Pretty quiet in here... what are you working on? (4 Viewers)

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

I claim shotgun.
 
Hadn't drived the 62 in a while. Battery is on its last legs. My fault... wasn't consistent keeping it on a maintainer due to never-ending garage construction.

When I bought that rig about 5.5 year ago, it came with a NAPA Gold. I've been replacing every battery that reaches the end with AGMs from X2Power (Northstar) even on the Deere tractor. That sucker was YUGE!

On the Group 27s the first one's list price in 2018 was $360. The next one was from 2021, still $360 list. Now they're $380. Compared to inflation on everything else, this seems downright tolerable. lol

Off to the battery getting place!

EDIT, nope. Gotta order one in.
 
Last edited:
Hadn't drived the 62 in a while. Battery is on its last legs. My fault... wasn't consistent keeping it on a maintainer due to never-ending garage construction.

When I bought that rig about 5.5 year ago, it came with a NAPA Gold. I've been replacing every battery that reaches the end with AGMs from X2Power (Northstar) even on the Deere tractor. That sucker was YUGE!

On the Group 27s the first one's list price in 2018 was $360. The next one was from 2021, still $360 list. Now they're $380. Compared to inflation on everything else, this seems downright tolerable. lol

Off to the battery getting place!

EDIT, nope. Gotta order one in.
I just got an interstate AGM from Costco for the Tundra was $240 or $280. I don’t believe the Costco Interstates are the same quality but they come with the same warranty.
 
I just got an interstate AGM from Costco for the Tundra was $240 or $280. I don’t believe the Costco Interstates are the same quality but they come with the same warranty.

Yeah, we're getting into battery replacement season.

Did you get a Group 24 or 27? I did a replacement once on my old Tundra and think I went with the beefier 27. The X2Power Group 24 lists for $330 which would retail for under $300 without special promo pricing. It's 840CCA @ 76AH versus 930CCA & 92AH on the 27.


When my tractor's battery in November of last year, I was shocked to see that it was original. Dated 2007. Apparently, old Deere-branded batteries were the s***. Damn thing was massive. had to get help from my neighbor to do the swap.
 
I've gone the other way on batteries. I used to have the old Sears Die Hard/rebadged Odyssey in my 80. It lasted a good 6 years. Now I just go to Costco and get the lead acid Interstates they sell for ~$90 with a no questions 36 month warranty. They're in the Johnson Controls family of batteries but I figure if they last 3 years or more I can get 9 years of batteries for the same cost of an AGM. Plus if I get even 1 warranty replacement the ROI gets even better.
 
I've gone the other way on batteries. I used to have the old Sears Die Hard/rebadged Odyssey in my 80. It lasted a good 6 years. Now I just go to Costco and get the lead acid Interstates they sell for ~$90 with a no questions 36 month warranty. They're in the Johnson Controls family of batteries but I figure if they last 3 years or more I can get 9 years of batteries for the same cost of an AGM. Plus if I get even 1 warranty replacement the ROI gets even better.
Johnson Controls sold there Battery division 4-5 years ago to buy Tyco. I typically stick to lead acid but with the electric drain on the tundra I went with the AGM.

I don’t remember what size battery I got. It was bigger than original. It was for a f150 King Ranch.
 
Last edited:
Spent Saturday in Richmond at my buddy's place cleaning up the rear tire swing arm.
We were able to cut open the arm and run all the wiring inside for the plate lights as well as wiring in the relocation kit for the backup camera.

FYI not happy at all with the kit from Southern Style Offroad and will be in contact with them to voice my issues and complaints. Rearview Back-Up Camera Relocate Kit | Southern Style OffRoad - https://www.southernstyleoffroad.com/product/rearview-camera-relocate-kit/
We had to modify and DIY the bracket to get it to work...basically... but it works well enough and I can see behind me now so that is the whole point.

Chris had a brilliant idea for the wiring .... added a simple trailer wiring harness plug so if and when the arm needs to come off it is simple to unplug the wiring and camera cable and off it comes. No cutting wires and having to re-solder them again!!

Sprayed a new coat or 2 of paint on the arm and hope that it will hold up better then the last brand that I used ( it was already chipped after might use )

As we smoked a few cigars waiting for the paint to dry we figured out that the next one we build will be a lot easier and faster as we know the issues and proper steps to follow in order to get the finished product to be what we both envisioned.

It has been a fun project and I am very happy with the results. I can't wait to show it off at the Swap meet this year and at the Crawl!

Again big shout out to my buddy Chris who should be joining us at Fall Crawl for all the work!!!
 
I got my M416A1 trailer build, phase 1 done. Time to go get it VINed, titled and hopefully a permanent registration.

PXL_20220911_194618303.jpg
PXL_20220911_194637026.jpg
PXL_20220911_194647438.jpg
PXL_20220911_194701021.jpg
PXL_20220911_194812024.jpg
 
So I was able to snap a few photos of the V2 updates we did to the swing arm...


