taskswap Posted January 17, 2022 Author Share Posted January 17, 2022 Why do you need that many wires? 1-left turn / brake 2-Right turn / brake 3-Running lights 4-Ground As you guessed further in your reply, it's for a 7-pin connector: 1 - LT / Brake 2 - RT / Brake 3 - Running Lights 4 - Ground 5 - Electric brake 6 - Reverse 7 - Aux The seventh / aux pin is a dedicated "hot in start/run" circuit typically on a 20-30A fuse and a 10ga or similar wire. It's typically used to help charge a battery on the trailer although in practice most folks find even at that rating, it's such a long run that the voltage drop stops you from getting full value out if it. All my current trailers have their own solar chargers but I like to have the circuit available just in case. I considered a tee but decided against it for reasons I hadn't mentioned here before. My harness has been cut and tapped a few times already, for what I can't say. But I have loose wires hanging all over, and worse IMO, wires that were tapped with those awful blue wiretaps and then REMOVED, so you can see bare copper corroding away through the insulation holes. My reverse lights just don't work at all, and two lights are missing all the way - including their sockets. So I'm thinking I'll just follow the wiring forward until I find the first un-molested section of the stock wiring, then build a loom back from there with a Weatherpack for the trailer connector in case I ever want to replaced that connector. Did a little "Rattlecan Rhumba" on the hood today. It came out fine. I had a few small runs but it was in the clearcoat so you don't notice unless you're close. The pic below isn't that flattering - it looks better than that in person. I think I was picking up reflections of stuff in my garage on the nose. This is the first in probably 20 years that Rocky has been remotely "shiny"! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FuzzFace2 Posted January 17, 2022 Share Posted January 17, 2022 Why do you need that many wires? 1-left turn / brake 2-Right turn / brake 3-Running lights 4-Ground As you guessed further in your reply, it's for a 7-pin connector: 1 - LT / Brake 2 - RT / Brake 3 - Running Lights 4 - Ground 5 - Electric brake 6 - Reverse 7 - Aux The seventh / aux pin is a dedicated "hot in start/run" circuit typically on a 20-30A fuse and a 10ga or similar wire. It's typically used to help charge a battery on the trailer although in practice most folks find even at that rating, it's such a long run that the voltage drop stops you from getting full value out if it. All my current trailers have their own solar chargers but I like to have the circuit available just in case. I considered a tee but decided against it for reasons I hadn't mentioned here before. My harness has been cut and tapped a few times already, for what I can't say. But I have loose wires hanging all over, and worse IMO, wires that were tapped with those awful blue wiretaps and then REMOVED, so you can see bare copper corroding away through the insulation holes. My reverse lights just don't work at all, and two lights are missing all the way - including their sockets. So I'm thinking I'll just follow the wiring forward until I find the first un-molested section of the stock wiring, then build a loom back from there with a Weatherpack for the trailer connector in case I ever want to replaced that connector. Did a little "Rattlecan Rhumba" on the hood today. It came out fine. I had a few small runs but it was in the clearcoat so you don't notice unless you're close. The pic below isn't that flattering - it looks better than that in person. I think I was picking up reflections of stuff in my garage on the nose. This is the first in probably 20 years that Rocky has been remotely "shiny"! So the weather pack will be used on the truck & trailer to hook the 2 together? Or on the truck to make the trailer harness and use a normal 7 blade trailer connection? My guess they tapped into the tail light harness and being you are missing sockets even more so. At that point I think I would try and find a good tail light harness or make that side and use that trailer light Tee into a normal trailer hook up. This truck is the first I have used the Tee on, my other 2 trucks were factory tow set up and had the wiring in place. The last one even had the 7 blade female side out back and the socket under dash for electric brakes to plug in the controller. Any of the other tow units, before Tee's were a thing, the wiring went back to the tail lights out of weather and down to the hook up plug. If I ever pull a trailer with a flat 4 light plug I have adapters in the 2 trucks, my pick up & 02 Durango, I have to pull with so no messing with re-wiring. How is your finger after pushing that little button on the cans Or did you have 1 of them trigger things for spray cans? Looking good Dave ---- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted January 17, 2022 Share Posted January 17, 2022 Why do you need that many wires? 