GT's Ultimate PepBoys chrome isle collection with considerable BS

Hope for the best. Always sucks to see another memeber struggle. Thanks again for the offer about xmas.

If youre up for it/capable, a few of us are meeting at Trailhead Brewing in St.Charles tonight to hang out for a little

 

You from the St. Louis area?

 

No, im from kc. Working in wentzville for the time being on a project.

 

I'm in the chair Monday, Wednesday, and Friday morning and other than taking the boy to karate on a few weekday evenings my schedule is pretty loose. One of the perks of being retired.

I have a heated shop that is tall enough that I can actually put the Flippac up inside of it if the weather is bad plus I "think" we could do the same at the Wolf-Fab shop too.

Give me a call or a text and let me know your plans and we can easily work something out.

I'd like to go tonight but it's a pretty long haul for me as I live near Carlyle Lake which is about a 2.5 hour trip each way.

 

Ah yea thatd be a pretty far drive.

Sounds like you have a sweet shop/garage though

 

Stereo/alarm upgrade.

While I was out of the country a few years ago my loving bride bought an alarm with a remote starter with a "free install" for the truck from Best Buy. This is probably a good time to remind you that you get what you pay for and the free install was in fact, overpriced. The remote starter works and the alarm does lock and unlock the doors but, recently I found out that they never actually hooked up the alarm to the rear doors. Luckily for me I was the one who found that out and not the local neighborhood scumbag so I went about getting the situation resolved. Now the rear doors are attached to the alarm and a glass break sensor has been added. I don't like the hood pin arrangement as it's ridiculously easy to circumvent so I'm looking at other options.

I had a local-ish shop install a Pioneer AVIC-8100NEX in dash navigation head-unit with Apple CarPlay the other week and while I like the features I'm not too impressed with this particular unit as it reboots allot, locks up, and just acts really unstable which doesn't seem right for a "flagship" product from a well known manufacturer. Scheduling an appointment to address these issues but to be honest, I've lost a bit of faith in this brand. If I'm not satisfied with the solution provided then I think I'll switch to a different brand.

I have an iPad mini on a RAM Mount pedestal on the passenger side of the center console. I used the front left passenger seat mounting bolt to attach the lower mounting tab and then bent the aluminum rod to fit as close as possible to the profile of the console to keep passenger leg room at a maximum. It doesn't negate seat travel forward or back and using a RAM Mount X-grip I can have my GeoPDF maps available any time I like. Plus, the mount can articulate letting my passenger use the iPad the rest of the time.





I've been running with a relative "rats nest" of charging wires sprouting out of cigarette lighter chargers and it really drove me nuts. Since the stereo has Apple CarPlay on it one cable is now plugged into the back of it. This is the cable that I have running to my driver side A-pillar phone mount. I bought a dual USB power adapter so I can plug in my iPad cable as well as the charging cable for my wife/passenger phone.

The iPad mini charging cable runs from the power adapter up the plastic sheath over the aluminum mount bar. This keeps it safe from snagging and cleans up the cab just a bit more. I have already installed the A-pillar phone mount on the passenger side as well but I haven't routed her charging cable up to it yet.

I am liking how much cleaner the lower dash/console area looks now with all of the bulky adapters and mess of cables removed. I still have a cigarette lighter plug for the forward dashcam but hopefully I can get that out of there and hidden as well.

More pictures to come after the head-unit issues are resolved.

 

With your alarm is it sensitive to doors trying to be opened? What about when it comes to a topper door? I would like to have a alarm thats sensitive enough that would warm someone trying to open the swing out, stepping on sliders to reach the rack or even playing with the front bumper. But I don't want something too sensitive where overtime the wind kicks up the alarm is going nuts

 

Caveat emptor: I have eaten some pain pills recently so feel free to double check all of this for yourself to make sure that I'm not talking out of my pharmaceutically induced hat.

I mentioned using GeoPDF maps earlier and wanted to explain where I get them and one of the ways that I utilize them on an iPad. Here is a basic tutorial on how to navigate into the free topographical map database that is maintained by the USGS and how to download the topographical quadrangles in a GeoPDF format that you can view and print with free software that you may already have.



Once you browse to the USGS home page you will see the "Map Locator & Downloader" link as indicated by the red lightning bolt. Click this link to get to the map page.



This page should start you out with a satellite view of the United States to which you can use to drill down to the plat you want to reference or download. I'd suggest that you drill down to the general area that you want to see before making any settings changes. For this example I choose Pike County, Illinois. Now that you are looking at the area you want follow these steps. First, change the "Navigate" option to "Mark Points" option as indicated by the red lightning bolt. Second, change the "Don't Display Footprints" option to "7.5 and 15 Minute" option as indicated by the green lightning bolt. This isn't always an issue as I've found that the site auto-selects different options from time to time. The grid lines that you see in the sample image should now appear on your screen as well if you have zoomed in far enough.



In this image I'm going to show you how to actually download the topo map to your computer. Left click the plat that you wish as I did on the "Summer Hill" plat in the example which will create a marker for you on your desired plat as indicated by the red lightning bolt. When it appears, left click the marker, and the drop down menu will appear giving you the options as indicated by the green lightning bolt. From here you can select the download link that appears as a file size under the blue "Download" ball with the white arrow. Once you click that link your computer will ask you where you wish to save the file.

