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I think I saw something about that or something similar in one of the older delete your rack threads. I actually was having pretty good luck with a plastic scraper and a heat gun. The last 10% was going to be difficult and the spinning wheel would probably work better there.
Jason,
Good question. One step at a time, my friend, gotta stay in budget. I wanted to get the interior wiring done so I'm pretty much finished with pulling panels, etc. What's left inside is refreshing the audio and that's all in one place, pus dealing with the power antenna.
We're turning to the front seats now. First, I've actually come to like the LX center console. After cleaning out that tired old disc changer and putting that suboptimal subwoofer out to pasture, I find that the padded top is right where my elbow needs to be to temper the crankiness of my bum right shoulder, the main reason I invested in the Tuffy console in the old 80 series. I retained the grille that covered the opening to the spot the defunct sub previously occupied.
I already had mounted a small remote speaker for the CB in front of the transfer case shift lever. To meet all my power needs, I used a plugin with a USB changer port in the plug for the cigarrette lighter plus 3 12 v outlets located on the passenger side of the shift console and 3 more between the console and the passenger seat. The lighter circuit is 15 amp, but most of the loads on it here are pretty minimal" GPS, dash/backup cam, SiriusXM receiver, scanner, head unit for scanner, and Uniden powered speaker.
The driver's side of the console contains the always on power via a fuse panel powering 12 v always on circuits including a double Powerpole on the passenger side of the shift console, another 3-set of 12 v plugs, a 12 v/USB charger on the rear of the console for second row use, and an inverter powered through a switch that's easy to reach because it's buried at the bottom of the console where the CD changer once set.
Yes, a lot going on, but makes for as relatively neat installation.
Outside, I added a nicely effective backup light, along with the camera on the deflector for the Armor All dash and back-up cam.
The Armor-All mirror makes for a clean install, although I'd like a full width image for the reverse cam. It's not shown here, but is confined to a smallish image on the right side of things.
Wiring for the reverse light runs along inside the Bowfin rack's left leg, then I used some narrow strips of super strong mounting tape (Loc-Tite?) to affix it to the A-pillar trim, then ducking under the hood via the cowl inside to my Blazer light control module.
To add the awning, I had to modify the Prinsu awning mounts to deal with the fact that I dropped the crossbars to provide a deeper inside lip to the rack. This is what I did.
These low-profile mounts allow the truck to just clear getting in and out of my garage and keeping the whole she-bang (when unloaded) under the 6'8" limit many parking garages have.
I didn't deploy the awning due to the rain, but it looks good to be back on a truck again.
Finally, a Xmas present from the wife after taking a quick course on the vinyl cutting machine at the library and she came up with this as a sample project.
Good question. One step at a time, my friend, gotta stay in budget. I wanted to get the interior wiring done so I'm pretty much finished with pulling panels, etc. What's left inside is refreshing the audio and that's all in one place, pus dealing with the power antenna.
Adding the second battery is about a $700 question. Around $260 for the Slee batterry/WW relo kit, around $340 for the Hellroaring battery isolator and remote unit, then somewhere over $100 for the Marine Starting battery from Interstate. That's $600, plus I'll need a Blue Sea switch and some additional cabling to hook everything up. Most of that goes under the hood and easy to build as a separate package. The way Hellroaring suggests hooking the backup up is keeping everything on the primary battery and leaving the backup only for that purpose. This has worked well on the old 80, so none of this needs to really be moved when I get to that install.
It's a few months until camping season begins in earnest around here, although am contemplating a shakedown trip to the Ozarks if I can find some guidance to good trails down there. In the meantime, there's always the jumppack if I push things too far.
. You are using two sided tape for mounting, modding front lights with gorilla tape and repurposing book lights into your build, but the dual battery system has to be Slee and Hellroaring? You can easily fab a washer bottle relocation for about $10, toyota battery box about $90 and Blue Sea isolator for $50-$100. This is what I did and it has been working perfectly for a decade.
Based on experience and budget, I've found that some things work OK by going cheap (w/w pump) and others you want OEM, like the seatbelt. I'm a retired historian now, but in a previous life I used to work as a parts inventory and records clerk in Class 8 truck maintenance facility. My boss there had his faults, but I learned a lot about what's cost effective. For example, on the Slee relocate kit and Hellroaring isolator, I am very satisfied with how that investment held up in the old truck over more than a decade of trouble-free service, so prefer that path to DIY or cheap there. YMMVI am calling bs on this
I was able to pick over personal stuff, etc in the crashed 80, but the hood wasn't coming open without a lot more effort than I was able to bring to bear at the time with a couple of cracked ribs. There was a lot of stuff that didn't get picked out, plus all the labor involved in most of it went by the wayside. That's life after my first major in over a half century of driving I suppose.
