26 July, 2014

Notice to spammers...

You guys must be a special kind of stupid...

I moderate comments and while I will approve comments that disagree with me or take contrary view points, spam will be rejected offhand and reported.

For what it's worth I believe spammers should be rolled naked in thumb tacks and dipped in rubbing alcohol and rubbed down with salt.

But keep your chins up. In my book spammers still rank above Lawyers and child molesters... Ever so slightly, but still above.

25 July, 2014

Hunting and gathering for the trailer light / backup light installation.

So as of noon today, almost everything I need for this project is in hand, I think...

Large ring terminals for 22 ga wire seem to be extensively difficult to come by, so I am going to take a different approach, I have 2 wires that need to be ring connected to the battery stud, a 22 ga wire for the switch, and either 22 or 16 ga wire to go to the relay. So I figure I use a 16-14 ga ring terminal with a 1/4" ring and solder the two wires together and crimp that all it, I should be good to go!


The bag in the middle area is the relays, relay sockets, and ATC fuse holders. These things are major overkill for this task, but I am a firm believer in better safe than sorry... Not to the degree engineers are, but you get the idea...

Looking at the AWG ampacity ratings, my 2@ 18 watt lights will draw a total of 36 watts, and that means 3 amps, the charts for chassis wiring, which is what this technically is, rates 22 awg at 7 amps, WAY above what this will actually draw, or even think of drawing...

Now if we look back I think it was 3 posts ago, when I discussed designing the circuit, you will recall that the red wire comes from 12V source (battery) the black wire goes to chassis ground, and the blue wire feeds power to the lights.

It just so happens that I have the black and red wires in 16 ga, and digging through my toolbox I found 16 ga blue wire from the pilot off road lighting kit I never ended up using (and wish I knew where the relay from THAT went...)

In my digging to find my soldering iron, and spool of solder, I found a spool of white 16 ga wire as well... The green and yellow wires being signal wire being 22 ga is fine... So I am good to go, at least once I find the shrink tubing... I know I had it around here somewhere...

24 July, 2014

Dealing well with the pressures...

I just wanted to touch base with those that have been following my compressed air system journey. I realized my last entry on this issue was on June 8. I have been keeping the compressors powered off except when I am actively using them, but keeping the tanks pressurized. The system is holding pressure perfectly. The only time the compressors cycled was during hard use... I couldn't be happier...

Auxiliary LED reverse lighting continued. Prepping the brackets.

Simply put, these lights HAVE to work, and they HAVE to be out of the way when backing up, especially off road.

Now when I was considering how to add additional reverse lighting to my truck I will be completely honest, hanging LED fixtures were not at the top of my list. I was originally considering adding some of those 6" oval LED fixtures cut in to the rear bumper. Mostly for clearance sake. But I could see a minor bump in traffic causing damage, and honestly, I was having a very tough time finding sufficient quality fixtures for my application. Most of them are either REALLY expensive, or to be polite, severely lacking in build quality.

While I was looking for insipration, I came across F150Online.com member lakemarykid's beautiful Oxford White / Pueblo gold 2 tone 2007 F150 FX4 Supercrew. The job he did on the install looks great, although he is only powered by a dash switch.


Now the brackets he used are something used in commercial construction, not readily available to the average DIYer, so I had to take a different approach, but then again, what I used followed the same idea at least...

Yes, there was some DIY to it...

Step #1. Look around the shop and see what I have on hand. The aluminum angle I was planning on using appears to be all used up, so option #2. Use flat steel and make it the shape I want...
Step #2. I know I want a 1.5 x 1.5 L section with 5/16" holes for the bolts, so I take the 1.5" wide steel stock and measure up 1.5" up, using a sharpie mark a fold line, another 1.5" up and mark a cut line...
Step #3. Secure the stock in the bench vise, and using my 4.5" angle grinder, Harbor Freight cut off wheels, and of course safety glasses, respiratory, and hearing protection, made my cut.
Step #4. Repeate step #s 2 and 3 for the second bracket.
Step #5. Using a straight edge and sharpie, mark center of each half segment so there are two X's on each piece. 
Step #6. Using a punch and hammer, dimple the center to guide the drill bit.
Step #7. Secure the work pieces, and drill a 5/16" hole at each dimple.
Step #8. Using a file, clean up all cut lines, corners, and drill hole edges, insuring that a 5/16" fastener can easily pass through.
Step #9.  Using a machinists vise, secure the work piece such that the fold line is just at the top of the jaw, and squared to the jaw. Lock the jaws down so the piece can not move, and using a large, broad headed steel hammer bend the pieces to a 90 degree angle.
Step #10. Using a disposable cloth paper towel, shop rag in a box type of rag, and at least rubbing alcohol if not a stronger solvent that does NOT leave a residue, thoroughly clean all surfaces.
Step #11. Scuff surfaces with sandpaper, clean off any dust / residue then prime, and paint with at least 3 coats of rust inhibiting paint. You can also use plastidip if you'd like.

