Builds 60 guy does a 100 series LC...

[gregnash]

So random question....
I bought a small 4-fuse BlueSeas block to add to the engine bay. But wondering where to mount? This will be used to power the following:
- Dedicated 12v for stereo
- Dedicated 12v for trailer/tow harness auxiliary power
- Dedicated 12v for ditch lights (future)
- OPEN for something else down the line.
These are all constant hot connections so no adding a relay anywhere at this point.

Definitely want near the battery unless someone can suggest a better location? Maybe over on passenger side where AHC would be?

 

[gregnash]

OK finally pulled the trigger on an amp and wiring kit to get rid of the stock buzz factory.
After talking with some guys on REDDIT in the r/carAV forum they recommended the Brazilian brand TARAMPS 400x4 as a decent little amp that has shown to be good quality at a great price. Then ordered a Stinger 8 gauge amp wiring kit with some AmazonBasics RCA cables (15' length) to run from the head unit to the amp.

Probably isn't the greatest timing to mess with this but whatever, I will get it done over a long weekend and have it handled so I can stop hearing the stupid buzz (even over my slight bit of tinnitus) and hopefully resolve the static heard on the other end of the line.

 

[ramangain]

So random question....
I bought a small 4-fuse BlueSeas block to add to the engine bay. But wondering where to mount? This will be used to power the following:
- Dedicated 12v for stereo
- Dedicated 12v for trailer/tow harness auxiliary power
- Dedicated 12v for ditch lights (future)
- OPEN for something else down the line.
These are all constant hot connections so no adding a relay anywhere at this point.

Definitely want near the battery unless someone can suggest a better location? Maybe over on passenger side where AHC would be?

How many of the 12V leads will be entering the cabin at any point?

 

[gregnash]

How many of the 12V leads will be entering the cabin at any point?

Likely just the 12v for the stereo head unit and the switch wire for the ditch lights when those are installed. Outside of that, unless it is easier to run the AUX wire for the 7-pin through the cab vs. under the truck along the frame rail or whatever, that should be it.

Gonna take a stab at the other issue you have been helping with tonight. See how things work out and report back to you.

 

[ramangain]

Ok, if it just one fat and one thin wire entering the cabin, do your fuses in the engine bay. You can tape your skinny wire to the fat wire to just make one pass through the firewall. There is *some* room on the DS inner fender to mount electrical stuff. Looking forward to the pics once laid out and mounted.

 

[ramangain]

Success?

 

[gregnash]

Think I have figured out what the issue is and ordered some trailer wire from amazon so I can re-run wires. Looks like somewhere between the connector and the 4-pin there is an issue as jumping the connector (with it disconnected) allowed me to have all lights/blinkers again.

So now it is just waiting on that, played with a sheet of kydex I had laying around to build a mounting bracket for the engine bay for the 4 blade fuse holder and then the fuse for the amp. But I need to wait for the amp wiring kit to come in to make sure that I have enough room for everything.

 

[ramangain]

Wouldn't 1 hour Amazon drone delivery be nice?!?!

 

[gregnash]

Wouldn't 1 hour Amazon drone delivery be nice?!?!

Nice? Sure... Dangerous? ABSOLUTELY!!!

 

[gregnash]

LOL... ok so technology has advanced since the last time I held a 400w 4-channel amp. I was expecting small but, yeah, this is gonna be smaller than the Factory amp.
Untitled by Greg Fisicaro, on Flickr

 

[gregnash]

So random question....
I bought a small 4-fuse BlueSeas block to add to the engine bay. But wondering where to mount? This will be used to power the following:
- Dedicated 12v for stereo
- Dedicated 12v for trailer/tow harness auxiliary power
- Dedicated 12v for ditch lights (future)
- OPEN for something else down the line.
These are all constant hot connections so no adding a relay anywhere at this point.

Definitely want near the battery unless someone can suggest a better location? Maybe over on passenger side where AHC would be?

While I have been messing with, and failing at, the tow harness I finally got the amp wiring kit for the new Taramps 400x4 which has an APO style fuse for it (8awg kit from Stinger that got high ratings). Was waiting on this so I could kind of figure out where to mount the 4 blade fuse block and then hopefully have the amp fuse mounted on the same, or nearby, location.

Turns out I still had some leftover sheets of Kydex (.08" thick) from building a rockguard for the downtube on my mtb. Since the stuff is pretty easy to mold at that thickness I figured I would use it as a template for a future build. So here is what I came up with as a "finalized" product last night.

Untitled by Greg Fisicaro, on Flickr
by Greg Fisicaro, on Flickr

Checked clearance and they both JUUUSSSSTTTT touch the liner inside the hood but that is it, no real downward pressure or anything like that from what I could tell. Still have more than enough room to open fuse box and get to other things. Main concern is that the bolt closest to the drivers side is a bit of a bitch to get to. So will have to rethink that a bit and would be nice if it was just slightly lower down (maybe 1/8" to 1/4" lower would be perfect).

