Project: Tow-Rat (Lil' Blue)

[6DoF]

Originally Posted by dsraven

have you thought of using inline circuit breakers for the compressors? that would take quite a load off the fuse panel supply wire. load, with multiple connections, equals heat.
https://www.seamaxmarine.com/product...rolling-motors

i had not, that's an interesting thought ... if this new, non-chineesium, panel doesn't stay perfectly cool that'll be my next move. just sequester the power-sucks

[Hart_Rod]

I opened this thread to look at a "few" pictures. Ended up spending two hours going through the whole thread, . Nice build and attention to detail!

[6DoF]

Originally Posted by Hart_Rod

I opened this thread to look at a "few" pictures. Ended up spending two hours going through the whole thread, . Nice build and attention to detail!

thanks! i've done the same thing before, that's awesome i got one

[Dieselwrencher]

Nice work on the wiring and the gauges look great! I've been using those large resettable breakers for about a year now and they seem to really work well. That's great you found the issue now and not in a busy highway or intersection.

[6DoF]

Originally Posted by Dieselwrencher

Nice work on the wiring and the gauges look great! I've been using those large resettable breakers for about a year now and they seem to really work well. That's great you found the issue now and not in a busy highway or intersection.

test test test! i really want to get some miles under the tires ASAP to find more and have time to fix em. i'm still planning to drive it to WI in July for IOLA with some buddies.

[dsraven]

if installing inline circuit breakers try to wire them close to the batteries so the power wire to the circuit breaker is short, otherwise there is that unfused length of wire to worry about shorting because it is unprotected. there is also the mega style fuses that could be placed next to the battery to protect large draw items, they are just not resettable, they blow and you need to unscrew and replace them. they are made for high draw load circuits, unlike a regular fuse panel.
plan for success, if a fuse panel melts down on the road it's a relatively large tow bill usually

https://m.littelfuse.com/products/fu...bolt-down.aspx

[youngrodder]

I bought this set up from Switch Suspension. I'm running (2) compressors. It was not cheap but it was designed for caring the load and is very well planned out. I have had mine on the road (4 summers) with zero issues power related (not including a junk Optima battery).

https://switchsuspension.com/dual-co...ing-kit-4-awg/

Electrical gremlins are no joke.

Good luck.

Marc

[6DoF]

new fuse block is much nicer, and much cooler!

found a new suspension sensor was leaking, hope that's fixed now

driveshaft should be ready today or tomorrow. i'm so anxious for street trials!

worked out the alignment last night and that went easier than i thought for my first attempt at an IFS. i was WAY off to start, so there's no way this isn't better tech tip, rather than buying the spendy alignment plates, this worked amazing. 2 dollar store pizza pans on a drip tray with oil between them. i could wiggle the truck and move it side to side, i could turn the steering, engine off, full weight of the cummins, with one hand reaching in the window.

[Rickysnickers]

Excellent tip!

[dsraven]

As a firefighter, when we need to move a vehicle during extricate of victims etc, we would use scoop shovels under the tires. Works really well in the winter which seems like it karts forever up here. Lol

[6DoF]

IT'S A REAL TRUCK!!! holy sh!t, shoot, crap, AAAAAHHHHH!!! i'm can't even contain myself i'm so excited. it has no business being as good as it is already, i'm freakin out.

[6DoF]

ok, so reality. first drive went REALLY well.

did a little around the block and some quick back n forth while the wife was at home on-call to get me if issues ... then grabbed her and we drove right out to town for bolts. the idea was back roads out to tractor supply and back. well, they didn't have what i needed, things were going well, so WTH n down the road to ACE. they had what i needed and ended up with about a 23mile loop.

it rides good for no adjusting yet, brakes are awesome, clutch is nice, shifts smooth, runs strong, makes all kinds of turbo noises even at next to no throttle, shockingly quite to drive, the air suspension has stopped leaking after the drive even! the looks i got were fun, we'll say it catches some attention.

engine needs more gauges and a good bit of tuning. won't idle below 1000, has a haze at idle, and won't start without a throttle blip. i'm pretty sure the governor springs are set wrong, and i just needs lots of time turning screws. the big issue is that i'm 98% sure if i go full send, i'll YEET the head gasket. so i'm trying to be careful!

steering is a touch stiff, but less notching while driving than i thought it would be moving around the yard. i'll still want to adjust angles one day, but good enough for now. speedo isn't showing, hopefully just need to re-sink the gps module to the dash, S475 turbo drain is leaking oil, and the breather is NOT enough and started blowing oil. much more breathers need added.

[Rickysnickers]

Well done! Lots of work, a congratulations is in order!!

[youngrodder]

Very nice....The debugging can be fun. New things/noises/fluids appear at different times. But before you know it you've addressed them all and your just out driving.

Well done..

Marc

[6DoF]

it's a cummins ... it'll forever mark it's spot

[6DoF]

turbo drain seal fixed, no leak. the stupid o-ring wasn't thick enough for the groove they put in the part. i just cut a new paper gasket from a roll i had, left the oring, and tightened her back up. guess that worked.

catch can had an internal filter that was restrictive, ditched that. i also forgot to put the steel wool de-mister in the can, so added that. then added 2 more breathers off my 2 oil caps in the front of the engine, no more breather oil. just the front main and rear main leaking oil

added some firewall insulation, as you could imagine that was getting uncomfortably hot inside with the hot pipe basically touching. the wrap does a lot, but not quite that much. it's just warm now, so huge game on.

[6DoF]

the wife had a dream recently that i had 3D printed mounts for a Bluetooth speaker under the dash. she woke up and ordered me this little Bose unit. no way i wasn't going to then print mounts for it! so far no latch of any kind, just cradles it. the rubber like body seams to keep it from moving at all.

with a mount, seamed like a great place to put and hide my "AFC Live" fuel control. should work just like the production version from Power Driven Diesel, but was like 10x cheaper. one bypass valve, an orifice valve to slow the boost signal to the injection pump, and one pressure regulator to set max boost the pump sees. allows you to set the springs and screws in the pump for max power, then dial it back for no smoke and smoother daily driving. or if lazy, have the screws n springs set wrong, and dial in appropriate fueling. in my case, i need to keep the power in check as i should have enough turbo and fuel capacity to yeet the head gasket before i shift gears.

[6DoF]

finally the wife got bored and decided to see why i kept talking about washing the truck with CLR and a soft scotchbright pad. so far, so good! she wants to go over it again with the CLR, and i need to order some patina sauce ASAP.

a fair bit of brown reduction, not sure if it worked more or less than i was expecting haha. the nicest part is everything getting a TON smoother after the rub down. but now it almost looks weird with less blotch blue.

[6DoF]

Friday night i got out to the first cruise, had an absolute blast talking to everyone. no one really knew what it make of it! there was a huge parking lot behind where i'm taking the picture, i was "late" and in the overflow. ended up with a few rows of cars in the grass yet that evening.

Goal Achieved! grass shut in the door

[youngrodder]

Looks like your having fun with it. Sometimes showing up fashionably late to a show/cruise yields the best parking spots. By then they quit policing it quite as bad and you can dump it any ware.

My son knows the drill. A) Find a sweet spot. B) Pull in dump, it on the ground. C) Walk away (casually). Come back later. By then there will be no one there to ask you to move it.

Marc

[6DoF]

this is such crap ... bottom of my driveway we needed fixed, Monday a week and a half ago they did demo but no pour yet! the '55 has been stuck at the house! it's 1-2weeks cure before i can drive that heavy thing on it too.

hard to tell in the picture, but it's a huge hill. where i'm standing for the pic is like 65feet above the cul-de-sac. it's also a shared driveway full concrete below my gravel t's in, and the grass on either side of my gravel is 2 different neighbors. we had a little old concrete in the corner to the gravel, but made the whole corner wider with gravel. the 2 tires on different surfaces would murder a modern traction control. now it'll be all concrete for the first 60-80ft before gravel. the fully concrete shared section was badly broken in one place by a cement truck during the build for my house, so also fixing it. there's a 2 slab long, 3ft wide, 8" deep hole that the neighbors have to drive around now in the other neighbors yard ...

uuuggggghhhhhhh

[6DoF]

it's like having an umbrella! not 10min later now and they showed up to confirm measurements, will start 6am tomorrow morning. game on.

[youngrodder]

Hopefully you get freedom soon...

Marc