Nate's build

Read first post^^^^

 

yup

 

2" has been removed from the front. I'm on about the 4th or 5th iteration of cutting and banging the cab mount and firewall as well as upper inner fender. The firewall is clear for now. The front upper well rubs more than anything at the moment.

It got crushed up while out wheeling and you can see the rub marks.

The SuperBumps compress more than stock so that needs to be figured out next. It definitely hasn't been a one and done affair. I cut and bang till the next time I find a problem area then do it again. Put black paint on then see where it rubbed off.

As for the wheels. If you can find some you like with 4-3.5" backspace I'd go with that. I'm running 16x8 with 4.5" backspace which SLIGHTLY rubbed the UCAs. Now have .75" spacers which is 3.75" BS. Lots of the issues you see is when people 1.25" spacers since that'll push the tires more into the firewall when turning causing clearance issues and more pounding.

Hope that helps. Keep at it... I still am.

 

As pointed out, I'm running 4.56 gears. I ran stock 3.73 for a while. About 10-15k miles. Wasn't to bad for me since SoCal is pretty flat and not many hills to climb. Plus, I do lots of highway driving. It did suck offroad though. Had to use 4Lo more often. 4.56's are good for me but if there are lots of hills in your region then 4.88s might be a better choice.

 

@Nate87 what kind of gas mileage are you getting? I'm on the fence on gears since I'm getting 17 right now the stock gears.

 

I definitely got better mileage with stock gears. Hell, even better than when it was completely stock!

Depending on how I drive, anywhere between 14-16. 16 is highway at around 2K RPMs which is about 63 mph. I do weigh quite a bit though. For the most part I average about 15.3 combined city/highway.

 

A few more from the Joshua Tree trip

 

Looking great man!! I'me always surprised at how much bigger 35's look on other peoples trucks. Mine look so small.

 

You haven't trimmed your fenders correct? I think that's what makes them look larger because not only is the wheel actually massive, but once trimmed you also have more reveal around the tire showing which makes it look like it's lifted higher. Optical illusion!

 

That, then maybe the angle and/or lens

 

Maybe I just want an excuse to go 37's...

 

Do it!

 

It's about time that I document and update the whole dual battery and wiring process. Not much truck stuff just a much of wiring, mounting and routing information for those that are interested.

WARNING: Lots of shitty photos to follow. If anyone needs clarification on what you are looking at, feel free to ask.

First find out where you want to put the battery. I chose behind the passenger seat on the floor since I removed the rear jump seats anyways.


I used some stainless "footmans loops" from the local West Marine. There are a few options but I initially planned on getting 4x 1" loops for two straps.


You can also use some of the battery tie down kits but be sure they have metal loops and not the plastic. Plastic will break on you. I was unable to find any of the metal ones local so I went the route I did.


Used this to strap it down. It works REALLY well.


Once everything is on hand, mark where you want to mount the footmans loop and drill the holes for them.






Make a small slit in the carpet. Just enough to fit the strap through


Bolts from the underside with fender washers. Used all stainless hardware.


With the exhaust heat shield back in place.


I had planned on running the battery cable from front to rear under the truck along chassis. For one, it would require more battery cable and two, it would be exposed and possibly get caught on something. Decided to route it from engine bay, through firewall and into cab. From there, behind pedals and along the trans tunnel.




You get really good at removing all interior panels during this whole process. You can see the battery cable to the left of the shifter.


Got some Military Battery Terminals and boots from Prime4x4
Measuring up where to terminate the cable


Once cable was cut to length with the eyelets they were wrapped with braided sleeve the entire length and some split loom anywhere it would make any kind of contact. Put corresponding adhesive shrink wrap on ends to identify polarity rather than buying red and black cable. Everything used is marine grade.


Also used some door edge trim on all edges where the cable might come in contact. Just an added precaution in addition to the split loom.


ML-ACR mounted on top of factory fuse box then cable routed through firewall.






Positive cable in. Next was the Ground. Tried to keep it short. The shortest point would have been to the seat bracket bolt. Some say it's okay to use, other disagree. Just a bit further was a factory grounding point under the center console. Plus it looked cleaner.




Also wrapped and shrink wrapped the ends.


It seems all the factory ground points have an "E" on the bolt.


Since space was limited with my setup but still wanted to protect the system in case of a short I went with an inline battery terminal fuse. After reading up on these, they are pretty legitimate. Mainly used in marine equipment, they can withstand the high amp spikes with starting a motor but still protect the system in overload situations. I ended up going down in fuse size to match cable.


Cable ends from battery to fuse block.


Battery all strapped in with all cables ran to and from it.








That's it for the battery, cable and ML-ACR mounting, install and routing. It took me a while since work kept me busy during that time. Made lots of trips to the local West Marine for cable and ends. I just used their work bench at the store to do all the cuts and crimps.

I'll have more on the ML-ACR switch wiring soon.



Nate

 

Wow. That fuse panel is a work of art

 

Your wiring game is on point

 

Holy crap that's beautiful!

 

That's a beautiful sight and a lot of work! I know how much time it takes to run wires that neat and even. My hat's off to you for your patience!

 

Oh my....

 

HAHA! got a laugh out of that one.

Thanks!
I took my time with it to make it look all churched up! Can't stand unsightly wires everywhere.
The panels everything is mounted on is temporary. I have some ABS plastic sheets that'll end up replacing those. Also need to figure out how to route everything for the upcoming solar setup. Controller will also be on those panels.

Thanks! It was VERY time consuming but worth it. I've removed every panel on the inside of the truck a few times by now.