80s accessories that are still cool

I've actually got one of those whip antennas from my parts truck, it might find its way on mine.

Around here there's not a lot of CB action but I've thought about getting a HAM radio. I like to go places without cell service and if I were to get very stuck or hurt it would be nice to call for help and you can communicate all over the globe too.

Basic CBs are cheap and useful with the NOAA functions which would be nice because we see a lot of severe weather here in Arkansas.

So for my 80s accessories I'm thinking about.....I've got some Pacer Turbines I'm gonna clean up and put back on (really excited about that), gotta have a couple KCs on the bumper, bug shield, probably get a CB with weather functions and put that extra antenna I've got on there.  

This is a old photo from 2016, truck looks worse now though.  more rust from sitting for 2 years awaiting my engine swap.



Pushbar took me about 6 years of searching online till I found a NOS unit on ebay, its a Rally brand and picked it up the moment it went on ebay for $220.  I started off with small round LED lights as I wanted brightness but they were cheapies and weren't too bright so I upgraded to 6" KC Apollo driving lights.

I also have my Wilson 2000 antenna and at this time I still had my Cobra CB with Weather as it didn't die on me till 2017.

And a photo of my cobra setup in 2016.


I not only paid to have the radio tuned by the CB shop in Flordia, I also paid for an Echo mod as well as converting the CB to Blue LED illumination to match the blue interior illumination.  Only thing I didn't like was the greenish back lit text was only illuminated partly as the right half was dead.


And a photo of my Galaxy I installed inplace of the old refurbished Cobra that failed on me twice in 2 years.

Nice! I’ve got a Cobra CB in my Bronco that looks like yours. 29 NW ST WX. I've got a Cobra 148 GTL in my truck.

I bought a little Uniden to put in my Xterra, sent it back, it was not a good radio IMHO. Bought a littler President Bill radio. Got it in, checked SWR and got an answer right away from right at 5 miles away from me. I’m using a Firestik Firefly 3 foot antenna mounted in the back hatch channel. Also a Firestik FireRing coax. Impressive.

I had my Cobra 29 repaired for sentimental reasons and wish I hadn’t and used the money toward a President radio in the Bronco.

If you don’t have much room and you’re not a “ratchet jaw”, it’s a great little CB. Also has weather.

Cory, i suspect my flareside had the chrome roll bars at some time. Not sure how they install, but I have 4 stainless clamps bolted to my bed that once held something. I though maybe a toolbox, but the clamps are in such an odd location for a toolbox.

Anyway, maybe I can find me some chrome roll bars.

Yep that's why I got the Cobra cause I figured for weather it would be great.  But the radio broke down on me once 6 months after I got it, it wouldn't transmit any more but would receive and I barely even talked on it.  Then around another 7 months or so later the power switch went out wouldn't turn on after that.

I wished I didn't spend the money on it cause many people told me the echo made it hard for me to be heard so I could have saved money and just got a stock out of the box Galaxy radio.  Only reason I went with Cobra is cause it was of the period in the 80`s.  I don't know when Galaxy came out but I don't think it was around in the 80`s.

I do think I will be replacing it with a new unit when the time comes as the red on my gauge is all bleached out from the sun and once I do my interior and restore it I don't think I will like having a faded out gauge on the CB.

OE roller bars based off the diagram I seen in the parts and illustration guide shows it bolting with two bolts on each side to the front of the bed box and then bolts into the floor of the bed.

Aftermarket wise the only ones I saw bolts to the floor of the bed only and only way I would ever get them is if I could get confirmation that they will bolt through the wood of my bed itself.  I wouldn't want to have to drill the bed strips to mount a bolt through the rail.  It makes it way too hard if I decide to not run it any more I would have to not only replace the wood planks but I would also have to replace the bed strips as well.

