Ontario BS Thread

Or drive through a parking garage with exposed florescent lights... Lol

 

that's a fair thing to follow, would it be worth getting a stubby antenna since i plan to mount it directly to the Backrack?
was thinking of mounting it around this location. if i mounted the CB antenna directly to the tailgate location of the truck, i can imagine using the 4ft cable, but if i get a 1ft stubby one technically it's the same height as the 4footer



I've also read up that most antennas also need a ground - and it's that the case - i'm going to need to redesign my fuse panel and it seems like i'd be moving onto my planned auxiliary auxiliary grounding box (there is a ground connector on the blue seas unit that i have).

i'll also need to rewire the Pod lights, add in the bed lights that i have into the auxilarry system, the 42inch lightbar that i'll throw ontop of the backrack, and having a ground for the Aerial mount.
I also need a Relay box because i don't have room on my original fuse box panel




Frick

 

Befriend a machinist, love them, nurture them, water them in the evening and apply fertilizer before hand. ECGS bushing in... takeoff vibes still present. womp womp
at this point i think I know what it is but we will see.

 

Casually curious about the outcome...

 

in what capacity? with the ECGS or vibes?

 

The longer the antenna the better the range.
Firestik has a no ground plane antenna kit you might want to consider. 4’ antenna, wire, mounting bracket and spring. I think I paid around $80 bucks or so for it at the time. Quick release for the antenna is not included but was about $30.

 

Also good when they are automotive enthusiasts and can easily be bribed with food and beer.

 

As an IT guy that often got offered way less than my time is worth to work on porn virus infected PC's. I made it rain on my mechanic so that he put $50's back in my hand until he felt he got paid the correct amount.

That is how you treat a professional you want on your team. Make it rain on them.

 

Source of the vibes.

 

I have a heavy duty leaf pack (500lb constant load capacity), whilst I've dropped a 3° axle shim I might have to go even bigger to bring the rear axle down to a normal range.

Already dropped the CB
3° Axle shims in
ECGS bushing in


Current status:

I have yet to consult my mechanic @tacoma16

 

I have made the wiring schematic....





entire nightmare can be found here;
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/shveets-build-thread-clementine.619286/page-2#post-23577809
@daks you're an elechicken. what do you think?

 

have you checked suspension, tie rods, bearings, ball joint etc? You may have dent in the driveshaft, inspect it as well.

What's your cv axle angles?

 

Takeoff vibes are a different thing. Point a GoPro at the rear axle and U-joint. See how much axle wrap you get. Example:

https://youtu.be/sac2jP9iFQc?t=85

 

Looks good !

Is there really any advantage to the ground bus mounter in the bed?

I see you put the switch for the bedlights in series with the mag switch, I assume that is so you can switch them off when the bed is open and don't drain the battery.
The magnetic prox switch is an excellent idea, but watch what the amperage ratings on a lot of the reed style ones... generally only 500ma (.5A) !

That may not be enough to reliably switch the bedlights, over time.
But if set it up so the mag switch activated a relay... or even a a small dimming controller...

Check the amperage draw on your lightbars etc to determine minimum wire size and then fuse to the minimum size to protect the wire and device. (as you already know).

This table is for constant duty stuff. (stuff that runs longer than 30 mins at a time). and not packed tightly in a bundle.

 

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The ground bus within the bed is just for organizational stuff. Just want to minimize the numbers of cables going between the cab and the back of the bed since i dont have a way to stick a cable management anchor in that crack.

Yeah the mag switch being in series with the button switch (which acts like a master on/off in this case) lets me turn on the LED strip when the tailgate is down since what will be 90% of the use case for it, where i access the bed from the tailgate side. At night, one button switch and the lights work. But good call on the amperage ratings on the switches, i'll double check the ones i picked out before ordering them. Pretty sure the ones in the cart does in fact say 500ma.
I was thinking about a relay in the first iteration of the design but i wasnt sure if it was needed or not. Technically i can add a wiring harness with a 12v/40A relay from amazoom and swap over a few connections at the fuse panel but i don't believe i need that sort of harness for a small 5v led strip. hell i could just run power to the control box they come with and use that as a switch system if need be. But i'll take another look at it. Worst case, i swap the mag switch for a momentary switch and JB weld it against the tailgate and the frame of the bed and BAM tailgate activated switch ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I've not entirely decided on wire size yet for that 42inch light bar, it's just something of a concept and i might as well add the wiring for it now that try and plumb in another set of wires in 3 weeks.

