a decent turning radius).

All that said, 4x4 is definitely a necessity up here (three months of the year, my car is going to live in the garage and not come out... because it won't be able to get out of our driveway, never mind be able to deal with the roads); and she still wants a truck, both as a fun vehicle, and for the school run/grocery getter.

This is complicated by the fact that the nearby town, is one of those stupid "walking cities" that deliberately make driving and parking in town difficult; with one ways and traffic diversions through the whole damn town.

During summer tourist season the town and the parking are damn near impossible, and a bigass pickup truck just aint gonna do it; but anything short of a big 4 wheel drive station wagon isn't going to cut it for our practical need either. If we're going to do that, we might as well get a small SUV, for the extra off road capability, toughness, and cargo capacity (especially tow capacity).

Then there's the fact that I'm planning on seriously kitting out the Dodge over the next couple years (I'm keeping the thing til it dies, or 'til I do; whichever happens first. I'm going to make it into exactly what I want); and she wants a vehicle of her own, done HER way.

Finally, there's an additional complication that pushes this purchase up the line so to speak:

We seem to have fried the tranny in our truck.

It's not 100% dead, yet, but it's on its way rapidly. The thing is slipping badly, and flapping gears in certain RPM and load ranges. It needs a full rebuild or replacement very soon (along with the torque converter).

This wasn't particularly unexpected. With a Chrysler automatic, it's generally a question of WHEN it's going to die, not if. I was hoping to get another 20k miles out of it, but I wasn't surprised it died at 60k, given the heavy towing we were doing.

It IS happening at an inconvenient time, but that's life.

I really don't feel like paying somebody $3k to swap out with just a rebuilt stock tranny (that was the LOWEST quote by the way); which is just going to lunch itself in another 60,000-80,000 miles (thats about average for this tranny when you're doing a lot of heavy towing, or offroading, or anything particularly strenuous).

So we're looking into replacing the stock trans with a super heavy duty manual (a tow truck tranny), or a highly upgraded super heavy duty automatic from one of the various specialty tranny makers/rebuilders.

ATS and B&M are both selling upgraded versions of the stock auto. I can't find any source for third party manuals, but there are enough junked Cummins medium duty trucks out there (I found four under $2500 within 100 miles of me, in 5 minutes of searching) I shouldn't have a problem finding a manual if I want to go that way.

The real problem there is the cost and complexity of a conversion. It would really be best just to find a junked 2500 of similar vintage, and strip the clutch, pedal assembly, tranny, brackets, lines etc.. out of it; otherwise you're talking about more than $6k in parts easy.

A lot easier, is to just replace the standard TorqueFlite 48RE-HD; with either a super heavy duty upgraded model (from ATS or B&M or others), or possibly dropping in the next model years heavy duty six speed 68rfe (ATS builds a version of that tranny for the same price as the 48RE).

Just for comparison, the stock 48RE trans is rated for 400hp and 650ftlbs of torque (the 68rfe is rated a bit higher, for 450hp and 750ftlbs max) with a 13,700lb max towing capacity; the ATS is rated for 750hp and 2000ftlbs, with a 20,000lbs max tow.

With the ATS trans, clutches, valvebody, pump, I/O shafts, torque converter, trans/TC controller, and exhaust brake (you can buy the whole thing as a package for about $5.5k); you've got most of the advantages of a manual right there; including the ability to force manual shift and hold on every gear, and to lock and unlock the torque converter either manually, or at preprogrammed points.

That, and it'll be cheaper over all; less work, and less modification to the truck. I'd really prefer a manual, but the hassle of it... Plus, I'm partially disabled, and I'm not likely to get much better; sticking with the auto might be the better choice given my knees.

At any rate, whatever we decide to do I'm going to do the work (I've done tranny swaps before, though not on a Cummins, and it's going to save me at least a grand, maybe two), and buy the parts myself.