So we didn't really change any dimensions or angles on the arm itself it was mainly cosmetic updates. The plate bracket originally we had broken the mounting screws when we put them into the arm so it was mounted unevenly. We drilled new holes and threaded them instead of just using metal screws. MUCH nicer that way. Also since we were able to run the wiring inside the arm after we corrected a brain fart when building the arm the first time we filled in the holes and also sealed the bracket/light with silicon to prevent any water intrusion.

swing arm v2 1.jpg


We also relocated the backup camera and ran that wiring down the tire carrier post where it joined up with the plate light wiring and then was ran to the end of the arm and exited just before the hinge and into the bumper shell.

swing arm v2 6.jpg



What is not seen is that in the bumper area there is a 4 pin trailer light plug and an RCA connector so the wiring can be disconnected without having to cut the writing. Makes for a nice easy package. Unplug, unbolt, dismount the arm! Gods I love the simple things in life!

swing arm v2 2.jpg


Simple, clean... functional!

swing arm v2 1.jpg


Still need to sort out a better rear camera mount then the one currently on there but even at the offset angle it works and I shouldn't hit anything.

swing arm v2 3.jpg




So V2 is a great update to the original in terms of appearances and of course the camera is great to have back again. It was has been very functional and sturdy from the start so I am very happy with it in that respect.
Looks good.
Works good.
Cost effective vs having to do a full bumper or even a hitch tire carrier.

Again shout out to my buddy Chris in VA couldn't have done it without your skills!!
 
Got my White Knuckle Sliders installed...I must say, fit, finish, and quality seems to be excellent. I went with the shorter ones so I can still run my front mud flaps and the steeper 20 degree angle. Also went with the DOM tubing, seemed to be a no-brainer to step up since the option was available.




 
Last edited:
Seems that White Knuckle is the choice of the club... I love mine im sure you will love yours too they look great!
 
Installed a panhard correction bracket and wired in lights for the rear bumper to pass inspection.

PXL_20220918_154334171.jpg


PXL_20220918_184546067.jpg


PXL_20220918_195201758.jpg


PXL_20220918_211726927.jpg
 
Completed the Old Man Emu lift kit install on my 200 this weekend... Seeing @afgman786 post above- as we now have the same lift, apparently I might need to look into a "panhard correction bracket"?

The rear was way easier to do than the front. Got tired of fighting to pull the old front shocks out of the Lower Control Arm so hit em with the Diablo carbide blade on the sawzall. Zip zip.

Not sure if it’s because of the KDSS system, but the sway bars and sway bar links were a huge pain during the install process. Always in the way on front passenger and hard to get seated again.

Truck rides way nicer with the new suspension. Front came up by a solid 5”. Rear is up by 3”. Clearance at the lowest point of the front skid in now at 13”. It had been at 8” with the old blown shocks.

Now off to alignment and I’ll throw some wheel spacers on it this week to fill the wheel wells a bit better with these tiny 33” girl tires. As @afgman786 had warned- it looks like the truck skipped leg day.

Budbuilt skids and sliders going on next week and hoping we’ll have a tech day and I’ll use that to get the 10k warn winch installed.


Woot woot.

03DE75C0-E13F-4A36-94A5-24014306FAB3.jpeg
2A19FB55-3DD1-4734-A1DD-F332C57AB647.jpeg

734D012A-D4AF-45CB-BFA9-4957B6A32935.jpeg


3EB4D797-E2BF-4C06-9C75-359465CF6B10.jpeg

E1D208D6-75A3-451B-9D84-4775104A7DCF.jpeg
 
Completed the Old Man Emu lift kit install on my 200 this weekend... Seeing @afgman786 post above- as we now have the same lift, apparently I might need to look into a "panhard correction bracket"?

The rear was way easier to do than the front. Got tired of fighting to pull the old front shocks out of the Lower Control Arm so hit em with the Diablo carbide blade on the sawzall. Zip zip.

Not sure if it’s because of the KDSS system, but the sway bars and sway bar links were a huge pain during the install process. Always in the way on front passenger and hard to get seated again.

Truck rides way nicer with the new suspension. Front came up by a solid 5”. Rear is up by 3”. Clearance at the lowest point of the front skid in now at 13”. It had been at 8” with the old blown shocks.

Now off to alignment and I’ll throw some wheel spacers on it this week to fill the wheel wells a bit better with these tiny 33” girl tires. As @afgman786 had warned- it looks like the truck skipped leg day.

Budbuilt skids and sliders going on next week and hoping we’ll have a tech day and I’ll use that to get the 10k warn winch installed.


Woot woot.

View attachment 3118345View attachment 3118352
View attachment 3118375

View attachment 3118373
View attachment 3118355
If you feel after an alignment that you still pull to the right especially under throttle then you will definitely need the bracket. It's not expensive which was nice, I do also run trim packers on the coils for a little more lift.
 
idk what happen i was driving along and all of a sudden this appeared on my trailer. At least that's what i told my wife lol.

tan 2.jpg


tan 3.jpg


tan 4.jpg


tan 5 - Copy.jpg
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top Bottom