M1010 expo build. The Mountain Turtle
- Thread starter stevo-mt
- Start date
stevo-mt
Member
The solar panels I found were from http://www.recycledgoods.com/produc...exible-cigs-solar-panel-with-adhesive-rv-boat . The link to the panels' specs is here http://www.globalsolar.com/downloads/PowerFLEX_2.pdf . I found these after doing some research on the portal. I was kind of under the impression that they were American made, but it turns out they are from Europe somewhere. Nice panels though. Seem to be rugged enough. I think they will hold up and meet my needs. I haven't been able to hook anything up to them since I haven't started on my cabin's wiring yet. Too busy re-working the truck's accessory wiring. The previous owner did an alright job on some of the other accessories, but the fuses were in the wrong spot and there was a lot of unnecessary things from the original CUCV wiring. Plus I needed to clean everything up since I have a million gadgets and switches. 
Here is some of the stuff that I found squirreled away under the floormat. Now it is a clean set of 12 conductor cable and my 6awg wire to the Bluesea DC breaker/switch panel. 
I made a wiring diagram with an awesome free program that I found on the internet a few months ago called "TinyCAD". Its pretty great for doing simple wiring diagrams. I'll put all these diagrams and manuals from everything that goes into the truck into a binder as well as on my google drive. That way when I have an issue on the road I can look at the manual for what ever accessory. 
I ordered the part to fix the oil filter snafu from a GM dealer. I forked out the cash to overnight it and talked to guy and it was supposed to be here Wednesday, then it was supposed to be here Friday. I finally got a fedex tracking number and it's going to show up Monday. Not much a guy can do about parts like that. It just reminds me how difficult it is to find good help these days.... I could have saved 30 bucks on a 8 dollar part if I would have used a different dealer... Oh well I guess.
I finally got my latches for the generator compartment on the roof rack. So that's mostly buttoned up. It pops up and the door stays open where you can can turn it on and pull start it. Also there is a door that opens up for the exhaust. I will need to put a cable lock or something on it. I also might put some kind of locking latch, but this will work for now. I have some rubber belting material that I will rivet onto the door to go over the hinges to clean it up and look better.
I've got the stereo installed very important
, but all of the speakers were hooked up backwards so I wasn't getting any audio. Everything else worked great, it just wasn't making any sound. I find it funny to buy an Alpine stereo and speakers and hook it up with the matching colors and stripes to find out it is completely backwards. So I get to re-crimp and heat shrink all of it over again... I just twisted the wires together real quick while I was trouble shooting the issue and it is sounding pretty good. I bolted some Versa pods next to the rear seats on each side of the driver and passenger where the spare tire jack was on one side and what I assume used to be a gun rack mount on the passenger side. I probably should have found a different spot so I could fit a gun rack back in there, but my elk rifle won't fit so its just as well. I put some versa pods under the center console as well to store the front speakers. It should work out pretty good and minimize a little bit of the wire running around. Tomorrow I will finish cleaning up the rigid flood lights and also the kc hilites that came with the truck. The hilites were on a relay, but I will clean that wiring up and use some good bosch relays vs. whatever comes with them. This will also eliminate some more unprotected (fusing wise) wires coming in and out of the cab of the pickup from the engine compartment. I've first hand experienced my old car almost catch on fire from unprotected electrical wire. Not cool... I will get the winch and air compressor installed this week before I head out Friday on a trip to visit some friends and family. It will give me a good chance to try out the air locker and the 37's out in the sticks. Hopefully I don't have to try out the winch, but that's what its there for! I won't be doing much camping out of it, mainly just seeing how things are working mechanically. Right now my main concern is the tires/wheels working and staying balanced. If that combo doesn't work out the backup plan is to find some 17" H2 wheels and get some 37" cooper SST's. They are a bit softer rubber and I have had good luck with them. I'm going to help a friend move, so its nice to have a bunch of dry space this time of year. No tarps!