It's going to be several months before we can do it; and in the mean time, we need to have a usable vehicle, big enoguh for us, the kids, the dogs, and costco runs, and with at least some towing and hauling capability; on the road. Say enough to haul a small utility trailer, a couple of quads, a small boat etc...

So, the question then becomes, "what to buy as a project truck"?

That really comes down to a question of, what does she like, what do we want, and what do we need.

The desired properties are fairly simple, though unfortunately, not particularly easy to find all in one platform:

1. Smaller and more maneuverable than our big truck, but still big enough for us, kids, dogs, stuff etc...
   
   
2. REAL 4x4 is an absolute must, with serious upgradability. Part time or full time are both OK, but if full time, it must still have a multirange transfer case and properly locking hubs; and locking diffs must be available for it
   
   
3. Must be available, in decent condition, at low cost (say under $2500 for a base vehicle, under $4k for one in great shape with a bunch of extras), with EXCELLENT parts availability at a reasonable price.
   
   
4. The availability, or easy retrofit, of a manual transmission, is a BIG plus
   
   
5. The availability, or easy retrofit, of a diesel engine, is a plus
   
   
6. General upgradeability; especially serious power, reliability, suspension, and driveline upgradeability.
   
   
7. The ability to put in a nice, but TOUGH (kidproof, dogproof, weather proof) interior, at a relatively reasonable cost
   
   
8. The ability to lose the top in back is a small plus
   
   
9. There should be no "fatal flaws" in the vehicle that can't be easily corrected (i.e. bad suspension that's hard to replace, bad driveline, body rusts away to nothing etc..).
   
   
10. The thing has to be FUN

To meet all these requirements, we looked at a lot of different possibilities:

1. 1st through 3rd generation Chevy Blazer/GMC Jimmy
   
   
2. 1st and 2nd generation Dodge Ramcharger
   
   
3. 2nd through 5th generation Ford Bronco
   
   
4. 1st gen Ford Explorer
   
   
5. Jeep SJ (Wagoneer)
   
   
6. Jeep XJ (Cherokee)
   
   
7. Jeep ZJ and WJ (grand cherokee)
   
   
8. 2nd or 3rd generation Toyota 4runner
   
   
9. 60 series or 80 series Toyota Land Cruiser
   
   
10. 1st or 2nd generation Range Rover

As I said, NONE of these vehicles meets all the criteria above. As far as I know, NO vehicle does; but this is the list we thought met the most possible of the desired properties.

There were a number of others that we thought about, but dismissed for various reasons. Jeep CJ/YJ/TJ (excluding unlimiteds which are too new, or CJ8s which are impossible to find in decent shape) etc... are a bit too small; as is the first gen Bronco, the International scout, and the FJ40 land cruiser.

The majority of the "other brand" SUVs out there don't meet enough of the criteria above, or are just too crappy (Suzuki Samurai make great buggies when tricked out, but are still crap on the road for example, and are too small etc...).

Right away, we excluded the ramcharger based on it's problematic 4 wheel drive system, and transmissions; and the near impossibility of finding a good one in decent shape in this region.

The 1st gen Explorer has similar driveline issues; with crap auto trannies, decent manuals with crap clutches, and hubs that shred themselves. They are seriously upgradable, but they also generally suffer from having been long term mommy mobiles, then passed on as beaters. And honestly, the explorer just has no soul.

The 1st gen 4runner is a BIT too crappy. It's a solid pickup truck design (you just can't kill the damn things), but the engines and transmissions are weak, and not particularly upgradeable. There ARE good swaps available for it, but probably not worth it. The second gen is a bit better, but both have the problem of availability, and of parts availability at a reasonable price.

The Land Rover suffers from availability, and parts availability issues; otherwise it'd be at or near the top of the list. The land cruiser only slightly less so. It's not that there aren't lots of parts available for both; it's just that they are all special order parts, and EXPENSIVE.