1-left turn / brake 2-Right turn / brake 3-Running lights 4-Ground As you guessed further in your reply, it's for a 7-pin connector: 1 - LT / Brake 2 - RT / Brake 3 - Running Lights 4 - Ground 5 - Electric brake 6 - Reverse 7 - Aux The seventh / aux pin is a dedicated "hot in start/run" circuit typically on a 20-30A fuse and a 10ga or similar wire. It's typically used to help charge a battery on the trailer although in practice most folks find even at that rating, it's such a long run that the voltage drop stops you from getting full value out if it. All my current trailers have their own solar chargers but I like to have the circuit available just in case. I considered a tee but decided against it for reasons I hadn't mentioned here before. My harness has been cut and tapped a few times already, for what I can't say. But I have loose wires hanging all over, and worse IMO, wires that were tapped with those awful blue wiretaps and then REMOVED, so you can see bare copper corroding away through the insulation holes. My reverse lights just don't work at all, and two lights are missing all the way - including their sockets. So I'm thinking I'll just follow the wiring forward until I find the first un-molested section of the stock wiring, then build a loom back from there with a Weatherpack for the trailer connector in case I ever want to replaced that connector. Did a little "Rattlecan Rhumba" on the hood today. It came out fine. I had a few small runs but it was in the clearcoat so you don't notice unless you're close. The pic below isn't that flattering - it looks better than that in person. I think I was picking up reflections of stuff in my garage on the nose. This is the first in probably 20 years that Rocky has been remotely "shiny"! Yes, I wired Big Blue for a 7-pin connector. And it is wired to match my 2015, that has it from the factory. Plus I have the 7 to 4-pin adapter. So I'm set. And your paint job looks good. I think you are getting what you were looking for - a better paint job that you aren't afraid to use. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taskswap Posted January 17, 2022 Author Share Posted January 17, 2022 So the weather pack will be used on the truck & trailer to hook the 2 together? Or on the truck to make the trailer harness and use a normal 7 blade trailer connection? Yes, on the back side of the 7-pin jack on the bumper. Just to make it easier if I ever have to replace that jack. How is your finger after pushing that little button on the cans Or did you have 1 of them trigger things for spray cans? Well, I bought one of those now! I have one on the way from Amazon but it hadn't arrived yet so I just toughed it out. Minor cramping, it was just the hood. I sure wouldn't want to do the whole truck without one! Just wet-sanded it to 600 grit, not because I care but for practice. Looks OK overall. I may pop over to Harbor Freight and grab a buffer and some compound, shine the hood up a bit. The big puzzle for today since I'm off from work is the door locks. Remember those slide locks I was dead set on using? Well I bit the bullet and cut the hole for them in the passenger side door. That's the side I have a more or less complete unit for. The previous owner had rigged up a clever way to keep the metal spring plate on the back: Just drilled holes in the gussets and small wire ties to hold it on. It looks ghetto but works pretty well actually. Unfortunately when I went to install them I discovered that my pushrod is probably bent. It doesn't sit in the right spot to connect to the slider and still work smoothly. I ordered two totally new units (Dennis Carpenter now has them in stock in red if you don't mind repainting them) and matching push rods but they aren't here yet so I may just try to re-bend it myself. It would be really nice to have at least ONE door "done". Speaking of doors, mine don't close all the way. I've tried both of the basic tricks (replacing the stud on the door jamb and adjusting it inward, and using that "bender" tool LMC sells) and they helped a little but not enough. I have a door hinge pin kit but hadn't tried to install it yet because naturally my hinge pins are swaged over on the ends, no easy to remove clips. Guess I have to drill them out? That seems to be what other Youtubers are doing... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FuzzFace2 Posted January 17, 2022 Share Posted January 17, 2022 So the weather pack will be used on the truck & trailer to hook the 2 together? Or on the truck to make the trailer harness and use a normal 7 blade trailer connection? Yes, on the back side of the 7-pin jack on the bumper. Just to make it easier if I ever have to replace that jack. How is your finger after pushing that little button on the cans Or did you have 1 of them trigger things for spray cans? Well, I bought one of those now! I have one on the way from Amazon but it hadn't arrived yet so I just toughed it out. Minor cramping, it was just the hood. I sure wouldn't want to do the whole truck without one! Just wet-sanded it to 600 grit, not because I care but for practice. Looks OK overall. I may pop over to Harbor Freight and grab a buffer and some compound, shine the hood up a bit. The big puzzle for today since I'm off from work is the door locks. Remember those slide locks I was dead set on using? Well I bit the bullet and cut the hole for them in the passenger side door. That's the side I have a more or less complete unit for. The previous owner had rigged up a clever way to keep the metal spring plate on the back: Just drilled holes in the gussets and small wire ties to hold it on. It looks ghetto but works pretty well actually. Unfortunately when I went to install them I discovered that my pushrod is probably bent. It doesn't sit in the right spot to connect to the slider and still work smoothly. I ordered two totally