Shveet's Build Thread "Clementine"

Ditch lights;
created simple harness routing back to the new rats-nest that is the blue sea's aux fuse panel.

Amazoom special bracket;

$13 GS Power Engine Hood Hinge Ditch Brackets for mounting Auxiliary Off-Road LED Pod Work Light. Fit Between Hood & Cowl Panel at Windshield Base. Compatible with 2016-2020 3rd Gen Toyota Tacoma

https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B082MHD7JX/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Bracket is sturdy, but is built like shit. steel stamped on one side, flipped over and stamped again resulting with a hard/ sharp edge on the bracket itself.

Auxbeam 4 inch 30W pod lights;

$80 Auxbeam 4" LED Pod, Square Pod Light with 5050 LED White Flood Beam Offroad Driving Fog Light with Wiring Harness for Jeep Wrangler Truck Pickup SUV ATV UTV (2 Pcs)

https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B086HBSH24/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
from what i could take from this all, Auxbeam is china make - but it's a nice quality feel to it. there is no protective lens or anything, the Polycarb lens that is there is ALSO the reflector. So it's a strange pod light but shines really well
SpotFloods:

True Spots:

Spot floods installed



More photos later

 

Thought process:
Ideas since the canopy & Roof rack idea was tossed around a bit, felt i should explore if there is any reason to actually get one or it's just all hopes and dreams. Figured because of the Backrack and light bar that i have, If i were to get a basically any roof rack on the market, i would need to relocate the 40" bar over from the backrack onto the roof rack. Which isn't an issue other than i don't want to deal with an entire roof rack that i would probably use a few times in the life of the truck.
Figured to play around with the idea of how would i add a free standing canopy to my setup if i somehow win the lottery. Bumped into this from Ronny Dhal's video, this Canopy is more or less something i've been looking for (Not a straight on 270degree wrap around nore on that goes across perpendicular to the truck, but some sort of 180 as the RTT unfolded is taller than the top of the back rack.


but something like that requires a roof rack. Looking at it seriously, the only "actual" options i have (Since my requirements are being stubborn and not relocating the light bar to the front, as well as having a roof rack that is flush/ flat along with top of the backrack
are either the OEM Toyota roof rack or a custom built one with swing out arms or using the L-track system up top. there are templates around that i can modify easily to get this done and dealt with (this option also lets me play around with the height to have the top of the cross bars on-par equal with the top of the backrack.)


This might be a viable option, since it'd let the most light through from the backrack's 40" bar but also lets me grab onto the edge and hang off the side of the truck when i'm sitting over way (which is basically why i want a back rack, just as a support structure to hang off of when shimmying along the rock sliders as a step.

 

Rough Country Seat Covers from Low Riders website (Canadian website)
https://lowriders.ca/i-23909674-91031-toyota-neoprene-front-rear-seat-covers-16-21-tacoma.html#!year=2018||make=TOYOTA||model=TACOMA

as someone who has never used seat covers, These are toooo nice.
In terms of decals, only the front driver and passenger has an "RC Rough Country" logo. other than that. not flash or in your face on what brand it is which i'm happy about


Full image dump here;

 

New latch system for the lightbar to be able to fold over.
At this point i probably should just bolt it down, but i'm having fun playing around with ideas.
goal; have a latch system that doesn't suck. figured to try out a 90 bend clasp latch this time around.

trying to figure out a mounting solution first since the hold down was easy enough to the existing hardware (door hinge)
figured to drill holes and rive nut the latch to the back rack.
@tacoma16 suggested to drill and tap.

test scrap piece as i've never drilled and tapped before.

did 4 more test taps to get a handle for it and moved onto the final step of doing the above to the actual rail track.

Tapped to M4 bolts

final mounted system. Current issues is that if the bar moves up, it un-clasps the latch and is free to move around holding the latch handle down prevents it from unlocking but about 5mm of movement still exists. Velcro strap is temporary but this system is an improvement over the rubber latch (that degraded in the sun)/ zip-tie system i had before.


Lock idea; found some useful t-supports at CanadianTire, just need to drill through-holes and bolt/rivet into place. Lock would replace velcro strap to hold it in place.

 

Removed the latch system, this became a larger headache than i had anticipated. Couldn't get the system to work out well.

down flat, idea scenario.;

Pulling up on the bar, it lifts the latch and would need to be strapped down.

Even with the latch tied down, there is a good inch of lift/ play due to how the pin hinge works.

Physics

So i ripped it all out and hard mounted everything. I'll suffer later removing the bar when i need it off or out of the way.

 

well concept bracket is coming along nicely. Just need

• figure out bolt sizes and then make the bracket out of some spare acrylic sheet i have laying around.
• get 10 feet of 1/0 and flood solder some endy bits to it
• ???
• mount the rest

and all in a weekend's work.

 

Stainless bracket is done



X20 controller with circular battery shut off switch traced template for the above bracket. Its general, not 100% accurate


Upgraded to 1/0 cables and cleaned up wiring harness for the system


installed


Edit: Additional photos

 

Update on the winch, probably last post about it.

stuff done since;

1. Added a hard drive magnet to the wireless controller, thus making the smittybilt XRC controller obsolete.
   
2. opened up the control box, upgraded the OEM cables to be 1/0 with flood soldered connections. isolated the 2 live cables (lost the sleeve for the ground, but ordered some and set that up afterwards)
   
3. prepwork; start with removing stuff that's not needed anymore (in my case i dropped the30" lightbar and Cali-raised brackets since i no longer use them anymore after installing ther 40 inch bar and new nose lights) she did me good for the 2 years i had it, still works but a bit dim over time (could have been just corrosion to the spade terminals that existed since i never changed those out the a set of waterproof ones.)
   
4. Prepwork 2; remove the old SSO slimline hybrid stage 1 bumper and give it some TLC. a quick scuff with a scratch pad and soapy wooder, let it dry and hit it with more bed-liner to trap the rust in! i'll probably do another re-paint in a years time, it's all surface rust so i'm not exactly worried just yet)
   
   
   
   
5. Wiring 1; Cable routing and protective sleeving. Since i have about 400 feet of cable sleeve, figured to wrap each 1/0 cable (each cable is a hair over 5 feet, which is the perfect (if not a little more than needed, i'd guess you can use a 4' 9" length at the least) length to connect from the control box the the winch with some play room) from the control box in an additional sleeve for some added protection. the yellow bumper cover in the second image is just some 1/4" air hose that was cut lengthwise and pinned in place by the weight of the 3 1/0 leads to the winch.
   
   
   
   
6. wiring 2; Added a ANL Fuse in line with the terminal fuse system i had originally picked up for the dual battery system (dual battery is not happening anymore).
   picked up a B
   $23 Bussmann SFR Fuse/Limiter Block for ANN and ANL Forklift and Golf Cart Fuses, 1 Pack
   ussman SFR fuse holder that thankfully allowed me to remove one bolt from the end and bolt it to the terminal lead of the
   $32 Blue Sea Systems 2151 Dual MRBF Terminal Fuse Block - 30 to 300A
   Blue seas MRBF terminal mount (with the help of a stack of washers to actually connect the bolt to positive as it is isolated)
   this way i have access to
   $5 Baomain ANL-400A Electrical Protection ANL Fuse 400 Amp 2 Pack
   a 400Amp ANL Fuse instead of the max 300A fuse blocks that exists. the reason why i went ANL is that the blueseas Cube fuse/ terminal fuse spiked up in price and go for about $40 per fuse which is not sustainable if i blow 1 or 2 (spoiler alert; i blew both of my cube fuses accidently) and the ANL fuse is about $15 for a 2pack.
   
   
   
7. Mounting 1; mounting the winch was a bit of an adventure; the 2 front most bolts (front of the bumper) had to be beaten into place as the sloped steel from the SSO made it quite difficult to get the bolts into place. dropped the winch into place and threaded down.
   
   
   
8. wiring 3; ANL fuse came in as well as the terminal covers, spent some time covering all of my exposed connection points on both the winch and throughout my system as it was getting a bit sketchy as the rats nest continued to grow.
   
   
   
   
9. Mounting 2; lifting the now 160lbs of steel bumper and winch into place, bolted up everything and gave the truck a bit of a wash and cleanup before doing so.
10. Winch line; spent too long trying to figure out if i want to have a shorter winch line + an exention or not. Ended up saying screw it and kept with the full "100" feet of winch line that smittybilt provided with the X20 winch. surprisingly i don't have photos of me weaving the line back together but i made a make-shift fid from a knitting needle that i had laying around in the house. it's a 5mm one with one end cut off, score marks at every 1/4" inch for 2 inches, and glue-lined heat shink over it gives enough bite to hold onto the synth line with some electrical tape. Really easy to weave after that point.
    