The third gen on fullsize Broncos are great trucks, but they have major front suspension issues (the wife hates the look of the second gen. She loves the first gen, but they're too small). If we were going to run one, we'd have to swap out the TTB front suspension for a true solid axle. It's still a possibility, especially given the engine, tranny, transfer case, and axle options available to the machine; and that you could still get a removable hard top all the way until '96... but lets just say it's moved off the "short list".

That brings us down to the K5 Blazer/Jimmy, or some kind of midsize Jeep SUV.

The jeeps have the mixed advantage/disadvantage of being smaller. They're certainly more nimble and better on the trails; but they also don't have nearly as much room.

All of them have a lot of engine options; though obviously the K5, being a GM pickup truck based vehicle, has basically infinite options, including several diesels.

The XJ doesn't have an easy v8 or diesel option (actually, it has two diesel options, but neither are particularly good), but it does have a very good inline six that's highly upgradeable (including a factory 4.7l crate motor, and an available supercharger kit). The SJ, ZJ, and WJ all have V8 options.

The SJ, XJ, and K5 can all be had with a decent manual tranny, good axles, and good transfer cases; never mind every axle and transfer case manufacturer EVER makes a model either explicitly for, or that will swap in to, all three.

The ZJ and WJ don't have a manual tranny option, and have far more limited axle and transfer case options, without some SERIOUS fab work. It can be done, but it's probably not worth it.

Parts availability? Well, SJ parts are getting a little harder to come by, and there weren't ever as many parts for WJ/ZJs; but the XJ and K5 have basically infinite parts available, OEM and aftermarket. Hell, you can actually build an entire XJ or K5 minus frame, straight from newly available catalog parts from LMC and the like.

It's getting hard to find a good condition SJ for reasonable money. They're out there, but it takes some looking. On the other hand, there are right now, over 100 K5s for sale within 150 miles of me, and over 200 XJs.

So what we've come down to really, is trying to decide between an XJ and a K5; though the SJ is still in the running (my wife and I both love the old Wagoneer look; and they're great to work on, with real old truck construction, and a decent aftermarket), if we can find the right one.

The XJ is more upgradeable as an offroader, and is smaller and more maneuverable for in town stuff. The only real offroad limitation on it, is the tires. It requires a lift and flares just for 32s.

The K5 has more room, is cheaper, is easier to work on (that whole "more room" thing again), the parts are cheaper (it's a GM pickup based vehicle), we can get a diesel for it, and there are more options (though honestly, both have so many options that's really a wash). Oh and if you get one of the 3/4ton rated models (the civvy diesel, or the CUCV), you can put 35s on it with no lift (it will need flares though); or 32s with the stock half ton rating and no flares.

Complicating the decision, is the number of really nice XJs available around here for under $4k, including some already built or partially rigs.

Complicating the decision further, is the availability of a couple of diesel K5s; including an m1009 CUCV (ex military), with a turbo upgrade and newly rebuilt motor and tranny, for just $2250.

Mel likes them both. I like them both. Their advantages and disadvantages pretty much balance each other out.

We're slightly leaning towards the Cherokee, because of the manual transmission (I've found a half dozen in easy distance. I haven't found a single manual K5), and because it's a bit easier to deal with in town.

Basically, it comes down to finding the right truck, at the right time, for the right price.

We're flying down to Arizona in a couple days for JohnOCs wedding; and driving home with the kids and the car. When we get back, we're going to start looking in earnest, so we can take the truck off the road as soon as possible.

Caps and Tops and Flares

and I'm not talking about fashion...

We're getting ready to move in a few months, and as part of that we were planning on picking up a truck cap.

Of course, there's advantages and disadvantages to a cap. The big advantage is weather protection, the big disadvantage is having to take it off for anything particularly tall or oddly shaped etc... especially given that said cap would be 7ft long 5ft wide 2+ feet high and weighs about 150 lbs.

