Albino Rhino renamed THE BEAST

[Cautionary Tale]

Finally started the mods, in true Dad fashion the kids needs/wants took priority over my own but this weekend they'll be learning how to help me, regardless of their feelings on the matter

- First bath turned our black truck to white and my kiddo called it an albino rhino, which I found amusing.
- Had to install climbing/repelling rope for them to get in and out of vehicle
- Weathertech car seat protectors, along with the off-road ready car seats
- Finished up with Autobot engine starter thingy (they love it, and take turns starting it up)

This weekend plans:
- Softopper
- Puppy bed harness apparatus and bed
- Viofo A329 hardwire with SSD
- Paintless Dent repair phase 1....after bath, it is apparent I will be also doing a paint repair on top of that...FML
- Beer

If you notice that one of my children keeps kicking the back of my seat, rest assured that will be addressed as well and climbing rope will double as punishment strap

 

[OBYsRHO]

I'm expecting my first baby later this year, you have a link to those seat protections underneath the baby seats?

 

[Irongoats]

Love the autobot push to start Amazon?

 

[GregM]

I though you were joking about the climbing rope then I saw the picture, that's awesome.

Are those the factory rock slider steps?

 

[Cautionary Tale]

Love the autobot push to start Amazon?

Yeah, I don't see the black one on there anymore but I got that one for the truck and I got my Dad a Batman one for his sports car, since he calls his car the batmobile, has a batman cowl, in it (for the grandkids) and says he's "BATMAN", lol

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B66X2C7Q?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_1&th=1

 

[Cautionary Tale]

I though you were joking about the climbing rope then I saw the picture, that's awesome.

Are those the factory rock slider steps?

LOL, I do joke a bit, but climbing rope was a necessity. My oldest is an incredible climber and my youngest can barely get up a few feet before repelling down. I'm hoping the truck rope will build his confidence but either way it's a fun way to get in and out of the truck without injury.

The sliders are the MOPAR factory ones. I've played with them a little bit and they won't survive any real sliding. They are a placeholder for real sliders and help give the boys something to use with rope. In truth, wife and I probably need it more than them. Its narrow, but family of climbers are used to small foot holds so I find it spacious.

This weekend I need to install the weathertech door sill protectors too, because kids are gonna chew through the factory paint in no time.

 

[jared]

Finally started the mods, in true Dad fashion the kids needs/wants took priority over my own but this weekend they'll be learning how to help me, regardless of their feelings on the matter

- First bath turned our black truck to white and my kiddo called it an albino rhino, which I found amusing.
- Had to install climbing/repelling rope for them to get in and out of vehicle
- Weathertech car seat protectors, along with the off-road ready car seats
- Finished up with Autobot engine starter thingy (they love it, and take turns starting it up)

This weekend plans:
- Softopper
- Puppy bed harness apparatus and bed
- Viofo A329 hardwire with SSD
- Paintless Dent repair phase 1....after bath, it is apparent I will be also doing a paint repair on top of that...FML
- Beer

If you notice that one of my children keeps kicking the back of my seat, rest assured that will be addressed as well and climbing rope will double as punishment strap

The rope is a great idea? I have a 4 and 6 year old in the back. Did you just have some rope and added the knots?

 

[Cautionary Tale]

The rope is a great idea? I have a 4 and 6 year old in the back. Did you just have some rope and added the knots?

Mine are 5 and 7 and I can say that having just installed it today, that it made school pickup and drop off infinitely easier. Teachers were cracking up and held me up so they could share it with other teachers.

The kids aren't rock climbing with it, so it seemed unnecessary to spend the big $$ for rock climbing rope. I originally thought I'd use carabineers or figure 8 loop knot but that was all overkill. just kept the ropes tidy and knotted about a fist apart (mine) which gave them plenty to hold onto.

Tonight, I am going to install carabineers onto the back of seat loops as an easy way for the kids to stow the rope out of the way (youngest kept trying to shut door on it).

Here's the link of what I bought. The kids aren't rock climbing with it, so it seemed unnecessary to spend the big $$ for rock climbing rope

Amazon.com

 

[jared]

Mine are 5 and 7 and I can say that having just installed it today, that it made school pickup and drop off infinitely easier. Teachers were cracking up and held me up so they could share it with other teachers.

The kids aren't rock climbing with it, so it seemed unnecessary to spend the big $$ for rock climbing rope. I originally thought I'd use carabineers or figure 8 loop knot but that was all overkill. just kept the ropes tidy and knotted about a fist apart (mine) which gave them plenty to hold onto.

Tonight, I am going to install carabineers onto the back of seat loops as an easy way for the kids to stow the rope out of the way (youngest kept trying to shut door on it).

Here's the link of what I bought. The kids aren't rock climbing with it, so it seemed unnecessary to spend the big $$ for rock climbing rope

Amazon.com

50 feet enough?

 

[Cautionary Tale]

50 feet enough?

Plenty. I only opted for the 100 so I'd have extra to sort out some kind of limited movement system to clip to my pups harness.

How I figured out length was ran it through the hand hold and cut so both pieces were at the ground then started knots from top down. Ended up with a little extra, cut it and melted ends with lighter but torch would have been better.

