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Suppose your alternator dies? Happened to me in North Carolina which prompted the dual battery kit.
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So how are the marlin gears working? Must be nice with the 5.29s paired with the TC gears
Oh and about a dual battery, It's a great mod. Can be done semi cheap. I used a blue sea transfer switch. Made a second battery carrier. Made a washer relocate bracket. Run some 2 or 4 gauge to the rear, etc/wiring, blue sea fuse box. ANL style fuses through out main power. Then just add things as you go. Can be done under $500 including a deep cycle battery. I run accessories and ARB fridge off mine.
Oh and about a dual battery, It's a great mod. Can be done semi cheap. I used a blue sea transfer switch. Made a second battery carrier. Made a washer relocate bracket. Run some 2 or 4 gauge to the rear, etc/wiring, blue sea fuse box. ANL style fuses through out main power. Then just add things as you go. Can be done under $500 including a deep cycle battery. I run accessories and ARB fridge off mine.
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If you alternator dies your second battery will too. Not a viable reason to have a dual battery.
- Thread starter
- #144
I'll hold my judgements for dual-batts for a while
As for the gears ... UNBELIEVABLE.
Here's a video I took going down one of the trails at GSMTR. It's hard to tell, but these were some steep trails - and most of the time I didn't have my hands on the gas, brake or steering wheel. Just let her ride down it at her own speed - which you can see is slow. Like walking slow.
There is also a HUGE difference using 4WD vs 2WD. When you're in 2WD and low-low, you really only have one tire giving you traction. And you can feel it. Put it in 4WD and the control comes back. It's really incredible - and so much fun playing around with it to see where you need it, when you need it...
All that fun being said, I think my front 3rd needs a looking into. It's making all kinds of noise now... not sure if the backlash is off or what... but I'm going to have to pull it back out again. The nice thing is with the PT kit, I can run it on RWD until I'm done - just need to figure out a way to keep crap out of the diff while I have the 3rd out... I'll probably make a crude plate to put over it for now.
I can't say enough good things about the Marlin low range gear. The truck is completely different now. It's what I wanted it to be on day 1, I just didn't know it. I'm still learning the limits with the new Slee 4" and all, and I still have a few issues to dial in, but overall I finally got to a point where I thought "This is it"...
Now, if I can just ENJOY this setup for a while!!!
Nice. How is it with 2nd gear start? Similar to stock 1st gr. start?
- Thread starter
- #146
Mine's a 94 - no 2nd start! 1st is a little rough and it DOES hunt a lot more now with the Marlin gears. But I'll take that with all the other gains.
If I had a 2nd start, I'd be using it a lot with these gears for sure.
If I had a 2nd start, I'd be using it a lot with these gears for sure.
Love that bumper sticker. I need one!
- Thread starter
- #148
So it's been a while since I've updated this thread, and it's GSMTR season again... so what's going on?
Well, let's take the easy stuff first. I'd been trying to figure out why my passenger side carpets have been getting wet for some time now. It wasn't a leaky sunroof. It wasn't coming from the windshield. I finally figured out what it was by browsing some other diagrams.
88897-60010. A freaking gasket was missing from where the evaporator drips down. Ugh. So yeah, check, that's off the list.
Since all the effort thats gone into this rig over the last few years, there's not a whole lot left (major) that I want to do right now. Sure, there's the whole doubler thing, but whatever. I'll take a look at that if it ever happens. In the mean time, I'd like to actually sit back and ENJOY the rig for a bit and not always have to be in this crazy "what's next?!?!?" mode that so many of us are guilty of.
But of course that doesn't mean there's a work stoppage or anything. My headunit was an old Eclipse unit that I'd dragged around from when I use to have a Sequoia - that thing had to be 10 years old, so it had a good life. The audio was really starting to get bad (left channel going soft) and then the touchscreen started going out. So I couldn't even change over to the AUX input anymore... time for it to go.
