Hey, when you have a nice pair of headlights you need to show them off a little. 

Quote from: NT2C on July 02, 2025, 08:35:27 AMHey, when you have a nice pair of headlights you need to show them off a little. 

Quote from: Benny HillAnd that great big Betty Mavery, and she's got her own avery,
She's got the biggest parakeets I've ever seen.

Always remember to wear a rubber... tire 

My boy Redhawk is looking pretty spiffy with his new upgrades.  What y'all can't see is how much more room I have in the back with about half the stuff I carry now stowed in the trunk that is no longer filled with the tire and jack.  (no, the jack is still there, just not in the giant foam holder)





The last thing to do is wire up those new lights.  I only had 14/4 and the manual calls for 12/4 for the run to the first light, 14/4 after that.  The 12/4 will be here tomorrow.  I also needed to get creative with a 5 lug relay because HF says not to turn on the high beam and low beam at the same time.  What I needed was a SPDT toggle with center off, but my switch panel doesn't support that or have room.  Instead, I'm setting it up so the DRLs and highs are on one switch just labeled as power for the lights, and another to energize the relay (which then disconnects the high circuit and energizes the low, with the DRLs still on).  It's a kludge until I find a better way, but it should work fine with the waterproof relay and socket I'm using.

 

Washed it with the foam cannon and pressure washer.  Still pretty dirty, but a lot better than it was.  Needs a good hand wash, which it will get next month.

Ordered a maps update for the on-board GPS system.  It was last updated with the 2022 edition and we like to do it every two years since maps themselves tend to be two years outdated.  (ex: A 2025 edition is going to be based on 2023 data because it takes about 2 years to go from raw data to finished map package)

Since this is the 2024 edition (next edition comes out in November) it will be based on data from 2022 and will replace the 2022 edition I now have installed, which is itself based on 2020 data.  So I'm taking a system that's 5 years out of date and updating it to only be 3 years out of date.  "Big whoop, use Google", you say?  On what?  Can't legally use my phone for navigation in many states now (I will in a pinch though, such as when my on-board system has glitched and frozen) and the system predates things like Android Auto.  So it's either the built-in system or paper maps (which I do carry in the vehicle).

I replaced the radio in my truck just a month or so ago so I can have android auto to get around having the holding the phone issues.

Registered it for an additional two years.

Ordered a new control panel and relay box to control the lights on the Jeep.  The old 6-circuit setup was just too small for my needs with the new Harbor Freight lights on the nudge bar that use three circuits.  I picked up a 12-circuit wireless control box during the last of the Prime Days for 15% off and a 10% off coupon on top of that, so I saved a decent chunk of coin.  Plus, I have a friend interested in buying the old unit from me, so I'll recoup a little of that cost as well.

Because 22 is too many.

I've had a problem with the tire mount up on the new roof rack.  It's supposed to be compatible with both models of roof rack that 6 Monkeys makes, the bigger and taller rack that's almost $2k, and the low-profile model that I bought.  From the start though I had some doubts about the clearance between the bolts and the roof.  You can't put the bolts in from the top and put the nuts on the bottom because the bolt is too long and will hit the roof, so you have to finagle them into the strap and then the holes in the mount, all while not busting my glass roof.   

I got it mounted, with about 1/4" of space between the bolt heads and the roof/glass.  That proved insufficient, as a few days of driving and some bumps taught me.



I contacted Dan, the owner of 6 Monkeys, yesterday afternoon, and today he's already working on modified brackets for me that will lift the bolt heads up about 5/8" to keep them away from the glass.  He'll ship them as soon as they are ready.

Well Tuesday the straps that hold the gas tank up on my truck rusted through and snapped, orderer a set from Amazon. Of course the bolts for them were rusted into nothing too. So no one in town had any long enough to use, tried to cheat it but no go. Ordered 100 mm long bolt of correct thread to cut to length. Thursday driving the Xterra brakes went out, hard line blew. No one has 4.5mm brake line so got 3/16" line to make a patch. Got truck up and running Friday, Xterra well patch aint working. Looks like i need some 10mm X1 fittings to make a new brake line.