As far as the roll bar goes, I am looking at going with Go Rhino if I use it they are the only one that offers black or chrome roll bars for flareside trucks.

https://www.jegs.com/i/Go-Rhino/239/9209560SSC/10002/-1

Have to be careful though the photo shows the light bar but the light bar mount is typically not included in the price that's a $150 - $200 upgrade.

Angelo Voltura wrote

Wagon wheels are another big favorite....

As an aside, when did "white spoke wheels" and "chrome spoke wheels" start getting called "wagon wheels"?  Or is that sort of a regional thing?  I never heard the term "wagon wheels" until maybe 5 or 10 years ago on internet forums.

As for my accessories, I got an '85 F-250 new in fall of '84.  All I added was BFG Mud-Terrain tires (original size on the factory steel wheels, complete with hub caps until the hubcaps started getting loose), and a pair of fog lights mounted on the bumper.

Rusty_S85 wrote

OE roller bars based off the diagram I seen in the parts and illustration guide shows it bolting with two bolts on each side to the front of the bed box and then bolts into the floor of the bed.

Aftermarket wise the only ones I saw bolts to the floor of the bed only and only way I would ever get them is if I could get confirmation that they will bolt through the wood of my bed itself.  I wouldn't want to have to drill the bed strips to mount a bolt through the rail.  It makes it way too hard if I decide to not run it any more I would have to not only replace the wood planks but I would also have to replace the bed strips as well.

As far as the roll bar goes, I am looking at going with Go Rhino if I use it they are the only one that offers black or chrome roll bars for flareside trucks.

https://www.jegs.com/i/Go-Rhino/239/9209560SSC/10002/-1

Have to be careful though the photo shows the light bar but the light bar mount is typically not included in the price that's a $150 - $200 upgrade.

You can usually find used roll bars for super cheap on FB marketplace and Criaglist. I paid like $150 for mine.


As far as the wagon wheels thing goes, my father said they've called them wagon wheels since the 80s, since they started out as trailer or "wagon" wheels and suddenly the progressed into full size deep wheels for different things. I've never known them by anything different personally.

Your dad's explanation of the origin doesn't really work for me since I've never hear of trailers being called wagons.  

But if he was hearing "wagon wheels" in the '80s then it must be a regional thing, kinda like "topper," "cap", "shell", "canopy"... for that thing that goes on the bed to give a pickup an enclosed cargo area.

No one really calls trailers a wagon here, but it's an agreed on alternative name, it just never gets used. A wagon was always something for a kid to be pulled around in, but it was the same principal for a trailer, I guess that's where it came from.

I guess it kinda works like pop and soda. Everyone says pop here but if you hear soda no one blinks an eye. Trailer wheels were commonly white spoke so I can see the name stemming from that, wagon wheels kind of rolls of the tongue easier.


I almost wonder if it goes even deeper than that, with a horse and wagon/buggy. Kind of the same concept.

Not sure if I would trust a market place roll bar considering the flareside has a different size roll bar than the style side.

I personally don't mind paying the price I just would have to know where it bolts at, if it bolts into wood and not into my bed rail strips that would be great for me cause then I don't have to worry about sourcing replacement bed rail strips.  Then I could drill a hole in the wood for passing the power and ground wire through for any lights I place on the roll bar.

As far as wagon wheels goes, that's all ive heard of them refered to.  Every trailer in the 80`s and 90`s you bought had these style of rims on them no matter where you got them.  The dumpster trailer we had in the early 90`s had them, our boat trailer from the 80`s had them, hell our bbq pit we had built in the 90s even had them.

I like to think the term is because a wagon is pulled by horses, it is not self powered thus trailers are not self powered so they are like a pulled wagon.

Wagon wheels has been what they have been referred to as here since they got popular in the 80's.

Someone brought up alternative accessory names a few posts ago - I had never heard the name "Topper" until just a few years ago. Still sounds funny to me!

Step side rolls bars are out there, a lot of times all you have to do is ask for a measurement.


I agree with you on a wagon wheels, that's kind of what I was getting at. I've never heard anyone call them anything different.