Small kydex leg that is where the silver arrow is, that is attached to main board to support (both through fuse mount and it) but is not attached to anything down below as there really isn't anywhere to attach too. Was thinking I may grab some side molding or something to protect the fender down there but will keep an eye to see if it is actually rubbing it wrong or anything. For now this will do the job.

 

[ramangain]

That is an incredibly small form factor for the rated output of the amplifier, even if it is Class D.

Since you have fab skills, you may consider a small ball-bearing fan (or two) to blow air across those fins when installed under the seat if thermal issues arise.

 

[gregnash]

That is an incredibly small form factor for the rated output of the amplifier, even if it is Class D.

Since you have fab skills, you may consider a small ball-bearing fan (or two) to blow air across those fins when installed under the seat if thermal issues arise.

Honestly, I don't know that I will need it as there is plenty of room down there for her to breathe. I figured that if the area was a bit more compact and stiffled it may be worthwhile but I don't think I will have that issue. I will be mounting in factory location.

 

[gregnash]

So I am still waiting on a final few parts for the amp install to get things moving there. Last part should be here today as it has been delayed in shipping for god knows what reason(s). That is one gripe about the Taramps 400x4 is that the connections for power/ground require a special spade adapter if you do anything larger than 10awg wire (which my kit is 8 awg). Seems like PartsExpress is the only place that sells a #8 spade terminal for 8awg wire, of course the kit is like $4, shipping is $9 and that is for the cheap "Economy" shipping that has now taken about 2wks to get.

In the meantime, last week I ordered a APU organizer for my center console from Joey (@NLXTACY ) at Wits' End, as I was getting tired of all the pens and crap rattling around. Got it super quick and installed it last night.

Untitled by Greg Fisicaro, on Flickr

 

[gregnash]

Also I finally was able to figure out my tow harness issue. Ends up that the OEM tow box (replacement box from recall for 98-99 units) was on the fritz. I ordered a Tekonsha plug-n-play unit, plugged into stock location by resonator and all is great now. Still have to run wiring for the AUX power pin in the 4+7-pin connector at the hitch, but all else seems to be working perfectly.
Tekonsha Tow harness...
Untitled by Greg Fisicaro, on Flickr

Stock harness and box. For whatever reason something is up in these waterproof connectors, there are two.. One goes from connector at the resonator to the drivers fender where the box is located behind the taillight, then another output from box back through fender to harness location on hitch.
Untitled by Greg Fisicaro, on Flickr
Untitled by Greg Fisicaro, on Flickr
Untitled by Greg Fisicaro, on Flickr
Untitled by Greg Fisicaro, on Flickr
Untitled by Greg Fisicaro, on Flickr

Removing the bumper entirely was the easiest way to get access to this location where the wires come in and out of the fender. I ended up only keeping part of the wiring loam there as I have the reverse light from the 7pin and the aux power line going into the fender there.
New box install location, tucked outta the way but still easily accessible.
Untitled by Greg Fisicaro, on Flickr
Untitled by Greg Fisicaro, on Flickr
Untitled by Greg Fisicaro, on Flickr

All in all it took me a few hours to do everything and was probably the 4th time I have been in there working on this stuff. Ultimately, if you believe you are having issues with your stock tow box and/or are upgrading to a 7-pin it is worth the money to just jump ship and put in a new box. After hours and hours of messing with the wiring, rerouting, testing, heatshrink and crimped wires, new wiring, etc. it could have been easily alleviated by just throwing the new tow box in there. If I had a shop chasing this down and doing it for me, it would have easily been a full day job to go along with the new box and 4+7-pin connector.
So, just save yourself some time, get something new and go from there. You can start by testing the supply at the connector by the resonator to ensure you are getting proper voltages there, but absolutely keep things updated.

 

[gregnash]

So finally got around to replacing the amp and running the RCA's and all that Jazz... Took me a good 4 hours to button everything up but in the end it is SOOO worth it. I can now actually feel the base in my feet when listening to music, still have a bit of a static buzz but nothing quite like what I had before with the stock amp on the JOYING headunit. Thinking I may run a dedicated 12v hot and ground but on the fence about doing that.

The replacement wasn't overly hard just time consumptive to get everything wired properly for the wires that you have to join from each connector (S6 & S7) and then which ones from S6 are the ones that are needed to utilize the stock speaker wiring. Since I don't plan to push huge wattage out the system I figured this would be just fine, and from what @suprarx7nut was saying, the stock wiring should handle up to about 50w per channel. I left the stock connectors there for the stock amp and just cut out what I needed, no worrying about depin/repin of anything. Then just stuffed the stock connectors in the open space. I will get back in there to clean up the wiring another time when I get some shorter RCAs and build a plate to mount the amp securely. But for now she ain't going nowhere..

