-added 6 cage gussets
-added drive shaft loop out of a limit strap, Thanks to Mike Koenig for that
-added First-aid kit
-added floor mats to keep heat out of cab and rattlecanned the floor black
-other stuff im forgetting
RACE UPDATE
We got there Friday afternoon in the truck and swapped tires/coil springs. We then went to pre-run the course. We were told by many racers that the first 10 miles are really rough so we went ahead and checked it out. It was ROUGH. More like a jeep trail than a desert track, definately the most rough course out of the VORRA courses. Great way to start off with desert racing in a almost stock truck... Anyways we crawl through the ten miles and then there is a silt bed right before check point 1. we get through it but my brother's bronco (he tagged along to tow us out if we get stuck) died in the middle of it all. So we towed it off the course and picked it up the next day with the trailer that we had Rick Massie bring up for us (Thanks Rick!). As i was sitting on the center console to fit us three in the truck to get back to the pits, it starts raining. We turn on the wipers and smoke starts coming out the dash. We bail out and it stops when we shut all power off. Turns out the radio almost made a nasty fire. so i yanked that thing.
We asked to start dead last and we did. Then we got passed by the golf cart (Rhino) which was embarassing
,it had to start behind us. We continue through the rough trail and pass mile marker 5, then we see the wall. A steep hill with huge rocks to climb over. So we are thinking of what route we will take up it when we arn't paying attention and swing wide on a turn, and instantly sinking the rear tires. So we break out the jack and start shoving rocks under the left rear. Then we more to the right rear and the jack breaks! Note to self: Stock, car scissor jacks don't belong on desert trucks. We radio in and main pit says they can get a floor jack in Chris's bug, 535, and he can dump it off so we can get going. Everyone then loses contact with him, darn. Looks like we will be there for 7 hours... meanwhile i watch cars slam my truck
. Then another truck comes by (748, thanks!) and has a hard time climbing the hill, then they get out and take a look at things on top of the hill. They let me grab their jack and we start trying to get it under the axle but before we do that, one of the King Of Hammer rigs (199, thanks!) comes at us... on fire. We flag them and put there fire out. We then use their hi-lift jack to jack the whole rear end up, shove rocks under, and we get out of there.
Then 5 more miles or rough trail.... Then we hit the silt bed right before check 1. We are moving steadily through the silt at a good speed and then out of no where we stuff the truck and a wall of silt turns the inside of the cab black and completely covers the windshield. we keep going straight and it clears. We then hit Check 1 and call it quits, and here ist he list of why:
-No jack, meaning if we get a flat or get stuck we are done, and going to have to wait for 6 hours
-tires rubbing fender wells: before the race we swapped another set of wheels on and the rim offset stuck the tire into the fender
-bed was falling apart: both bedsides are leaning way out, my braces broke
-blown front right shock, left front coil popped out a little
-my door wouldnt open from being hit, we got it open later
-a long, deep silt bed ensued, we would of got stuck for sure considering all the others who couldn't make it through as well
I'll consider Hawthorne a testing for Yerington of next season
Pictures!
Sexy.
The parade:
The launch..... more like sink
The action shot thanks to y2kbaja
Sitting at check 1 where we stopped. Picture thanks to Russel
spent a couple minutes scrubbing tire marks away, and using the last tiny bit of rattle can i had to cover up the scars. Also the big bed dent pushed right out. This picture makes it look alot better than it is because of the way the sun is hitting it.
Thanks to all that helped
We just watched the in-car video and it is okay. you can't see the trial because of the front end being high but you can hear us and the radio, and you can see inside.
I will be putting it together and getting it on youtube soon.
Sweet!!! 
