Big Blue's Transformation

[grumpin]

Chris - I didn't have any recent experience with CB radios to help me make a decision, but Bob/Nothing Special suggested that I do some research before buying so I did. And I found that Jeepers, and specifically the Jeep Jamboree, are going to GMRS. In fact, Jeep Jamboree is requiring that all participants have a GMRS radio this year.

But my research also found that GMRS is good for shorter range communications than CB's are. And that the truckers don't seem to be changing. So CB is currently better for getting traffic reports and GMRS is the coming thing for offroading or overlanding where you are wanting to communicate with people close to you.

And when I started comparing the units I found big differences. The GMRS radios are much smaller than CB's, and the antennas are tiny in comparison. It think my antenna is ~6" high and it adheres tightly to the cab roof with the magnetic base. So I put a BNC connector in the back of the cab beside the cargo light and can take the antenna off if I want. But since installing it I've forgotten about it and it just stays.

Then there are the handhelds. The ones I got in the kit fit in your hand and have an antenna that's maybe 4" long. But they can easily reach the base station several miles away. So the small size and clout are quite a draw.

And the sound is excellent. GMRS uses FM, so the sound is crisp and clear.

So I think GMRS was the right choice for my use, which will be to talk to others when on the trail, and specifically to my spotter when negotiating a tight spot.

That’s the nice parts, FM and a small antenna!

[Gary Lewis]

That’s the nice parts, FM and a small antenna!

Got the switches wired up today, and they work!

Here's a pic of the backside. By actual count there are 36 connections to the switches themselves, and 15 connections to the truck. But, of course, each of those 15 connections go through a connector with a male and female terminal, so in actuality there were 62 connections to make and solder, and of those 38 have shrink tubing on them.

So, now you see why I'm happy that it actually worked?

And, speaking of working, here's a pic of it in action. All of the indicators are on in this pic, but of course not all of the things the switches control are truly "on". But here's a run down:

• Front Locker: The electric actuator was plugged in and it spins when you flip the switch, and it then lights the indicator light to say "we are locked". But, without the cable connected to the differential, it obviously didn't lock.

• Fog Lights: Power is being fed to a non-existent relay under the hood, so the fog lights didn't truly come on. But I have the relay laid out, so that should happen soon. And, the indicator comes on in both the "always on" position as well as when I pull the marker lights on, so that bit works correctly.

• Aux Power: The key was in ACCY at this point, so the aux power relay normally wouldn't have been pulled in. However, with the switch I forced it to come in, and I know it did 'cause I heard it and the voltmeter swung up to over 12v. Then when I turned the key to On the relay came in and the indicator come on.

• Battery Parallel: When I first hooked the switches up the batteries weren't paralleled, but I pushed the momentary switch and heard the isolator come in and then the indicator lit. And the indicator stayed on for one minute, as the specs say it should, and then the isolator dropped out and the indicator went off.

• Air Compressor: With the Aux Power relay pulled in I turned the air compressor switch on and heard the relay in the box behind the seat come in. So if the compressor had been plugged in to the box it would have fired up.

• Backup Lights: This is another case of the relay not being there. But, I also haven't yet wired into the backup light circuit after the tranny's switch, so all I did here was to put the switch in the "always on" position where the light would be on regardless of the gear position. And, of course, I don't have the lights yet.

Anyway, I'm a happy camper!

[ArdWrknTrk]

Got the switches wired up today, and they work!

Here's a pic of the backside. By actual count there are 36 connections to the switches themselves, and 15 connections to the truck. But, of course, each of those 15 connections go through a connector with a male and female terminal, so in actuality there were 62 connections to make and solder, and of those 38 have shrink tubing on them.

So, now you see why I'm happy that it actually worked?

And, speaking of working, here's a pic of it in action. All of the indicators are on in this pic, but of course not all of the things the switches control are truly "on". But here's a run down:

• Front Locker: The electric actuator was plugged in and it spins when you flip the switch, and it then lights the indicator light to say "we are locked". But, without the cable connected to the differential, it obviously didn't lock.

• Fog Lights: Power is being fed to a non-existent relay under the hood, so the fog lights didn't truly come on. But I have the relay laid out, so that should happen soon. And, the indicator comes on in both the "always on" position as well as when I pull the marker lights on, so that bit works correctly.