Your brackets are now ready! You can go ahead and bolt the light to the bracket using the provided bolts, however I would suggest instead sourcing up stainless steel replacements, and an additional pair of 5/16 x I think it is 1" stainless steel bolt, flat washer, and nylon insert lock nut to secure to the frame of the truck...

So you want to know where to find the bargains?

Harbor Freight 4.5" angle grinder. If you have a HF close, these are so cheap even if it breaks after a year or so just toss it and get a new one... Mine is an older B&D I bought at Walmart, the HF grinder seems to be better made...

4.5" metal cut off wheel for the angle grinder? Yeah HF has those too! I have used the ones from the big box stores, and the HF ones actually seem to hold together better...

I could give you a link to online ordering the flat stock, or easier yet, aluminum angle but get the stuff locally. It will be cheaper. Shipping on that stuff with eat you up!

Center punch. Yeah Amazon has those cheap. The HF ones I have tried are junk. The Stanley is okay, great considering it is dirt cheap and likely to get lost before you dull it... I have them in my Amazon affiliate store.

If you are like me and like to have the big box of crayons to color with as it were, and like having your bits etc... come in large sets, probably THE most impressive set of bits I have used to date are the DeWalt pilot point bits. They do help make drilling metals much easier. The DW1969 29 piece set is on Amazon at the lowest price I have seen recently...

For a lower budget option, you could try the Warrior 29 piece Titanium Nitride bit set from Harbor Freight. Mind you, I have not tried them out yet so I can not attest to their quality, or even usefulness. If anyone wants to donate a set for testing I would happily accept and test the snot out of a set of these...

Most of the items needed for this project have arrived already. I have 2 items left to have come in, One was due to an error in my observation. They are...

#1. The Tow Read 118136 Universal plug mount bracket. I thought I didn't need it, but I was wrong. It happens...
#2 12 volt illuminated rocker switch with green LED. I figure instead of the high dollar switches, which mind you are ultra cool, but pricey, that LakeMaryKid used, I figured I would color code. Keep the Red LED rocker for the front off road lights, and use a green LED rocker for the rear reverse / flood lights.

Package tracking says I should have all that stuff in hand tomorrow afternoon, so I should be moving forward with this project, and some work on the Saturn this weekend...

So stick with me, and enjoy as I document how the project all comes together!

22 July, 2014

Adding LED reverse lighting, and 7 pole trailer plug.

Anyone that has ever backed up in the dark, rainy, unlit night with factory reverse lights know the white knuckle braille experience it can be, now put yourself out on the deer lease, or in the mountains somewhere in those same conditions, you are going to want light and a lot of it...

Now my project here is twofold,

Fisrt off, I am wanting to add the final piece of the OEM "Towing Package" that my truck did not ship from Ford with and that is the 7 pin wiring pig tail under the rear bumper. It's a good thing this is a common part, and lots of the aftermarket produce OEM quality or better replacement pieces, and an even better thing that Ford designed the wiring harness to be modular. Simply snap on / snap off and you are good to go!

Second issue I need to tackle is the extreme need for radically improved back up lighting. Simply put, backing up this beast in the dark is a dangerous, white knuckle affair. I have wanted upgraded lighting on the tail end of this truck for years. And with the new LED lighting fixtures coming down radically in price, it looks like it is time to tackle this project! Tons of light, great durability, and greatly reduced power draw. What's not to like?

So first things first, design the setup and start hunting and gathering what I will need to make these changes, and get the knowledge I need to do the job...

Thankfully TowReady has part number 118247 trailer wiring and relay kit available at a variety of retailers. www.etrailer.com provides a pretty decent video instruction on how to install it. I WILL be varying my install from etrailers install. Their install is using a band clamp on a round tube trailer hitch, my hitch is square tube and I honestly think Etrailers use of a band clamp is beyond pitiful. It is barely better than bailing wire and bubble gum. I want this done RIGHT... So please ignore that part on their video. I will attampt to shoot and edit my own video on this project, so hopefully you will have something a bit better quality to work with...

