RLC rear tire carrier / swing out / jerry can / custom fab bumper (3 Viewers)
- Thread starter Willy beamin
- Start date
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I have rubber grommets, but I was anticipating 4 wires instead of 7 wires running the holes I drilled. The wire wouldn’t go through the holes with the grommets, which leaves me with the option to drill the holes larger or go without grommets. For now, i’ve wrapped the wire with electrical tape where it passes through metal. If the wire gets chafed, I’ll drill the holes for larger grommets. It’s just the rear view camera and license plate light, so I don’t anticipate any life safety issues if the bumper wiring fails.
Definitely less than 15. Probably 5 or 6 feet. I bought 30 feet because I have no idea how much will be needed to get from the camera’s current location in the tailgate to the right rear fender where it will connect to the bumper.
I got 7 conductor 18gauge underground rated sprinkler wire from Home Depot. $0.69/ft. I bought 15 feet. Comes in a nice waterproof flexible casing. 18ga should be plenty for the amps of a camera or flood type LED light. Ampacity chart says 7A for 3 current carriers in the bundle, so the max load across the cable is 3*7*12 - 225W or so. Of course the camera will have almost no load, so lights around 200W (spread between 3 hot) are doable. That's a lot of LEDs.
Edit: another chart says 4.9A for 7+ cores. I still think it matters which are current carrying, not total number. But I stopped caring about Maxwell somewhere in my Jr year.
Edit: another chart says 4.9A for 7+ cores. I still think it matters which are current carrying, not total number. But I stopped caring about Maxwell somewhere in my Jr year.
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Cable bundle derating assumes maximum current carried simultaneously by all conductors in the bundle. It has to be tested and certified to worst case conditions.
I ordered 30 feet of this wire: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B073WJ4CJJ/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1&tag=ihco-20
grinchy's Home Depot wire is probably the better way to go. It didn't cross my mind that Home Depot would have a 6 or 7 core cable.
I'll add that I don't think you'll find a wire thinner than the camera wire, so 18 guage should be plenty. I relocated my front camera a couple of weeks ago with ARB's camera relocate kit (it came with my ARB front bumper). Fortunately, I just had to move the pins from one connector to another. I'm going to need some of those 20x magnification jeweler glasses to strip the rear camera wires for soldering.
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I just hung (hanged?) the bumper. I haven’t adjusted it to where it will ride or anything else. I plan to finish it tomorrow. My dad’s shop has an overhead chain hoist that I used to pick up the bumper and position it. I still needed a hand to get the bumper wings parallel to the floor to slide the bumper on. I’ll take pics tomorrow and post what I learned, with pics, on Monday.
good idea this. Perhaps I can hang from rafters.
So Saturday I removed the OEM bumper per this youtube video:
Before removing the bumper per that video, I lowered the spare tire and moved it out of the way. I then removed the spare tire carrier since I won't be using it anymore. The spare tire carrier was completely held on with 12mm hex head bolts.
I then fitted the RLC bumper brackets to the frame rails and OEM hitch. These brackets have holed for the bolt that held the tow hooks on, then larger holes at the rear of the vehicle to go through the trailer hitch. The supplied bolts didn't work for the trailer hitch, so I bought 5/8" x 6" bolts from Home Depot to go all the way through the trailer hitch. I didn't take any pictures before putting the bumper on, but the bolts are the big ones in these pictures:
There were some welds that made the frame brackets tough to fit, but I was able to get all the bolts started (reusing the tow hook bolts). I could have used a grinder to make the brackets fit better, but I'd rather not if I didn't have to. I didn't tighten the bracket bolts as I was worried I need to get the bumper on first. In hindsight, it probably would have been okay to tighten them before. Since it's not like you can adjust them at all. You'll just need to measure the distance between the brackets on the vehicle and where they mount to the bumper.
Once I got the bumper on and all the bolts started, I tightened up the bracket bolts that connect to the vehicle frame. I used an impact and tightened to 4-5 ugga chuggas. That's not a real technical torque measure, but pretty tight. The brackets will contour to their mounting surfaces.
This is where I realized that I should have moved the reverse sensors over to the new bumper before mounting it. I tried mounting them with the bumper on the vehicle but the wiring harness is too short between the outer sensors and inner sensors on the new bumper. I still need to extend the harness.
