Brett's average build thread

A while back, somebody posted a pic of a relocated CB antenna on the back of the Uniden, instead of the 90° adapter, which works just fine too.
I can't remember who posted the pic. This is not my original idea, I just thought i would try it after seeing the pic.
Be forewarned, this is not a basic mod, some intermediate soldering skills are required. If you do this, it's at your own risk.

How it used to sit.

How it sits now


How I did it...
Remove both the top and bottom cover, just 8 screws, no surprises.
The breadboard is not only screwed in place, but soldered as well. It ain't coming out to make this easy.
On the left side of the pic, you can see the hole in the metal frame where the antenna mount was. You can also see the tiny hole in the breadboard that says ANT. Unsolder that and work the mount out. It is kind of wedged in there and some careful prying ws needed to get the thing out.



Some of this was done before I remembered the camera..
Drill a 5/8" hole. 1/2" will work with some minor filing. 5/8" is actually a tad big but it worked.
Clean off the paint around the hole to get a good ground. You can also see that I removed the speaker to make it easier to work on and keep the metal shavings out of the body



And the wire was too short. I knew it would be, just wanted you to see.

So I soldered a length of copper bell wire to the end of it, same diameter. thin.
I did the work right on the front seat becasue i was too lazy to cut the power wire to the unit. The fuse was pulled though.


Put the speaker back in. The cover can be removed after all is said and done, but to do so you have to unscrew the nut from the antenna mount first, which takes the chance of screwing up the next step, so hopefully it never has to come off again, don't see why it would need to.


Speaker cover back on, added length of copper wire protruding through the hole in the breadboard.

Trimmed, soldered, slightly burnt. Ohm testest showed it was good. You can also see the tabs on the frame that the breadboard is soldered to.

Finished product.



It can no longer be slid in as a complete wired unit. In fact it has to be finagled a bit, but ti goes without too much trouble.
The antenna has to be screwed on after the unit is in place. Not a big deal, I just removed that cubby trim piece and it was easy to get to.

Done. Way more solid than before, has a bit of a tilt up now so that was cool, and a bit more room. Feels less cluttered, in a small truck, that's kind of important.
Cool mod, I wish I could remember who did it first so I could pass along the credit.

 

Good work.
I like that kind of ingenuity.
Wish you would've put your efforts towards ham but......

 

I had a sammich earlier.

 

If you were closer, I'd pat you on your helmet and say "that's good Brett, that's real good"

 

Thanks man!

 

I don'tget on here much anymore but I'm happy to see you're still making cool and unusual stuff. Cool radio mod.

 

Thank you sir!

 

Not sure why I wasn't sub here. But what lower brackets did you use for your shock relocation?

I know All-Pro has some and so does TG.

Also @Squeaky Penguin which brackets are you using. Just looking for options

 

They were some off the shelf packaged universal mount. I had to grind them down to fit and prolly could have made a set easier. Since I paid good money for them, I made them work.
I wouldn't recommend them.

 

Ruff stuff. They have lots of options.

 

Well good thing I asked then ha. I've got All-Pro and they kinda bent so glad you guys have something else. I'll look into Ruff Stuff, quickly browsed but nothing major. Thanks Bretts

 

Thought I would update.
I have been playing around with different tires and wheel sizes in an attempt to be #eaf.

I currently am running 285/75R16 in a Toyo MT which is a true 33" x 12".

First in tried a 295/75R16 in a Nitto Terra Grappler G2.
pretty nice looking tire and actually fit pretty good.



I wasn't entirely happy with..
the actual size, felt it was too wide for the height.
The sidewall was too thin. It was a D Rating, which should be pretty fair as far a stout goes, but felt thin. Decided to change things up a bit more.

 

A week later, I have a set of 285/75R17. One inch taller than what I have and about the same width. In a Cooper Discoverer ST Max.

Wheels are a 17" x 8" with 0 offset. They didn't fit too well. Notice the difference in this pic compared to the one of the Nitto, the distance from the tire to the bottom corner of the fender flare. It was about an inch more than the Nitto's. Measurements are all over the place s far as manufacturer is concerned.

ST Maxx on the ground with truck weight, Toyo on the ground unencumbered. Give an idea of the added height.


It cleared the front just fine, the inner fender was close during mid turn, nothing a hammer can't cure, but the real problem was at full lock at the rear of the frame. I'm sorry I have no pics, but at ride height it made horrible frame contact which would have only gotten worse with suspension compression. I would have lost a significant amount of turn radius.



So I tried a 17x9 x -12 offset wheel. Wider than I wanted but the offset was better, so was curious what it offered.


It cleared a bit better, so i ordered some more. Naturally, they only had the one in stock.


the stupid center cap will be removed, so I can get to my manual hubs not sure what that will look like but in the end I will beat the absolute hell out of these just like the last set so who gives a shit As long as they fit.


The new ones should be here on Monday. I'll post pics of the progress as it happens.

 

Finally made it home with my official mall crawler beadlocks. #mallcrawlerasfuck


Center cap removed to get to the hubs. I'll get some metric allen plugs to fill in the two holes. The back caps will stay on. Actually looks ok with no cap. The rear would look retarded though with the offset portion, hard to explain, there is some depth to the wheel mounting surface on the wheels themselves.

Driver side closest point.

Some cutting will be required, driver side again.


Passenger side. has a scosh more clearance for some reason.



Noticed an immediate loss of power, feels like stock again. Speedometer is back to accurate.
Powerband still feels ok though. I just lost my faux crawler gears.

 

Get the angle grinder out. I bet you're going to have to loose the majority of the bottom corner of that flare and the fender itself.

Looks good though! Interesting about the feeling of the gears, my tires are heavy and closer in size to your new tars than old, and the gears still feel awesome. FWIW, my GPS reads nearly dead on to the speedometer, did your read low with the old tires?

 

Nice build. Figured I should show my support for a fellow double t.

 

Speedo is still off, about 1.3 mph. I re-calibrated and everything is good. Before it was off by 3mph, so it's pretty close now. I bet we have the same height tire now.

At 75mph I'm at 3150ish on the tach. I think i was at 3200 or a bit above before, so really didn't lose all that much. I'll have to read back and check.

I think some minor trimming will be needed for sure.Some major trimming most likely. It's blasting wind right now and i don't feel like pulling the coil to check the stuff. Took a trip up the canyon and didn't have any issue at all.

Surprising that two wheels with the exact same backspacing but a different offset can make so much difference. Both are 4.5" backspace, same distance from wheel surface to edge of rim. One wheel just sticks out 1" farther to the outboard side.

 

Wheels and tires look awesome, Brett!

I agree with Other Brett; you look like you're just a tad outside BFH territory...

 

Thank you!
And welcome to the build

 

lol, maybe. Bushwacker makes another flare that requires cutting out the very area in question, and would prolly give me what I need as well as cover the gap.
http://www.bushwacker.com/fender-flares/toyota-cut-out-fender-flare-set-of-4-oe-matte-black-31919-02

http://www.bushwacker.com/sites/default/files/product-instructions/31919_r13.pdf

But I really not sure if I want it to stick out that far.