new units (Dennis Carpenter now has them in stock in red if you don't mind repainting them) and matching push rods but they aren't here yet so I may just try to re-bend it myself. It would be really nice to have at least ONE door "done". Speaking of doors, mine don't close all the way. I've tried both of the basic tricks (replacing the stud on the door jamb and adjusting it inward, and using that "bender" tool LMC sells) and they helped a little but not enough. I have a door hinge pin kit but hadn't tried to install it yet because naturally my hinge pins are swaged over on the ends, no easy to remove clips. Guess I have to drill them out? That seems to be what other Youtubers are doing... I am not liking you much right now You made me spend money at Dennis Carpenter. I went for the slider locks, they only listed 1 and not what side and in tan (red would have been nice), but I think they can be swapped sides and just have the writing upside down? I had none at all when I got my truck so I needed something. Also needed arm rest as the wood ones in the truck do look cool they hurt when you rest your arm on it. They did not have door panels that I saw and if they did it looked like for the later type pin type locks. So I may need to go back over the ones I have to make them better looking. Nice job on your lock Dave ---- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grumpin Posted January 17, 2022 Share Posted January 17, 2022 So the weather pack will be used on the truck & trailer to hook the 2 together? Or on the truck to make the trailer harness and use a normal 7 blade trailer connection? Yes, on the back side of the 7-pin jack on the bumper. Just to make it easier if I ever have to replace that jack. How is your finger after pushing that little button on the cans Or did you have 1 of them trigger things for spray cans? Well, I bought one of those now! I have one on the way from Amazon but it hadn't arrived yet so I just toughed it out. Minor cramping, it was just the hood. I sure wouldn't want to do the whole truck without one! Just wet-sanded it to 600 grit, not because I care but for practice. Looks OK overall. I may pop over to Harbor Freight and grab a buffer and some compound, shine the hood up a bit. The big puzzle for today since I'm off from work is the door locks. Remember those slide locks I was dead set on using? Well I bit the bullet and cut the hole for them in the passenger side door. That's the side I have a more or less complete unit for. The previous owner had rigged up a clever way to keep the metal spring plate on the back: Just drilled holes in the gussets and small wire ties to hold it on. It looks ghetto but works pretty well actually. Unfortunately when I went to install them I discovered that my pushrod is probably bent. It doesn't sit in the right spot to connect to the slider and still work smoothly. I ordered two totally new units (Dennis Carpenter now has them in stock in red if you don't mind repainting them) and matching push rods but they aren't here yet so I may just try to re-bend it myself. It would be really nice to have at least ONE door "done". Speaking of doors, mine don't close all the way. I've tried both of the basic tricks (replacing the stud on the door jamb and adjusting it inward, and using that "bender" tool LMC sells) and they helped a little but not enough. I have a door hinge pin kit but hadn't tried to install it yet because naturally my hinge pins are swaged over on the ends, no easy to remove clips. Guess I have to drill them out? That seems to be what other Youtubers are doing... If I do my hinge pins again I’m looking into buying the whole hinge. I ended up adjusting the door anyway. Edit to add, IIRC, I cut the pins in half and worked them out. I had the door propped up and stabilized so it wouldn’t move too much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taskswap Posted January 17, 2022 Author Share Posted January 17, 2022 I am not liking you much right now You made me spend money at Dennis Carpenter. I went for the slider locks, they only listed 1 and not what side and in tan (red would have been nice), but I think they can be swapped sides and just have the writing upside down? I had none at all when I got my truck so I needed something. Yeah the lock bodies are only "handed" as far as the lettering is concerned. I'm lucky enough to have both face plates, I'm just missing the black slider and spring plate from one side. I can definitely confirm that these take paint well, either the S.M. Arnold "Plastic & Vinyl Refinisher" or the Coverlay paint LMC sells. I bet if you wanted to, you could sand/file down the letters prior to painting the trim ring and it would look alright. Also needed arm rest as the wood ones in the truck do look cool they hurt when you rest your arm on it. They did not have door panels that I saw and if they did it looked like for the later type pin type locks. So I may need to go back over the ones I have to make them better looking. Nice job on your lock Dave ---- Thanks! Well, don't congratulate me until I'm done. Today was sort of a wasted day. After botching the paint and clearcoat on the hood, I bought a shiny new buffer and botched the polishing job on top of it all. I went a little too hard in some spots and wore through to primer, and generally failed to get a smooth finish anywhere else. It doesn't really bother me, I learned a lot from this process, so maybe one warm day in future months I'll strip it back down and redo it. Haven't done anything else though, which is the main setback... And my radiator box arrived from Jegs with a nice hole beaten into the side of it: I'm conflicted about it, definitely need to reach out to Jegs. On the one hand, it doesn't look so severe that it actually poked any holes in the radiator, but it DID go enough to bend a few fins. I don't know I'd ever really trust it, and I don't want to wait until after I install it to find out there's a leak... I'm sure Jegs will take care of it... But it's the delay that's the big issue... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted January 17, 2022 Share Posted January 17, 2022 I am not liking you much right now You made me spend money at Dennis Carpenter. I went for the slider locks, they only listed 1 and not what side and in tan (red would have been nice), but I think they can be swapped sides and just have the writing upside down? I had none at all when I got my truck so I needed something. Yeah the lock bodies are only "handed" as far as the lettering is concerned. I'm lucky enough to have both face plates, I'm just missing the black slider and spring plate from one side. I can definitely confirm that these take paint well, either the S.M. Arnold "Plastic & Vinyl Refinisher" or the Coverlay paint LMC sells. I bet if you wanted to, you could sand/file down the letters prior to painting the trim ring and it would look alright. Also needed arm rest as the wood ones in the truck do look cool they hurt when you rest your arm on it. They did not have door panels that I saw and if they did it looked like for the later type pin type locks. So I may need to go back over the ones I have to make them better looking. Nice job on your lock Dave ---- Thanks! Well, don't congratulate me until I'm done. Today was sort of a wasted day. After botching the paint and clearcoat on the hood, I bought a shiny new buffer and botched the polishing job on top of it all. I went a little too hard in some spots and wore through to primer, and generally failed to get a smooth finish anywhere else. It doesn't really bother me, I learned a lot from this process, so maybe one warm day in future months I'll strip it back down and redo it. Haven't done anything else though, which is the main setback... And my radiator box arrived from Jegs with a nice hole beaten into the side of it: I'm conflicted about it, definitely need to reach out to Jegs. On the one hand, it doesn't look so severe that it actually poked any holes in the radiator, but it DID go enough to bend a few fins. I don't know I'd ever really trust it, and I don't want to wait until after I install it to find out there's a leak... I'm sure Jegs will take care of it... But it's the delay that's the big issue... Glad the locks are working out. I plan on using them in Dad's truck, so I'll follow your lead. Bummer on the radiator. I faced a similar issue as the sealing surface for the cap on my Champion was scratched. I thought I could file it smooth but didn't want to do so until I asked, so called the vendor. He agreed with my approach but said if it didn't work he'd ship me another one. It worked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FuzzFace2 Posted January 17, 2022 Share Posted January 17, 2022 I am not liking you much right now You made me spend money at Dennis Carpenter. I went for the slider locks, they only listed 1 and not what side and in tan (red would have been nice), but I think they can be swapped sides and just have the writing upside down? I had none at all when I got my truck so I needed something. Yeah the lock bodies are only "handed" as far as the lettering is concerned. I'm lucky enough to have both face plates, I'm just missing the black slider and spring plate from one side. I can definitely confirm that these take paint well, either the S.M. Arnold "Plastic & Vinyl Refinisher" or the Coverlay paint LMC sells. I bet if you wanted to, you could sand/file down the letters prior to painting the trim ring and it would look alright. Also needed arm rest as the wood ones in the truck do look cool they hurt when you rest your arm on it. They did not have door panels that I saw and if they did it looked like for the later type pin type locks. So I may need to go back over the ones I have to make them better looking. Nice job on your lock Dave ---- Thanks! Well, don't congratulate me until I'm done. Today was sort of a wasted day. After botching the paint and clearcoat on the hood, I bought a shiny new buffer and botched the polishing job on top of it all. I went a little too hard in some spots and wore through to primer, and generally failed to get a smooth finish anywhere else. It doesn't really bother me, I learned a lot from this process, so maybe one warm day in future months I'll strip it back down and redo it. Haven't done anything else though, which is the main setback... And my radiator box arrived from Jegs with a nice hole beaten into the side of it: I'm conflicted about it, definitely need to reach out to Jegs. On the one hand, it doesn't look so severe that it actually poked any holes in the radiator, but it DID go enough to bend a few fins. I don't know I'd ever really trust it, and I don't want to wait until after I install it to find out there's a leak... I'm sure Jegs will take care of it... But it's the delay that's the big issue... Sorry to hear about the