Flex your chase rig!

[Jack R. Jester]

Yeah, that's the plan. It's got ~300k miles, but intend to keep it going a long time. I bought it ~15k miles ago and tranny blew out shortly after buying it, so got it rebuilt, but to a much higher torque spec so should be extra reliable since I'm still running stock hp from the engine. Engine is as clean as a small block gets and recently had internals worked on and gaskets replaced. Transfer case is wonky right now so gonna get that along with the differentials serviced. Should be as reliable as a vehicle can get.

She's a borderline classic at this point though so would feel bad about getting her all hailed up. Might truck bed liner spray it, but would ruin the nice original color

I agree with @Mark Gressman Jr, that thing is worth way too much money to get hailed on.

The K1500 is just the right amount of badass to take chasing, and if it gets hailed on, bring it to me (I'm a body guy) I'll PDR the dents out (Please don't have the whole truck bedlined, I can't stand when people do that).

I hope you get the TCase worked out in time for storm season.

I noticed the Colorado plate, I'm currently located in Denver, and I know a guy in Englewood who will go through your Tcase for a good deal if you are interested (He rebuilt the Trans in my Suburban).

 

[Jack R. Jester]

Yeah, that's the plan. It's got ~300k miles, but intend to keep it going a long time. I bought it ~15k miles ago and tranny blew out shortly after buying it, so got it rebuilt, but to a much higher torque spec so should be extra reliable since I'm still running stock hp from the engine. Engine is as clean as a small block gets and recently had internals worked on and gaskets replaced. Transfer case is wonky right now so gonna get that along with the differentials serviced. Should be as reliable as a vehicle can get.

She's a borderline classic at this point though so would feel bad about getting her all hailed up. Might truck bed liner spray it, but would ruin the nice original color

I agree with @Mark Gressman Jr, that thing is worth way too much money to get hailed on.

The K1500 is just the right amount of badass to take chasing, and if it gets hailed on, bring it to me (I'm a body guy) I'll PDR the dents out (Please don't have the whole truck bedlined, I can't stand when people do that).

I hope you get the TCase worked out in time for storm season.

I noticed the Colorado plate, I'm currently located in Denver, and I know a guy in Englewood who will go through your Tcase for a good deal (He rebuilt the Trans in my Suburban).

 

[TonyB]

@TonyB - As someone who owns 2012 SRT8 Challenger, and was saving up to buy a Hellcat Redeye before Dodge decided to cancel the hemis this year.... I would absolutely NOT take the Trackhawk, lol. That would be a sin to tear that up! The way things are going with the electric armageddon, that'll probably be a collector car in 10 years, lol.

I'm having the same problem now, as I own a 2013 Dodge Avenger too.... don't wanna beat up the SRT, but I don't think the Avenger is reliable enough to drive from Jersey, lol.

Ha, totally get where you are coming from, but its just soo much fun to drive! I'm realize it'll be a collector car in the future so am doing my best to maintain it. But it was also high mileage when I got it, and I've put a ton more on (currently at ~105k miles). I bought the high mileage one cause I knew I wanted to drive it everywhere and not worry about mileage depreciation.

I keep her far away from the path of the heavy hailers though, and am willing to pay to fix minor hail damage. But yeah, probably not the most wise thing to take chasing but it's too hard to resist sometimes when you are staring down 700 miles of rural empty highway to get into position.

 

[TonyB]

I agree with @Mark Gressman Jr, that thing is worth way too much money to get hailed on.

The K1500 is just the right amount of badass to take chasing, and if it gets hailed on, bring it to me (I'm a body guy) I'll PDR the dents out (Please don't have the whole truck bedlined, I can't stand when people do that).

I hope you get the TCase worked out in time for storm season.

I noticed the Colorado plate, I'm currently located in Denver, and I know a guy in Englewood who will go through your Tcase for a good deal (He rebuilt the Trans in my Suburban).View attachment 23503

We probably use the same guy, haha. Guy in Englewood named John rebuilt my transmission on this thing and plan to have him look at the tcase next week.

Will also hit you up for any PDR work I need done on either. I try my best to keep the Hawk out of hail, but she's got a few little dents from a storm near Holyoke last summer. Not very noticeable so gonna wait till after this season to fix her up.

 

[KevinCobbOHIO]

My setup for my yearly week long chasecation

 

[Drew Terril]

My setup for my yearly week long chasecation

Is that an old Rat Shack scanner that I spy over there? Looks like the ones that GRE built for RS back in the mid 2000s. I have a PSR-500 and PSR-600 myself. The 500 I've had since 2008. Buddy of mine had a Rat Shack Pro-96 back then too, and my PSR-500 replaced my old Pro-94 that became obsolete when they rebanded the 800MHz systems

 

[KevinCobbOHIO]

Is that an old Rat Shack scanner that I spy over there? Looks like the ones that GRE built for RS back in the mid 2000s. I have a PSR-500 and PSR-600 myself. The 500 I've had since 2008. Buddy of mine had a Rat Shack Pro-96 back then too, and my PSR-500 replaced my old Pro-94 that became obsolete when they rebanded the 800MHz systems

Yeah with me being a very basic novice of storm chasing I was looking for ways to hear communications without trying to get a ham licence. I had plugged in all the weather frequencies I could find online and scanned while I was chasing to hopefully hear info. Wasn't real successful. I need to befriend a partner who is more storm savvy to chase with

 

[John Archer]

Ride height up and down
Down for going fast
Up for climbing over stuff

MFJ 1432 dual band antenna (best range of any antenna I have used)

 

[Roger Brown]

Yeah with me being a very basic novice of storm chasing I was looking for ways to hear communications without trying to get a ham licence. I had plugged in all the weather frequencies I could find online and scanned while I was chasing to hopefully hear info. Wasn't real successful. I need to befriend a partner who is more storm savvy to chase with

There are only 7 different NOAA weather frequencies, and they should be easy to receive with an external antenna. You could also try monitoring 146.550 MHz, it's used as a simplex calling freq. by many chasers.