At this point, I tightened the bolts that hold the bumper to the bracket. I used floor jacks with blocks of wood on each side of the bumper to position it where I wanted. I got it as close to the vehicle and as I as I could get it without putting anything in a bind. You'll need to make sure the gap plate (the one that fit on top of the bumper to fill the gap between the bumper and the vehicle) fits well without binding on the tailgate before tightening up the bumper.
From here, just tighten up the 4 bolts on each bumper to bracket connections.
Next up are the wing brackets.
In this picture you can see a small tab hanging down from the car body to the wing bracket. Bend or cut these off prior to mounting the bumper as they'll get in the way.
On my vehicle, there was a large hole in the frame where the wing bracket would mount. On the inside of the frame, this hole was open, on the outside, it had a plastic plug in it. I pulled the plugs and used a 5/8" x 4" bolt to mount the wing bracket to the frame. Then I used the supplied bolts to mount the wings to the bracket.
Finally, measure and trim you old bumper wings to fit over the wings of the new bumper. I used instructions posted by @reevesci in either this thread or one of his bumper threads. On the passenger side, wait until you mount the tire swing to put on that plastic wing.
I still need to mount my reverse sensors and and relocate my rearview camera. I ran out of time yesterday, but I got my license plate light mounted and working. The fuel can holder hits my tailgate as pictured, so I just took it off. If I hadn't mounted the bumper as close to the vehicle as I could, this probably wouldn't be a problem.
I tried to mount my rock warrior spare tire and wheel to the bumper, but I don't have any extra rock warrior lug nuts. I ordered some last night and will mount the spare once I have them. I also plan to finish the rear camera relocate and reverse sensors this week.
Before removing the bumper per that video, I lowered the spare tire and moved it out of the way. I then removed the spare tire carrier since I won't be using it anymore. The spare tire carrier was completely held on with 12mm hex head bolts.
I then fitted the RLC bumper brackets to the frame rails and OEM hitch. These brackets have holed for the bolt that held the tow hooks on, then larger holes at the rear of the vehicle to go through the trailer hitch. The supplied bolts didn't work for the trailer hitch, so I bought 5/8" x 6" bolts from Home Depot to go all the way through the trailer hitch. I didn't take any pictures before putting the bumper on, but the bolts are the big ones in these pictures:
There were some welds that made the frame brackets tough to fit, but I was able to get all the bolts started (reusing the tow hook bolts). I could have used a grinder to make the brackets fit better, but I'd rather not if I didn't have to. I didn't tighten the bracket bolts as I was worried I need to get the bumper on first. In hindsight, it probably would have been okay to tighten them before. Since it's not like you can adjust them at all. You'll just need to measure the distance between the brackets on the vehicle and where they mount to the bumper.
Once I got the bumper on and all the bolts started, I tightened up the bracket bolts that connect to the vehicle frame. I used an impact and tightened to 4-5 ugga chuggas. That's not a real technical torque measure, but pretty tight. The brackets will contour to their mounting surfaces.
This is where I realized that I should have moved the reverse sensors over to the new bumper before mounting it. I tried mounting them with the bumper on the vehicle but the wiring harness is too short between the outer sensors and inner sensors on the new bumper. I still need to extend the harness.
At this point, I tightened the bolts that hold the bumper to the bracket. I used floor jacks with blocks of wood on each side of the bumper to position it where I wanted. I got it as close to the vehicle and as I as I could get it without putting anything in a bind. You'll need to make sure the gap plate (the one that fit on top of the bumper to fill the gap between the bumper and the vehicle) fits well without binding on the tailgate before tightening up the bumper.
From here, just tighten up the 4 bolts on each bumper to bracket connections.
Next up are the wing brackets.
In this picture you can see a small tab hanging down from the car body to the wing bracket. Bend or cut these off prior to mounting the bumper as they'll get in the way.
On my vehicle, there was a large hole in the frame where the wing bracket would mount. On the inside of the frame, this hole was open, on the outside, it had a plastic plug in it. I pulled the plugs and used a 5/8" x 4" bolt to mount the wing bracket to the frame. Then I used the supplied bolts to mount the wings to the bracket.
Finally, measure and trim you old bumper wings to fit over the wings of the new bumper. I used instructions posted by @reevesci in either this thread or one of his bumper threads. On the passenger side, wait until you mount the tire swing to put on that plastic wing.
I still need to mount my reverse sensors and and relocate my rearview camera. I ran out of time yesterday, but I got my license plate light mounted and working. The fuel can holder hits my tailgate as pictured, so I just took it off. If I hadn't mounted the bumper as close to the vehicle as I could, this probably wouldn't be a problem.
