Caddy Light Install

[spudz]

I think you have enough heart to actually do it.. I really do...eventually... BUT there is nothing wrong with a little help... don't ever be to proud to ask for help. This isn't a must but the way I have seen it done.. is fill the entire tail. Then build a bucket that holds the caddy light, then trace the shape of the bucket to the truck, cut it out then weld the bucket into the truck and grind it flush. Then just bolt the light in.. I think it would be alot easier that way. People say there is only one way to learn is to do it... and thats true for a skill like welding or painting, but accomplishing a task like this, there is more then one way... and some ways might not be the best and getting help might be the best way to accomplish your goal.. BUT MAYBE not man, thumbs up for going at it.... I'll be the first one to buy you a beer when you turn 21.

[jrsmith_2010]

Originally Posted by spudz

I think you have enough heart to actually do it.. I really do...eventually... BUT there is nothing wrong with a little help... don't ever be to proud to ask for help. This isn't a must but the way I have seen it done.. is fill the entire tail. Then build a bucket that holds the caddy light, then trace the shape of the bucket to the truck, cut it out then weld the bucket into the truck and grind it flush. Then just bolt the light in.. I think it would be alot easier that way. People say there is only one way to learn is to do it... and thats true for a skill like welding or painting, but accomplishing a task like this, there is more then one way... and some ways might not be the best and getting help might be the best way to accomplish your goal.. BUT MAYBE not man, thumbs up for going at it.... I'll be the first one to buy you a beer when you turn 21.

true man true, im the kinda person that will do anything that i set my mind to, and i dont like to ask for help unless its something i cant fix. but thanks for the imput, i kno im doin the install different than what most people do, but im gonna try my hardest to make it work. and ill get back with u when i turn 21

[jrsmith_2010]

well i got them bolted in today, i made some brackets for them and used the stock screws and clip nuts to the tail lights and got them in! now all i gotta do is weld in the space with metal and hook them up, i got some wire nuts today so that wont be hard to do at all. heres some pics

the brackets

had to redo this one, it was crooked, its all good now tho


screwed in



passenger side




Merry Christmas to you and your families
jrsmith

[smashingchuck]

At this point, I would highly suggest you incorporate the help of a professional body tech to help you fix some of the ongoing issues you are having with this project.

[jrsmith_2010]

Originally Posted by smashingchuck

At this point, I would highly suggest you incorporate the help of a professional body tech to help you fix some of the ongoing issues you are having with this project.

like what?

[copperchevy]

What he may be trying to say is that you went about doing this the wrong way. You need the actual steel buckets that weld to the body and that the lights bolt onto. The easiet way would of been to weld your taillight fillers in, cut/weld your buckets in, and then bolt up the lights. As far as taillight fillers, i wouldn't use anybodys except www.grantkustoms.com or www.customclassic.com.

[copperchevy]

Found this on www.truckshop.com for $76. Check out the install instructions.

[dammitmitchell]

just my advice here..
i do 4x4s so take it as you would like
i highly reccomend using a sanding disc instead of grinding disc for fine tuinn
then in my experience.. i always do rims last...
reason why is i want the rims to match the vehicle.. not the vehicle to match the rims..
other then that dude your making good progress for your age..
and you got mroe balls them me.. i refuse to work in teh cold unless i have to!

[N2TRUX]

Ok, I have tried to stay out of this because you are already getting grief for your hack job on the sheetmetal. You say you want to do it "your way" and that's fine. I won't even touch that subject.

I do however have to step in here and give some input when you talk about using wire nuts to splice the tail lights in. DO NOT use wire nuts for automotive connections. They are designed for interior use in household circuits only. They might work to start with but eventually they will corrode internally and cause electrical gremlins that will drive you crazy.

If your going to learn to do things, please at least learn the correct way to do them. Invest in a 45 watt pencil soldering iron, a small roll of solder and a few pieces of shrink tubing.

Merry Christmas, and consider that piece of advice a small gift that I hope you use the rest of your life.

[SnS C10]

i agree with the above posts which i already stated a few pages ago but for some reason was still ridiculed by a select few. It may not look the best, but you are learning. What would i do? make those cut outs that look very hacked as straight lined as you can. Measure and cut out a piece of metal just a tad oversize and then trim it to fit the hole. No grinders! use a die grinder and a fine sanding disc to trim, it takes longer but it will benefit you in the long run. Now, once the piece you cut fits as close to perfect as possible, put it in place and buy a set of magnets for welding. It will hold the piece in place perfectly for you to place some nice butt weld tacks. Alternate back and forth on the metal, letting it cool every few tacks until you tack solid all the way around. Next get your die grinder with sanding disc back out and grind those welds flush. Now, do this same process with the original tail lights, seal them up. Now, either purchase or make a bracket for the caddy lights and trace that shape on the fender, slightly undersize. Trim again to get a perfect fit and tack the bucket in until it is tacked all the way around, weld as thorough as you can. Next grind the welds, apply filler, and primer. This is just what i would do, but to each his own. If you can make it work then by all means go for it, this is how you learn we are just here for advice.

Shaun

[jrsmith_2010]

after the busy christmas day, i still had some time to work on my truck so heres what i got done

i filled in the top and made a base for the sides, where i can cut and add the metal where i need it to fill in the spaces that r to big







and i was sure to fill in ALL the empty space with the welder instead of alot of filler, so they welds arent the best lookin but nothin an angle grinder cant fix, thanks for all the advice guys!

[dammitmitchell]

ok once again...
sanding disc.... sanding disc sanding disc...
then.. for your wiring... (NOT tryign to be negative)
i am an avionics techinician so please take this with an open mind..
either solder with heatshrink tubing (which is cheapest by small roll at a boat or marine shop)
OR invest in either straight splices and heatshrink tubing
or what is called enviromental splices..
those are the ONLY three acceptable methods of any sort of wiring repairs on aviation automotive or marine uses..
wirenuts outside on a car only last months and rust fast..
and dude.. troubleshooting a vehicle with wirenut issues that you forget or dont now about.. is a serious pain even for someone in my back ground..
oh hey here's some links... and one more note..
"electrical tape" is actually only reccomended for temporary repair.. with either heat or salt exposure it becomes a semiconductor and then eventually falls off =-)
http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_1...0P?vName=Tools
http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_1...0P?vName=Tools
this will help you along the way;
http://www.motorbooks.com/Store/Prod...ails_32775.ncm
http://www.motorbooks.com/Store/ProductDetails_6544.ncm
one basic rule
electrical is just as important as mechincal... if one is wrong so it the other
good luck dude and if you have electrical questions PM me and i'll help give you the references you need

[jrsmith_2010]

Originally Posted by dammitmitchell

ok once again...
sanding disc.... sanding disc sanding disc...
then.. for your wiring... (NOT tryign to be negative)
i am an avionics techinician so please take this with an open mind..
either solder with heatshrink tubing (which is cheapest by small roll at a boat or marine shop)
OR invest in either straight splices and heatshrink tubing
or what is called enviromental splices..
those are the ONLY three acceptable methods of any sort of wiring repairs on aviation automotive or marine uses..
wirenuts outside on a car only last months and rust fast..
and dude.. troubleshooting a vehicle with wirenut issues that you forget or dont now about.. is a serious pain even for someone in my back ground..
oh hey here's some links... and one more note..
"electrical tape" is actually only reccomended for temporary repair.. with either heat or salt exposure it becomes a semiconductor and then eventually falls off =-)
http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_1...0P?vName=Tools
http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_1...0P?vName=Tools
this will help you along the way;
http://www.motorbooks.com/Store/Prod...ails_32775.ncm
http://www.motorbooks.com/Store/ProductDetails_6544.ncm
one basic rule
electrical is just as important as mechincal... if one is wrong so it the other
good luck dude and if you have electrical questions PM me and i'll help give you the references you need

thanks for the info! i plan on goin to sears tomorrow so ill get what i need to wire them up correctly, and i surely dont want them to fail after a few months with wire nuts!

[dieseldr4]

Originally Posted by N2TRUX

Ok, I have tried to stay out of this because you are already getting grief for your hack job on the sheetmetal. You say you want to do it "your way" and that's fine. I won't even touch that subject.

I do however have to step in here and give some input when you talk about using wire nuts to splice the tail lights in. DO NOT use wire nuts for automotive connections. They are designed for interior use in household circuits only. They might work to start with but eventually they will corrode internally and cause electrical gremlins that will drive you crazy.

If your going to learn to do things, please at least learn the correct way to do them. Invest in a 45 watt pencil soldering iron, a small roll of solder and a few pieces of shrink tubing.

Merry Christmas, and consider that piece of advice a small gift that I hope you use the rest of your life.

i agree 100 times over with N2TRUX,i have done alot of side jobs rewiring peoples attempts at a "quick" fix or the "easy way" out with electrical.. earlier this year i had the pleasure of rewiring a truck with caddy lights just like yours,the job entailed me ripping all the autozone wire,speaker wire,unfused circuts,there was even romex (house wire) in this thing.. i ripped it all out and started from scratch..this guy was going to a show with his truck and couldnt get the tail lights to work,so i rewired the whole truck with a ez wiring harness i had on hand for one of my trucks.. it was a product of people being careless..i am happy to hear that you are going to get the proper tools to do the job,it will save you alot of grief down the road..i would hate to see you go through all this work and then get rearended because your tail lights quit working... that would suck..

from following some of your posts i have got the impression that you like to do it all yourself. that is great but dont be afraid or embarrased to ask for help..nobody was born with the knowledge they have, they learned it from their dad ,grandpa, or someone else who already knew the ins and outs...the other way is to get a book, or use the internet, you can get some really good info out there these days.. buy some books, ask alot of questions , find a club or group in your area where you can find people doing the same type of stuff you are doing and hang out and soak up the knoledge around you... pretty soon you will be right up there with the best of them..

[Mr79C10]

I have this book some where in my inventory. I think its the best 30 bux on auto electrical you can buy. Packed FULL of great info!!

[jrsmith_2010]

yea i hear u guys completely with the wiring, i went to sears and got a SANDING DISC for my angle grinder and looked at the wiring. they had nothing. my dad said he could get me a roll of soughter and an acedaline (spelling ?) and some sleeves to slide over them after i get them good. thanks for all the input guys!

[jrsmith_2010]

i got the driver side as done as its gonna get untill i use this on the angle grinder.

then just fill in missing gaps and mold the metal to have it fit the caddy light

heres some pics of said drivers side





and then i started on the passenger side

[dammitmitchell]

hey one more thing..
believe it or not walmart has pretty much all the basic splicing stuff you need
i just dont like the brand of heatshrink tubing they occasionally have
but a 50 pack of splices is about 4 bucks so good luck!
if you do plan on having a dedicated wiring box i use a big plastic tackel box with the seperator lid thingy..
about the best way you can go..

[Redbone One]

I applaud your work as well as the interest in your success from all the people that posted "suggestions". They want to see you succeed.

I have found, over the years, that a collection of information, and then a selection of that which I can use has produced results of which I am proud of. You can be proud of what you are doing.

Mistakes are not mistakes, but an opportunity to improve knowledge. Once you understand the basics, I believe you can accomplish what you set out to do.

Ask questions of others and you can profit from their "mistakes". The next show you attend, when you see something on a vehicle you like, ask the owner how he did it. and what he might do differently if he had to do it again. It might not be the "best" way, but it got the job done. If you ask the same question of three different people, you might get three different answers, but, you will have three different approaches to getting the job done.

[N2TRUX]

Great input Redbone one. Welcome to the forum.

[Redbone One]

Thank you N2TRUX.

[TylerHuff]

i dont know if anyone has mentioned this yet but you need to have CLEAN metal to weld to in order to have clean welds that means sanding off primer in the area where you are welding and you will get a lot better results with less headache

[dammitmitchell]

all of the pictures and all of the postings and we all until you spaced that..
good cach

[jrsmith_2010]

hey guys, got some progress goin i think, i finished welding up the driver side and the passenger side where i belive it should be, but i kno ill have to modify when i get to installation. and i also started to grind off the driver side with the sanding disk. it works very well and now i see y not to use grinding disk! so heres some pics

[jrsmith_2010]

some more pics, finished up the grinding for now