I'll cross ref your chart since the chart i used seems to be a bit different (and not as specific as yours)

but atm the 2 pod lights are wired with 16ga wires, and the 32inch bar in the grille is whatever the harness is (i think it's 14, i'm going to need to check now but i've not had issues running it for 2 hours at a time)

i went with 16ga wire since i figured to use a standardized connector across my system. if 16ga is not enough for the pod lights (it's like 16 feet from the battery), i can swap the plug out at either and have the cables go to the LED strip bed lights and hard wire it into the fuse panel without a relay and run heavier cables for the pods from the battery

Now i'm doubting if the wires i went with the original system are not enough

 

I was using this same chart but when I was wiring up my inverter and checked another chart it went from 2 gage to 2/0. I checked a few different ones and 2/0 came up most of the time so I went that rout. Not guna draw anywhere close to its max unless I get a wicked battery bank but I scaled it down to 200 amp and 2/0 was still the one most places recommended

 

The Pods will be fine with 16Ga, battery will die long before the wire heats up,
but it MAY not be enough for a 42 inch lightbar depending how much current it takes.

The LED manufactures cheat a little bit when they are quoting the "power" but generally you can find out the Amp draw by

W=VxA or A=W/V
Watts = Volts times Amps so a 120W lightbar at 12 volts will draw 10 Amps.
or Amps = Watts Divided by Voltage.

Those wire charts have safety factors in there to account for Voltage drop from resistance in the wire and assumes constantly running and that the wire is enclosed so can't radiate heat, then an extra 20% safety factor. So don't consider them written in stone, they also depend on the insulation type.

Was just asking about the Junction in the back because maybe you could possibly put your relay/fusebox in the back and save some wire running.

Hard to say what the bedlights will draw as there are so many different types of strip LED's out there. But it should be on the packaging. Since it's using a driver to convert to 5V do a quick check by turning on an AM radio near it when it is running, as some of the cheap chinese drivers are putting out a lot of radio interference...
You don't need a switch/relay kit from Amazon, all the Auto parts stores will have the 5 pin relays and sockets, real easy to wire...




Lol so how does it feel being an electchicken? To do all that planning and work... and 80% of it no one will ever see...
Then you get the customer " What $300 to put in a switch! it's easy, anyone on youtube can do it in 5 mins!"

 

my exact thoughts

I got some $5 wires here and there hooked to a $2 relay and it's all working off a cheap costco AGM battery.

 

Lol well you're Russian... Land of the Lada!

Hopefully you have a fuse or two in there somewhere...

Or I can see your next gripe about Tacoma's Lol

 

right, i can do math here...double checked the pods, 6 LEDS * 3W = 18W (what the site says)per pod, 18w/12v =1.5A *2 = 3A of power through the 16ga wire at +/- 20 feet.

they're fine then - guess i needed reassurance since i don't recall how i did the math originally when i picked the 16ga before hand i know i went with the connectors since it fit and was waterproof. I know of the safety factor but i keep forgetting about it - not sure why since i deal with those factors in civil on a daily basis.

Cables i have are the princess auto specials, so insulation is questionable, but i trust them more than i trust the Amazoom specials, but i figured i'd need something heavier for the 42inch light bar that i was planning on going with which so happens to finally be in stock. Throwing math at the wall and seeing what sticks, that 240W bar will pull 20A at 12v, I can get away with 10ga for the distance (about 20ft) but I'll go with an 8ga wire since it's the Princess auto special right now


I considered a junction box for power as well, but i wont be sending anything to the bed any time soon that would require power. for the time being; only the light bar, pod lights, and the led strip bed light, is all i can think of that requires power that will go back there for the future. Unless i outright go full overlander and live in a capped bed/ folding EZhab



granted the habitat isn't off the table, but that's a different can of worms to plan for and i'd be redoing the entire electrical if that ever becomes the case.
The common ground will just be a quality of life thing back there and it'll be easier to run a single wire for power if i ever need to.

Speaking of the LED strips, i was going with the common "12v with 300 LEDS" AKA one manufacturer for every LED strip on the damned site.

Cool White LED Waterproof Flexible Strip Light, (1 Pack) - 25 watt, 300 "3528 SMD, 12 Volt, 16.4 feet, Pure White - 1 Pack

I'd just get the cheapest one that says "waterproof" and "12v" and call it a day. that way i'm not fucking around with the chinesium GPS trackers - er i mean driver control box.


I'll pick up a spare relay and probably a connector from princess auto when i go in today after work.

this is still all magic pixie dust to me, but i think i'm understanding it

The frick you talking about?
I thought you we removing every electrical cable out of the truck and not adding them