What have you done to your Tacoma today? 1st Gen Edition

To use a cat 5 cable in this application do you just cut the end off of the cable that would normal plug into a phone / computer / wall or is there an adapter to plug LED wires into it?

 

I need a picture of a CBI Trail Rider bumper that shows the supports in the back. Can anyone get me one?
I ordered the DIY kit but it doesn't come with a diagram. Most of it is pretty obvious, but the supports between the mounting plates, the CNC-cut supports, and how the trailer hitch receiver is attached in the back isn't clear.
A picture from directly underneath would work fine or if you had one off the truck, a picture from above would be perfect.
There's a few different ways it could go together, but I'd rather know how it was meant to go together.
Thanks in advance,
Todd

 

I'd like to know this as well!

 

Nah, it goes back to at least the 80s. I like it, personally.

 

I'd heatshrink ALL of those leads, even the grounds, personally. But that's just the mobile electronics guy in me talking.

 

Cut, strip, and crimp, like any other wire.
Personally, I'd solder it, but that's just me.

Where did you route all these wires? I had to fish a USB cable to power my dashcam and it was a stone bitch. Never could get the headliner down.

 

Yea, I have thought the same thing. That damn bright high beam indicator. When my truck was new it was soo bright that it negated most of the benefit of having hi-beams on. Well over the years it has dimmed, probably just dirt on it, that it's not a problem anymore. Most other vehicles I drive the hi-beam indicator are also way too bright. In town driving, where there is some ambient light, I hardly notice it, but out in the sticks, especially when there is no moon, most are way too bright.

 

NICE!

I need to do this to my son's XJ soon.

 

All the wire to terminal connections are heat shrink with marine grade. Are you talking about heat shrinking the actual terminal too?

 

Monday night, rebuilt the left outer side of my rear axle- that is, brakes, bearings, and seals. DEFINITELY was a good plan to go ahead and do the bearings, pretty sure that one was the cause, had about a mm of wobble in it.

Later that night, took my son out to West Ashley to grab a bike we found for him on Craigslist- a 2014 GT Karakoram. VERY nice, suspension fork, 29er, 24 speed, disk brakes and so on. I am jealous.

Last night, the fork brackets arrived, and install of them happened a lot easier than I expected, when I realized that Unistrut makes 1/4-20 spring nuts. Bolted right into the back wall of my toolbox, I'll just kick the arse end of the bike toward the tailgate corner and she'll fit snug. So now the kid and I can get out on bikes to some places that are actually nice to ride through.

 

Didn't even have to lower my headliner. Went up the driver A pillar then there is a gap between the headliner and the sheet metal of the A-pillar. I just fed the wire through the gap and over to the hole for the switches.

 

Over the female terminals that slip onto the switch prongs, yes. It's a good insurance against shorts if the lead has a positive charge on it, and doubles down on that if it's a ground. Although, if space is tight, I wouldn't sweat the grounds.

 

... Today was Fish Creek Wash and Split Mountain Road... First up were the Elephant Knees. This amazing formation was created over millions of years - its sedimentary layers deposited as part of the Sea of Cortez (Gulf of California) and prehistoric Lake Cahuilla (the precursor to the Salton Sea). And, like any sea-based sedimentary formation, the Elephant Knees are littered with fossils. From corals, clams, crabs, and shrimp to sharks, rays, and baleen whale - numerous fossils can be found in vast quantities in this area. In fact, vast quantities of oyster shells are what make up the slightly harder layers of sediment - slower to erode as the soft mud above and below wash away, these layers have become the "knees" of the formation...

Read the full story and see all the pics in Anza-Borrego Part 4 - Elephant Knees, Wind Caves, and Dinosaurs

Anza-Borrego Part 4 - Elephant Knees, Wind Caves, and Dinosaurs



catch up on the entire story here:
Double Fun @ Anza Borrego - March 2019​

 

Thanks, I will dig around there next time I'm installing stuff.

 

Ya... that ship has sailed. Not pulling those switches out lol.

 

You'll should be okay, which leaf springs did you go with? Previously when I had Dakars, I re-used the stock rear shackles and bolts with no issue, the OME bushings that I got for the Dakars fit the stock shackles just fine. They also sell their own brand of shackles but they aren't necessary.

 

I usually have a notecard or map or something that I place on top of the instrument cluster on road trips since speed doesn't matter. I'd like something nicer.

 

I don't go that far but on spade connectors that I didn't use a spade sheath on I wrap the entire switch in electrical tape just in case.

 

Chains are another piece of gear I don't see value in carrying. They're heavy and take a decent amount of time to install properly. I'd need to make more room in my fender wells and there's more risk of snapping axles or ripping brake lines. My experience with them is they're only useful on hard packed snow. They move more snow out from under the tire causing you to high center faster. Two months out of the year most guys where I work throw them on. I just air my tires down and don't have any issues.

@cynicalrider you made the point of using a ground anchor behind me, if I was by myself I'd have dug it in front and just pulled my truck the rest of the way through it. Shoveling a lot of snow would have been plan B should the winch fail.

For me it's a balance of finding tools that can be used in many different ways and trying to keep my gear to a minimum. My truck is already near its GVWR and it's starting to show. Accessory tools are just more weight and space taken up that I don't need when I already have a tool to get the job done. If I didn't have a winch maybe I'd consider some traction boards.

 

The chains I have I can install in under 10 minutes - that includes the time to drive a few hundred feet, stopping and re-tensioning. Since I am running (barely) "oversized" from OEM tires, I haven't bothered getting a set for the front. I only put them on when I know that the steep dirt roads are icy and I don't want to slide into the ditch like this Subaru did: