Colinb17's kinda sorta build thread - now with 4-link and long travel

Couple of videos I forgot to post.

First is the new rear view/dash cam. With the spare tires right behind the cab, my rear view mirror is useless. I'm used to that though since my old setup blocked the rear window a well. What I'm not used to is not being able to see the back of the truck out of the side mirrors. That'll change when build the fenders, but for now, the main hoop going over the cab is the furthest back thing I can see, so I needed to do something before I put the rear winch through someone's windshield, backing out of a parking apace. I went with the Wolfbox. It clips over your rear view mirror, has 4k front and rear cameras. The front camera is built into the unit, and I put the rear one on the aluminum filler panel above the rear winch. Absolutely love this thing. Crystal clear and easy to use. Had all of the normal loop recording features that you'd expect from any decent dash cam, but the touch screen makes navigating and adjusting it super easy.

https://youtu.be/DragPi9V_wc?si=_MNk07qzSvWypTMK

Second video is just an RTI clip from another angle. Really shows off the rear tuck....and lack of front movement (for now).

https://youtu.be/JcIS693WiR4?si=b3fxsTealnF-F91D

 

Got a start on the new front bumper that will ultimately tie directly into the engine cage.

I like having usable fog lights, and hate people who blind everyone else on the road, so I got some lower powered LED fogs and wired them into the factory switch.

Winch is my 13 year old XRC 10 Comp that just keeps kicking. I took it apart, sand blasted each piece. Reassembled with new grease, and clear coated it. Painted the drum bright red as a visual indicator that I'm out of line. All winches should come with bright drums for in my opinion. No easier way to determine how much line you have left from 80 feet away.
Got some new amsteel and the same agency 6 shackle that I have on the rear winch. I'll likely make an aluminum cover of some sort for the winch to keep the winch line shielded from UV damage.
Fairlead mount is from TMR Customs

Bumper itself is about 20% of an OG high clearance All Pro. I chopped the lower radiator crossmember off and welded in a new one about 3-4 inches higher. Chopped the bottom of the bumper off the same amount and re-plated it with 1/4" steel.

The two uprights are 3x3x1/8" square tube. It's a very strong and rigid shape, but because of the 3" wide flat face, it dents easily. Once dented, most of the strength disappears, so the front faces got 1/4" scabbing plates. The plates extend above the 3x3, and contour across the face of the 1x3 crossbar.

Light hoop and wings will be next.

 

Got a little further on the front bumper. Adding a twist to the light setup.

 

Initial mockup and test.

https://youtube.com/shorts/IOfqci8InQg?si=GFCBYhiQjfQohFr1

 

finished the aimable light bar. manually wired up a test, but haven't hard wired it yet. still need to sort out a light hoop and wing supports for the bumper.


linear actuator was a perfect fit on the planetary side of the winch between it and the fog light.



lights aimed all of the way down. good for access to the wiring and hardware.



lights in a general driving position.







video of them going from limit switch to limit switch. with about 15 seconds for the 4'' stroke, they should be very finely adjustable once they're properly wired.

https://youtube.com/shorts/yMzP_wXGcvo?si=MsVunwWUGEPAJ0Nx

 

Very cool, I love the dash adjustment of the headlights on my Tundra, way more functional than I thought it would be having on the fly adjustment capability.

 

I've never driven a vehicle that you could manually adjust, but our Audi and my folk's Mercedes both do it automatically based on speed and oncoming traffic. I thought about waiting it through a little raspberry pi, tied to a GPS to automatically set their level, it it seemed like a lot of work for a "cool factor". Manual switch flipping it'll be.

 

Redoing a bunch of wiring. Decided to pull the sunglasses holder/compass out of the headliner and build a more useful panel to house a new switch system and mount the wireless remotes.

Pretty simple project overall. I'll get I mounted up this weekend.

Started by putting some riv-nuts into the existing structure and laying everything out around the mounting holes.





Test fit it before .moving forward.
1/8" aluminum plate



Mounting and cable holes for the switch panel and the replacement map lights and buttons.


Panel and map lights mounted




Heavy duty Velcro attaching winch remotes to the rear and suck-down winches, and the remote that can control the switch panel.
Plenty of room left under the remotes for future additions.



Back of the panel wiring.

 

All done, with the data cable running to under the hood, where I need to mount the relay box.

 

Our little girl turned 1 a couple weeks ago, so between the birthday party and constant flow of friends and family through our house the last few weeks, I've only just gotten back to the truck this week.

