Ok, I'm running into a bit of a snag with fitting the brackets in as per the WRITTEN* instructions.
Why in heaven's name there aren't any photos in the provided directions or up on Slee Off-Road's website, I can't fathom.
* I'm nominating this set of instructions up there with the anemic and non-illustrated "how to fit a Warn Winch into an ARB" instructions set.
I've searched the ARB 80-Series Tech Forum for "slee washer bottle relocation" and combed thru 10 pages of 25 results each. The best set of photos that I could find of the brackets and their installation orientation was tech_dog's thread:
https://forum.ih8mud.com/80-series-tech/93130-my-dual-battery-setup.html
WTF??
At first I thought the holes were off from their proper drill locations for the horizontal bracket (that connects up with the Cruise Control mount points), but I can see from tech_dog's pic that they're the same as mine.
So here's what I've found:
a) When the horizontal bracket is installed to the washer bottle and then lined up with the CruiseControl mount holes, the bottle is pretty well jammed up against the large covered group of wires coming out of the firewall
b) no bending of the bracket will relieve that, unless new holes are redrilled set lower and further back from their current location in order to bring the washer bottle back tighter to the Cruise Control box (there's a good 1/2" of space there) and up a good 1/2" inch.
c) the reason for the latter adjustment is due to the vertical bracket, when mounted as described sitting on top of the air filter's rearmost foot bracket mount, orient's the hole about a 1/2" to high and an additional half inch back away from the bottle mount point (towards the front of the vehicle).
I checked to see if I put the vertical bracket's "foot" UNDER the airfilter can's mount foot, and it does line up better to the bottle, but put's it too low and would impede the removal of the air filter can's top in the future. Even if I could raise the height of the bottle, because of the designed offset angle bend, the top of the bracket is set back enough that would require the bottle to be forced back and up at an angle in order to line up for the bolt, thereby putting the bottle's plastic mounting tab compressed at a decent angle and seemingly prime for future compromise due to stress.
So what am I missing fellas?
Of course, I can see that if I tourque and bend the bottle enough, I can just get things lined up to secure it so I can run out and get dinner for the family (since I've gone an hour and a half beyond my estimated time for completion). And that's what I'm going to go do now when I've sent this off and leave the computer.
I'll try to get some pics uploaded showing the orientation deltas that I've tried my best to describe. I'm just really surprised this is turning into this much of a hassle. This should be a slam dunk if everything is cut and properly aligned, so my initial impression is that something's amiss on my part and there's a simple explanation to correct this.
For the multitudes out there that I've found references in threads that have used this very relocation kit, could you please post your experiences if the brackets cleanly lined up, or if you had to torque and bend the bottle and brackets to get them to line up? If anyone has any pics that cleanly show the brackets and mounting alignments in position, that'd be godsend.
If anyone can find pics already up on a thread that I'm describing, then please reply with the search string that you used. If tech_dog's post was the best I could find in 250 posts, then I must have missed something somewhere.
***Update***
Just briefed the on the situation... took the standard earful about one more project that's had a hiccup, and received orders to take the minivan to get food most riki-tik. So I'm off. Will check in later when I get back.
Thanks, fellas.
Why in heaven's name there aren't any photos in the provided directions or up on Slee Off-Road's website, I can't fathom.
* I'm nominating this set of instructions up there with the anemic and non-illustrated "how to fit a Warn Winch into an ARB" instructions set.
I've searched the ARB 80-Series Tech Forum for "slee washer bottle relocation" and combed thru 10 pages of 25 results each. The best set of photos that I could find of the brackets and their installation orientation was tech_dog's thread:
https://forum.ih8mud.com/80-series-tech/93130-my-dual-battery-setup.html
WTF??
At first I thought the holes were off from their proper drill locations for the horizontal bracket (that connects up with the Cruise Control mount points), but I can see from tech_dog's pic that they're the same as mine.
So here's what I've found:
a) When the horizontal bracket is installed to the washer bottle and then lined up with the CruiseControl mount holes, the bottle is pretty well jammed up against the large covered group of wires coming out of the firewall
b) no bending of the bracket will relieve that, unless new holes are redrilled set lower and further back from their current location in order to bring the washer bottle back tighter to the Cruise Control box (there's a good 1/2" of space there) and up a good 1/2" inch.
c) the reason for the latter adjustment is due to the vertical bracket, when mounted as described sitting on top of the air filter's rearmost foot bracket mount, orient's the hole about a 1/2" to high and an additional half inch back away from the bottle mount point (towards the front of the vehicle).
I checked to see if I put the vertical bracket's "foot" UNDER the airfilter can's mount foot, and it does line up better to the bottle, but put's it too low and would impede the removal of the air filter can's top in the future. Even if I could raise the height of the bottle, because of the designed offset angle bend, the top of the bracket is set back enough that would require the bottle to be forced back and up at an angle in order to line up for the bolt, thereby putting the bottle's plastic mounting tab compressed at a decent angle and seemingly prime for future compromise due to stress.
So what am I missing fellas?
Of course, I can see that if I tourque and bend the bottle enough, I can just get things lined up to secure it so I can run out and get dinner for the family (since I've gone an hour and a half beyond my estimated time for completion). And that's what I'm going to go do now when I've sent this off and leave the computer.
I'll try to get some pics uploaded showing the orientation deltas that I've tried my best to describe. I'm just really surprised this is turning into this much of a hassle. This should be a slam dunk if everything is cut and properly aligned, so my initial impression is that something's amiss on my part and there's a simple explanation to correct this.
For the multitudes out there that I've found references in threads that have used this very relocation kit, could you please post your experiences if the brackets cleanly lined up, or if you had to torque and bend the bottle and brackets to get them to line up? If anyone has any pics that cleanly show the brackets and mounting alignments in position, that'd be godsend.
If anyone can find pics already up on a thread that I'm describing, then please reply with the search string that you used. If tech_dog's post was the best I could find in 250 posts, then I must have missed something somewhere.
***Update***
Just briefed the on the situation... took the standard earful about one more project that's had a hiccup, and received orders to take the minivan to get food most riki-tik. So I'm off. Will check in later when I get back.
Thanks, fellas.