    
    
11. the end; some photos of the Factor 55 flatlink splicer (figured the flat splicer would be nicer to have as i can connect a bow shackle right through it and have the bolt part of it attached to the recovery vehicle. effectively allowing the point of failure be strictly the synthetic rope.
    

@tacoma16 thanks for all the troubleshooting help man, i appreciate it!

 

Against time and experience i was not able to find the rest of the pinouts and where it all connects to. Simply put; i wasnt able to figure it out and gave up on the relocation into the lower center dash panel.

So retrieving the switch from the lower panel is an actual nightmare but thankfully i was able to push it out after removing the lower airbag from the driverside footwell.




Took out the overhead switch panel and pulled out the "cheater dial" unit
This way i'm able to mark out in pencil somewhere that has the room for the switch. Take apart the entire unit so it's just the face plate and start there.


Drill a bunch of holes, use a buzz cut-off tool, and a hand file to open up the ABS plastic


Touch up with sharpie and use the good hot glue (high temp) gun to secure the button into place.


Button had to be mounted "upside down", otherwise the exposed switch mechanics would have been glued in place, rending the switch useless.
Open up the plastic housing in the back to allow the connector to have some room

Snap it all back together
And reinstall it into the truck.
Check that it works;

And yes it does work. The one and only time when a dashboard is lit up like a christmas tree and is a good sign

 

always happy to help! Came out really good! (Yes I know I’m late)

lockers eh.....that’ll be handy

 

could have only used it about a dozen times before

 

live and learn. Way she goes

 

Operation Shattered window; Not gonna happen a second time
Aka
MORE ELECTRICAL WORK


Gonna see if this connector will be the final replacement of the 7 Pin for the backrack.

 

So exciting adventures, i busted out the rear driver side window a̶t̶ ̶A̶r̶d̶b̶e̶g̶ ̶w̶h̶e̶n̶ ̶i̶ ̶w̶a̶s̶ ̶o̶u̶t̶ ̶w̶i̶t̶h̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶b̶o̶y̶s̶ adjusting my backrack to a different position and pushed a little too hard against the old 7-Pin connector for the back rack.

the old system was just a Princess Auto 7 Pin connector and a Princess auto trailer junction box, rest of the post is here; https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/ontario-bs-thread.249665/page-1486#post-23673443



And so the fateful day of 2-3 weeks ago, i blew out the rear window because of a design over sight that i didn't see coming.




so after narrowing it down, basically w̶h̶e̶n̶ ̶i̶ ̶n̶a̶i̶l̶e̶d̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶h̶i̶t̶c̶h̶ ̶a̶f̶t̶e̶r̶ ̶l̶o̶w̶e̶r̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶m̶y̶s̶e̶l̶f̶ ̶o̶f̶f̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶n̶e̶w̶ ̶b̶r̶i̶d̶g̶e̶ w̶h̶i̶c̶h̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶n̶ ̶f̶l̶e̶x̶e̶d̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶b̶e̶d̶ ̶e̶n̶o̶u̶g̶h̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶s̶q̶u̶i̶s̶h̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶7̶ ̶p̶i̶n̶ ̶b̶e̶t̶w̶e̶e̶n̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶b̶a̶c̶k̶r̶a̶c̶k̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶g̶l̶a̶s̶s̶ when i was move the back rack around to reposition it after moving a tire that was mounted to the bed cross bars i made to see if it would hold (spoiler they are amazing), the 7 pin connector got pinched between the glass and the back rack and the most interesting game of rock paper scisors happened. Steel beat glass.

PikachuWOW.jpg

well shit happened and nothing i could do about it so taped it up with TuckTape (thanks @Tridet167 i owe you one) and didn't let it bother me since getting angry won't fix it.

always had this nagging feeling at the back of my head that it was a bit of a tight fit within the system which over time i came to dislike for various reasons (the 7 pin would come loose and i would lose a solid connection for the light bar and job lights and would stop working until i adjust it, would be a hassle to clear snow out between the back rack and cab) and also had wired it like a dumb ass where the main wires went up to the 7 pin connector first and then to the distribution box... so had been thinking of replacing it entirely some time later this summer. ultimately figured since i did not need the full 7 pins as i only have 2 sources of light, meaning at most 3 pins would be needed (common ground for both pods and 40", power to 40" bar, power to twin pods) allowing me to down size entirely.


