First Things

So first things, I need to be able to get in and out of this thing without a fight. Three of the four inside door handles were broken. I didn't take many pics as that was pretty boring. But I followed the instructions from here.

Next was the driver's seat back adjust lever. I guess the previous owner/s didn't care too much but I need the ability to sit back in the saddle when going down a steep incline.

You can see that the lever handle is gone.

This one on eBay is cheap enough but the hassle to install it was not something I was interested in. 

So I set out to fix it with what I had laying around. I started by drilling out the first rivet.

Next I grabbed a spare garage door-opener hanger and snipped off about 6 inches and rounded one end with tin-snips to not scratch myself. Then I zip-tied two spots. One around the remaining rivet that holds the spring and the other through the new drilled out hole. 

Since there is no tension against the zip-ties and I only use this adjustment as needed this should last awhile. 

Looks OK too. 

Saturday I picked up some 16in stock wheels from a Sport Trac, in case I find some sweet deals on Craigslist for 16in tires. Now I have a set of 15in and 16in, I like options. 

I also picked up a 2in tow hitch for $25! thanks Craigslist. (You can see my lift shackles, will post that once they are installed)

I took the time to remove the stupid running boards, you can see before and after with original rims. 

With

Without

Also from Craigslist some used 33s with rims for $100, we will see how usable they are.