weekly update
Just worked on a few little things last break. I lost a day replacing all the hard metal lines on an older toyota Camry from Ohio. Her brake lines had rusted through and was pissing on the ground every time she stepped on the brakes. My hat is off to you guys who have to work on "rust-belt" vehicles, it was no fun.
I ordered a newer water temp sender to work with my spal controller. This was pretty cheap and I like the screw-on wire connection instead of the slip-on that comes on these 4bts. I didn't get a chance to re-set my controller yet but the cruiser temp gauge is reading better. Before if it made it 1/4" up the bar part on the gauge it was over 200F. Now it's just shy of the middle at 190F. With a couple of hot days it will be easy to get the controller set up since on cold days it's harder to get the engine hot.
I did some research and decided that the intelligent solenoid from National Luna was what I wanted to charge and isolate my dual batteries. It's mostly aimed toward the expedition crowd who need their stuff dependable when out in the middle of no where for long periods of time. The wiring challenge I have is that I need to run 12v for the vehicle system and then want to be able to hook up in series (24v) for the ready welder for trail repairs. From a couple people I briefly chatted with it seems the best way will be a system of disconnecting. I've got some ideas and need to get to a welding store to grab some wire and see what kind of connectors they have.
I worked on my shifter linkages. A group of wheelers will be at the local stomping grounds and I'm planning on meeting them out there to do a little wheeling this weekend. This is the 2-4wd linkage. I made it out of thicker material since I needed to put a bend in it for clearance and out of my three levers, this one shifts the easiest. I played with the shifters and it will get me by for now.
I painted both drive shafts (you can see part of the front in the pic above) and a few other parts while I was underneath. I must admit, having a ramp to flex on in the work area is helpful. I checked for clearance and found my rear tires do rub on the body mounts.
So I cut out a piece for additional clearance. I found that there is a point of diminishing returns in trying to get my rear tires to stuff much more. The leaves contact the frame in two places and the shock finally contacts the spring plate along with fender contact. I worked on bump stops but my first round was greatly underestimated so it was back to the drawing table to take another stab.
These are the way-to-short front extensions.
Here are two pics of stuff and droop from a different angle when I was looking for clearances.
More than enough travel on my extended brake hose going to the axle.
Then I had a little distraction curious in what I was doing.
I was looking in my scrap pile for something to extend the bump stops with and got the urge to clean up so I started getting ready for a metal run. My wife was happy about that one.
I conveniently ran out of wire and steam while working on the rear stops at the same time so that ended my break.
I'm going to try and get the temp sender programmed, finish my bump stops, and finish sealing up the rear quarters before the wheeling trip. Hoping to have a few wheeling pics next week.