Finally ran the 4/0 power cables from the rear winches up to the battery. Got everything hooked up, including the 600 amp fuse. Hooked the rear winch up to the kie truck and drug it 100 feet with the parking brake on to spool the synthetic line.



Made a harness for the front lights on the actuated mount. Not my prettiest harness, but getting 20 wires down to 4 with as few solder joints as possible wasn't a pleasant experience.





Testing the various light functions with the wireless remote. Can also control everything with an app on the phone.

Spot beams > amber running lights > white running lights programmed as strobes.

https://youtu.be/3m58hcLHI4w?si=QUDOar2DAn5xKQm_

Night test with the aimable spot beams. Probably illegal to aim this much light at the sky, so it was a quick test. Shot the range finder at the large steel high voltage towers in the distance. Came in at just under 1000 feet away. Couldn't get a good reading on the trees behind them, but guestimating they're another 3-400 feet out.

They're no match for the HID pencil beam I had on the bumper previously, but they're on par with my old HID spot beams, and at 1/4 of the amperage, which is great.



https://youtube.com/shorts/KHciWMvMks4?si=CfyQ6AeF1oRoDPLw

 

Been wanting to relocate the CB for a long time. Had it tucked low in the center console cubby blocking the two front cupholders and the 12v outlet. Got that space back by cutting out the useless little pocket above the head unit. Ill power it off the stereo so it comes in with the ignition if I leave the dial in the on position.

 

In and wired to the ignition.

 

First of the black friday orders placed. not a huge discount, but it essentially covered taxes.

Custom designed PRP seats. went with the Podium Elite, fixed back suspension seat on the recommendation of @906taco

grey tweed main section to stay cool in the summer (thanks again for the suggestion Cory). the higher friction areas (side inserts, main band, and back) are various shades of ostrich vinyl. having them put a version of my company logo in place of the "podium" logo, in gold stitching. only other add-on they're putting in is the adjustable lumbar to keep Mrs. comfortable.

will be checking out some other black friday/cyber monday deals for the 5-point harnesses. pumped to get these in and start working on the interior portion of the cage.

 

You’re going to love them! Happy I could help in some way!

 

Harness modeling while i wait on the seats. These 3" straps are going to swallow my wife



Really liking them in person. Desires while i looked for harnesses were:
-5 point
-cam lock
-bolted anchor points (vs the i-bolt and clip style that rattles like crazy
-integrated shoulder pads

Didn't initially think to look at NRG, but they popped up in one of the searches and ticked all of the boxes. Loved the NRG seats and steering wheel in my Fiero, and I like the wheel currently in my kei truck, so im confident these will work well too.

 

picked up two Boyt single rifle cases for the fender build. single rifle cases generally fit the bill on width and height, but it was tougher than i thought finding one that wasn't 5 feet long. these are 4' inner dimension, so about 50 inches end to end. I got one for each side. one will hold tools, and the other will hold recovery gear. they are going to be integrated into the fenders, with protective tube below them, and the aluminum plate fender above them, which will act as a mounting surface for some future things. i have some 250 lb drawer sliders coming today. the cases will site under the fender, so that only the 5'' profile is visible from the side. they'll slide out on the rollers far enough to open the lid and give you access to everything at once. the sliders lock in the out position, so if i have to get to them in an off camber position, they'll stay out and accessible when needed.

i believe i'll actually have to have them higher than pictured in orter to clear the tires at full compression, while leaving room to go up a size or two in the future if desired.

 

Wife gave me a 3D printer as an early Christmas gift over the weekend. Been running it around the clock making various things, but only one truck thing so far. Relocating the CB into the dash opened back up the cubby in front of the cupholders. Made an insert that allowed me to turn it into a wireless charging pad (inspired by a family members Mercedes with a similar feature) Original design filled the entire cubby, but then I realized I wouldn't have room for running the wires, so I shrunk down 3 of the 4 sides.

 

3d printers are so handy. I use mine all the time to make templates for the plasmacutter. My wife and I got eachother another one for christmas this year too

 

That's a great idea! I've used my wife's vinyl cutter to make a stencil before that I hit with spray paint and then removed so I had a shape to freehand trace, but having a physical guide would be great! What material did you print with so that it didn't immediately melt to the metal?

 

For small templates I just use PLA. Its about 0.75" away from the cut itself so there usually isnt that much heat input into the material.