Here is some of the stuff that I found squirreled away under the floormat. Now it is a clean set of 12 conductor cable and my 6awg wire to the Bluesea DC breaker/switch panel. I made a wiring diagram with an awesome free program that I found on the internet a few months ago called "TinyCAD". Its pretty great for doing simple wiring diagrams. I'll put all these diagrams and manuals from everything that goes into the truck into a binder as well as on my google drive. That way when I have an issue on the road I can look at the manual for what ever accessory. I ordered the part to fix the oil filter snafu from a GM dealer. I forked out the cash to overnight it and talked to guy and it was supposed to be here Wednesday, then it was supposed to be here Friday. I finally got a fedex tracking number and it's going to show up Monday. Not much a guy can do about parts like that. It just reminds me how difficult it is to find good help these days.... I could have saved 30 bucks on a 8 dollar part if I would have used a different dealer... Oh well I guess.
I finally got my latches for the generator compartment on the roof rack. So that's mostly buttoned up. It pops up and the door stays open where you can can turn it on and pull start it. Also there is a door that opens up for the exhaust. I will need to put a cable lock or something on it. I also might put some kind of locking latch, but this will work for now. I have some rubber belting material that I will rivet onto the door to go over the hinges to clean it up and look better.
I've got the stereo installed very important
, but all of the speakers were hooked up backwards so I wasn't getting any audio. Everything else worked great, it just wasn't making any sound. I find it funny to buy an Alpine stereo and speakers and hook it up with the matching colors and stripes to find out it is completely backwards. So I get to re-crimp and heat shrink all of it over again... I just twisted the wires together real quick while I was trouble shooting the issue and it is sounding pretty good. I bolted some Versa pods next to the rear seats on each side of the driver and passenger where the spare tire jack was on one side and what I assume used to be a gun rack mount on the passenger side. I probably should have found a different spot so I could fit a gun rack back in there, but my elk rifle won't fit so its just as well. I put some versa pods under the center console as well to store the front speakers. It should work out pretty good and minimize a little bit of the wire running around. Tomorrow I will finish cleaning up the rigid flood lights and also the kc hilites that came with the truck. The hilites were on a relay, but I will clean that wiring up and use some good bosch relays vs. whatever comes with them. This will also eliminate some more unprotected (fusing wise) wires coming in and out of the cab of the pickup from the engine compartment. I've first hand experienced my old car almost catch on fire from unprotected electrical wire. Not cool... I will get the winch and air compressor installed this week before I head out Friday on a trip to visit some friends and family. It will give me a good chance to try out the air locker and the 37's out in the sticks. Hopefully I don't have to try out the winch, but that's what its there for! I won't be doing much camping out of it, mainly just seeing how things are working mechanically. Right now my main concern is the tires/wheels working and staying balanced. If that combo doesn't work out the backup plan is to find some 17" H2 wheels and get some 37" cooper SST's. They are a bit softer rubber and I have had good luck with them. I'm going to help a friend move, so its nice to have a bunch of dry space this time of year. No tarps!
stevo-mt
Member
I cleaned up the wiring for the lights on the side of the truck. I removed the original incandescent bulbed fixtures and replaced them with some LED lights. I didn't use Rigid on these, I wanted to keep them round and didn't quite find a model from them that fit the bill. So unfortunately these came from overseas. For the price though they are pretty bright and awesome.
The center console is buttoned up now. I will continue with the wiring this week and install a nice stainless electrical box under the hood to keep all the wiring clean. More circuit protection, terminal blocks, and ring terminals. But down the road I will be happy when I need to troubleshoot something or if I want to change things. The stereo, now that the speaker wires are hooked up properly sounds pretty great. I'm glad I put a little money into it! The little self powered amp behind the seat is just about the right size for good sounding bass without rattling things.
ersatzknarf
lost, but making time
Hi Stevo,
Thank you very much for the information on the solar panels!
Glad you were able to get the oil filter part, but I would get the overnight cost refunded from that dealer.
Looks like you are having too much fun with all the electrics ! ! !
Thank you very much for the information on the solar panels!
Glad you were able to get the oil filter part, but I would get the overnight cost refunded from that dealer.