Today was just taking my Suburban to Krown Rustproofing for the yearly treatment.  So far it seems to be working, even the guys there complimented me on the condition of the truck (winter time road salt here in Michigan is a car killer).  I tried a different location this time and it was much better than the one I went to last year. Plus, it's closer to get to and since I used to live right around the corner (probably 1/2 mile away) I know the area really well!

I forgot to post earlier this week when I installed a dash cam in my truck.  It's a Rove R2-4k Pro single camera (which is still on-sale at Amazon right now).  I still need to buy a tap to get power from the rear-view mirror, but at least it's set up.  What I haven't done yet is to go through and optimize all of the little things, like changing the brightness, adjusting the glare filter, etc.  I've looked at some of the footage and it's pretty nice - a lot better than the old camera in my car.  Interestingly, during the install, I found that the previous owner had a dash came in the same location on the windshield, as the clear mounting sticker is still there!

The reason for buying just the single camera version, and not getting a rear camera, is just that the hatch on my Suburban moves so far out when you open it that I would have had to either leave a bunch of slack in the cord, or tear all the trim apart and try to feed the power cable through the wiring loom out to the hatch.  I didn't like the idea of having a bunch of cord hanging down where it could get snagged on things and pulling everything apart to try to feed the wiring sounded like too much work!

Completed (for now) the installation of the new switchbox and rerouting of the wires and cables that ensued.  I say "for now" because I still have eight amber strobe pods to find homes for.  Mounting them to the roof rack seems the best option, but they'll require the use of one switch I have reserved for another use, or their own switch panel.

(click image)

Well i replaced the rusted through  gas tank straps on my truck. Made a quick fix for the brake line on the Xterra. Then later on got the Xterra to a shop to have the service engine light checked. My code reader is acting up so had them do an oil change,and brake line plus air temp sensor, replace the mass air flow  i already replaced a year ago( cheap amazon part), to get the light off.

I kinda want my old 84 or 87 trucks back.

Put his name back on

That looks great @NT2C

Update on 'Oreo'

Got the windows tinted a couple months ago. 20% on all the sides and rear, and 45% on the entire windshield[windscreen]. Need that for the Florida sun. 'The Tint Man' came out and did it at my work location.

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Then ordered a liner for under the hood[bonnet]. I could have sworn that was on there when I bought it, but for sure it wasn't after they fixed the scratch on the front passenger side. 



And then a couple of weeks ago did an oil change at 5000 miles. When I got the car i figured the dealer did an oilchange and reset the system maintenance computer, but I also keep track of that using the trip odometer B. So I reset that when I drove off the lot. I knew it was coming up, I got to about 4500 miles on OD B and then the system check reminder said 'system maintenance soon' or something like that. And when I hit about 4900 miles it said 'system maintenance required, take car to dealer' or something like that.

If I didn't know, or have a scan tool, or tracked that 5000 miles, I'd have to take it in to find out what maintenance its talking about and then pay dealer prices for whatever. What a ripoff system.

Anyhow, I had to use a different procedure from my old Corolla to change the oil. This new car has that full underbody splashguard, so I drove it up on my ramps instead of jacking the front end up like I used to. [the old corolla had a center jack point under the engine that was pretty handy] Then just removed the 'door' that covers the drain plug and oil filter which are right next to each other. Also the oil filter is oriented sideways in the new Corolla and not behind anything so that is a much better design. The old corolla had it upside down and hard to reach so I always got oil on my gloves, with it sides ways I didn't get any hot oil on my gloves taking it off. Overall I'd say it is an easier process than the old car. Yaaayy. 

And then YTubed how to reset the system maintenance alert which was pretty simple too.

There's a bunch of PPF on this car, I'm going to eventually take that off the sideview mirrors, the hood, the door edges, and the trunk lip [boot]. I have a steamer and some adhesive remover for that job already. That stuff is ok at first I guess but mine is already getting dirt under the edges at 3 years old, and in the long run its terrible to try to get off and cracks and looks horrible. IMO remove PPF as soon as you can.

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Put my roof rack back together and remounted the spare with new brackets that won't tap the glass roof.  I also did some short vids with minimal editing showing the lights.  https://www.youtube.com/@life_with_bernie