geekhouse23's "LIFE'S WAITING TO BEGIN" Overland & Home build and all the Adventures in between!

Holy shit: another truck update

Tonight, I got my hands on the truck and took care of a couple of things:

1) Fixed the bumper light bar ground wiring. There was some flickering issues (a sign of a loose ground; which I knew) last night, however, only half of the light bar was lit. Weird. But that's fixed now.

2) Moved to the DRL bulb issues. I got the bulbs that @EatSleepTacos recommended in the mail today. They fit infinitely better than the $60/pair Diode Dynamics bulbs. Odd. Anyway, in testing, I found they hyperflash on one side randomly. Again, odd.

The rear DRLs I found the other day will be the primary bulbs all the time and the Amazon bulbs will be in the glovebox as spares. I'm over it. Incandescent bulbs FTW.

3) Next, I removed the raptor lights.

Controversial, I know; how "un-overland" of me. Take away my IG card. Etc. Etc.

Looks cleaner and it was never hooked up how I wanted it. It was tapped into the EFI 10A fuse and would randomly switch on the lights for 30 seconds or so. Guess it has something to do with the EFI system. Oh well. I'll figure that out another time. Or maybe never install them again. Probably the latter.



4) The blue seas fuse block has seen better days. Ordered a new one to swap everything over and get some things cleaned up under the hood.

I had to patch up an issue with the bed lights wiring. Very happy about getting this fixed because it will come in handy on the trip. Again, trying to impress this one and not be a fuck up. Easier said than done.

5) Sasquatch lighting is not working; AGAIN. Traced the wiring and checked the ground. I cleaned them up the best I could but still no luck. There has to be a short somewhere. I checked the fuses and they were all good.

On the list is to remove the rock lighting too. Currently, only one light works on the truck and I don't think I'll replace them with anything. I'll give my brother the lights he gave me back. Having electrical under the rug in this wintery environment is a no-no.

I'm learning....

The goal of this year is to pair down a LOT and simplify things on this pig.



This weekend, I hope to have the upper ball joints and carrier bearing delivered for the work to be done on Saturday.

I will be lending a hand to my brother and offering the garage space to work on his truck to get it ready for his trip.

 

Bout time you do something constructive slacker

 

What’s something like this cost? I’ve been thinking about doing that... I replaced my UCA uniball, swapped spindles, replaced ujoints and carrier bearing, brakes, added skids the last couple weeks.

I wouldn’t mind having someone double check my work but don’t want to drop a ton of money on labor.

 

There's a little bit of motivation to get this cleaned up and ready for adventure. Really looking forward to this trip.

 

Depends on the detail the shop goes into. I don't want to advertise what it ran me but I was told the hourly rate for an hour of inspection is what it should only be.

 

Glad to hear cause it seems you have been in some sort of funk since someone shit in your cheerio's!






Time to do the dishes and stop dwelling on the past

 

Someone definitely shit in the Cheerios bro.


These analogies are the best lmao

 

With time comes wisdom,,,,,or senility not sure which

 

Before or after the milk was added? There's a big difference!

 

After. After leaving it sit out in the sun for 48 hours.

 

Shit in cheerio's add milk to hide said doodoo

 

Rock lights update:



They're off the truck and I found out why all but 2 of them worked. For reference, there was 8 total; or maybe 10. I don't recall.

So, the reason why they're not working is because of the elements. However, I recall them working a few months back.

The most interesting thing I discovered is that someone was under Caitlyn cutting some of the wires. I might even be missing a light or two. The pig sits in the garage overnight and the only other thing I can think of is someone's stalking her in parking lots and snipping some shit from under her. HIGHLY unlikely.

The other thought I had was that these lights were working prior to taking her to Toyota for the frame coating. It could be likely they moved and cut some shit out of their way. Seems pheasable. Wouldn't surprise me honestly. I know for a fact that one of the lights was tucked up somewhere I would NEVER have placed a light. Another one was completely gone.



New plan:

Now that everything is removed and the wiring is already plumbed, I might as well use what I already have and simplify things on the pig.

Everything that I pulled off this evening was simply spliced and electrical taped. Now, I have nice, seal and solder connectors that should keep the elements out.

I'll put one in each front wheel well at the top that should light up the entire wheel well nicely. Then, I'll put two in the factory spare tire location throwing decent light around the wheels.

Simple, easy and effective; K.I.S.S

Up next is to bench test the 4 lights I want to use and if I need new lights, I need new lights.

For reference for myself:

https://luxlightingsystems.com/products/max-white-led-rock-light?variant=30268581445684

I'll bench test the lights tomorrow afternoon and see what I'm working with. If they all work, I can get the new lights wired up before the trip. If not, no big deal. It'll have to wait until I get back.



Sasquatch lighting update:

I didn't get a chance to look at these tonight. All I know is that they still don't work.

I picked up some stainless steel washers at Home Depot tonight and will try using those to sandwich my ground.

Assuming my theory is correct from above (Toyota), the short has to be somewhere under the truck or a loose connection.

1) I will be rewiring the found using the sealed connectors and the stainless steel washers.
2) I will try tracing the harness for the lights and see what I can find.







Trip update:

1) The carrier bearing showed up today.
2) The upper ball joints are set to arrive Friday (cutting it close).
3) installation on Saturday
4) I'll need an alignment done after the upper BJ's are installed.
5) Oil change and tire rotation.

 

Easy fix on the grill lights is to just tap them into the DTRL on the headlights.

 

I use the parking light wire. That way they arent on during the day when you can barely see them but show up at night in the park light or headlight setting.

 

A great idea. I will probably look into doing it that way instead (eventually).

Curiosity got the best of me this morning and I was looking through the emails and the website I ordered the lights from. There were no instructions in the package and the website only has one video for the installation of the raptor lights. It is for 3rd gens only. However, the owner confirmed that the installation was exactly the same for the 2.5 gens. I just did the best I could based on the video. Here is the video:

https://youtu.be/wlo1MJgI3vg

What's interesting, is that the website does not offer the grille lights for the 2.5 gens anymore....hm.



Once I return, because there is so much left to do to the pig before we leave, I will look into using the DTRL harness; especially since I was able to clean up the DRL harness this week. So much cleaner (less wiring).

I will admit that installing them the way I did was dumb. The fuse that I tapped into runs a check 20-30 minutes after the truck is off so the lights would come on in parking lots, etc for 30-60 seconds. Idiot.

 

Happens to the best of us. Pretty sure my switchpro is tapped to the same fuse, though it doesnt have a "tell" nearly as obvious

 

For the rock lights did you secure them anyway or just trust the magnets? Going off the info from the link. Kinda like the idea if they'll hold up.

 

So, I had two different types of rock lights under her. The Lux ones have solid magnets on them and they never had a problem. The other (shitty) rock lights had no way to mount them. I ended up JB Welding some rare earth magnets on the back but the JB Weld was still a weak point. I used zip ties as an added security measure.

Definitely go with the LUX brand rock lights. My brother @GARSHA91 turned me on to them. They're great.

 

I think I might give them a try. Price isn't bad either.

 

It's really not.

I am going to bench test my current ones later today and while I am hopeful they all work and are not weak (dimly lit), $89 for a set of 4 is $$. Almost hoping they don't work lol. They have great customer service too. I went back in to the archives and I had them replace one for free (IIRC).