I've been stalking a few newer headunits for a while, and settled in on a Kenwood DDX271.
Nice unit. I'll post some install pics after I get the whole thing settled in.
A while ago I put some of the Polk Audio 6501 coax speakers in the front, but I've never really been happy with them because the tweeters are at your knees. So I got some of the 6501 component versions, and decided since I was taking apart the dash, why not rip apart the doors while I'm at it?
So now my truck looks like a bomb went off in it. The 6501's are an easy swap, except now I have to figure out where the hell I'm going to put the crossover, and more importantly, where am I going to mount the tweeters? A few searches on Mud doesn't turn up anything interesting... so I venture out a bit more and see someone who's mounted them in the door. I'd really like to mount them on the A-pillar, but damn that's a lot of work and I didn't want this to turn into THAT kind of a project.
So a while later I finally settle to put them in the door by the handle... not perfect, but a really good compromise I think.
They were pretty easy to mount there, the wires don't become a nightmare (I mounted the crossover to the sheet metal of the door with some GFB tape) and they're a lot better than being pointed at your knees.
Then I turn my attention to the rear doors... those 4.5's have gotta go.
Outline the cut. Some say you can do this without cutting. I didn't think so, and out comes the dremmel.
Five cutoff wheels later and it's not looking too bad.
Door card needed a bit of a trim too. It might not have if I was perfect with my original cut, but whatever. I wish I had a daytime pic of the final install, but I guess I forgot to take that one... maybe tomorrow.
Anyway, I test fitted everything and it sounds incredible for just a few 6.5's. No amp (although I debated that).
Then I start thinking about the damn rats nest of wires I have. And this Koso gauge I installed... I don't like where I have it on the dash gauges. It's gotta go somewhere else.
So I grab a piece of 1" 90' aluminum and cut it, spray it with some flat black, and test fit the Koso temp gauge and a voltage gauge.
Not bad! I might even get the oil pressure gauge as well later... so I'll leave a little room for this. I'm going to mount this right at the bottom of the dash above the shifter console. You'll see - once I have it in there!
Of course, now power is a problem. I have wires all over the damn place. Hurried installations, "temp fixes"... you name it. I want something better. And I got one of the Blue Sea PDU's, but I, like many, are struggling on where to mount the damn thing. I don't want it under the hood, that just makes a bigger wiring mess. So I finally settle on the passenger side firewall (interior).
Took a little bit of time to figure out the best location - that was the best compromise I could come up with. Not perfect, but much better than what I had.
I redo ALL my old power runs. Lights, ham radio, alarm.. you name it. If the old cable was too short, I ended up soldering on a new one and heat shrinking the connection. No cut corners this time damnit. It's going to be right!
Here it is with a few items installed...
And the cover on
Then I start thinking about all the other accessories I have that I want switched. The most convienent outlet is the cigarette lighter. Well I long since cut that and I was using it to feed various other things. But that's not good with all the other things I want to plug in and run. So I pull the feed from that over into a relay, and hook that into this fuse block ("Aux Acc"). There was a nice place above this box to mount a relay, too:
So that relay will get kicked on when the truck Acc is on, and that in turn will give me about 20A of feed to other things, like my Koso gauges, a 12V plug bank, 5V USB chargers and whatever else I dream up.
There's more, but that's it for now until I get everything cleaned up and put back together. This really turned into a much bigger project than I was originally thinking... don't they all?
Well, let's take the easy stuff first. I'd been trying to figure out why my passenger side carpets have been getting wet for some time now. It wasn't a leaky sunroof. It wasn't coming from the windshield. I finally figured out what it was by browsing some other diagrams.
88897-60010. A freaking gasket was missing from where the evaporator drips down. Ugh. So yeah, check, that's off the list.
