C0d3M0nk3y's Whitewater build

Bed Platform Update 3/20/2019

Worked on the pop top storage area by the cab. I had been putting this off for quite some time since I was going to use a technique I had never done before. This involved doing a plunge cut with a circular saw. I had wanted to do curved corners, but in the end the Jig Saw did not do good 90 degree cuts, so I went with squared off corners instead.

I taped off the area I was going to cut both top and bottom to prevent splintering of the edges. This has worked well for me before with the plywood.

Here is the area that is going to be cut taped off.


I then took a straight piece of wood and clamped it down to act as a guide for the circular saw.


Rinse repeat for all 4 sides. I then went through and completed the corners with a pull saw by hand. After all is said and done, I ended up with a nice clean hole, and a clean top that I can use to fill the hole.


Because I can over engineer, I decided that I would create a 1/2" lip on 3 sides for the top to rest on. I am also going to create a 1/2" lip on the 2 back corners for the top to rest on (only one is completed). The 1/2" lip is both glued in and screwed in.




Overall the platform looks something like this (without the drawers installed):

 

Great build info, sweet set up, I am a fellow whitewater kayaker on the east coast. I went with a Thule xsporter adjustable bed rack. Keep the updates coming.

And obligatory action shot.

 

Bed Platform Update (older, forgot to add earlier)

I ran into a problem with the top of the bed platform. I picked up 3/4" birch plywood that was 4'x8'. It turns out that the width of the my short bed is over 4' wide, and the length is about 5' long. So...long story short...there was no way to create 1 solid piece with the 4'x8' sheet. I ended up cutting the board to be 56"x48". I will later learn that 56" wide is too wide to fit through the truck cap...but more on that later.

I ended up having to glue some boards to give me 5' length to fit the remainder of the bed. I picked up some pipe clamps to give me the length needed to get the boards attached as I needed. I learned a very valuable lesson...don't cut a 10' pipe and expect to still have 5' of usable length for clamping things together. Oooops.



I have since added additional bracing around the joint to give it more integrity. I also have the joint resting on the cross brace for the drawers. So far, I am pretty happy with how the top came out. I did have a small problem where I did not make it long enough, and am short by about 1/2" (or less). It means that the top of the drawers are exposed, but there is very little gap to be tailgate. If I had to do it over again, I would make everything longer than necessary, and cut down later. Not a big deal though.

 

Disable Seatbelt Warning

I had been meaning to do this for some time. My dog likes to sit in the front seat, but doesn't like things beeping at him. I think he finally got used to the beeping, but it did annoy the piss out of me.

I found information here on how to disable the warning.

I ended up doing the following:

• set the trip reset to read ODO (did this when I was traveling somewhere)
• Got in the car, did not put on seat belt
• turned the ignition, but did not start car. Let everything light up and pushed and held the trip reset knob for about 20 seconds
• Kept my finger on the reset knob, fastened the seat belt. Watched the ODO display "B-ON". Hit the reset knob and watched it cycle to "B-OFF".
• Turned the car off.
• Turned the car on. Kept my seat belt off for a bit and listened to blessed silence. Once I realized it worked, put my seat belt on and went home.

It really was as easy as the instructions said it would be.

 

What is the advantage to this hookup for the iPod over plugging into the Aux Jack?

 

If I had an Aux jack to hook into, then I wouldn't have needed this. The stock stereo I have in my Tacoma does not have an Aux jack (or if it does, I couldn't find it).

I did not feel like switching out the entire unit, and this provided me the flexibility of adding an iPod (I have a 160 GB classic) to play my music with.

 

Makes sense. Thanks.

Nice work on the truck, looking good. Hopefully you guys have a good spring with some great paddling!

 

I picked up a squirt boat last year. I have been waiting for the water to drop so I can take it out. I was lucky enough that there was a bit of low water the first half of Gauley Season and I could jump on over the Halls on the New after a Gauley lap. But then the rain came and it got too high again.

Maybe this will be the year for some good squirt boating. Otherwise...I will have to settle for reasonable flows on the New again. I know I am one of the few people that wants low water, but it is really nice sinking.

