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lol.... they started it

What's really funny about Pirate is this. So on the way-back time machine, I know the when and how about how they were started. It's actually pretty funny because they started in response to some pretty in-your-face pricks who ran the Rubicon trail. The founders of Pirate are all from the Bay area. As you might imagine, when they went wheeling at the Rubicon, Fordyce, and even down at Johnson Valley - the people who lived there thought it was their trail and that the city-slickers should go the heck away. It really was pretty ugly.

Thus Pirate was born - they'd "take over" those people's trails... and now they're acting exactly the same way as the people who caused their website to be born to begin with. I find it pretty funny on many, many levels.
 
I know how that goes. Attitudes and life choices change over time. The club I belong to started as a wheeling club with members making fun of mall cruisers. Now it is 95% mall cruisers with only a handful of us actually wheeling anymore.

SuperBuickGuy said:
lol.... they started it

What's really funny about Pirate is this. So on the way-back time machine, I know the when and how about how they were started. It's actually pretty funny because they started in response to some pretty in-your-face pricks who ran the Rubicon trail. The founders of Pirate are all from the Bay area. As you might imagine, when they went wheeling at the Rubicon, Fordyce, and even down at Johnson Valley - the people who lived there thought it was their trail and that the city-slickers should go the heck away. It really was pretty ugly.

Thus Pirate was born - they'd "take over" those people's trails... and now they're acting exactly the same way as the people who caused their website to be born to begin with. I find it pretty funny on many, many levels.
Click to expand...
 
Well, Pirate said it'd never get done ;) that said, I swear the next picture they get will be of it on a magazine cover along with all the hateful stuff they said.... in my opinion, the best revenge is to do well.

actually, how many pictures can one take about wiring before it gets boring? I half-finished the wiring on the ends of the vehicle and tested lights... but that even created a problem because it's pretty hard to take a picture of lights coming on and energize the circuit. I'm hoping that tonight I can finish the dash wiring so then test and photograph the results.... of course that means I need to decide what switches I'm using....

and the problems continued.

I got the glass last night, gave up trying to install it myself (that was 2 hours of fun and cuss words) so I'll take it to the glass guy tomorrow and let him break it.
 
Installing the windshield was oh so fun. I would get about 80% and it would fall back out. I ended up laying the windshield on a table and used shims to hold the glass at the right height. That way the weight of the glass wouldn't keep pulling it back out.
 
SuperBuickGuy said:
Well, Pirate said it'd never get done ;) that said, I swear the next picture they get will be of it on a magazine cover along with all the hateful stuff they said.... in my opinion, the best revenge is to do well.

actually, how many pictures can one take about wiring before it gets boring? I half-finished the wiring on the ends of the vehicle and tested lights... but that even created a problem because it's pretty hard to take a picture of lights coming on and energize the circuit. I'm hoping that tonight I can finish the dash wiring so then test and photograph the results.... of course that means I need to decide what switches I'm using....

and the problems continued.

I got the glass last night, gave up trying to install it myself (that was 2 hours of fun and cuss words) so I'll take it to the glass guy tomorrow and let him break it.
Click to expand...

Granted you're going to wire however you plan to wire....

When I wired my 40 one of the things I wanted was that just about everything is key dependent. Being a vehicle literally without doors and dummy reminders/dingers, it's easy to think how one could leave headlights on, jump out of the seat, go do something and come back to a dead battery (though if you're doing dual batteries with an isolater and a bypass switch, then disregard).... I set up a relay that activates and must be on in order for switches/lights (etc) to be running.

Headlights are on their own circuit, but in order for the 12V switch in the relay to be able to be active, the "key on" relay has to be on. This way I can leave lights, switches, radio (etc) on, but once the key is set to off, everything goes off.

The only thing in my rig that I didn't do this for is the turn/brake light circuit.

This all reminds me... I need more relays to have around the shop....
 
I made a change to my wire harness that should pay off for decades. I ran a ground wire to everything. When I bought my 40 I had so many gremlins caused by failed grounds. Usually from corrosion. It wasn't much work to run a single wire to the front and rear and then tie every light to it. I took that same idea everywhere else too and have a couple ground buss plates. I still use the body grounds, but with the extra ground wire I know I won't run into issues later on.

I passed on this thread link to the publisher of a magazine. Can't say which one yet.
toyotaspeed90 said:
Granted you're going to wire however you plan to wire....

When I wired my 40 one of the things I wanted was that just about everything is key dependent. Being a vehicle literally without doors and dummy reminders/dingers, it's easy to think how one could leave headlights on, jump out of the seat, go do something and come back to a dead battery (though if you're doing dual batteries with an isolater and a bypass switch, then disregard).... I set up a relay that activates and must be on in order for switches/lights (etc) to be running.

Headlights are on their own circuit, but in order for the 12V switch in the relay to be able to be active, the "key on" relay has to be on. This way I can leave lights, switches, radio (etc) on, but once the key is set to off, everything goes off.

The only thing in my rig that I didn't do this for is the turn/brake light circuit.

This all reminds me... I need more relays to have around the shop....
Click to expand...
 