Since all the effort thats gone into this rig over the last few years, there's not a whole lot left (major) that I want to do right now. Sure, there's the whole doubler thing, but whatever. I'll take a look at that if it ever happens. In the mean time, I'd like to actually sit back and ENJOY the rig for a bit and not always have to be in this crazy "what's next?!?!?" mode that so many of us are guilty of.
But of course that doesn't mean there's a work stoppage or anything. My headunit was an old Eclipse unit that I'd dragged around from when I use to have a Sequoia - that thing had to be 10 years old, so it had a good life. The audio was really starting to get bad (left channel going soft) and then the touchscreen started going out. So I couldn't even change over to the AUX input anymore... time for it to go.
I've been stalking a few newer headunits for a while, and settled in on a Kenwood DDX271.
Nice unit. I'll post some install pics after I get the whole thing settled in.
A while ago I put some of the Polk Audio 6501 coax speakers in the front, but I've never really been happy with them because the tweeters are at your knees. So I got some of the 6501 component versions, and decided since I was taking apart the dash, why not rip apart the doors while I'm at it?
So now my truck looks like a bomb went off in it. The 6501's are an easy swap, except now I have to figure out where the hell I'm going to put the crossover, and more importantly, where am I going to mount the tweeters? A few searches on Mud doesn't turn up anything interesting... so I venture out a bit more and see someone who's mounted them in the door. I'd really like to mount them on the A-pillar, but damn that's a lot of work and I didn't want this to turn into THAT kind of a project.
So a while later I finally settle to put them in the door by the handle... not perfect, but a really good compromise I think.
They were pretty easy to mount there, the wires don't become a nightmare (I mounted the crossover to the sheet metal of the door with some GFB tape) and they're a lot better than being pointed at your knees.
Then I turn my attention to the rear doors... those 4.5's have gotta go.
Outline the cut. Some say you can do this without cutting. I didn't think so, and out comes the dremmel.
Five cutoff wheels later and it's not looking too bad.
Door card needed a bit of a trim too. It might not have if I was perfect with my original cut, but whatever. I wish I had a daytime pic of the final install, but I guess I forgot to take that one... maybe tomorrow.
Anyway, I test fitted everything and it sounds incredible for just a few 6.5's. No amp (although I debated that).
Then I start thinking about the damn rats nest of wires I have. And this Koso gauge I installed... I don't like where I have it on the dash gauges. It's gotta go somewhere else.
So I grab a piece of 1" 90' aluminum and cut it, spray it with some flat black, and test fit the Koso temp gauge and a voltage gauge.
Not bad! I might even get the oil pressure gauge as well later... so I'll leave a little room for this. I'm going to mount this right at the bottom of the dash above the shifter console. You'll see - once I have it in there!
Of course, now power is a problem. I have wires all over the damn place. Hurried installations, "temp fixes"... you name it. I want something better. And I got one of the Blue Sea PDU's, but I, like many, are struggling on where to mount the damn thing. I don't want it under the hood, that just makes a bigger wiring mess. So I finally settle on the passenger side firewall (interior).
Took a little bit of time to figure out the best location - that was the best compromise I could come up with. Not perfect, but much better than what I had.
I redo ALL my old power runs. Lights, ham radio, alarm.. you name it. If the old cable was too short, I ended up soldering on a new one and heat shrinking the connection. No cut corners this time damnit. It's going to be right!
Here it is with a few items installed...
And the cover on
Then I start thinking about all the other accessories I have that I want switched. The most convienent outlet is the cigarette lighter. Well I long since cut that and I was using it to feed various other things. But that's not good with all the other things I want to plug in and run. So I pull the feed from that over into a relay, and hook that into this fuse block ("Aux Acc"). There was a nice place above this box to mount a relay, too:
So that relay will get kicked on when the truck Acc is on, and that in turn will give me about 20A of feed to other things, like my Koso gauges, a 12V plug bank, 5V USB chargers and whatever else I dream up.
There's more, but that's it for now until I get everything cleaned up and put back together. This really turned into a much bigger project than I was originally thinking... don't they all?