Looks like you are having too much fun with all the electrics ! ! !
stevo-mt
Member
Well I put a 1000+ miles on the truck over the last week driving around Montana and back into the hills hunting. Overall it drives pretty good. I got the winch and the on board air hooked up before I took off. The locker works great, didn't need the winch though. I was able to go everywhere up in the hills that I was able to take my old truck so I consider the truck portion of the project, although not 100% completed, a success! One thing that I was reminded going up a pretty decent slope is that it doesn't matter what locker you have or any of that stuff if you need v-bar chains there is no substitute in mountains! I'm going to look into some pewag allsqaures to keep the weight down. V-bars for the truck weigh somewhere around 50 lbs a chain so x4 gets crazy! What seems to happen this time of year, when I use 4x4 the most, is there will be a rain or a thaw in the snow just enough to get a good layer of ice on the bottom, then 8 inches of MT powder gets dumped on top. I was blazing much of the trails up in the mountains and really the only thing stopping the truck was either a very steep slope, due to lack of 37" chains, or the trees have grown in too much for the blunderbuss camper. I managed to scratch up the sides pretty good and almost take out the flood light on the side. The only other issue I have is the rear seal on the transfer case. I didn't replace the bushing and I might have to do that. It's leaking a bit after I pressure washed the truck real well. I'm hoping its just from me doing that vs. the bushing but I'll have to look into that further.
The tires performed good, the snow melted and there was a ton of mud. They clear out decent enough that when you transition back into snow and ice its pretty seamless. There is one weird thing going on with them. As i accelerate they are good, but around 39 mph they wobble and then stop at 45 mph. That is the only speed where it does that. It's pretty smooth going down the road at about 60 mph. I did get it up to 74 mph! Granted it was going downhill off the continental divide but it did it! 60 mph is ideal, but it will cruise 65 mph pretty easy now. The only rough thing is that the mileage is about 10 mpg going uphill into the mtns and about 12 mpg heading east out of the mountains. Going up a steep hill on the highway don't plan on going over 45 mph. It's not too big of deal but having had an ecoboost pickup i became spoiled. I got too used to being able to pass anyone on any hill with a twin turbo pickup. So I'm considering the whole turbo thing again. I'll leave it for now, but that is going to be #1 on next years list. Of course that is after I finish this years project!
I am getting things going on the rear of the camper. I stopped at a place out of Polson MT that makes down mattress and bedding. I now have two custom down feather beds for the truck. I am going to use those in tandem with a piece of foam inside a nice cover. So even if the heat goes out I'll still stay warm!
I am going to get some lighting for the rear of the truck. The side lights worked great and are a very good deal for $25 a light. I am a little frustrated that there isn't an american made light that suits my needs for the back, but after going through the tree's I'm not sure if I want to have branches ********** into a $100 light anyways!
I have a couple weeks before I will head back over to south western MT for thanksgiving to work on the truck. I am going to try and get the espar heater installed the rear cab. That way I can at least camp out since its about the next coldest place in the us besides Alaska.
pappawheely
Autonomous4X4
I love your truck. What a great set-up.
chilliwak
Expedition Leader
Wow:Wow1:glad to see you posted some pics up from your trip. The truck is looking awesome as usual and I have to say I wish I had beeen wheeling with you Stevo. Glad to hear everything is working wel and I would love to see some close-up pics of your chains. Keep us updated, cheers Chilli...
stevo-mt
Member
Thanks for the positive vibes guys. I haven't got much work done the last couple of days. I've been wrenching on other people vehicles and tractors and not my own. I found a set of chains on old craigslist that are canadian, not vbars though, but I am going to try and buy those and just add in the vbar chains between the regular link sets. My uncle added a second set of vbars on ranch truck chains and that made a world of difference. The other option is buy some pewags and then add in the vbar ladders. The only thing I can get that fits the 37's are the all squares, or at least good quality ones... There just isn't a substitute for the darn vbar's in the mountain country out here.
