Gary Lewis Posted March 15, 2021 Author Share Posted March 15, 2021 I see nothing that would warrant a Looks excellent! Thanks, Scott & Jim. It just wasn't the shade of black I planned. But it'll work. And, by the way, I just ordered the Element 50 w/an extra clip. Don't have a delivery date yet, but I ordered it directly from Element rather than through Amazon as I couldn't find the extra clip there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grumpin Posted March 16, 2021 Share Posted March 16, 2021 Thanks, Scott & Jim. It just wasn't the shade of black I planned. But it'll work. And, by the way, I just ordered the Element 50 w/an extra clip. Don't have a delivery date yet, but I ordered it directly from Element rather than through Amazon as I couldn't find the extra clip there. Very nice! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted March 16, 2021 Author Share Posted March 16, 2021 Very nice! Thanks, Dane. It feels good to be getting some of the loose ends tied down. Moved more of my "stuff" into the storage unit behind the seat today. Now I have two flashlights back there, both of which charge from USB and are plugged into the USB charging ports. Plus on any overlanding trip I'll put at least one of the Worklights in, which also charge from USB. And I added a light string my son got me, that also charges from USB or solar, but isn't plugged in at the moment. Plus I moved the handheld charger base there and it turns out the handhelds will fit. So that's plugged into the inverter along with the jump start battery, which leaves one more 110v outlet available as well as two more USB ports and two 12v ports. There's going to be lots of charging going on when we hit the road. Hope to start on the security system tomorrow. Maybe install the door lock motors and run the wires up under the dash. And I need to run power up to the security system using the door lock fuse position. But Ford put a 30A circuit breaker in for them. Do I really need that much? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArdWrknTrk Posted March 16, 2021 Share Posted March 16, 2021 Thanks, Dane. It feels good to be getting some of the loose ends tied down. Moved more of my "stuff" into the storage unit behind the seat today. Now I have two flashlights back there, both of which charge from USB and are plugged into the USB charging ports. Plus on any overlanding trip I'll put at least one of the Worklights in, which also charge from USB. And I added a light string my son got me, that also charges from USB or solar, but isn't plugged in at the moment. Plus I moved the handheld charger base there and it turns out the handhelds will fit. So that's plugged into the inverter along with the jump start battery, which leaves one more 110v outlet available as well as two more USB ports and two 12v ports. There's going to be lots of charging going on when we hit the road. Hope to start on the security system tomorrow. Maybe install the door lock motors and run the wires up under the dash. And I need to run power up to the security system using the door lock fuse position. But Ford put a 30A circuit breaker in for them. Do I really need that much? Are the door locks on a different circuit than power windows? I imagine Ford wanted to be extra sure there was always enough current to enter the truck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted March 16, 2021 Author Share Posted March 16, 2021 Are the door locks on a different circuit than power windows? I imagine Ford wanted to be extra sure there was always enough current to enter the truck. Yes, the door locks are on a 30A cb and the windows are on a 20A cb. As I think about it the test I did of the door lock motors was with them in free air, not connected to anything. So I need to get these new ones installed and test them to see how much current they pull. Hopefully not more than ~5A each as the circuit to the relay is only fused at 15A. Speaking of that, I have to put in a relay to pull in the horn relay! The coil on the horn relay pulls 630ma and the security system can only sink 300ma. So I think I'll just replace the factory horn relay w/a Bosch unit and be done with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
85lebaront2 Posted March 16, 2021 Share Posted March 16, 2021 Yes, the door locks are on a 30A cb and the windows are on a 20A cb. As I think about it the test I did of the door lock motors was with them in free air, not connected to anything. So I need to get these new ones installed and test them to see how much current they pull. Hopefully not more than ~5A each as the circuit to the relay is only fused at 15A. Speaking of that, I have to put in a relay to pull in the horn relay! The coil on the horn relay pulls 630ma and the security system can only sink 300ma. So I think I'll just replace the factory horn relay w/a Bosch unit and be done with it. You have to remember the same fuse box is used in both 2 dr and 4 dr models so multiply the current draw of one lock motor by 4 and test at stall where it will be the max load. Windows are generally run one at a time, maybe two, not all four at once. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted March 16, 2021 Author Share Posted March 16, 2021 You have to remember the same fuse box is used in both 2 dr and 4 dr models so multiply the current draw of one lock motor by 4 and test at stall where it will be the max load. Windows are generally run one at a time, maybe two, not all four at once. Excellent point, Bill! I'd not thought of that. So maybe they do pull ~5A each and four of them would pull 20A, giving a 50% reserve. Seems reasonable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kramttocs Posted March 16, 2021 Share Posted March 16, 2021 Excellent point, Bill! I'd not thought of that. So maybe they do pull ~5A each and four of them would pull 20A, giving a 50% reserve. Seems reasonable. My keyless entry came fused inline with 15 as well and has no issues. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
85lebaront2 Posted March 16, 2021 Share Posted March 16, 2021 Excellent point, Bill! I'd not thought of that. So maybe they do pull ~5A each and four of them would pull 20A, giving a 50% reserve. Seems reasonable. The other thing, which is not commonly thought about, in 1985, if you ordered a crew cab with full power options, you still only had power windows and locks on the front doors. It wasn't until into the 90s when the rear doors got power windows and locks. I had wanted to put power rear windows and door locks on Darth, but the early rear doors had no provision for either. Locks wouldn't have been too hard, windows, I had started working on something, then scored the complete system from Pete's off the 1996 truck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted March 16, 2021 Author Share Posted March 16, 2021 The other thing, which is not commonly thought about, in 1985, if you ordered a crew cab with full power options, you still only had power windows and locks on the front doors. It wasn't until into the 90s when the rear doors got power windows and locks. I had wanted to put power rear windows and door locks on Darth, but the early rear doors had no provision for either. Locks wouldn't have been too hard, windows, I had started working on something, then scored the complete system from Pete's off the 1996 truck. Scott - Thanks. I'm glad your motors work. Apparently I should have purchased the same ones. Bill - So in reality an '85 crewcab would only have the two locks? As for what I did today, I don't have much to show but frustration. Turns out that the door lock motors I ordered are JUNK! I put one in the driver's side and hit it with 12v from my little test battery. It groaned, but the lock didn't move, even though w/o the motor in the lock is easily moved. I thought that maybe it wasn't getting enough current from that battery so wired it to the aux battery. Nada. Hmmm, maybe this one is bad. So I tried the other one. Nada. And on top of that these motors didn't want to let me manually lock or unlock the door. So I thought I'd try them out of the truck. Maybe I have them in a bind. I put the little vise shown below on the radiator support, clamped the link from the new motor in it, held the motor, and hit it with juice directly from the battery. It groaned. Next up was an old Ford lock motor. I clamped its link in the vise and hit with 12v and the vise took off! Then I reversed the connections and it jerked the vise back across the radiator support. The new motors show ~10 - 12 ohms and pull 2.4A. But the Ford motors read 6 ohms and pull 5.0A. However, the difference in power is night and day, not just 2X. What to do? The best thing about the new motors are their skirts and grommets. So I pulled those off one of the new motors, cleaned and lubed a Ford lock motor, dressed it up with a new skirt and grommets, and installed it. This time when I hit it with power you could hear the CLUNK from the lock a block away! And, you can easily lock or unlock the door manually. So, my advice is to buy the cheapest lock motors you can find and use their skirts and grommets on old Ford lock motors. The skirts seem to be of fairly high quality and are in far, FAR better shape than any of those on my Ford lock motors. And the grommets are much more pliable than the old ones. But the motors are awful! WIMPS! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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