Looking good !
- Thread starter
- #150
I got a little more time to work on the rats nest. One other thing I hate about customizing things is that you can end up with a real pain in the ass to take apart if something happens. So having connectors is a wonderful thing. Making your own is even better.
Using some parts from DigiKey, I got the pins, inserts and plastic housings. I already have the crimpers, but they're a must as well.
Take for example the wire that comes off of the 12-volt cigarette lighter plugs. I have two 4-plug outlets on the passenger side of the shifter housing. One of these I'm hooking up to the relay to provide 20A of service when the truck is in ACC, the other one is always on (helpful for things like radios and powered coolers. Just watch your voltage!).
You can see how I've stripped back the wires, and I've placed one of the crimp ends on the wire.
Then I crimp the connectors...
Put a plug on the end...
Then I do the other end, which is a 14ga wire that goes back to the fuse block I installed last weekend.
And with the plug on, now I've got a quick-disconnect if I ever decide I need to get at/move something without having to cut wires.
I also got new door plastics from Sam since my old ones were ripped up. I used some new 'putty' (designed for sealing windows) since the old black stuff was pretty shot.
I also got my 2-way switch in the mail. This will let me switch video camera feeds - I plan on mounting front and rear cameras. The front for an extra set of eyes on obstacles to let me see what's going on... at least that's the plan. For $18 per camera, I figure it doesn't hurt much if I'm wrong.
I'm also installing a switch on the 'reverse' input for the head unit. That way I can turn on the cameras whenever I want to.
And I promised a shot of the rear door speakers installed as well, so here's that:
I'm still not done. I have a ton of wires coming out to feed the cameras, and I'm still not done moving the Koso gauges (more plugs!). I also put a new plug on the old cigarette lighter plug, then ran that over to my relay to switch the four-socket cigarette lighter plug. More pics when I'm done
Using some parts from DigiKey, I got the pins, inserts and plastic housings. I already have the crimpers, but they're a must as well.
Take for example the wire that comes off of the 12-volt cigarette lighter plugs. I have two 4-plug outlets on the passenger side of the shifter housing. One of these I'm hooking up to the relay to provide 20A of service when the truck is in ACC, the other one is always on (helpful for things like radios and powered coolers. Just watch your voltage!).
You can see how I've stripped back the wires, and I've placed one of the crimp ends on the wire.
Then I crimp the connectors...
Put a plug on the end...
Then I do the other end, which is a 14ga wire that goes back to the fuse block I installed last weekend.
And with the plug on, now I've got a quick-disconnect if I ever decide I need to get at/move something without having to cut wires.
I also got new door plastics from Sam since my old ones were ripped up. I used some new 'putty' (designed for sealing windows) since the old black stuff was pretty shot.
I also got my 2-way switch in the mail. This will let me switch video camera feeds - I plan on mounting front and rear cameras. The front for an extra set of eyes on obstacles to let me see what's going on... at least that's the plan. For $18 per camera, I figure it doesn't hurt much if I'm wrong.
I'm also installing a switch on the 'reverse' input for the head unit. That way I can turn on the cameras whenever I want to.
And I promised a shot of the rear door speakers installed as well, so here's that:
I'm still not done. I have a ton of wires coming out to feed the cameras, and I'm still not done moving the Koso gauges (more plugs!). I also put a new plug on the old cigarette lighter plug, then ran that over to my relay to switch the four-socket cigarette lighter plug. More pics when I'm done
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Pretty sweet keep the updates coming
- Thread starter
- #152
So I finally got a little free time and took on the ABS 'fix', if you will. Thanks @jcardona1 for all the pictures before, and also a thank you goes to @Booger weldz for recommending buying the flare nut wrench. I picked one up on Amazon for about $18, and it was so worth it. Made the job almost easy... if it wasn't for all the damn bleeding!