I didn't mention it, but I've done something similar. Part of my setup is due having a battery mounted in the tub...

The harness in my vehicle is all one off... so I used a Blue Sea 12 circuit fuse panel with a 12 circuit ground 'strip' built in. Unless self grounded (like everything on the engine), the grounds for all of the switches/relays run to that fuse panel as well.

http://www.amazon.com/Blue-Sea-Circ...456959325&sr=8-4&keywords=blue+sea+12+circuit
 
I have a bit of battery capacity


I honestly haven't decided on an isolator or not... I know that sounds odd, but remember this is a manual transmission - I'm a tow rope or hill from starting glory.

And there's another issue that I never saw mentioned:

I have a dual battery set up on my H3


and I run an isolator on that along with having stuff like lights, winch, air compressors on the 2nd battery.... something they forgot to mention, though, in the installation manual - that if the main battery goes dead, it will kill the 2nd battery in less then 3 hours. I had a relay that was rewired by a mechanic .... he swapped the terminals so that the relay simply stayed on all the time. (this is what I get for being lazy - I hired him to replace the a/c core in the dash). It would kill the main battery, but because the way the isolator works, if the main battery goes dead, it turns the relay on - until the 2nd battery doesn't have enough juice to hold it on.... did I mention my H3 has an automatic? yeah....
 
When installing glass, lube everything up with KY jelly (yes I'm serious). It really helps the weatherstrip slide over the flange and cleans up with water.
 
glass


frame

not installed...going to take it to the pro
no light

light


rest assured, I fixed the issue of the brake light and signals coming on at once

front signals too


wiring - note the cut wire... that was the fix


less wires = winning


I need to get the right flasher tomorrow... because the rears are LED, there are issues....

as far as the glass - the guy who made my glass had offered to do the install for free... free is a damn good price when you consider that there's now one chip in the edge...
 
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SuperBuickGuy said:
I have a bit of battery capacity


I honestly haven't decided on an isolator or not... I know that sounds odd, but remember this is a manual transmission - I'm a tow rope or hill from starting glory.

And there's another issue that I never saw mentioned:

I have a dual battery set up on my H3


and I run an isolator on that along with having stuff like lights, winch, air compressors on the 2nd battery.... something they forgot to mention, though, in the installation manual - that if the main battery goes dead, it will kill the 2nd battery in less then 3 hours. I had a relay that was rewired by a mechanic .... he swapped the terminals so that the relay simply stayed on all the time. (this is what I get for being lazy - I hired him to replace the a/c core in the dash). It would kill the main battery, but because the way the isolator works, if the main battery goes dead, it turns the relay on - until the 2nd battery doesn't have enough juice to hold it on.... did I mention my H3 has an automatic? yeah....
Click to expand...


I personally have had terrible things go wrong with AGM batteries that cause major problems elsewhere. I won't run one ever again in any vehicle I own.

I had an old C class motorhome. Those have dual batteries (or more) and the system tends to be more clear/cut/dry. There will be a standard battery for the truck/van portion, and then a deep cell for the "house" part of the battery. (Fun tip - in WA the "house" portion of the motorhome is considered a house, where-as the driver/passenger area is considered a vehicle. It's legal to have an "open container" on the road in the "house", but if it crosses the line into the driver/passenger area, it becomes an open container.... anyways).

The house battery died from running a bunch of stuff on it, but the van battery was perfectly fine. I wanted to charge the house battery - so I started the van up, hit the bypass button that was setup (to bypass the isolator - it was essentially a starter solenoid that made a direct connection between the 2 batteries), and then had the generator started up. Turned the van off, and let the generator run the house and charge the deep cell.

When properly setup, there should be "isolation" between the 2 sides, that way if 1 dies from running all your toys, you can still start up and go. They're really just a "smart" solenoid that keeps the 2 systems apart until the cranking battery voltage is recharged and/or when increased voltage is sensed (charging via alternator).

I wonder if in your H3 there is a system that's crossed that connects the 2.... ?


Something simple like this is what I will eventually run:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00WTAFR84?psc=1
 
this is the system that runs the H3 system (and there's a similar one on my wife's Heep)
Amazon.com: T-MAX 47-3800 Dual Battery System: Automotive

The benefit of that system is the batteries don't have to be the same size, capacity, or even the same kind (deep cycle and regular battery). It's advantage is the batteries are completely isolated unless the generator is charging....

of course the downside is what I mentioned before.

AGM isn't perfect, but I'm not spending the dollars for Lithium Ion batteries and no other battery can be side-mounted.... so there it is.
 
I have read lots of positive reviews of AGM batteries including from friends with them. I don't know what the percentage of good versus bad experiences are, but this was the first negative comment I had seen. It's like Optima batteries, I know a few people who will never buy one again saying they don't last long or burn out while winching. Mine has lasted for nearly 8 years and many a winch session. You will have bad experiences with any product. When my Optima Red Top does die I will replace it with AGM.
 
I'm running an AGM battery in my truck. Haven't had an issue with it. It's been through a flipp and complete roll over and hasn't had a single issue. :meh:
 
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