People often assume that everything is easy for me. That I just go about doing things, and usually doing them well. That's sort of the case, since I've had a lot of experience doing different things in my life and I tend to pick things up quickly, but I think it's important to recognize that even for people who seem "good at everything," not everything is easy. Getting in there and trying things can still be both hard and rewarding, no matter who you are... I don't know why, but I've been super nervous about changing my spark plugs and…
1 CommentTag: electrical
Modifications to the truck’s electrical systems.
It wasn't long ago that Dan (@drr), Mike (@Digiratus), Zane (@Speedytech7) and I got together at Dan's shop to do some work on Mike's steering rack and LCA's. That didn't go exactly as planned, but we all had a great time and when we hear Zane was going to be in town again, we knew right away that we should get together again - even if just to hang out. Of course, we all had a few little things we wanted to do to our trucks (isn't that always the case?) so we decided to meet up at Mike's this…
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April 2, 2018. A while back, I somehow stumbled on @jberry813's post where he installed a garage door opener in his headliner (Homelink in a 1st gen) near the map lights. Having the same issues - a garage door remote that floats around in the center console; @mrs.turbodb's car that has it built into the sun visors) - I decided that this was something I needed to do right away. That was a little over a year ago. Rightly, other mods took priority - and I'm glad they did. See, I never should have done this mod, but most other…
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Having just installed a new ham radio setup to get APRS, I was keen to play with Kenwood TM-D710GA and Mobilinkd to track my location. So, on a few local trips, I turned everything on and waited. And waited and waited. Over the course of 30 minutes, I never got a single APRS beacon from another station. I knew something was wrong. And then I realized that the difference between my initial setup and my current situation was that the truck was on. Turning the truck off resulted in almost immediate APRS packets coming through. Crap, something is causing interference…
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November 5, 2017 It wasn't all that long ago that I got my Ham radio license and installed an Icom-5100 in the truck. A great radio, it's gone now - because a great radio isn't all I need; I need a great radio that can also do APRS. What's APRS and why's it so important? Great question, let's start there! APRS is the "Automatic Packet Reporting System," a machine-parsable protocol used on a known frequency (144.390 in the US) to send all kinds of information from one ham radio to another. But the reason I care about it is that…
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November 1, 2017. I've always hated the A-pillars in my truck. Actually, it's the trim I hate. And I've hated it since I first tried (and failed) to remove it several years ago to run the wire for a microphone from my head unit up to the rearview mirror. See, to remove the A-pillar trip, you also need to remove the grab handle. And for some reason, in 1997-2000 Tacoma's, the grab handle is attached with two M6 screws (no hex head) with a JIS head. That JIS head looks a lot like a Philips head, but it isn't, and…
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After running the CB for two weeks straight on The De-Tour, there are a few notes I'll make about it for anyone considering the same setup: It's a really nice setup. It fits so perfectly, especially with the AC housing "mod," that you don't even really need to secure it in any way...which is nice if you have to remove it for any reason (I did a few times to tune it). Even when wheeling, it didn't dislodge at all. The antenna setup worked out well - it tuned up really nicely once I got a SWR meter on it.…
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September 10, 2017. When I got the ham radio, my hope was that I'd just skip the whole CB thing. I mean, when you've got the real thing… 🙂 But, as it turns out (and let's be honest, I knew this when I installed the ham radio), a lot of folks don't have a HAM license, so CB's are the common denominator on trips. About to set-off on a 14-day De-Tour of Montana and Wyoming, it was time to get the CB installed. For First Gen Tacoma's, there's really only one option for a CB radio IMO - the Uniden…
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July 23, 2017. Ham radio is for old guys. I must be getting old. As the truck has gotten more capable, and as we’ve started doing longer and more remote trips, I’ve started carrying more tools, extra parts, etc. in order to make (minor) road repairs - hopefully enough to limp back to civilization. But in the back of my mind there is always a little voice that’s been saying, “What happens if you’re many miles out?” I knew I needed some sort of ability to communicate. I considered getting an inReach device a SPOT tracker, or some other ePRB/PLB,…
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July 22, 2017. It was July 8, 2017. I know because I will always remember the day @mrs.turbodb said, "You should just get a fridge for the truck." We'd just returned from our week-long trip to Canada with the little kiddo, where we'd pre-prepared and frozen many of our meals, using our crappy 48qt cooler to keep everything chilly. Of course, even sandwiched in the middle of our gear and under the CVT, we had to get ice every day (does Canada not have block ice?) - which meant staying relatively near civilization. So when we started talking about our…
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April 2017. Wires everywhere. That’s how it’s starting to feel with the various accessories that I’ve added to the truck. Sure, I tuck them away here, and zip-tie them away there to try to clean things up, but in the end I still have several pair of wires running from various fuses and relays in the engine compartment to accessories and switches on the truck. As someone who likes organization, it’s always bothered me. Luckily, there are solutions out there for those of us who like order. There are pre-made fuse boxes from folks like Blue Sea Systems, and there…
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October 9, 2016. When the winch was installed, it was obviously wired right up to the battery - this made a lot of sense, since it was easy, allowed us to get it spooled up, and is of course the way Warn recommends installing it. But I wanted something better. Or at least more flexible. I wanted to have a way to disconnect the winch from the battery when it wasn't in use (just so I don't have a bunch of #2 AWG wire hot to the winch all the time, and I wanted a way to quickly hook up…
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September 2016. When I initially mentioned to Dad that I was going to get a winch and plate bumper, he had two questions for me. How's that going to be for your gas mileage? You gonna get some more lights? Hella's or PIAA's? Little did he know that I'd already purchased some Hella 500's, and they were sitting in the dining room collecting dust. I mean, who wouldn't buy some Hella's, knowing that a new bumper was coming in 6 months, right? Plus, they were a great deal on Amazon (well, they were the same price as always). I ignored…
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March 20 - April 28, 2016 Courtesy lights are those little lights around the car that turn on when you open your doors. They generally include the dome light, some door lights, that kind of thing. Now, I know what you're thinking - "How in the world does disabling the courtesy lights take five and a half weeks?" Electricity. And negative switching. For years, I've wanted a way to disable the courtesy lights - mostly so that when camping, the doors can stay open without having to worry that the battery will run down. But of course, finding the right…
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Summer's here and we decided to go camping at our super-secret-undisclosed-location-that-you-have-to-rush-to-or-someone-else-will-get-there-first. While there, we had a great time, including an epic fire that was bigger than our daughter. But being four years old, and sitting in the back seat for three hours each direction, @mini.turbodb understandably got bored and started playing around (unbeknownst to us) with the back window in the truck, ultimately leaving it unlatched/unlocked. No biggie, except that when we got back, I parked the truck in the alley behind the house and left it overnight, where some young hooligan randomly happened to try the back window and…
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August 1, 2001. While the ABS brakes may have been a lucky break (in certain on-road situations), one thing I wasn't going to put up with were the daytime running lights (DRL) that I couldn't turn off. Three things bugged me: First, what if I wanted to drive around a campground with just my parking lights on, so as to not disturb other campers. Second, they used the same bulbs as my headlights, and I didn't want to have to pony up $3 too often. And lastly, just imagine what they'd do to my gas mileage. I mean sure, it…
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