I did mine a little different routing wise, but otherwise it was a copy. Pull the ABS pump, get the metal bracket out, (I also replaced my master cyl while I was in there, as it was showing signs of going), remove the $@!*(^&!@# LSPV, grind down brackets from the recycled T and L fittings, and re-attach everything.
Total time was probably 2-ish hours, but I think 30 minutes of that was getting the LSPV bracket off
Brakes are so much better now. Pedal feel is what I would call as "confident". I wasn't able to lock up the tires on pavement, but then again I was taking it a little easy because I have a lot of crap packed in the truck right now. But it stopped so well I wanted to go and do a measured 60-0 test on it. Maybe some other time.
I did mine a little different routing wise, but otherwise it was a copy. Pull the ABS pump, get the metal bracket out, (I also replaced my master cyl while I was in there, as it was showing signs of going), remove the $@!*(^&!@# LSPV, grind down brackets from the recycled T and L fittings, and re-attach everything.
Total time was probably 2-ish hours, but I think 30 minutes of that was getting the LSPV bracket off
Brakes are so much better now. Pedal feel is what I would call as "confident". I wasn't able to lock up the tires on pavement, but then again I was taking it a little easy because I have a lot of crap packed in the truck right now. But it stopped so well I wanted to go and do a measured 60-0 test on it. Maybe some other time.
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- www.cruisermatts.com
I really need to rewire my truck's accessories... it's a huge mess. Want to help? 
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Just saw this. So your batteries just instantly die? Guess it's time to invest in nicer ones. Even if they don't have a ton of charge it should be enough to get you home...
Btw I carry a spare alternator and starter now in my parts box, even with DD duties.
Hijack over, sorry Carter!
Nice work! Glad my spaghetti mess of colored lines in Paint helped 
- Thread starter
- #156
I really need to rewire my truck's accessories... it's a huge mess. Want to help?
Well, I certainly can make wiring neat and clean... the problem is time, of which I seem to have none left! But I can certainly give you a lot of tips & ideas to clean up stuff like that.
Nice work! Glad my spaghetti mess of colored lines in Paint helped
Actually, I think that was the only picture I really needed! It was much appreciated
Did u ever put a switch in to disengage low range shift points ?
- Thread starter
- #158
Nope. Still on my to do list.
Oh yeah, put in a 7-pin mod as well, and upgraded stereo. Looking to change out the speakers later.
I also put in an oil/water separator on the PCV hose:
Coupla hundred miles on it and I'm already seeing a few ml of oil in there. It's a simple one from Harbor Freight ($5 on sale) plus about $5 in connectors. I found Lowes had a better selection for the 1/4" to 3/8" barb on that.
I also changed out my starter for a 2nd time. The first time I had it done at a shop because I was in a hurry... but they put some POS Made in Mexico crap in there that sounded like metal-on-metal. Not having time at the time to stop it and get it fixed right, I finally broke down and replaced it with a Denso rebuild. NOW she sounds like a real LC starting up... man that old starter got on my nerves.
I then put new front-and-rear lift supports on... no more bangin' the noggin', or (one of my big fears) getting my hand smashed by the hood coming down when you're least expecting it. I did the same lift on the back as many have done here, and for the fronts I picked up replacements off of Amazon that were easy swaps.
Has this held up? The pcv oil catch from HF tools? I bought the same one. Did you modify the filter at all or just throw it on there? Last thing I want is to block the that line to pcv valve. Thanks!
Hey there mudders, I’m the new owner of this beast as of Sep ‘18. I’d like to publicly thank PO for the great buying process and a ton of spare parts, info and anything else I needed. I was kind of wary about buying the truck without inspecting it ahead of time, fortunately for me Carter did an excellent job on this beast and truck arrived as advertised.
In an effort to keep this thread alive I will continue to post on this thread the future mods, changes and trips.
Karol
In an effort to keep this thread alive I will continue to post on this thread the future mods, changes and trips.
Karol
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