I tried to mount my rock warrior spare tire and wheel to the bumper, but I don't have any extra rock warrior lug nuts. I ordered some last night and will mount the spare once I have them. I also plan to finish the rear camera relocate and reverse sensors this week.
RET2
SILVER Star
Let us know how the relocate progresses, thats all I have left to do. Thx for the pics too!
I relocated the camera. It's fairly simple. The thin wire makes it a little tough.
It goes something like this:
1. Pull trim off tailgate
2. Remove camera from tailgate
3. Cut camera wires
4. Run new wire from OEM camera location, to top of tailgate, through windshield washer conduit, above headliner to right D-pillar, down pillar, through floor jack storage, and out rubber grommet in floor jack storage area.
5. Solder wire connections (I had already ran wire from right rear of vehicle through bumper)
6. Find a way to mount camera on tire carrier (I used a leftover mount from ARB front bumper kit, I'm not real happy with and I may make a smaller mount).
7. Test camera operation
8. Zip tie wires, replace tailgate weather stripping, and tailgate trim.
OEM Camera
Fish wire through conduit
Solder connections:
Clean up the wiring
All buttoned up
It goes something like this:
1. Pull trim off tailgate
2. Remove camera from tailgate
3. Cut camera wires
4. Run new wire from OEM camera location, to top of tailgate, through windshield washer conduit, above headliner to right D-pillar, down pillar, through floor jack storage, and out rubber grommet in floor jack storage area.
5. Solder wire connections (I had already ran wire from right rear of vehicle through bumper)
6. Find a way to mount camera on tire carrier (I used a leftover mount from ARB front bumper kit, I'm not real happy with and I may make a smaller mount).
7. Test camera operation
8. Zip tie wires, replace tailgate weather stripping, and tailgate trim.
OEM Camera
Fish wire through conduit
Solder connections:
Clean up the wiring
All buttoned up
I don't have any good pictures of the finished product yet, because it's not finished. I still need to install the reverse sensors, wire the reverse lights, and mount the spare tire.
I'm not crazy about the gaps from the fenders into the bumper wings. Here's what they look like right now:
The OEM mud flaps have a molded lip that fits the OEM bumper cover, so I don't think would look good with the RLC bumper. I've ordered some of these mudflaps: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00C3AIOTY/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
which I'll try to shape to cover the gaps and look make look decent.
I'm not crazy about the gaps from the fenders into the bumper wings. Here's what they look like right now:
The OEM mud flaps have a molded lip that fits the OEM bumper cover, so I don't think would look good with the RLC bumper. I've ordered some of these mudflaps: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00C3AIOTY/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
which I'll try to shape to cover the gaps and look make look decent.
So it didn't come with wheel well guards?
RLC rear tire carrier / swing out / jerry can / custom fab bumper
RLC rear tire carrier / swing out / jerry can / custom fab bumper
- Thread starter
- #137
- I'd give James a call and ask him to make you some. I did that and they turned out good, functioning and form fitting for that space. I can take pics if you'd like just for reference. I would for sure call James and inquire though, really its a no brainer to include them. I'll speak with him about making that a part of the kit moving forward and see what he thinks. Nice looking install and congrats for fishing your wiring loom out the spare holder.I don't have any good pictures of the finished product yet, because it's not finished. I still need to install the reverse sensors, wire the reverse lights, and mount the spare tire.
I'm not crazy about the gaps from the fenders into the bumper wings. Here's what they look like right now:
The OEM mud flaps have a molded lip that fits the OEM bumper cover, so I don't think would look good with the RLC bumper. I've ordered some of these mudflaps: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00C3AIOTY/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
which I'll try to shape to cover the gaps and look make look decent.
I wonder how hard it would be to source a set of male and female Toyota adapters for the camera harness? Then someone could just disconnect the camera and create their own harness.
I searched the internet far and wide for those. If you know what they're called, you would be a giant step ahead. All I could find were people looking for the same thing.
My ARB front bumper came with a camera relocate kit. I opened it and thought "awesome a camera extension cord complete with the Toyota adapters." I got to that part and you actually have to pull the pins out of the Toyota adapter and plug them into ARB's adapter. Apparently ARB couldn't find those connections either.
There are some tight clearances in there. Ideally, they would overlap the OEM fender liner. I'm not sure how he would make a universal fit plug or mud flap. I think just sending the bumper with the mud flaps I'm buying and installer could trim to fit would be a good solution.
