Builds ROTW- Cruiserhead05

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Alright, i realize ROTW's last for a week but i'm almost done, maybe i should have written it slower. Oh well.

As some may be beginning to realize, with the IPF's, 600w amp, alpine, eclipses, cb, maplight, and the recent air compressor.....my battery was started to feel things.

Next, i figured it would be a smart to invest in a dual battery setup. I am by no means an electrical wiz and while setting the entire dual batteries up seemed hard, i was gonna try and gather of the items and go for it. Right before i placed my orders for the seperator, switch, etc...I dropped an email to Lance, at Iron Pig Off Road.

Come to find out, lance is the only supplier i could find that would sell a complete dual battery system. So, i managed to work a deal where this would be part of my christmas present(i still had to pay half) and had lance get everything together. His kit included a plug and play dual batter wiring harness. Everything was pre-cut and terminated with brass lugs, as well as covered with heat shrink.

The initial plan was to have this at my door by christmas and spend a day installing it since its a very easy and clean setup. Turns out the Sure Power seperator didnt come in on time. Lance, to make it up to me said he would install the entire thing for free. I thought this was an extremely nice offer and as much as i wanted to install the whole thing, i drove the truck to IPOR and watched/helped him do it. The entire setup went in fairly quickly and was very clean. I hope to add a second fuse box to the washer bottle bracket as you'll notice is serves as an excellent mounting spot.
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Im glad the switch worked out. Now I need to get off my butt and put some work into my truck like you.

BTW, White is such a nice color:D
 
You'll also notice the dual battery system doesnt involve the typical 4 way marine switch and thats b/c the Sure power separator uses its own ECU. I'm still not 100% sure i could explain how the ecu works but it actually picks up the power signal from the cruiser control. Once lance and i had the entire setup in, he showed me with a voltmeter how after you cut the truck off, the solenoid separates the batteries once they reach 12.8 volts.

For more info, i'd definately drop IPOR an email as they are pretty quick to get back to you, maybe lance will even jump in here to explain the system further.

Overall, I'm thrilled so far with the system and i havent had a single problem with it. I am however still running a three year old diehard gold from autozone, but its works perfect and will probably stay there til it dies completely.
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Lastly,

With a HUGE thanks to JUNK.....

I got his dual pivot rear bumper with integrated rear winch mount and tire carrier.
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That really is a great rig. Built well with the right add-ons. Good work man
 
clarkrw3 said:
Very nice write up. The cruiser is looking great...amazing what a little lift and bumper will do for an 80. I assume that your little sis will come no where near it now?!

That river crossing is crazy!!! Now you need a snorkle :D

Correct, my sister has since gotten her own car and wont dare drive the 80. A snorkel is definately in the plans, like many other things.
 
PabloVTA said:
So how much have you spent on all of those mods?
Do your parents still have to approve of each one? Looks like they have lost control!!

I'm jealous. Looks great!

I tend to not look back at how much i've spent on the truck, it'll make me sick. But its a hobby and my feeling is, if i need cash, all the mods are capable of being pulled out and sold.

My parents still have a large amount of control as to what i do to it. I've just found a good way to make my case for every mod. The rear bumper took some convincing but they finally agreed.

Also, i've done very few mods without selling something else, I.E. stock front bumper, running boards, 3rd row seat...etc.
 
Once the rear bumper is on, the mods will definately(i hope) be done for awhile and all the cruiser will get is gas and regular maintenance.

For now, i need to drive the cruiser easy and keep it going. It currently has 261,000 miles so plans for a HI-PO rebuild are already in the making. While a rebuild and turbo would be dreamy, its too rich for my blood.

Neverthless, next big thing for the truck will be a 1fz rebuild and tranny rebuild.

Also, while much of this thread is about the mods, i have to say the cruiser has held up tremendously for 12 years now. The 1fz hardly leaks or burns much oil at all. The A442F tranny has been awesome and still shifts smoothly with very little maitenance its whole life.
At 261k miles im aware I may have one of the higher mileage trucks on here and the only things that have been replaced or redone are:
Headgasket at 200k
Original Starter at 250k!!!!
Birfield repack at 250k
Fuel Filter at 250K
Radiator at 250k
PHH at 250K
and.....thats it.

The alternator, power steering pump, fuel pump, everything is fine.
 
Real nice Brandon. You now also have a DC drive shaft too, correct?

Nicely done man, nicely done.

:cheers:
-onur
Akron, OH
 
Beno,

You are correct. It totally skipped my mind. I do have a front double cardan drive shaft, i guess i forget about it sometime b/c i dont even know its there.....that exactly how it should be i guess.
 
No wonder he would never respond to my PM about his rear bumper.:flipoff2:

Nice truck. What model CD player is that.
 
Alex,

I'll double check but i believe the cd player is a CDA-9825. I dont even know if they make it any more, at the time i was just looking for a good replacement for the stock unit. My alpine is really nothing special, no ipod hookup, no XM, but it works great for me. If i ever get an ipod maybe i'll upgrade but for now i love it.
 
Great write-up Brandon! Thanks for all the details and pics!


:cheers:
 
I hope this means for CMCC-06 you won't be wheeling with the girls like reffug but rather playing on the trails your truck was built for :D
 
Junk said:
I hope this means for CMCC-06 you won't be wheeling with the girls like reffug but rather playing on the trails your truck was built for :D

Ouch!!
Well, now that the truck is protected i should be doing some more difficult trails.....I'll be sure to wave if I see the 45 on any blue trails if we happen to pass them.....babahaaa sorry, had to. :D:D:D (deep down, i'd kill for the 45)
 
Brandon, you,ve done a lot of work since we wheeled together at CMCC05. You make me feel bad bacause I think the only thing I've done to my rig since then was replace the head gasket. Hope to see you at CMCC05.
 
Heffenoche,

Good to hear from you. If you did the headgasket yourself, i'd say you've done more then me. Its def. no small job.

As for cmcc 06'. I'll be there, but truthfully im trying to find a way to get out for Cruise Moab 06' or 07'...Maybe we could get a sizable east coast group to convoy out there, the drive would be amazing.
 

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