 

Squirt boats are a sweet addition to the quiver. I have Paul's (PS Composites) old Asylum. I sold most of my boats when we moved out to CA last summer, we lived in Harpers Ferry, WV. I kept the Asylum and the Shredder. It's a 7-8 drive up to the SF American so we usually make a real long weekend of it. I definitely miss the river living out here. I'm assuming you're in WV.

 

Not in WV, but I used to guide there for a couple years, and video boated for many more. WV has a special place in my heart, and it is the closest WW to me. I am in Northern Kentucky, so it is about a 4 hour drive. I still know a lot of people in Fayetteville, and it feels like home to me. I can go other places, but it is nice rolling in and knowing who is going to be around and what is going on.

I had been paddling a used Angst for a bit, and decided that I would get a Slip custom made by Ed (Murky Water in Canada) last winter. It was finished up around mid summer and I have only had it out a couple of times. It is amazing how well a boat made for you fits.

My quiver is still quite large (8 boats, I think).

 

Cool. My son video boated for Rivers for a couple years. He's in Northern CA now doing some part time work on the American. I'm with you on WV, it's a cool place.

I was close enough in size that the Asylum worked for me but I imagine a custom made boat would be a treat. Enjoy the paddling, be safe!

 

Not much of an update (at least no pictures of the updates, so here is a dog pic).



I have been spending my time working on the bed platform. LOTS of sanding and varnishing. Everything is pretty much ready to go. I did the final layers of varnish on the drawers, underside of the frame, the frame, and underside of the top. I will be doing the final layer of varnish on the top on Wednesday, and then I have to sand the pop-top and do the final layer there.

Still left to do:

• Pop-top latch
• Pull-latch strike plate
• Bolts to secure the top to the frame

Things I am still thinking about doing:

• Rivnuts in the truck bed to attach frame to truck bed
• Automotive carpeting for the top
  • Given the varnish on the top, I will probably not attach the automotive carpeting directly to the platform, but rather make a "mat" that can lay on top of the platform. I may try to use either minicell foam or some 1/4" rubber mat to attach to the carpet to give it some more durability.
• L-track or other anchor points on bed platform top to add tie-downs for cooler and other things
• L-track to side of truck bed for additional tie-downs for water or other items that may bounce around

I plan on installing platform for boating trip this weekend. Even though everything isn't finished, I should be able to get most everything good enough for the weekend.

 

Bed Platform Update 4/15/2016

The platform is installed. It will now reside inside the truck bed. There are a few tiny things left to do, but nothing that will prevent it from being functional.

Here is how it stands today:



The pop top storage area:




There are several layers of finish on the platform. Sanding and varnishing was a pain and took WAY longer than expected.

The top is attached to the base with 4 bolts. 2 by the truck cab, and 2 close to the tailgate. There is a possibility of adding 2 more, but I probably won't.

I will be putting something together to cover the top of the platform. It will be removable, and probably involve either automotive carpeting or rubber mat. It could possibly include both. I will also be using something (other than what I currently have) to cover the base of the drawers, also removable.

This weekend I will be trying it out.

 

Bed Platform Use Update (4/17/2016)

So...I did a boating weekend and used the bed platform. It was a very short weekend (headed to WV Sat morning, and headed home Sun afternoon).

This was my first experience using the back of the bed for sleeping arrangements and the drawers for storage.

Notes:

• 50 cal ammo cans do not fit in the small drawer
• I do not have as much organized storage as I had hoped. I can fit most of the key items, and it does help, but I was hoping for more storage than I would know what to do with.
• I can only sleep comfortably if I sleep from corner to corner. I am 5'7" and I could not sleep straight comfortably. It looks like the bed is single occupancy.
• The finish I put on is not going to hold up well with prolonged use. Some form of a topper is needed.
• I wasn't as happy with loading wet gear back there as I had wanted, so a rubber mat would be preferred.

All in all, I am not upset with how things turned out. A longer bed would be needed if I wanted to dirtbag it, but then I would either lose space in the cab, or I would have a longer vehicle. Neither of those options is preferred.

Other things to note not related to the Bed Platform:

• The 2 sets of racks do not work exactly as hoped. It was near impossible to load boats on both the front and back racks at the same time.
• I had to remove the 50 cal ammo can from behind the back seat to get the off-road base to fit back there.

I was able to transport 4 people, 4 sets of gear, and 4 boats very easily. This is not that surprising. I will need to see if I can do more later.

Here is what the truck looks like in it's natural habitat.

 

WiFi Sniffer Microcontroller
Or...How to turn your truck into a wireless sniffer

This is a slight variation of a "Weaponizing your dog, turn him into a Wireless sniffer".

A lot of background before we get into the technical stuff. I was at a security conference, when I saw a talk by Gene Bransfield on "Weaponizing Your Pets: The War Kitteh and the Denial of Service Dog". It is a great talk and gave me incentive to figure out how Arduinos work and build a project to turn my dog into a WiFi sniffer. Since the unit was completed, I decided to take it for a test run in the truck. So...now I can say I have a WiFi sniffing truck too.

Yes...I do know there are simple apps for phones that do this exact thing already. The point is not to do something easy. The point of this project was to work with Microcontrollers and have a fun project to do at the same time. It is not the most practical of projects either, but that was also not the point. I learned some stuff along the way, and I had fun doing it too.

A picture to keep you interested:

The project:

• Get GPS coordinates
• Get the WiFi hot spots nearby
• Write the data to an SD card to be interpreted later

Materials:

• Arduino Mega 2560 R3
• Adafruit Ultimate GPS Breakout
• Adafruit MicroSD card breakout board+
• Adafruit CC3000 WiFi Breakout
• Arduino Mega Prototype Shield
• Screw Terminals (2 pin, 8 pin, and 4 pin)
• Various M2 and M3 brass standoffs and screws
• Breadboard

The Microcontroller will be using the GPS to determine where you are and the date and time. If there is a Fix, the Microcontroller will then look around and see what WiFi hot spots are around. If there are any hot spots, it will record:

• SSID
• Signal Strength
• Security used
• Latitude (in Degrees)
• Longitude (in Degrees)
• mm-dd-yyyy hh:mm:ss.mmm

It writes all of this information to a formatted microSD card to a file named: GPSWiFi.txt

A sample of the output looks something like this:
Gold-Star|35|3|38.6215|-83.7832|4-17-16 21:24:4.0

The Libraries used for this project are:

• SPI.h
• Adafruit_GPS.h
• SoftwareSerial.h
• Adafruit_CC3000.h
• SD.h

I ended up installing each component one at a time and got an example piece of code working first before I moved onto the next step. I was able to convince a co-worker that this was a fun project, so he ended up trying some of the components as well before I got to them.

I connected the following components to the associated pins on the Arduino Mega:

• Adafruit CC3000 WiFi
  • MISO 50
  • MOSI 51
  • CLK 52
  • IRQ 3
  • VBAT 11
  • CS 10
  • VIN 5V
  • GND
• Ultimate GPS
  • RX1 19
  • TX1 18
  • VIN 5V
  • GND
• SD Card
  • CLK 52
    
  • DO 50
    
  • DI 51
    
  • CS 2
  • 5v
  • GND

The code is a mishmash of various examples all put together to get what I wanted. In the end it is pretty straightforward. There are still a few problems with it, but it works well enough to get data out.

Here is the code:

Code:

#include <SPI.h>
#include <Adafruit_GPS.h>
#include <SoftwareSerial.h>
#include <Adafruit_CC3000.h>
#include <ccspi.h>
#include <string.h>
#include "utility/debug.h"
#include <SD.h>
    
// Adafruit CC3000 WiFi
// On the Mega
// MISO 50
// MOSI 51
// CLK 52
// MUST be an interrupt pin!
#define ADAFRUIT_CC3000_IRQ   3  // IRQ
// These can be any two pins
#define ADAFRUIT_CC3000_VBAT  11  // VBEN
#define ADAFRUIT_CC3000_CS    10 // CS

// Ultimate GPS
// using hardware serial 1 on Mega
// TX --> RX1 19
// RX --> TX1 18

Adafruit_CC3000 cc3000 = Adafruit_CC3000(ADAFRUIT_CC3000_CS, ADAFRUIT_CC3000_IRQ, ADAFRUIT_CC3000_VBAT,
                                         SPI_CLOCK_DIVIDER); // you can change this clock speed but DI
HardwareSerial *mySerial = &Serial1;

Adafruit_GPS GPS(mySerial);

// SD card file
File myFile;