Then, a few months back, the wife and I saw the Softopper on spike TV or vs. or somesuch (one of the "guys" networks), and got very interested.


Basically, it's a boats bimini top with camper curtains, for your pickup truck (The company that makes it started off as a custom boat top manufacturer). The sides can even be rolled up so you can use the thing as a safari top, for riding in the bed.

Here are some photos. One should note, the older models of softopper had side windows, but the new models are smooth sided (for pickup trucks at least. For SUVs they still do); because it is more durable.

I actually rather like that concept, because not only will it be nice to camp in; in states where it's legal to shoot from your bed, it can be used as a covered blind, or varmint shooting station.

The most important part though, is that it is easily folded up in the front of the bed, giving you the full capacity of your bed (minus the small amount of room the folded to takes) in about a minute.



Also, the top detaches and lifts off in just a couple minutes for storage. Theres even an optional screen window for the back, and a carry bag.

Heres a couple videos of the process.

Seems like a great compromise to me. Sure it wont have all the protection or security (what little there is anyway) of a full hard cap, but it doesnt have any of the disadvantages either.

Oh, and it's about 1/3 the cost... A not insignificant factor. The leer cap that we wanted, with the options we wanted, was well over $2k installed. This thing costs just $660 shipped (plus $100 for the scen window, and the storage bag).

Every review I can find of the thing (there aren't too many unfortunately) is very good; so unless we hear different from somone who has personal experience with them, I think we're going to order one this paycheck.

Continuing in the truck prep vein, I need to replace my batteries (yes, batteries. It's a dual battery system). Actually, they aren't dead, but they are thre years old, and in this desert, unless its an optima or something similar, three years is about the limit. I want to put that worry behind me.

So, as with my car, I'm picking up a pair of yellowtops for the truck. I think I'll take the other two batteries, put them in some front of wheel well in-bed battery boxes, and stick them on a charge/isolator circuit. That way when I get the winch, onboard air compressor, and ham rig set up (all coming later), I'll have all that extra juice available to me.

before I put the soft topper on, I need to replace my bedrail and tailgate caps. They're totally knackered, cracked and peeling up off the rails.

Also, the new tires we got for the truck a couple months back are just wide enough that they're throwing rocks and sand off the road up onto the bodywork. I dont care about the diet, but they're dinging and scratching the paint, and that means rust.

So it looks like I need some fender flares.

I figure I'll kill two birds with one stone, and grab the flares and caps from Bushwacker.

I like the plain smooth style for the bed caps:


But I think I want the "pocket" style fender flares:



I think they go will with the overall look of the truck, especially in the no-gloss (not exactly satin or matte) black. It matches the nerf bars.

I think they'll be enough extention to provide proper protection at the least. My truck is wide enough as it is, I dont think I need the extra... I dunno that must be 8" total counting both sides... that something like the "extendaflare" or "cutout" flares:

Anyon have any experience with these bolt on aftermarket fender flares as a whole, and bushwacker in particular?

I'm looking for reviews, and for recommendations, so chime in.

Now I just need to start saving for a set of Reunel bumpers...

Damn... thems some massive nerf bars.

The weather was most co-operative today, so we put the new battery in the car, and the nerf bars went on the truck.

To be honest, it was getting pretty hard for me to get in the damn thing on bad knee days. Now, with the bars bolted on, the step height is about 6" lower, and it's a lot easier to get in.

Plus they look cool, and protect the door sills.

The nerf bars we got are 4" round tube wheel to wheel (so they include a bed step behind the back doors), from Iron Cross, in matte black powder coat. They look kinda evil, and are SERIOUSLY MASSIVE.



They go well with the truck though, since I've got a 4" round tube exhaust; and I plan on a rear bumper in matte black powdercoat that has a 4" round tube as part of the structure (and a front bumper with 2" round tube brush/light bars).

I'd put some pics up, but the truck is completely covered with dusty water spots from the storm yesterday.