Mind you, etrailer has been kind of nasty about this as they have disallowed embedding of the Youtube video, but I CAN give you the link... The video overall is decent, but like I said, they cut a HUGE corner quality wise in the install by relying on a band clamp. That just will not do!

Anyway the video link is HERE.

Like I promised on my forum posts, I will post the links to the products and the best prices I could find to get the job done, so if you go to my Amazon Store at http://astore.amazon.com/davework-20?_encoding=UTF8&node=14

There are 2 items that while I can find at Amazon that there are MUCH better buys at Harbor Freight tools if you have one of them close by...

127 piece Heat Shrink Tubing.

10 rolls 60ft 3/4" electrical tape.

I assume "normal" mechanical ability, and equipment. Feel free to add crimp connectors in place of solder connections. I personally prefer solder joints over crimp connectors, particularly in 4 wheel drive / off road applications.

So now that all the bits and pieces are on order, I ought to share with you the design for the circuit.


I am giving serious consideration to adding a 3amp diode inline on the feed line from the backup lights.

FWIW, this circuit design should work with any 12V DC vehicle with a factory back up lighting circuit where the desired end result is the accessory reverse lights turned on with both the vehicle being put in reverse, AND the lights being manually turned on with an interior mounted toggle switch with illumination that will allow you to tell if you accidentally left the lights on...

If I opt for the diode and I suspect I will so that I don't induce back feed into an unenergized reverse light circuit, the best price I have found so far is at Radio Shack...

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062578

So now that the design is shored up, and the parts are ordered (somehow Amazon Prime 2 day sometimes means 9 days...).

Before moving forward, there is some equipment you will need to round up. This is...

  1. Factory jack, and handle for operating the spare tire winch.
  2. Wheel chocks, chunks of 4x4, whatever...
  3. Floor jack capable of safely lifting the truck. I opted for the Pittsburgh Automotive 4 ton item #68056. Purchased on sale, with a 25% off coupon so it wasn't that bad...
  4. Jack stands with sufficient height and weight handling capacity to give you ample room and safe load rating to work on the truck safely. I opted for the Pittsburgh Automotive 6 ton Steel Jack Stands item #61197. Same deal as the floor jack...
  5. I am not going to bother with linking one as you really ought to have it by now if you are wanting to take on this project, but you need a socket / ratchet set, deep well, in metric. The Etrailer video shows using an electric impact, no real need, and if I was going to I would go pnuematic not electric...
  6. Crimp tool.
  7. A basic soldering iron
  8. Lighter.
  9. Drill and bits.
  10. Screwdriver set.
I'm sure I will come up with something I forgot about while I am actually working the project. I will make note of it in the video, AND come back and update the list here.

So for now I bid you a good night, and promise that I will post updates here in text, photo, and video here shortly!.

14 July, 2014

When rushed for time, don't rush...

As you know, Dave's Workshop is a hobby shop. The only thing professional about it is the tools I still own that I used when I was a professional mechanic lin my youth. Yeah those tools are now considered "Classic" so that should tell you something...

So as I hinted to, I have been busy, too busy, with things that actually pay the bills, and dealing with extended family issues. (Not going into too many details other to say we have had a couple of losses recently...)

Now with all of that, the projects that need to get done, well, take a back seat... And one of those projects has been repairing paint damage on the back of the cab, and front of the bed of my truck that was caused by the toolbox rubbing... So I tried to take what little time I had available, specifically while my wife was getting her nails done, and found an abandoned part of the parking lot, some wax and tar cleaner, clean rags, newspaper, frog tape, sandpaper / sanding block, and primer, not to mention the color coat...

Everything went great, until well... after.

It would appear in my haste to maximize my time, I didn't do a good enough masking job on the back window of the truck, OR between cab and bed. I now need to clean red primer off of the back glass, and spray a bit more color coat between cab and bed. THEN I need to move on to more wet sanding, and another coat or two of color before I move forward with clear...

Now this is the first time I have ever attempted this, and I must admit, I am scared senseless to try this, but I figure with the amount of paint damage that was there already, I had to try, or simply cough out for a fresh paint job...

Duplicolor has some great videos on actually how to do this, and I highly recommend anyone that wants to try this on their own, to dig up those videos on Youtube and watch them first....