// Set GPSECHO to 'false' to turn off echoing the GPS data to the Serial console
// Set to 'true' if you want to debug and listen to the raw GPS sentences.
#define GPSECHO  true

// this keeps track of whether we're using the interrupt
// off by default!
boolean usingInterrupt = false;
void useInterrupt(boolean); // Func prototype keeps Arduino 0023 happy

void setup() {
    // On the Ethernet Shield, CS is pin 4. It's set as an output by default.
    // Note that even if it's not used as the CS pin, the hardware SS pin
    // (10 on most Arduino boards, 53 on the Mega) must be left as an output
    // or the SD library functions will not work.
    pinMode(2, OUTPUT);
    
    if (!SD.begin(2)) {
        Serial.println("SD Card initialization failed!");
        return;
    }
    Serial.println("SD Card initialization done.");
 
  // connect at 115200 so we can read the GPS fast enough and echo without dropping chars
  // also spit it out
  Serial.begin(115200);

  /* Initialise the CC3000 module */
  Serial.println(F("\nInitialising the CC3000 ..."));
  if (!cc3000.begin())
  {
    Serial.println(F("Unable to initialise the CC3000! Check your wiring?"));
    while(1);
  }

  displayMACAddress();

  // 9600 NMEA is the default baud rate for Adafruit MTK GPS's- some use 4800
  GPS.begin(9600);

  // uncomment this line to turn on RMC (recommended minimum) and GGA (fix data) including altitude
  //GPS.sendCommand(PMTK_SET_NMEA_OUTPUT_RMCGGA);
  // uncomment this line to turn on only the "minimum recommended" data
  GPS.sendCommand(PMTK_SET_NMEA_OUTPUT_RMCONLY);
  // For parsing data, we don't suggest using anything but either RMC only or RMC+GGA since
  // the parser doesn't care about other sentences at this time
 
  // Set the update rate
  GPS.sendCommand(PMTK_SET_NMEA_UPDATE_1HZ);   // 1 Hz update rate
  // For the parsing code to work nicely and have time to sort thru the data, and
  // print it out we don't suggest using anything higher than 1 Hz

  // Request updates on antenna status, comment out to keep quiet
  GPS.sendCommand(PGCMD_ANTENNA);

  // the nice thing about this code is you can have a timer0 interrupt go off
  // every 1 millisecond, and read data from the GPS for you. that makes the
  // loop code a heck of a lot easier!
  useInterrupt(true);

  delay(1000);
  // Ask for firmware version
  Serial1.println(PMTK_Q_RELEASE);
 
}

// Interrupt is called once a millisecond, looks for any new GPS data, and stores it
SIGNAL(TIMER0_COMPA_vect) {
  char c = GPS.read();
  // if you want to debug, this is a good time to do it!
#ifdef UDR0
  if (GPSECHO)
    if (c) UDR0 = c; 
    // writing direct to UDR0 is much much faster than Serial.print
    // but only one character can be written at a time.
#endif
}

void useInterrupt(boolean v) {
  if (v) {
    // Timer0 is already used for millis() - we'll just interrupt somewhere
    // in the middle and call the "Compare A" function above
    OCR0A = 0xAF;
    TIMSK0 |= _BV(OCIE0A);
    usingInterrupt = true;
  } else {
    // do not call the interrupt function COMPA anymore
    TIMSK0 &= ~_BV(OCIE0A);
    usingInterrupt = false;
  }
}

uint32_t timer = millis();
void loop() {
  // in case you are not using the interrupt above, you'll
  // need to 'hand query' the GPS, not suggested :(
  if (! usingInterrupt) {
    // read data from the GPS in the 'main loop'
    char c = GPS.read();
    // if you want to debug, this is a good time to do it!
    if (GPSECHO)
      if (c) Serial.print(c);
  }
 
  // if a sentence is received, we can check the checksum, parse it...
  if (GPS.newNMEAreceived()) {
    // a tricky thing here is if we print the NMEA sentence, or data
    // we end up not listening and catching other sentences!
    // so be very wary if using OUTPUT_ALLDATA and trytng to print out data
    //Serial.println(GPS.lastNMEA());   // this also sets the newNMEAreceived() flag to false
 
    if (!GPS.parse(GPS.lastNMEA()))   // this also sets the newNMEAreceived() flag to false
      return;  // we can fail to parse a sentence in which case we should just wait for another
  }