• Aux Power: The key was in ACCY at this point, so the aux power relay normally wouldn't have been pulled in. However, with the switch I forced it to come in, and I know it did 'cause I heard it and the voltmeter swung up to over 12v. Then when I turned the key to On the relay came in and the indicator come on.

• Battery Parallel: When I first hooked the switches up the batteries weren't paralleled, but I pushed the momentary switch and heard the isolator come in and then the indicator lit. And the indicator stayed on for one minute, as the specs say it should, and then the isolator dropped out and the indicator went off.

• Air Compressor: With the Aux Power relay pulled in I turned the air compressor switch on and heard the relay in the box behind the seat come in. So if the compressor had been plugged in to the box it would have fired up.

• Backup Lights: This is another case of the relay not being there. But, I also haven't yet wired into the backup light circuit after the tranny's switch, so all I did here was to put the switch in the "always on" position where the light would be on regardless of the gear position. And, of course, I don't have the lights yet.

Anyway, I'm a happy camper!

The 'mission control' harness seems to have worked out!

Are you happy with the indicator lamp brightness now?

[Gary Lewis]

The 'mission control' harness seems to have worked out!

Are you happy with the indicator lamp brightness now?

Yes, it has worked out very nicely. I'm so glad that I put the Molex connector in because I know that I'm going to be taking the switches out several times, and that will make it far, far easier.

And speaking of taking them out, I know that it'll have to come out to replace the Front Locker switch as it engages the locker in the "down" position, which I want to be the off position. So when it comes in I'll pull it out again.

Also, I'll have to address the light level in the "indicators". But there are two different sets of indicators, the upper ones that come on with the marker lamps, and the lower ones that come on when the switches or the device is "on". I like the levels of the lower ones, the ones you see in the picture above. The locker indicator is bright, and I like that because I seriously doubt that I'll ever need to lock the axle at night, so I want it to be bright enough to be seen in the daytime. And the others seem about right, but I'll need to see them at night to know for sure.

However I still need to dramatically tone down the upper indicators. And while the LightDims are supposed to come in today they haven't yet. But if they do I can stick one or more on the back of the lenses tomorrow and see what that does. That'll be easy as I have the tool to remove the rockers.

Hopefully that will work and I won't have to play with resistors. But, if necessary I will.

[Bruce moose4x4]

Yes, it has worked out very nicely. I'm so glad that I put the Molex connector in because I know that I'm going to be taking the switches out several times, and that will make it far, far easier.

And speaking of taking them out, I know that it'll have to come out to replace the Front Locker switch as it engages the locker in the "down" position, which I want to be the off position. So when it comes in I'll pull it out again.

Also, I'll have to address the light level in the "indicators". But there are two different sets of indicators, the upper ones that come on with the marker lamps, and the lower ones that come on when the switches or the device is "on". I like the levels of the lower ones, the ones you see in the picture above. The locker indicator is bright, and I like that because I seriously doubt that I'll ever need to lock the axle at night, so I want it to be bright enough to be seen in the daytime. And the others seem about right, but I'll need to see them at night to know for sure.

However I still need to dramatically tone down the upper indicators. And while the LightDims are supposed to come in today they haven't yet. But if they do I can stick one or more on the back of the lenses tomorrow and see what that does. That'll be easy as I have the tool to remove the rockers.

Hopefully that will work and I won't have to play with resistors. But, if necessary I will.

Gary, If the lightdims don't work. I have before used a magic marker (old school term) Sharpie of the same color and colored the lens, more than one coat to darken even more.

[Gary Lewis]

Gary, If the lightdims don't work. I have before used a magic marker (old school term) Sharpie of the same color and colored the lens, more than one coat to darken even more.

That's a good idea. Thanks, Bruce!

[Gary Lewis]

That's a good idea. Thanks, Bruce!

Today was a BEAUTIFUL day! Temps into the 70's and a blue sky meant I just had to be outside. So, after installing the dash cover I backed Big Blue out of the shop. Then I moved a few things into the storage unit. Here the jump start battery's charger is plugged into the inverter so it'll charge when the inverter is on, which typically will be when the engine is running. And the charger for the handheld radio is plugged into a 12v port as well as to the radio.

Then I decided to wash the truck. It must have been over a year since I've washed him, and it sure improved the looks. But, having seen how the "other" Big Blue turned out I decided to use rubbing compound and then wax on him. However the dark blue was the problem, and it is in a strip that is too narrow to use my buffer on, so I did it by hand. Boy, am I tired!

This pic shows the dark blue on the bed after 3 passes with rubbing compound. You can see the difference to the door and front fender. But, even 3 passes didn't really get rid of all of the oxidized paint, as I found out when I hit it with wax. Oh well, it looks much better than it did.

I also waxed the trim panel on the tail gate. You can see the difference from the left to the right side in the pic below. It didn't turn out perfect, but is a lot better than it was.

[ctubutis]

Today was a BEAUTIFUL day! Temps into the 70's and a blue sky meant I just had to be outside. So, after installing the dash cover I backed Big Blue out of the shop. Then I moved a few things into the storage unit. Here the jump start battery's charger is plugged into the inverter so it'll charge when the inverter is on, which typically will be when the engine is running. And the charger for the handheld radio is plugged into a 12v port as well as to the radio.

Then I decided to wash the truck. It must have been over a year since I've washed him, and it sure improved the looks. But, having seen how the "other" Big Blue turned out I decided to use rubbing compound and then wax on him. However the dark blue was the problem, and it is in a strip that is too narrow to use my buffer on, so I did it by hand. Boy, am I tired!

This pic shows the dark blue on the bed after 3 passes with rubbing compound. You can see the difference to the door and front fender. But, even 3 passes didn't really get rid of all of the oxidized paint, as I found out when I hit it with wax. Oh well, it looks much better than it did.

I also waxed the trim panel on the tail gate. You can see the difference from the left to the right side in the pic below. It didn't turn out perfect, but is a lot better than it was.

Beautiful day here, too. :)

I'm figuring out I want a rearview mirror/backup camera for the truck, something like this from CarToys:

https://www.cartoys.com/brand-motion-fvmr1000

~~

I really like the pictures made with your camera. :) Not at all bandwidth-friendly, but they're gorgeous. :)

[Gary Lewis]

Beautiful day here, too. :)

I'm figuring out I want a rearview mirror/backup camera for the truck, something like this from CarToys:

https://www.cartoys.com/brand-motion-fvmr1000

~~

I really like the pictures made with your camera. :) Not at all bandwidth-friendly, but they're gorgeous. :)

I think a mirror/camera combo might be the right thing for BB. But to this point I haven't found one I like. However the one in your link looks interesting. Is it a full replacement for the mirror? That's what I'd want. I'll read more on it.

As for the pics, thanks. I'm taking the pics in full-size mode, meaning they are 3 - 5 Mb on the card. But I scale them down to ~500Kb with Photoshop and check to ensure that the full white/black range is used. I think that helps a lot.

[salans7]

Today was a BEAUTIFUL day! Temps into the 70's and a blue sky meant I just had to be outside. So, after installing the dash cover I backed Big Blue out of the shop. Then I moved a few things into the storage unit. Here the jump start battery's charger is plugged into the inverter so it'll charge when the inverter is on, which typically will be when the engine is running. And the charger for the handheld radio is plugged into a 12v port as well as to the radio.

Then I decided to wash the truck. It must have been over a year since I've washed him, and it sure improved the looks. But, having seen how the "other" Big Blue turned out I decided to use rubbing compound and then wax on him. However the dark blue was the problem, and it is in a strip that is too narrow to use my buffer on, so I did it by hand. Boy, am I tired!

This pic shows the dark blue on the bed after 3 passes with rubbing compound. You can see the difference to the door and front fender. But, even 3 passes didn't really get rid of all of the oxidized paint, as I found out when I hit it with wax. Oh well, it looks much better than it did.

I also waxed the trim panel on the tail gate. You can see the difference from the left to the right side in the pic below. It didn't turn out perfect, but is a lot better than it was.

How much weight do you have on that RR wheel? Ouch. Is that because of the tires, or the wheels, or both in your opinion?