Once this is complete you will need a way to decompress, or unzip the folder that it came to you in which you may be able to do with your computers operating system by right clicking the downloaded file and selecting the "Extract All" option. Once you have decompressed/extracted the folder you will then be left with your topo quadrangle which you can view on your computer with a free PDF reader application. I can use the built in reader that came with my Mac but I prefer using the free Adobe Acrobat PDF reader due to the additional options. NOTE: I think the Windows version opts you into an additional download if you don't uncheck the option field before downloading.

If your topo is a recent one then you will have a "Layers" option to the left that allows you to actually switch back and forth between the topographical lines and a recent satellite image giving you better insight about the area that you are studying. With this said I'd strongly suggest grabbing each version you can as maps change over times and trails may have been committed from the most current versions.

Now that you've gotten some GeoPDF topo maps downloaded to your computer you are ready to use them on your iPad. I personally use the Avenza Systems PDF Maps mobile application on both my phone and my iPad. There are others out there but I find myself opening this one more often for these maps.

There are multiple ways to use maps in this app but I'm going to explain how to import the ones we've downloaded using the above instructions. You can decompress them and place them into a folder on your computer and when you do a cable connected sync with your computer you can indicate to iTunes how to add them during the sync. With the device attached to the computer click the "Apps" tab and then scroll down to the "File Sharing" section of the page. Select the "PDF Maps" app and then look into the field to the right which should now be titled "PDF Maps Documents." Simply direct iTunes to the location that you have stored the decompressed maps and click the "Sync" button.

Understanding that there is only so much space on the iPad for storage I use a nice feature of PDF Maps that allows me to access maps from my Dropbox, free cloud storage account. They offer a paid subscription account option but I've found that by just uploading the maps for the trip I'm going to be on and then removing them when I return, I can manage fine with the free to use account. To access the maps that you have decompressed and stored on your Dropbox account open the PDF Maps app and them click the "Maps" icon on the bottom of the screen. From here press the "+" symbol at the top right and you will see that you have the option to import from Dropbox. If you have not connected your Dropbox account to the PDF Maps app it will ask you to do so at this point and once done you will then be able to import as many as you like as long as your device has the storage required.

 

I adjusted the sensitivity slightly, but it can be cranked very high to suit anyones individual needs. There is an accessory vibration sensor that can be added but I've opted against it because I can set the alarm while we are in the camper and it won't go off while we are moving around. I'd like to be able to add in additional sensors so that if a Window on the camper, or the tailgate were opened the alarm would sound as well. I don't have an aftermarket rear bumper yet but I do plan for one so your desire to have something there as well would become my interest as well.

For anything that uses a gas strut I was thinking about adding one of these switches. I was thinking of getting a pair for each window so that one could be wired to the alarm and the other to an interior light with the ability to bypass the alarm or light switch if required.

I did add a locking tailgate handle but once I start piling camping and amateur radio gear in the back I'd like the reassurance that the alarm would draw attention to any unauthorized access.

 

Good deal, Ive been doing some more research after I replied. I was looking at some that have 4-5 ports for accessories and that gas strut switch would be perfect. And adding a second for light would be pretty neat, I may have to brush up on my electrical. My mom had a remote start on her camry and we ended up pulling it because the immobilizer bypass kept acting up not allowing her to start her car, so I've been skeptical of after market alarms since.

What locking tailgate do you have, I had the keyed pop n lock but the handle broke last weekend after a cold morning and trying to get to some recovery gear

 

I have the key matched Pop-n-lock as well. I'll be making a point to go easy on it in cold weather.

 

Yeah I wouldn't even bother attempting to open it when its 10 or below, it snapped right away. I never liked the key cylinder anyways (always finicky), I may try the keyless option so I can keep the oem handle

 

iPad mount details.

The mount I'm using is a RAM Mounts product. I took the included 2.5" round base adapter out and replaced it with a double ball adapter and a short arm, and then added an appropriate sized X-Grip for the iPad.



Usually the mounting rod is between the seat and the center console but I hadn't put it back since the stereo install.



Plenty of room for accessing the controls as the iPad sits both high, and back enough to not be a concern.



The empty

$30 Panavise Custom InDash Mount for Toyota Tacoma '05-07

PanaVise bracket to the right of the climate controls is for the IBS battery manager.

Parts list:

RAM-B-316-1-202U Pod 1 universal no-drill vehicle base.

RAM-B-230U double 1" ball joiner

RAM-B-201U standard length double socket arm

RAM-HOL-UN8BU RAM universal X-Grip cradle for 7" tablets

Monoprice 6' black certified lightning cable

Kimdrox dual USB power adapter

 

Fenders going on the truck this Monday. After big hammer session it's time for the 35's. Because I don't want to be this guy...



I'm starting to shop for an on board air solution. I'd really like to go with the belt driven types but all of them seem to come with the "make your own damn mount" option.

Anyone?

 

I'm a big fan of a 20# C02 tank over a compressor.

 

I like CO2 as well but I want something that will continue to deliver even after I pulled a dummy and forgot to get a tank refilled.

 

CO2 + small belt driven compressor? Seems like an infallible combination, much like your build so far.

 

Agreed! A small Viair compressor for emergencies and keep a tank

 

Truck is at Wolf-Fab for a special custom project that I dreamt up. Details to follow.