I am wiring in some LED's that will light up the rear area behind the truck. There isn't a clean way to do 4 of them like I was planning so the new plan is to put two on the back and steal power from a circuit that runs in the ambulance body. Then with the other two lights maybe mount them on the doors or something when you open them up you have all the light you could ever want. I took apart the spotlight that was already installed and am looking for an led replacement or at least a brighter bulb. My big old maglight put the spotlight to shame so I need to do some work on that! I am machining a piece of plastic to encase and mount the rigid led dome light for the cab. I am going to install a dimmer with it so I want to make one piece of plastic that looks clean and hides the dimmer electronics. I didn't realize how much a person needs a dome light until it got dark hear the last month or so!
I am wiring in some LED's that will light up the rear area behind the truck. There isn't a clean way to do 4 of them like I was planning so the new plan is to put two on the back and steal power from a circuit that runs in the ambulance body. Then with the other two lights maybe mount them on the doors or something when you open them up you have all the light you could ever want. I took apart the spotlight that was already installed and am looking for an led replacement or at least a brighter bulb. My big old maglight put the spotlight to shame so I need to do some work on that! I am machining a piece of plastic to encase and mount the rigid led dome light for the cab. I am going to install a dimmer with it so I want to make one piece of plastic that looks clean and hides the dimmer electronics. I didn't realize how much a person needs a dome light until it got dark hear the last month or so!
redthies
Renaissance Redneck
My "new" '88 F250 has no functioning dome light, nor intermittent wipers. It is funny how basic trucks were 25 years ago. I am fast becoming good friends with my Petzl Tika now that "the darkness" has returned.
stevo-mt
Member
I got the dome light installed on a dimmer, works pretty good. I used an old case from an a "Dial-o-matic" headlight timer to store the toggle switch and the dimmer electronics. A rigid LED dome light was about the nicest setup I could find. It isnt as clean as it could have been, but I don't feel like running wires through the roof of the truck.
The rear got a LED installed as well. This will go to a simple toggle switch and a relay. I will be able to turn it on from the cab of the truck or the back.
piratexpress1369a
Explorer
cool ride
stevo-mt
Member
It's been too longs since I've last posted. The weather back in November dived down to about -30 F for a week so that pretty much put a halt to the truck project. I Have been working on a shop that will soon be insulated and heated. And the door is big enough that I can fit the truck in the shop for a change!
As far as work progress goes things have not been moving fast. The only things that I have done since I posted last was install a new gear reduction starter (old one died when it was -30 out), engine block heater, LED replacement bulb for my spotlight, and install the RAM mount holders for my phone and tablet.
I ended up getting the back country Navigator pro for my Nexus. It works pretty well and you can get all the USFS maps for free. I purchased Alaska's and Montana's land ownership additionally. Well worth it. The gps is pretty spot on. I still have a garmin for backup, but I can store all kinds of maps ahead of time and even satellite photos.
The 21st I am taking off with the truck towards Washington/Oregon then down to Moab for a few weeks. Then a little bit through Colorado and Wyoming back to MT. So there is a list of things to get done before I take off and camp out of it for a while, mainly the Espar Heaters. I don't want to have to run a generator all night to keep it warm! But as always it gets ridiculously cold whenever I need to get work done.
As far as work progress goes things have not been moving fast. The only things that I have done since I posted last was install a new gear reduction starter (old one died when it was -30 out), engine block heater, LED replacement bulb for my spotlight, and install the RAM mount holders for my phone and tablet.
I ended up getting the back country Navigator pro for my Nexus. It works pretty well and you can get all the USFS maps for free. I purchased Alaska's and Montana's land ownership additionally. Well worth it. The gps is pretty spot on. I still have a garmin for backup, but I can store all kinds of maps ahead of time and even satellite photos.
The 21st I am taking off with the truck towards Washington/Oregon then down to Moab for a few weeks. Then a little bit through Colorado and Wyoming back to MT. So there is a list of things to get done before I take off and camp out of it for a while, mainly the Espar Heaters. I don't want to have to run a generator all night to keep it warm! But as always it gets ridiculously cold whenever I need to get work done.