And now... for pictors...
Untitled by Greg Fisicaro, on Flickr
Yes I completely removed the passenger seat. Not hard, not heavy, not overly awkward so why not.

Old N'Busted... New Hotness... (amp works fine, just made me think of Men In Black II)
Untitled by Greg Fisicaro, on Flickr
Untitled by Greg Fisicaro, on Flickr

Everything out and cutting wires now... Used the guide from TLCFAQs to handle this...
Untitled by Greg Fisicaro, on Flickr
Untitled by Greg Fisicaro, on Flickr

Testing out her new home.
Untitled by Greg Fisicaro, on Flickr

Bit of wiring getting connected. The weird thing with the TARAMPS 400x4 is that in 4ohm mode you the speakers for each set of channels (1 &2, 3&4) share a similar ground. Little odd but she sounds great. Red ends are (+) and then put black shrink tube over the (-).
Untitled by Greg Fisicaro, on Flickr

Getting there...
Found that there is a body plug that is in the passenger footwell. Ran the power for the amp along the cables that were there in the sill under the carpet and then out through that plug. Good location for me as it is a few inches from the fender skirt which I then routed into the engine bay.
Untitled by Greg Fisicaro, on Flickr
Untitled by Greg Fisicaro, on Flickr
Untitled by Greg Fisicaro, on Flickr

From there I ran it across the top of the firewall and over to my makeshift little fuse block holder I made out of some leftover Kydex.
Untitled by Greg Fisicaro, on Flickr
Untitled by Greg Fisicaro, on Flickr

Just about final assemble here.. I was testing to make sure everything worked. Oddly enough the TARAMPS has three settings per channel; LPF, HPF or FULL and then each set has a "level" adjuster. At first I thought this filtered based on what you set each channel set to, but ended up freaking out when I didn't have any sound. Randomly decided to turn the level up on one of them while I was sitting there trying to think what I had messed up, apparently in FULL mode it is more of a "volume" type setting, that or setting it to ZERO filters out everything but the lowest settings. Both are turned up now and working perfectly.
Untitled by Greg Fisicaro, on Flickr

I didn't take a pic of the final RCA routing because I ended up only needing about 6ft of RCA cable and had bought 12ft'rs... SO... I have lots of excess cable. I did find a good tutorial on making your own high-quality RCAs for cheap so I may go that direction when I decide to change things up. For routing I pulled the center console apart and routed them down the trans tunnel and then have them pop out the side of the center console in line with the amp and feed under the rail of the passenger chair kinda where that scratch on the plastic is. Works perfectly.

If anyone wants a working stock AMP and Headunit (basic CD and Tape unit) hit me up via PM.

 

[ramangain]

Looks good. I used the exact same bolt to ground my 4 + 7 pin connector.

 

[gregnash]

So not a lot has been going on with Alita, simply because life is throwing me lots of curveballs right now.

A couple weeks ago went out with my local club and did a run that really was great at highlighting just how capable she is offroad. Never once had to use Lo Range or the rear locker (kinda bummed but whatever) and really was able to smash and climb her way through the trail (some seriously rocky sections) with just the AWD or with center diff locked.

Since the trail was dusty I gave her a bath afterwards and then decided I was going to do a small sound deadening on the front doors. When I pulled the drivers door apart I figured that I would do like I had previously with the passenger front door and clean the lock sensor, remove the handle, clean the lock cylinder, etc.

So I did that. When I pulled the drivers lock sensor off I found that it was incredibly dusty and dirty underneath. Give her a good spray down with some of the electrical contact cleaner, while also cleaning and lubing the cylinder. That was about 2 1/2 weeks ago now and I have had ZERO alarm, door lock freak out issues!

Can't begin to tell you how nice it is to be able to unlock/lock my doors with the keyfob, not have to worry about door locks randomly wigging out and trying to find position or having to bypass the alarm by using the remote start to NOT set it off when I try to unlock the doors!!!!

So if you are having problems with your door locks, have replaced the actuator motors and it has not resolved it... CLEAN YOUR SENSORS!!!!

 

[gregnash]

With the last oil change I went ahead and did a Blackstone Labs oil analysis with the TBN added.
Here are the results, seems to be really healthy engine for almost 200k! Good to know she has LOTS more miles left in her.

 

[gregnash]

Well Alita had a bit of a milestone on the way up to the cabin last night. Of course, I was off in my own world ruminating on things so didn't catch it while it happened, even though I had prepared for it.
Oh well... Here's to another 200k+ more!

Untitled by Greg Fisicaro, on Flickr