hood but you have to learn some how right? As for taking it all down you dont have to do that unless the paint or primer is not sticking to the panel. This also goes for any paint be it factory or a repaint, if it is sticking just scuff it so paint sticks and paint. You dont have to really prim the panel unless it has bare metal and then only the bare metal but what will happen and why you may want to prim the full panel is you can get spots of different color over say dark color primer and a light color paint. This is when a sealer works as it will make the car / truck 1 color before painting. On your "fix" make sure it has setup / dried good and then hit it with 600 grit wet & dry paper and sand it wet. The water should have a little liquid dish soap (Dawn is what I like) and scuff the full panel to get it smooth of any orange peel. Make sure it is dry before repaint. Let it dry for a day or more, if it has orange peel you can wet sand it with the used 600 paper to knock down the high part of the peel and sand with 1000 & 1200 to get it a little smoother. I would not sand out all the orange peel as you want to leave a little for the buffing to take down. You also want a little "peel" as it will not show scratches as easy when it is glass smooth. Good luck Dave ---- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taskswap Posted January 18, 2022 Author Share Posted January 18, 2022 Sorry to hear about the hood but you have to learn some how right? As for taking it all down you dont have to do that unless the paint or primer is not sticking to the panel. This also goes for any paint be it factory or a repaint, if it is sticking just scuff it so paint sticks and paint. You dont have to really prim the panel unless it has bare metal and then only the bare metal but what will happen and why you may want to prim the full panel is you can get spots of different color over say dark color primer and a light color paint. This is when a sealer works as it will make the car / truck 1 color before painting. On your "fix" make sure it has setup / dried good and then hit it with 600 grit wet & dry paper and sand it wet. The water should have a little liquid dish soap (Dawn is what I like) and scuff the full panel to get it smooth of any orange peel. Make sure it is dry before repaint. Let it dry for a day or more, if it has orange peel you can wet sand it with the used 600 paper to knock down the high part of the peel and sand with 1000 & 1200 to get it a little smoother. I would not sand out all the orange peel as you want to leave a little for the buffing to take down. You also want a little "peel" as it will not show scratches as easy when it is glass smooth. Good luck Dave ---- Thanks for the tips all. I knew about the 600 wet sanding but didn't know Dawn would help. I think my main problem was just rushing it. This is a hunt rig, ANY paint on it is going to be better than what it was. But I was cheating like crazy because I was in a rush. I knew this coming week would be cold but I had a warm day on Friday so I figured I'd do what I could. So... after a bunch of prep (I took a fair bit down to eliminate rust, mostly, and to practice with Bondo a bit) I did basically the opposite of this advice. I sprayed two thin cost of Krylon rust protector primer, two coats of a Rust-Oleum enamel color coat, and two coats of clear coat. About 30 minutes apart. I knew better, I just honestly was in a rush and wanted to see what I could get away with! Anyway it doesn't look too terrible. It has a sort of ... "redneck patina" now. Maybe it'll lower my theft risk! I wouldn't call today a super productive day - me going to Harbor Freight is always a time waster to begin with. But I guess I did get one project done, the passenger side door is "together": I'm really happy with it although I do wish I'd shot a bit of primer on that rusty area lower-right before doing the final mount on everything. And I did not in the end get my power door locks hooked up. I just couldn't work out an angle that would work to mount it. But the manual lock works really well. This door still needs an alignment issue addressed (hinge pin, hopefully) but it's been through a lot since I started: 1. New window crank handle (old one was there but knob plastic cover was broken) from junkyard. 2. New window crank spring and spacer/sealer washer. 3. Cleaned and white-lithium lubed all window crank components to (mostly) eliminate massive squeaking. 4. New Coverlay door panel. 5. New Coverlay armrest, painted with LMC's adhesion promoter and Saddle paint. 6. New door glass run installed. 7. New door lock cylinder installed. 8. New Coverlay bottom liner and map pocket kit. 9. Slide lock push-rod tweaked with pliers to operate smoothly. 10. LMC stainless trim for both the carpet/door transition and the body rail below/outboard of that (under the door). Some regrets: 1. I wish I painted the slide lock trim plate before I knew LMC sold "saddle" color plastic paint, but it matches the dash so looks OK. 2. I could have tried a bit harder on the electric door locks. 3. I discovered at the last minute that my exterior horizontal window glass sealing strip has popped loose on one corner. It's actively scratching the window. But only in the millimeter right next to the edge of the window so it's not a huge deal / not very visible. So I left it. Waiting on parts again... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts