man, some of the things in this thread...hoops on the bumpers as hand rails? really? feel free to grab on to my bumper hoops and see how long you can go for, i would personally bet it's less than 8 seconds.....
phonebook armour plating....i saw that mythbusters....lol..
techno, i know you know better man, calling sliders "cosmetic protection" sure the guy isn't rock crawling but those come in handy on just about every trail you could go on, there is a difference between trail and fire service road.....even crossing a ditch or the like sliders would be a great advantage....they do more than just keep your truck looking pretty...they actually do help you "slide" over things.
and just to add some more strangeness in here ,
the dual battery,upgraded alt,wiring,inverter, solar cells and the rest can all be cannibalized for use at your BOL, if you think it you've just made your rig in to a rolling power plant, provided you have fuel, if out of fuel use the alt and a bicycle with a belt or something to charge batteries and provide electricity, the solar cells would also be handy in this case, the inverter will invert so that saves you having to wind coils and the rest, you can make an inverter using a magnet and some copper wire, some good reading on that stuff.
How Inverters Work - in Simple Terms.
i would also build your truck for more than 40 miles, i've seen the shows, lol, you got to have at least 3 BOL's in case any of them are compromised then you need to shoot your own thumb off and pass out in order to fully test your families medical capabilities.:trophy:
seriously though, extra fuel tank would be a must, if for nothing else your giving yourself a supply of a really valuable trading commodity, or like i said before, just run the truck at idle and use it as a genny, you can power welders and every tool you'd need off your truck if you do it right.
as far as spare parts go, i would really only carry some cv's if anything, everyone has forgotten the most basic of things and that's just maintenance, most of the parts on our trucks have lasted for over a decade with 100's of thousands of miles on them , i don't think carrying these parts as spares would be worth while, in your scenario you'll likely be dead before your ball joints and the like fails again if you just replace them now...
ok, i think i'm checking out of this thread and back into the real world...it was fun for a bit, but i don't think i can play this game for too long and still feel like i am sane.:nono: