Project: Tow-Rat (Lil' Blue)

[Rickysnickers]

LOL!!!!! Way to go, Ace, hahahahahahahaha!!!!!

[6DoF]

so i mounted the charge cooler water reservoir in the bed like i had been planning basically all along. i instantly hated it, i assume you will to.

while looking for somewhere else to put it, i realized i had already mounted the same reservoir (but half the height) on the core support for a rad over-flow. the charge cooler will be using coolant anyways, why not make the res also the overflow?!?! out with the small one, in with the larger tank with fittings.

[6DoF]

then set about routing the hoses, and really worked out pretty nice with that res location. all 3/4" hose, so kinda beefy, but wasn't anything else down that frame rail.

made the most simple plate mount to hang off the alternator and the front was done. after taking the picture i actually doubled the zip-tie locations down the frame and they are not moving down their either.

[6DoF]

was really satisfying to cut off all the temporary ties down the chassis holding all the lines/hoses/wire and replace them with solid final organization. nothing flapping, nothing hanging, ready for the road!

[youngrodder]

Yep time to start racking up the miles...Good luck with the debugging/driving stage.

Marc

[6DoF]

Originally Posted by youngrodder

Yep time to start racking up the miles...Good luck with the debugging/driving stage.

Marc

right!! thanks

rear most drive shaft is out and headed to the shop to get a non-spliced and balanced unit made. also going up to 1410 joints vs the 1350.

ordered the Dakota Digital RTX, should be here this week.

alternator doesn't work, ordered a new one finally

also need to figure out the alignment ... my guy can't get a dually on his rack

[6DoF]

that was a shockingly productive weekend even though it feels like i wasted a lot of it in couch-potato mode.

the gauge cluster is officially installed and fully functional! the Dakota Digital guys really do make it super easy. i already had sensor wires in the painless harness and their kit had whole new pre-terminated runs with nice connectors. playing with colors, i was thinking more subtle but the wife wanted the green it's amazing how many wires ended up behind the dash too, freaking crazy. everything is in harness form, so it's actually pretty organized when your hands are in there, and the dash modules have a service loop to all pull out of the dash for access. still looks trash til the cluster is screwed in there are also 4 different coils of multiple wires for future add-ons or unused circuits shoved back there too. ideal i'd pull the entire harness back out and remove a LOT of wire plus fully wrap in loom ... one day, just not today.

as part of finishing up all the wiring while i had that mess out, i needed a phone charger. found a USB adapter in my cabinet and got it mounted to the factory dash strut. easy access, out of the way, and mostly hidden. i actually had the dash control rocker switch there, but was too weird to hold a button while turning the key on for setup. left hand access is way better, and easier to toggle screens while driving. i still had no way to cover the last remaining factory hole in the dash til the wife said phone mount. so obvious now! quick print and she's really solid. after I'm sure i don't want to make any more changes I'll print it in carbon filled matte black to match everything else. eventually i'll toss the bluetooth retro radio in there and the phone will control it all anyways.

i'm a little stuck waiting on parts at the moment ... new 1410 double cardin to take in and have a new drive shaft made ... extension adapters to get the air suspension sensors hooked to the dash so i have a setpoint to do an alignment from ... that's when i actually get to do a real test drive.

[Rickysnickers]

Those gauges look really good, I like them!!!

[6DoF]

Originally Posted by Rickysnickers

Those gauges look really good, I like them!!!

thank you! the RTX look really was the right choice.

i'm really glad i painted the original bezel gloss black too. i had sand blasted it from being so corroded, ended up needing a bunch of high-build and some sanding prep. but new chrome would have looked weird.

[6DoF]

testing FTW ... holy crap ... i think i was getting close to an electrical fire. the fuse block i used in the back is NOT up to the task!

i got some speed valves on the front bags for dump, and 4 corner psi sensors wired to the dash. while testing the sensors and setting the valve speeds the compressors, fans, and water pump were running. i didn't want to go over the pump duty cycle, so i turned the truck off and went to pull the fuses ... WHERE I BURNT MY HAND! not just ouch, like blistered 2nd degree burn on the '+' stud! whole panel was hot enough to smell it. all the wires were cool 6-8" away so they are doing fine, but the panel was cooking everything.

pumps were probably pulling 15+ amps each ... the fan bank was maybe 15 total ... and the water pump is like 3. new fuse panel is rated for 40amps per fuse or 150amps total. the grounds i'm also splitting off into a separate block.

FAKK ...

[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

[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!

[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 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

[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