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At this date, most of the original ideas which developed in the mind of Truckman concerning his newest transportation acquisition have been examined carefully and either brought to fruition, or abandoned entirely as unworkable...The progress was documented in the updates listed above for those who have either joined the discussion late, or just haven't been paying attention...This update will concern itself mostly with small details which have been ongoing since the inception of this project...
Lighting and visibility have been a major concern even before the initial purchase of this vehicle...My ability to easily see what is happening in my surroundings from the driver's seat has been a concern since the purchase of my (now gone) 2013 Challenger several years ago...The view from that seat was such a sudden change from the commanding position in my previous late, lamented ride that the adjustment was difficult when switching vehicles for certain tasks...The change may have even been a factor in the no-fault accident which triggered the decision to trade the Challenger for the current truck...It was never decided whether the other driver was unable to see my vehicle for its smaller, lower profile, or if I was limited in side view range by the Challenger's smaller mirrors, lower seating position and limited side window vision...In either case, and in the interest of future safety, the decision was made to trade for the current truck...
The primary focus of this update is new lighting to not only increase my ability to see my own surroundings, but to give other, less gifted drivers fewer excuses for not seeing the obvious large vehicle in their vicinity...For the latter purpose, I have added new redundant turn signals and brake lights to augment the factory installed equipment, and 18 new marker and clearance lights for increased visibility from front, sides and rear...I also added new high intensity Hella driving lights which are only usable with high beam headlights on, and fog lights synced for use when parking lights or low beams are lit...At the rear I added four tractor lights near the top of the headache rack, two of which are aimed at the deck of the flatbed to illuminate cargo at night as needed, and the other two directed just behind the tailboard for use as an auxiliary backup light...
Most of these items have been in my possession for a few months awaiting the completion of the center console from which to control all of them...Now the last of these has been installed, plus a few I added since the beginning...In addition, at the suggestion of one my loyal readers, Mr. Grist, I'm replacing the chrome plated screws and bolts which were used during the installation of some of the black finished accessories previously with fasteners finished in black oxide...I agree with him that they add some esoteric allure which might have been overlooked by the casual observer...
An extra light was added to the center console, a Hella map light...They are a little pricey, but this particular one was the only one which fit my needs...It's fastened to the doorgunner's side of the console, but easily reached from the driver's seat...It's a gooseneck design allowing the 18 inch neck to ride in its own notched saddle until needed...It was furnished with two lenses, white and red...I chose the red to reduce the chance of night blindness, but the white lens is in the storage compartment if needed...
The old Rawson/Koenig toolboxes which were installed already when I bought the truck were no longer watertight, and various attempts at replacing and adjusting the latches still left doors which have become warped from use over the years, and thus do not seal against weather as well as they did when new...I ordered and installed new weatherstripping on both doors...Next heavy rain squall we get will tell the tale on whether further work is needed...
While working on the headache rack, I noticed the parking lamp in one of the original 4" round lights in the upper corners had quit working...I assumed that I had disturbed the wiring while installing the additional lights, so I pulled that one out to check the circuit...The circuit was OK, so I bought two new LED units to replace both lights...With that done I finished all my wiring, checked light operation again and found the left lower parking light in the tailboard was not working...I ordered new LED's, and replaced both right and left...However, being so far removed from doing this for a living, I had forgotten the hyperflash condition that results when going to all LED...A couple of 6Ω resistors in parallel with the T/S circuits solved the problem...Since the side marker lights on the flatbed had been replaced with LED's when the bed was refinished, this means all lighting aft of the cab with the exception of the license plate lamps is now new...