  // if millis() or timer wraps around, we'll just reset it
  if (timer > millis())  timer = millis();

  // approximately every 2 seconds or so, print out the current stats
  if (millis() - timer > 2000) {
    timer = millis(); // reset the timer
   
    Serial.print("\nTime: ");
    Serial.print(GPS.hour, DEC); Serial.print(':');
    Serial.print(GPS.minute, DEC); Serial.print(':');
    Serial.print(GPS.seconds, DEC); Serial.print('.');
    Serial.println(GPS.milliseconds);
    Serial.print("Date: ");
    Serial.print(GPS.day, DEC); Serial.print('/');
    Serial.print(GPS.month, DEC); Serial.print("/20");
    Serial.println(GPS.year, DEC);
    Serial.print("Fix: "); Serial.print((int)GPS.fix);
    Serial.print(" quality: "); Serial.println((int)GPS.fixquality);
    if (GPS.fix) {
      Serial.print("Location: ");
      Serial.print(GPS.latitude, 4); Serial.print(GPS.lat);
      Serial.print(", ");
      Serial.print(GPS.longitude, 4); Serial.println(GPS.lon);
      Serial.print("Location (in degrees, works with Google Maps): ");
      Serial.print(GPS.latitudeDegrees, 4);
      Serial.print(", ");
      Serial.println(GPS.longitudeDegrees, 4);
     
      Serial.print("Speed (knots): "); Serial.println(GPS.speed);
      Serial.print("Angle: "); Serial.println(GPS.angle);
      Serial.print("Altitude: "); Serial.println(GPS.altitude);
      Serial.print("Satellites: "); Serial.println((int)GPS.satellites);
      listSSIDResults();
    }
  }


}

/**************************************************************************/
/*!
    @brief  Tries to read the 6-byte MAC address of the CC3000 module
*/
/**************************************************************************/
void displayMACAddress(void)
{
  uint8_t macAddress[6];
 
  if(!cc3000.getMacAddress(macAddress))
  {
    Serial.println(F("Unable to retrieve MAC Address!\r\n"));
  }
  else
  {
    Serial.print(F("MAC Address : "));
    cc3000.printHex((byte*)&macAddress, 6);
  }
}

/**************************************************************************/
/*!
    @brief  Begins an SSID scan and prints out all the visible networks
*/
/**************************************************************************/

void listSSIDResults(void)
{
  uint32_t index;
  uint8_t valid, rssi, sec;
  char ssidname[33];

  if (!cc3000.startSSIDscan(&index)) {
    Serial.println(F("SSID scan failed!"));
    return;
  }
  //delay(500);
  Serial.print(F("Networks found: ")); Serial.println(index);
  Serial.println(F("================================================"));

  while (index) {
    index--;

    valid = cc3000.getNextSSID(&rssi, &sec, ssidname);
    String strSSIDName = ssidname;
   
    if ((strSSIDName!="") && (strSSIDName!="")){
      // open the file. note that only one file can be open at a time,
      // so you have to close this one before opening another.
      myFile = SD.open("GPSWiFi.txt", FILE_WRITE);
      if (myFile) {
        Serial.print("Writing to GPSWiFi.txt...");
        myFile.print(strSSIDName);
        myFile.print("|");
        myFile.print(rssi);
        myFile.print("|");
        myFile.print(sec);
        myFile.print("|");
        myFile.print(GPS.latitudeDegrees, 4);
        myFile.print("|");
        myFile.print(GPS.longitudeDegrees, 4);
        myFile.print("|");
        myFile.print(GPS.month, DEC);
        myFile.print("-");
        myFile.print(GPS.day,DEC);
        myFile.print("-");
        myFile.print(GPS.year, DEC);
        myFile.print(" ");
        myFile.print(GPS.hour, DEC);
        myFile.print(":");
        myFile.print(GPS.minute, DEC);
        myFile.print(":");
        myFile.print(GPS.seconds, DEC);
        myFile.print(".");
        myFile.println(GPS.milliseconds);
      // close the file:
        myFile.close();
        Serial.println("done writing to SD Card.");
      } else {
        // if the file didn't open, print an error:
        Serial.println("error opening GPSWiFi.txt");
      }