Here in Kentucky its Wagon Wheels, Coke (any soda or pop is a "coke"), and Topper. Ive never known any of these things as anything different.

Its funny, my wife Holly is from down there near Gary, and we have family in Bartlesville and friends in Skiatook near Gary. The difference in regional words and phrases arent too extreme from Kentucky. There are plenty, but anymore with social media regional terms and phrases are either being adopted or fizzled out.

I noticed how certain regions say the word "similar" differently. Around here it is sim-il-er, like it is spelled. The further west I went, the more people say Sim-you-ler....like simulator....NOT like its spelled.

The one that gets me the most about Okies is how they pronounce Miami. There is a town east of Tulsa called Miami. They call it My-am-uh... completely ignoring the i on the end.

Aint humans weird?

OE bars are white on the Ford roll bars, which had me wondering how would the aftermarket roll bars look if they were stripped and powder coated white.  Not sure if they would look good on my truck.  If it would I might do that instead since I do plan on having my wagon wheels powder coated white after I get my truck painted.

Ray Cecil wrote

Here in Kentucky its Wagon Wheels, Coke (any soda or pop is a "coke"), and Topper. Ive never known any of these things as anything different.

Its funny, my wife Holly is from down there near Gary, and we have family in Bartlesville and friends in Skiatook near Gary. The difference in regional words and phrases arent too extreme from Kentucky. There are plenty, but anymore with social media regional terms and phrases are either being adopted or fizzled out.

I noticed how certain regions say the word "similar" differently. Around here it is sim-il-er, like it is spelled. The further west I went, the more people say Sim-you-ler....like simulator....NOT like its spelled.

The one that gets me the most about Okies is how they pronounce Miami. There is a town east of Tulsa called Miami. They call it My-am-uh... completely ignoring the i on the end.

Aint humans weird?

Here it's wagon wheels, pop or soda (then you'll get asked what kind/flavor), and bed cap.


As far as your roll bars Rusty, the ones in that picture I posted above were in primer, but pretty close to white. I know its a styleside box but it might give you an idea.

Rusty_S85 wrote

This is a old photo from 2016, truck looks worse now though.  more rust from sitting for 2 years awaiting my engine swap.

That truck looks great Rusty!

Nothing Special wrote

But if he was hearing "wagon wheels" in the '80s then it must be a regional thing, kinda like "topper," "cap", "shell", "canopy"... for that thing that goes on the bed to give a pickup an enclosed cargo area.

I think I've only heard them called wagon wheels in recent years, but I couldn't say exactly when. I know in the 80's, around here we just called them white spoked wheels, or chrome spoked wheels.

As for the cover over the truck bed, myself and most people I grew up around called them caps, but I've heard them called everything under the sun and always knew what the person was talking about. Canopy and Camper Shell were also somewhat common.

In that photo yes, but the rust has spread and just about all of my wiper cowl the base coat/clearcoat I sprayed a good 7 years ago has just about all peeled off to bare metal.  Roof at the driverside door jamb towards the front just under the drip rail the rot through is getting bigger as well.  I need to get it done but I don't want to do body work before I get the truck finished else where.

But the truck is still in good shape though its just visually it doesn't look that great since I don't wash the truck as washing it results in more paint coming off that I sprayed on years ago.  Don't know why its just all of a sudden letting up down to bare metal.

I also want to take the camper off and weld in the holes that was drilled for mounting the camper then reshape the metal before paint.  The camper was only ever put on because we used to camp and it was a good way to not worry about rain.

Only upside now is keeping rain and sun off the wood of the bed and allows me to lock stuff in the bed of the truck without fear of it growing legs.

The whiteish color looks good on red.  not sure about midnight blue and argent silver two tone.  Might be something I should try via photoshop.  Just get the chrome bars and since they are cheaper than the black ones and sit them in the bed snap a few photos then use photoshop to color them white.