Moving to the front, I installed my driving lights and fog lights using Nilight tube clamps on the front bumper guard...I'm happy to report that the clamps worked as advertised contrary to complaints I read from other users...I suspect their own lack of success was due to choosing the wrong size, or failure to understand the installation instructions...The new amber marker lights on the front bumper were a simple matter of "measure twice - drill once"...All new lights function as I expected, and I'm now gathering parts and pieces for the next report...I'm a bargain hunter, as many already know, and if any of the lights I bought fail early, I suppose I'll have to blame myself for being too cheap to spring for name-brand products...One item I'm already less than happy with is the fog lights, repurposed from Blazer tractor lights...The housings were advertised as being rubber which makes sense for durability in the agricultural world, but the mounts are also rubber and are quite shaky...I'll see what the light is like while driving, and they may be replaced early with sturdier units...
I'm still waiting for a few electrical pieces to be delivered to wrap up the wiring, but given the rapidly changing and uncertain weather conditions this week, I decided to install the remaining front amber marker lights on the bumper and take some photos while the sun is still shining...All the planned lighting has now been installed, and final electrical connections will be made as soon as Amazon delivers the few remaining wiring parts...I published a pictorial on the project without finishing the wiring...
Most of these items have been in my possession for a few months awaiting the completion of the center console from which to control all of them...Now the last of these has been installed, plus a few I added since the beginning...In addition, at the suggestion of one my loyal readers, Mr. Grist, I'm replacing the chrome plated screws and bolts which were used during the installation of some of the black finished accessories previously with fasteners finished in black oxide...I agree with him that they add some esoteric allure which might have been overlooked by the casual observer...
An extra light was added to the center console, a Hella map light...They are a little pricey, but this particular one was the only one which fit my needs...It's fastened to the doorgunner's side of the console, but easily reached from the driver's seat...It's a gooseneck design allowing the 18 inch neck to ride in its own notched saddle until needed...It was furnished with two lenses, white and red...I chose the red to reduce the chance of night blindness, but the white lens is in the storage compartment if needed...
The old Rawson/Koenig toolboxes which were installed already when I bought the truck were no longer watertight, and various attempts at replacing and adjusting the latches still left doors which have become warped from use over the years, and thus do not seal against weather as well as they did when new...I ordered and installed new weatherstripping on both doors...Next heavy rain squall we get will tell the tale on whether further work is needed...
While working on the headache rack, I noticed the parking lamp in one of the original 4" round lights in the upper corners had quit working...I assumed that I had disturbed the wiring while installing the additional lights, so I pulled that one out to check the circuit...The circuit was OK, so I bought two new LED units to replace both lights...With that done I finished all my wiring, checked light operation again and found the left lower parking light in the tailboard was not working...I ordered new LED's, and replaced both right and left...However, being so far removed from doing this for a living, I had forgotten the hyperflash condition that results when going to all LED...A couple of 6Ω resistors in parallel with the T/S circuits solved the problem...Since the side marker lights on the flatbed had been replaced with LED's when the bed was refinished, this means all lighting aft of the cab with the exception of the license plate lamps is now new...
Moving to the front, I installed my driving lights and fog lights using Nilight tube clamps on the front bumper guard...I'm happy to report that the clamps worked as advertised contrary to complaints I read from other users...I suspect their own lack of success was due to choosing the wrong size, or failure to understand the installation instructions...The new amber marker lights on the front bumper were a simple matter of "measure twice - drill once"...All new lights function as I expected, and I'm now gathering parts and pieces for the next report...I'm a bargain hunter, as many already know, and if any of the lights I bought fail early, I suppose I'll have to blame myself for being too cheap to spring for name-brand products...One item I'm already less than happy with is the fog lights, repurposed from Blazer tractor lights...The housings were advertised as being rubber which makes sense for durability in the agricultural world, but the mounts are also rubber and are quite shaky...I'll see what the light is like while driving, and they may be replaced early with sturdier units...
I'm still waiting for a few electrical pieces to be delivered to wrap up the wiring, but given the rapidly changing and uncertain weather conditions this week, I decided to install the remaining front amber marker lights on the bumper and take some photos while the sun is still shining...All the planned lighting has now been installed, and final electrical connections will be made as soon as Amazon delivers the few remaining wiring parts...I published a pictorial on the project without finishing the wiring...
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