Time to fast track the rewiring since i had to take everything out anyways to replace the window.... so back to searching (@tacoma16 thanks for the help looking into various connectors with me)
took a guess at 4 pin trailer connectors. could not find one that came in 10ga (needed 10 ga for the 40" bar as it's pulling power for over 13 feet from the battery) so picked one up to hack one apart. picked up a harness from Princess Auto for like $2 or something, sliced it open and realized nothing was salvageable, tossed that idea out quickly.

after some time searching settled on this 4 pin connector from Amazoom. Note there are 2 versions;

CERRXIAN CNLINKO Power Female Socket to Male Plug Reverse Style IP67 Outdoor Waterproof Aviation Soldering Connector for AC DC Signal LED Equipments (Black) (4 Pin)

Female plug style to male socket and

CERRXIAN CNLINKO Power Male Plug to Female Socket Outdoor Waterproof Aviation Soldering Connector for AC DC Signal LED Lighting Equipment (Black) (4 PIN)

Male plug to female socket.
the cores should be interchangeable so go with whatever is cheaper. all you need to do is pop out a C clip from the inside the sockets and swap them over.

Fast forward a few weeks, got the window replaced (It was OEM too) from AutoLine Autoglass after shopping around (@Tech HoFFinaTor, thanks for the help with searching spots in Burlington)

Looks friggen miiiiiiint.


anyways back to rewiring everything to the way it should be.

first the connector;

Size comparison between the new and old

it's so smol.
this is the back side,

basically shoved 10ga wire into it and flood soldered everything together.
Harness on the back rack:


Harness for the truck:


Using the cross bar at the back, drilled some more holes for the connector, used a rivnut tool once for the 3mm bolts (snalled the 3mm head on the rivnut mandrel, literally super glued the other 3 riv nuts into place with dollar store super glue)

wiring up everything:

close it all up and put the tonneau cover back on, did some trimming to fit plug into place.
also it's super low profile now compared to that massive unit i had before.




have at least an inch between the glass and the connector with another 1-1/2" to the back rack. can't really move it close to the backrack since i would then need to cut the tonneau cover to get that to work.
if b̶e̶d̶ ̶f̶l̶e̶x̶e̶s̶ ̶t̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶m̶u̶c̶h̶,̶ ̶i̶ ̶h̶a̶v̶e̶ ̶b̶i̶g̶g̶e̶r̶ ̶i̶s̶s̶u̶e̶s̶ ̶t̶h̶a̶n̶ ̶b̶r̶o̶k̶e̶n̶ ̶g̶l̶a̶s̶s̶ i push the back rack into this connector and burst the glass again, i have bigger issues since the backrack would be against the cab before the connector.

 

also new mudflaps for the rear
Front ones will get Replaced/ Added after suspension bits get added



I do have cardboard templates of these if anyone wants to trace and make their own
@Snail81

 

Face down, Ass up, that's how i like to....
lift my truck

rear end is updated! No more stock u-bolts, stock bump stops, stock leaves, stock paint

New parts;
Fox 2.0 + reservoirs (part #: 985-24-116, probably gen1 or 2 as there seems to be revised versions of it now.)
OME Leaf springs (part# EL111R, mid weight leaves)
OME bushing kit (Part # OMESB108, 2 sets, one for each side)
All Pro U-bolt Flip kit (Part # , it's got tapped holes for some other aftermarket bumpstops.)
GM Bumpstops (Part # 15712438, Off of a 99-07 GM Silverado, see Retrofit here)

before:


after installing shocks (shocks came in first to test out on some trails, just build it up and see the differences of the suspension change. Will need to play around with the Adjuster on the Fox2.0 reservoirs since i'm unsure what they settings are now and what i like more (i'm fine with floaty)

After both sides installed thanks to the help of @tacoma16. 10/10 have learned a valuable life lesson of checking your parts to make sure it's the correct ones and not blindly trusting the guy at 4WheelParts a month before install day.

still can't believe how lucky we got that they had the bushings in stock on a saturday....



as Pete mentioned, gonna give it a few days for the leaves to settle down a bit before measuring final lift

 

Looking good ! ...and thanks for including part #'s

 

the part numbers were more for me than for anyone else
but what can i say other than


Just a heads up, if you do follow this build, the fox shocks can (should) be longer if you require more flex since the shock seems to be the limiting factor right now. The ones i have are the same length as the stock shocks and both are about 3-4" too short to get the entirety of the flex you could get.
but don't take my word for it, i've not tried the flex ramp yet

 

This looks like a work-in-progress pic. Did you trim the leaf pack center pin?