The whole process took about an hour, and that's just because it was the first set, and we were shooting the breeze while installing.

If you really hustled, I bet you could do it in 20 minutes. It's just two brackets with five bolts into the body substructure (it bolts into the same areas the body bolts to the frame on, so no worries about strength there); and two bolts to hold the bars onto the brackets.

And they're STRONG. I was moving the whole truck a couple inches, but not flexing the brackets at all.

I DO wish the brackets had some triangulation (they're folded and rolled, but not triangulated. Plenty strong though, at 1/4" or so... I didn't mic it), but I'm guessing they did that because they mount to the body not the frame; and they'd rather the bracket bends before the body does in the event of a big rock hit, or an accident.

So, note to self, these are NOT in any way shape or form, rock sliders (not that I expected they would be).

Next step, bumpers... some time next year... those damn things are EXPENSIVE.

The Tread is Below Lincolns Head

So, the other day, Steve mentioned his ordeal in finding new tires for his 3/4 ton Dodge Diesel (which I will take the credit/blame for forcing him to buy).

As it happens, I also have a 3/4 ton Dodge Diesel, and I also need tires for it.

As in REALLY need tires for it.

We measured our tires, and instead of 31.6" height as they are supposed to be (265/70-17), they're down to 29.6".

As in "yeah, the tires are going to come out of this paycheck".

They were dramatically under-inflated (even though we inflate them every couple weeks at worst) and are nearly bare of tread. Technically we're at a legal tread depth... just barely at 2/32"... but I'm not happy with that.

Well, that explains the speedometer error (between 2mph and 3mph over at indicated 75. Aint GPS grand).

At any rate, I'm looking for a good compromise tire for my truck.

What I want is tires that will have good rough road, ice, and snow performance, and acceptable light duty offroad performance; without being too noisy or having poor treadlife; and without hurting my city mileage very much.

With the torque of my diesel, and my gearing, it's not really the height of the tire I'm concerned about, it's the rolling resistance. Most tires with nice aggressive offroad tread patterns, are not only noisier than highway tires, but they have far higher rolling resistance.

Unfortunately, smooth, stiff tires, aren't any damn good offroad. Of course to offset that, taller tires means lower revs and better fuel economy, once the actual acceleration portion of the days program is over.

I've got a 2006 Dodge Ram 2500 with the 5.9 Cummins, 4x4, the super heavy duty suspension and tow package, and factory skidplates, and driveline guards.

Straight from the factory with these options, it has a built in almost 6" lift over the standard 1500 2wd with the smaller wheels and tires(245/60-16 is the stock "cheap" wheel and tire package).

Frankly, it's a tall truck already, I'm 6'2", and it's a bit of a climb up, even for me. I definitely need to fit some nerf bar steps. However, the offroad performance of the tires is crap.

Basically, I'd like to have some taller tires both for better offroad performance, and for highway cruising (as I noted above, taller tires means lower revs on the highway, presuming you've got the torque for it, and I do).

Oh and cosmetically, the current wheel and tire combo looks absolutely miniature in those massive wheel wells, especially with the factory lift. I'd like to fill the wells a bit more.

So, I'm wanting to trade up a bit in size from 265/70-17 (which works out to 31.6").

I've been thinking about either a 33"x12.5-17 (obviously 33"diameter... 285/70-17 is roughly equivalent in diameter at 32.7", but about an inch narrower), or 315/70-17 (34.4"x12.4); but I'm not sure about mounting those on my stock 17x8" heavy duty (e rated) rims.

Offroaders go with sidewalls that high and tread that wide on 8" wide rims all the time; but according to tire manufacturers, 295s or 11.5" are the largest tires that will fit on 8" rims.

I learned a rule of thumb a long time ago for street tires, and that was you could go as far over your rim size, as your sidewall series rounded up to the next even size (i.e. 265, 275 etc...), and one even size above that, without causing tread pattern issues (so on 8" rims with 40 series tires, you could go to 245s or 255s)... but that's for pure street tires, not heavy duty truck tires that will be used offroad.