      //Serial.print(ssidname);
      Serial.print(strSSIDName);
      Serial.print("|");
      Serial.print(rssi);
      Serial.print("|");
      Serial.print(sec);
      Serial.print("|");
      Serial.print(GPS.latitudeDegrees, 4);
      Serial.print("|");
      Serial.print(GPS.longitudeDegrees, 4);
      Serial.print("|");
      Serial.print(GPS.month, DEC);
      Serial.print("-");
      Serial.print(GPS.day,DEC);
      Serial.print("-");
      Serial.print(GPS.year, DEC);
      Serial.print(" ");
      Serial.print(GPS.hour, DEC);
      Serial.print(":");
      Serial.print(GPS.minute, DEC);
      Serial.print(":");
      Serial.print(GPS.seconds, DEC);
      Serial.print(".");
      Serial.print(GPS.milliseconds);
      Serial.println();
      delay(1000);
    }
  }
  Serial.println(F("================================================"));

  cc3000.stopSSIDscan();
  delay(1000);
}

I did use a screen to display some information while I was building the project. The screen was removed once everything was put together. You can see the screen in the background of my breadboard mock-up.



After it was all working, I picked up a prototype board, and cleaned everything up.



In the truck the board is powered by a USB cigarette lighter power supply. I could hide the device somewhere and get an antenna for the GPS. The WiFi might suffer a little bit, but it should work for the stronger signals.

Here are some Amazon links for some of the parts.

• $49 Arduino Mega 2560 REV3 [A000067]
  Arduino Mega 2560 R3
• Adafruit Ultimate GPS Breakout
• $12 Adafruit MicroSD Card Breakout Board+ [ADA254]
  Adafruit MicroSD card breakout board
• Adafruit CC3000 WiFi Breakout
• GORLENKE5pcs 2.54mm 8-Pin Plug-in Screw Terminal Block Connector Panel PCB Mount
  Screw Terminals
• Gikfun Protoshield Prototype Shield DIY KIT A1 for Arduino Mega 1280 2560 R1 - R3 EK1096
  Arduino Mega Prototype Shield
• SainSmart 1.8" TFT Color LCD Display

 

Leaf Spring Recall

Contacted a Toyota dealer and my leaf springs qualify for a recall. I had an AAL installed, and they will give me all the components back, but will not re-install the aftermarket parts. I am getting new leaf springs, not too worried about getting the AAL re-installed afterwards.

I am on the fence about getting a full leaf spring replacement since I lost a bit of height with the weight that has now been added to the bed (cap and platform). I figured since I qualify for a recall, I might as well see if that will meet my needs (especially with the AAL).

If it doesn't bring back enough height, then I can always get a full leaf spring replacement later.

For now...no pictures, just waiting. I also didn't get a height after the platform install, but I did get some measurements after the cap install. I lost a bit of height. If I can get that back, I would be very happy.

 

Leaf Spring Update

Leaf springs were replaced for recall. AAL was removed, all components were returned to me. The ass end now sits much lower. I haven't taken measurements, but it is not pretty.

I did a boating trip this past weekend (New River Dries and New River Gorge in WV) without the AAL. Truck did fine, but I cringed whenever I looked at the stance.

I am looking at replacing the tires and may just do the AAL and tires at the same time. I lean towards BFG KO2 (probably 265/70r17).

If I can't get the height back the way I want, I may go with a full leaf spring replacement. Regardless, the recall springs didn't do much for height.

 

Great build! I love my 2009 Tacoma, I have a quick question. I am taking a trip in July up North I will have my bike and Thule roof box on top of my cap! I was wondering what kind of fuel range for the tank I might expect? If I get about 300 miles to a tank, do you think I can at least achieve close to that at highway speed.? I have had roof racks and boxes for years but only on small fuel efficient cars. I know there will be a loss in mpg but I am hoping not significant. If this is something you kept track of I would be curious to know. Once again great build, and I like the setup you are running.

 

With boats on top I am getting ~240 miles per tank. I haven't let it get to zero yet, so there might be a few more miles to go. I really haven't noticed much a drop in miles per tank with any of my mods yet.

 

Thank you for your response. It was helpful and def gives me a good gauge to go by. Love the build