Builds Heritage Blogmobile Build Thread (2 Viewers)

[radman]

nice work! It's hard to tell from your pictures, but is the 9100 horizontal or vertical? I was looking at the install instructions recently, and the new(ish) recommended mounting method is vertical to prevent moisture buildup.

Also, have you had any issues with your compressor port overheating? I bought the manifold (i think it was around $50) to help with this.

 

[BloggerL]

@radman It's vertical. It's mounted on the underside of the air compressor bracket, at a right angle to the horizontal surface of the bracket.

I've only used the compressor a couple of times. I haven't noticed any issues with it yet. The large port at the top of the compressor was a separate part added by the shop that installed it. That port is working well, though it sticks up a bit and compresses the lining of the hood a little bit when the hood is closed.

 

[CharlieS]

That port looks like the standard ARB compressor quick disconnect fitting.

Wits End sells a nice (albeit pricy) plug for it. ARB Fitting Air Coupler Pacifier

Also, you may want to either reroute the power cable you have laced through that switch hole on the Slee bracket, install a grommet of some sort, or sheathe that wire. If that wire grounds out from rubbing you'll be bummed out. Best case, it just pops your fuse, but it could cause a spark show and melted wires if not fused properly or the fuse doesn't work. "Been there, done that" years ago and it isn't fun.

 

[BloggerL]

@CharlieS Maybe it was the right angle fitting? He told me he had to get a small part in that area to help with the overall fit.

Thanks for the tip. I definitely have a good bit more to do generally in terms of wire routing and protection.

 

[BloggerL]

Installed scene lights the past two days. Yes, it took that long. But everything came out great.

I started by making a harness to parallel-wire four lights, which are the surface-mounted Rigid SR-L spreaders with amber halos. These lights have 3 wires to independently switch the halos and center lamp.

Shot of the harness in progress:



For brackets, I used the ones that came with the lights on top of the Front Runner spotlight mounts. This gave me two joints for each light, providing a lot of adjustability. I can pull out a bit to clear the side panels. Or I can tuck them in to be more discreet. I can angle them over 200 degrees as well based on what I want to illuminate.

I really love these lights and how I got them mounted. I need to clean up the wire looping above the lights a bit--I should have gone underneath the top bar of the rack--but I'll fix this tomorrow. I'm exhausted!

 

[radman]

is that 14awg romex?

It's been a while since I've looked into this, but you're fine on voltage; however, i think you can get in trouble with amperage. Also, i'm not sure how the romex will hold up with uv and water exposure.

edit: I just did a quick check and I think you need to be under 180 watts and 15 amps.

 

[BloggerL]

is that 14awg romex?

Edited:

It's 14-gauge marine-grade wire. Each light pulls one amp, so I'm actually at overkill level here. I wanted room for adding more devices on the same circuit in the future.

(Of course, the light bar has its own circuit and wire, as does the pair of ditch lights.)

 

[CharlieS]

I think you're fine on the wire guage. I also like tinned marine wire. I ran my roof circuit under the side trim on the windshield. You said you're still cleaning up, so I suspect you will also want those wires protected by running them inside your rack. Constructive criticism: that mass of tape doesn't look terribly professional. Consider heat shrink tubing with adhesive inside. It neatens things up nicely, keeps water out and is very protective.

 

[BloggerL]

I think you're fine on the wire guage. I also like tinned marine wire. I ran my roof circuit under the side trim on the windshield. You said you're still cleaning up, so I suspect you will also want those wires protected by running them inside your rack. Constructive criticism: that mass of tape doesn't look terribly professional. Consider heat shrink tubing with adhesive inside. It neatens things up nicely, keeps water out and is very protective.

@CharlieS , I appreciate the feedback! Wasn't sure how to do heat shrink tubing on a 3-way connection. But definitely want to clean up the tape. What do you think of liquid electrical tape? There's also this heat shrink solution (Shink-N-Repair) that can be applied after the connections have been made and presumably could be creatively wrapped around the 3-way connection: Amazon product ASIN B01DE199U8
Due to all my brackets in the side rails, I can't run the wire through the rails. The screws and bolts block the path at many points. So I have the wire, which is flat, secured against the lower inside edge of the rails.

 

[CharlieS]

I have done heat shrink to three way connection like a "y". I did the two branches first with smaller tube, and the use a slightly larger one on the trunk overlapping the two branches. Heat shrink with adhesive was the key.

I don't love liquid electrical tape (although I have some and use it occasionally). I don't know about that other product, I don't have any experience with it.

The other thing to consider is abrasion protection - wire sheathing. You want to protect any hot wire that is in a potential abrasion situation. Being blown around on the roof definitely qualifies. I like the mesh style for exterior work, but it is more hassle to work with (requires better pre planning) than the split loom type. I use heat shrink on the ends of this as well. You're probably in good shape with the sheathed marine wire, but I always try to keep it in mind. Grounding out hot wires is never fun.

 

[BloggerL]

I have done heat shrink to three way connection like a "y". I did the two branches first with smaller tube, and the use a slightly larger one on the trunk overlapping the two branches. Heat shrink with adhesive was the key.

I don't love liquid electrical tape (although I have some and use it occasionally). I don't know about that other product, I don't have any experience with it.

The other thing to consider is abrasion protection - wire sheathing. You want to protect any hot wire that is in a potential abrasion situation. Being blown around on the roof definitely qualifies. I like the mesh style for exterior work, but it is more hassle to work with (requires better pre planning) than the split loom type. I use heat shrink on the ends of this as well. You're probably in good shape with the sheathed marine wire, but I always try to keep it in mind. Grounding out hot wires is never fun.

@CharlieS. Thank you. I guess will try one of these alt solutions for the existing harness I already made and report back, but good to know on the Y for future connections! I do have some F6 Heavy Duty mesh sheathing (Search For f6 heavy duty - WireCare.com) on order from Wirecare. This stuff is split and can be applied after connections are made. I'm going to be using it to clean up and protect some wiring in the engine bay. Seems better than the plasticy stuff. But probably won't use it on the rack, because the flat marine wire mounts really nice and tight to the inside of the rack.

 

[CharlieS]

Ps. I don't mean to imply any expertise here. I've just learned a lot of painful lessons over the years and want to help others avoid my mistakes.

 

[grinchy]

Ps. I don't mean to imply any expertise here. I've just learned a lot of painful lessons over the years and want to help others avoid my mistakes.

Here's the ultimate cover solution for 2:1 joins.

Edit it's a jacket, not a shrink.

Shop

www.knukonceptz.com

 

[BloggerL]

Ps. I don't mean to imply any expertise here. I've just learned a lot of painful lessons over the years and want to help others avoid my mistakes.

I hear that. I'm redoing a couple mess-ups as we speak. Pure unnecessary pain.

 

[BloggerL]

Here's the ultimate cover solution for 2:1 joins.

Edit it's a jacket, not a shrink.

Shop

www.knukonceptz.com

Amazing! Going to order a couple in case of future needs.

 

[greynolds]

Here's one solution for handling the Y joins:

Y Shaped Heat Shrink - Resource Center

At BuyHeatShrink.com, we specialize in heat shrinkable tubing, shrink wrap tubing, cable ties, expandable braided Sleeving, convoluted tubing and many other aspects of wire management.

buyheatshrink.com

You could tweak that trick by adding an extra piece of heat shrink tubing to the wire you feed through the cutout. I did a quick Google search and did find some heat shrink Y's, but it wasn't clear if they're sized for your solution, so probably best to search yourself. Those speaker pants may or may not be suitable for outdoor use - you should make sure that anything you go with (including heat shrink tubing) is UV resistant.

 

[kennyao30]

Here's one solution for handling the Y joins:

Y Shaped Heat Shrink - Resource Center

At BuyHeatShrink.com, we specialize in heat shrinkable tubing, shrink wrap tubing, cable ties, expandable braided Sleeving, convoluted tubing and many other aspects of wire management.

buyheatshrink.com

You could tweak that trick by adding an extra piece of heat shrink tubing to the wire you feed through the cutout. I did a quick Google search and did find some heat shrink Y's, but it wasn't clear if they're sized for your solution, so probably best to search yourself. Those speaker pants may or may not be suitable for outdoor use - you should make sure that anything you go with (including heat shrink tubing) is UV resistant.

This is an awesome trick, I'm going to steal it. Thanks.

 

[BloggerL]

Installed amber rock lights today. Two Rigid As under each slider and one in each front wheel well. Very useful light, plus some edgy shadows projecting forward.

Thought about wiring them as courtesy lights for when the door opens as well, but they're just two bright and too colorful.

 

[BloggerL]

Well, it's been a busy few days of additional customizations.

The first was a near copy of @Eric Sarjeant's real light setup: two Rigid scene lights affixed to the underside of the spoiler. I angled mine a little outwards for a wide illumination area.

These are the perfect brightness for general usage. They light both the road and the space behind the vehicle. In my opinion, they lack the necessary diffusion, however, to serve as actual scene lights in a dark environment.

To install these lights, I removed the spoiler, temporarily mounted the lights for wiring purposes, drilled a 1.25" "fishing hole" near the middle of the spoiler's backside, and fished my wire through the interior of the spoiler and out the hole. I then drilled a tiny hole in the frame of the vehicle to align with the larger fishing hole in the spoiler, lined the hole with a grommet, re-attached the spoiler, permanently attached the lights with sheet metal screws and a lot of silicone adhesive, and ran the wire through the new frame hole, down through the rubber pass-through into the area under the headliner, down the rear quarter panel, across the footwells, and up into the firewall of the engine bay for connecting to the Switch Pros.

Once through the frame hole, where my priority was minimizing hole size, I used Flexo F6 split braided sleeving for most of the run.

This was a lot of work, though none of it was terribly difficult.

 

[grinchy]

Did you take any spoiler off pics? I’m thinking of removing to clear an awning and remember that there will be visible bolt holes or bolts . . . Would like to see how visible they are . . .

edit - went and searched one up.