AT/Offroad tires are supposed to balloon out a bit, and with that height of sidewall, the wheeling guys say you can go up to 100mm over the rim with the right tire design (with 100% offroad tires you can go more, but not with street tires).

So by their measurement, 315s (12.4") would be find, but by my rule of thumb and manufacturers recommendations 285s might be a better fit.

Given that, 285/70-17 may be the best choice (they'd also be a bit cheaper), but I'd really like a bit bigger.

Oh and before anyone asks, no, I don't want to change my wheels. For one thing, getting decent E rated wheels is EXPENSIVE (around $2k for a set of 5, including spare; and when you change size, you need to change the spare).

Hell,technically speaking, if I wanted to change wheels I could fit larger tires (up to maybe 37") on the truck without fender flares or more lift (seriously, the wheel arches are HUGE, and with the lift, the 17" in there now look like rollerskate wheels); but I don't really need anything so large, and I don't feel like the significantly higher cost, or the reduced fuel economy.

There's a further connundrum, about backspacing. I've talked with several guys online, and a couple different tire places and offroad places; and no-one can seem to agree what backspacing is required for my wheels and truck, for what size tire.

Some places say that 285 is the maximum that will fit without rubbing given my wheel spacing; but some say it's 315. Others say the 315 requires a 2" spacer. Still others say no, I don't need a spacer unless I go for the 33x12.5s (almost the same size as the 315s), and then it's only a 1" spacer.

I'd love to get a straight answer, but I've had two Dodge service managers even give me contradicting answers.

One thing I'm NOT going to do is anything that compromises my load rating. No spacers, no non E rated wheels (even if I were to change my wheels right now, which I'm not), and no non E rated tires.

Which brings me to the biggest problem: finding E rated tires worth buying in larger sizes.

It seems that most E or higher rated tires, are either in much larger size (i.e. F550 dually dump truck size), or in 16"; and most of them only go up to 265 or so.

Almost all the 17" and 18" wider and taller tires top out at D rating. Oh and by the by, you usually pay about $25 per tire extra (on $200+ tires) for the E rating over the D.

In doing some basic research, I identified two options, which have acceptable on and off road traction, without excessive wear and road noise:

Firestone Destination AT: the highest rated tires in the size range at TireRack, though I'm iffy on Firestone.

Bridgestone Dueler AT Revo 2: I've had earlier versions of this tire, with good results, though Bridgestone and Firestone are the same company.

There are some great Cepek options, but none of the sizes larger than 265/70 are E rated. There are a couple of decent Kumho options, but they're a little more aggressively treaded than I'd like for onroad performance.

I've also had strong recommendations from some forum readers for:

General Grabber AT2: Great offroad tire, with good onroad performance, and severe winter weather rated (the snowflake symbol). Unfortunately, the largest size they make in 17" is 265/70... though it is E rated.

Goodyear Wrangler ProGrade SilentArmor: This looks like a serious option. They're considerably more expensive than the other possibilities (about $50 more each), but they seem to be damn near indestructible. They're also snow rated, and E-rated; and they have the kevlar armor and extra sidewall thickness (and toughness) for the silent armor system. Oh and a 50,000 mile warranty. The only issue being, the largest size they come in 17" is 285/70-17.

At this point I'm leaning strongly towards the Firestone Destination ATs, or the Wrangler pro-grades. The Wranglers seem to be the better tire, but at a much higher price.

Any more suggestions, or personal experience? I'm especially interested if someone else with a 2006 or so Dodge Ram 2500 4x4 can tell me if they know the ACTUAL maximum tire width for our truck.

Oh and I'm putting this up on "nobody reads blogs day" so I can gather info over the weekend and Monday; because I'm going to grab the tires next week most likely.