 

[RAM-Ranch-MT]

@Cautionary Tale Dad of the year award! I need to have some kids so i can deck mine out like this! LOL

 

[RAM-Ranch-MT]

@Cautionary Tale funny story. When I was pretty young, my dad picked up his first brand new vehicle, a 2003 dodge cummins 2500. He thought it would be cool to take me out fishing by yellowstone park to break it in since my childhood house was about an hour or so away. While we were out fishing I was lucky enough to find an incredibly pristine arrow head. On the drive home I got bored in the back seat and decided to carve a star into the plastic door panel with my new found obsidian arrow head. My dad proceeded to find this later when I showed him and he was less than amused. Honestly didn't really get mad and more kept it as a keepsake LOL. He actually still has the truck with 200k+ miles and the door panel still has my drawing 22 years later! Still makes me cringe internally that I did this but definitely a nostalgic keepsake!

 

[Cautionary Tale]

@Cautionary Tale funny story. When I was pretty young, my dad picked up his first brand new vehicle, a 2003 dodge cummins 2500. He thought it would be cool to take me out fishing by yellowstone park to break it in since my childhood house was about an hour or so away. While we were out fishing I was lucky enough to find an incredibly pristine arrow head. On the drive home I got bored in the back seat and decided to carve a star into the plastic door panel with my new found obsidian arrow head. My dad proceeded to find this later when I showed him and he was less than amused. Honestly didn't really get mad and more kept it as a keepsake LOL. He actually still has the truck with 200k+ miles and the door panel still has my drawing 22 years later! Still makes me cringe internally that I did this but definitely a nostalgic keepsake!

LMAO! That's priceless! My kids struggle equally with idle hands and the only thing that'll likely keep me from my own "star" memento is that we give them unlimited screen time when in truck. My kids have left several mementos around the house and like your Dad, after the shock factor settles, and discussions happen it just is what it is. For instance, my kiddo saw my cleaning and conditioning our new leather couches and apparently wanted to help, because I woke up the next morning to him taking his squirt gun to the arm of one of the couches . I'm glad we got best quality leather, LOL. every now and again someone will ask if we ever had a cat, because of the long nail like scratches. I wish I could say a lesson was learned, but all they remember is my youngest messing the couch up, and me crushing the squirt gun into pieces

...the Easter bunny did replace the squirt guns with top-of-the-line super soakers a week or two later FN Dad Guilt

 

[HSrider]

Did you do the whole truck in the Avery wrap or just areas that could get pin stripes?

 

[D&Sadventure]

Just watched my grandkids demonstrate to me that the human brain is the last organ to develop. Then I come back into the house and read the last couple comments.

 

[Cautionary Tale]

Did you do the whole truck in the Avery wrap or just areas that could get pin stripes?

Well...Wrap got delayed because of the oopsie at Gas station in TX. I got the dent out just fine but will need to do some paint work with scratches this week. After it has cured, I can get back on track and give her a detail, ceramic and then wrap will go everywhere paint is, and I might be able to get it to bond to some of the plastics with a few tricks, but no certainties on that.

Here is the before damage and after the repair. To my eye its 98% better. It was tricky being that I smashed two body lines and matching the odd curves that are throughout the entirety of the truck.

 

[HSrider]

Looks like you done a great job on the oopsie at that gas station. My friend does the paintless dent removal and I'm amazed at some of the work he does just by massaging the metal at the right areas and popping them back out. If your not a professional you did great work and sounds good on the wrap.

 

[Cautionary Tale]

I'm expecting my first baby later this year, you have a link to those seat protections underneath the baby seats?

Child Car Seat Protector

WeatherTech’s Child Car Seat Protector keeps both fabric and leather car seats safe from deep indentations, spills, scuff marks, scratches and messes.

www.weathertech.com

You can get them on Amazon too.

Sorry, I somehow missed this post. These are pricey but I can't tell you how worth it they are. I originally bought the seat protectors they sell at baby stores, which I don't think were too cheap either and they permanent dug and left imprints on my wife's cloth seats and created wear tears on leather of my older vehicle (which matters less to me).

Looks like you done a great job on the oopsie at that gas station. My friend does the paintless dent removal and I'm amazed at some of the work he does just by massaging the metal at the right areas and popping them back out. If your not a professional you did great work and sounds good on the wrap.

Thanks! I played with it for a bit, but not a lot of leverage or room with door panel off so I enlisted some help from a local guy. Together we got it done, though, I mostly watched as he showed me how much more talented, he was with it Best $350 I've spent, as it was a nasty reminder every time I got in the truck. I'll do the paint myself, as that's entirely in my wheelhouse.

See the issue . I lacked the tools that my guy brought over to get in there without removing the everything you see in the picture. Proper tools would have ran me far more than help I gladly paid for and saved me so many headaches.

 

[HSrider]

Sounds good on the local guy and assistance and yes I understand about the proper tools for doing it. My buddy has the professional tools and he did a door ding on my wife's VW and then some hood dimples and was done in like 30 minutes with the right tools and didn't have to remove anything...Crazy. I said how mush would that of cost me if you weren't my friend he said around $2K I'm like damn. He has done it for 20+ yrs and good at it.

 

[tchokaeewe]

I'm expecting my first baby later this year, you have a link to those seat protections underneath the baby seats?

Have 3 kids myself and we've done the rubberized car seat protectors with decent results. What's been great in my current Ram has been a thick blanket laid across the entire back seat. Takes up the bulk of the child seat imprint into the truck seat but also covers every square inch of material from spills and crumbs. I have a no-food policy except when we're on long road trips and the sacrificial blanket has done its job. The youngest also has the rubberized seat protector under her child seat on top of the blanket.