 

[Todd Lemery]

I’m flexing someone else’s chase vehicle I saw in Caney Kansas yesterday, a couple of minutes before a hail core raked the area. Kudos to whoever came up with this idea. It’s a pretty unique and funny chase vehicle.

 

[Steve Frederick]

2012 Ford Escape Limited, a Panasonic HC-V770 secured to the dash with hook & loop velcro, & Samsung Galaxy A21
Picture was taken approximately 4 years ago & now has minor hail damage.

 

[Kyle Soldani]

This used to be my setup, 2015 GMC Sierra well kitted out. I had VHF/UHF/800 P25 communications options, APRS w/ GPS display, 4G cell booster, laptop mount, inverter, solar, etc.


After a move we sold the truck and I steal the wife's Honda Passport now. I thought it'd be a good idea to play with old Land Rovers for my vehicles and they don't make very good chase rigs! But, for the rest of the year they make a better off-road and camping rig.

Passport offers better mileage, more safety features, setup is a bit simpler but I have the essentials. Everything other than my Yaesu FTM400 is temporary and comes in/out for a chase.

 

[Derek Weston]

I'm pretty basic currently. Cell phone, DSLR and Tundra truck...

 

[Drew Terril]

This used to be my setup, 2015 GMC Sierra well kitted out. I had VHF/UHF/800 P25 communications options, APRS w/ GPS display, 4G cell booster, laptop mount, inverter, solar, etc.
View attachment 25142

After a move we sold the truck and I steal the wife's Honda Passport now. I thought it'd be a good idea to play with old Land Rovers for my vehicles and they don't make very good chase rigs! But, for the rest of the year they make a better off-road and camping rig.

Passport offers better mileage, more safety features, setup is a bit simpler but I have the essentials. Everything other than my Yaesu FTM400 is temporary and comes in/out for a chase.
View attachment 25143

I have an FTM-400 as well. Great radio, although I primarily use it for APRS, simplex, and YSF, while I rely more on my TK-7180 and XPR-4550 for reporting as I have everything organized in those radios by zones, with each zone corresponding to a CWA.


Friend of mine has a Discovery II, and they're quite capable off road, once you get past the electrical gremlins. The V8 in those is actually an evolution of the same Buick V8 that is the same parent motor for the Buick V6 (that eventually became the 3800), and they're pretty simple to work on. Just gotta remember the ZZDP additive in the oil since it still utilizes a flat tappet camshaft. My 15 Titan is just as much an overland rig and farm truck as it is a chase rig, so I get trying to make one vehicle work for multiple purposes.

 

[Kyle Soldani]

I have an FTM-400 as well. Great radio, although I primarily use it for APRS, simplex, and YSF, while I rely more on my TK-7180 and XPR-4550 for reporting as I have everything organized in those radios by zones, with each zone corresponding to a CWA.


Friend of mine has a Discovery II, and they're quite capable off road, once you get past the electrical gremlins. The V8 in those is actually an evolution of the same Buick V8 that is the same parent motor for the Buick V6 (that eventually became the 3800), and they're pretty simple to work on. Just gotta remember the ZZDP additive in the oil since it still utilizes a flat tappet camshaft. My 15 Titan is just as much an overland rig and farm truck as it is a chase rig, so I get trying to make one vehicle work for multiple purposes.

I've come to love the FTM-400 as well, pairing it with RT systems is a great setup and easy to pre-program a route. I have a fleet of those radios now and can just bounce an SD card from rig to rig and update programming. Much easier than what I used to do! Very nice on the commercial gear. I have a couple high-power XTL 2500's and an MCS 2000. Myself and a few others have used these in the past on 146.55 and they work great, sure hard to beat the commercial gear. I'm a radio nerd and work on Motorola gear at work so I enjoy using some of the old retired kit for HAM.

I do love the things, it's a love hate relationship. Currently working an engine swap on my lifted one but have a stock Disco II that I use for grocery getting. I've debated consolidating and grabbing something newer, just not sure I can come to grips with interest these days. These old things are paid for and easy to work on when they need stuff, which is hard to beat. They aren't perfect but fine for exploring, camping and around town. We take my wife's Passport on trips so I feel redundant getting something else at the moment. It's a nice ride to chase in with 20-25MPG, adaptive cruise, lane keep, etc. just some extra safety features I like. Yep, I run ZDDP additive and Rotella in mine. Seems to keep them happy and quiet, I've also completed the in-line thermostat mod for a 180 to help save my head gaskets. My lifted Disco is receiving a new'ish bullet-proofed (studded) 4.0 and getting that thing squared away.