To cap, or not to cap, that is the question

Actually, I already decided, to cap is the answer; I'm just trying to figure out which cap.

Yes I know, another truck thing; it won't be the last.

I've looked at the specs and pricing on A.R.E., Snugtop, and Leer; and I've decided to go with Leer. They have three models I'm interested in:

The 100xl cab height streamliner

The 180 mid height(8" over cab height)

The 122 high rise (11" over cab height)

The objective discriminating factors for me are the total interior height, the total exterior height, and the minimum door clearance. The subjective factors for me are looks, and "roominess" in the bed with the cap on.

In order to get a medium sized ATV into the bed (if I don't feel like trailering) I need 38" clearance. In order to get a large ATV in I need 43" clearance; both presuming I don't compress the suspension or air down the tires of course. If I feel like ratcheting the suspension down a bit, it's more like 34" and 39".

Basically though, I figure 38" is about the minimum clearance I want.

My truck is 20.2" to the baserail, which means my minimum door clearance is 18", and 19-20" would be preferred. The minimum to get a big ATV in without compression is 23", and 24" would be preferred.

According to the Leer spec chart, the 100xl has a 19" door clearance, with 20" inside height, and 23" outside height (to match the cab contour. The 3" is from the insulated roof).

Oh and by the by, that's why I rejected Snugtop and A.R.E. They offered less door clearance on each model than the equivalent Leer, and at a higher cost.

Anyway, the 100xl has enough room to handle a big ATV with compression, a medium sized one without.

Unfortunately, that's still only 40" of room total, with a 39" opening. That's not a heck of a lot. However, it looks very good; and in terms of streamlining is supposedly good for +1-2 MPG at 75mph.

The reason why 40" is a squeeze, is because we have an SUV type trucktent, and like to sleep in the bed with an air mattress (or we did with the Expedition, and plan to do the same with the Ram). I can JUST barely sit up straight with a 40" overhead and an air mattress.

The 180 has a 21" opening, with a 28" interior height, and 31" exterior height; 8" over cab height. That gives a 41" door clearance, a 48" interior, and an overall height of 87" (the truck is 79" high on stock tires).

So, I don't even need a tiedown to get the big atv into that, I can just put some weight on the bars and pop it under the sill from the ramp, and I'm good. Also a 48" interior is much more comfortable.

On the down side, I'm neutral on the looks of the thing, and you loose some or all of the fuel economy advantage.

I also considered the A.R.E MX series, which is very similar to the Leer 180; but it only has a 20" door clearance, and it's about $400 more than the Leer.

The 122 has a 25" door opening, with a 31" interior, and a 34" exterior height (11" above the cab); for a door clearance of 45", an interior height of 51", and an exterior height of 90".

Basically, the door will clear pretty much whatever I feel like loading; except maybe some large furniture if don't feel like laying it down on it's side. 51" will let me sit up straight, and still have a foot of headroom (though at the front of the cap, the room is basically the same as the 180); though it wont allow me to rise up on my knees fully (perils of being tall).

I'm still neutral about the looks though... and DAMN THE THING IS HUGE.

7 and a half feet tall to the top of the cap... that's a lot. I worry about taking it offroad just for the tree limb issue.

I mean look at this guys pics:

Dodge with Leer 122 - 1

Dodge with Leer 122 - 2

Dodge with Leer 122 - 3


From looks alone, I really like the 100, and I like the +2mpg. I just don't like the low door clearance. The 180 seems like it might be a good compromise, but it's sorta halfway stuck in between, and I'm not sure if half and half is worth it. With the 122, I'm just not sure if I want to strap something that big to the back of my truck.

Oh and the 100 has another advantage, in that it is by far the lightest of the three, and the easiest to handle and store when it's not on the truck. Again, the 180 is in the middle, and the 122 could be used as an emergency homeless shelter.

Physics will not be denied; if I want more room, I need a bigger cap. I'm just having a hard time figuring out if I want to make those tradeoffs.