Daily Driver, Go Where I Want To Build
- Thread starter jjvw
- Start date
Everytime I buy something with an ARB harness 75% of it gets tossed. ARB likes their overly complicated harnesses.
In hindsight, I should have just finished making my own new harness instead of trying to reuse the ARB one. All that remains inside the dash is a pair of wires about 18" long.
Been looking at lights a lot lately, and the harness that is included with any of the kits seems way overcomplicated and long. That’s the problem with universal. The guy putting reverse lights in a 4 door, long box tow pig gets the same harness as the guy who wants to put them in a TJ or smaller vehicle. And, they charge a ton for them. Baja designs has a flush mount reverse light kit for something like 355 dollars. The individual lights are less than 140 a piece. So, that harness is 75 bucks! Seems silly, especially if you have some sort of switch relay already installed.
My Baja harness made sense to use because it came with the other half of the light connectors. From there, I was also able to reuse the wire to make my own harness.
It might make sense always...just because, like you said, the connector are already there and don't need to be "figured out" I'd say, for the vast majority of people, it makes sense. If you have invested in some termination tools and have a small supply of say, weather pack or Deutsch connectors, its probably WAY more cost effective to roll your own at home.
More of the final cleanups today. Blaine recently reminded me how nice the uninsulated butt connectors with adhesive heat shrink are that I used when assembling his taillights months ago. That is what I have been using when shortening the wire to their final lengths. The physical bulk of the connections are smaller when stuffed into the loom. And the added length of the heat shrink seal feels like a good thing to have for strain relief and water intrusion. I have also had issues on some bulkier insulated connectors where I damage the insulation during the crimping process. The separate heat shrink solves that.
Apart from some zipties, everything going through the firewall should be complete.
The fuse block needs nicer fork terminals. I'll be using similar uninsulated pieces with adhesive heat shrink on these. And the horn wiring needs attention, as do the winch control wires.
The two unused circuits from the SwitchPros are bundled into this loom and get laid in with everything else passing behind the battery.
It's getting close. Halfway done!
Apart from some zipties, everything going through the firewall should be complete.
The fuse block needs nicer fork terminals. I'll be using similar uninsulated pieces with adhesive heat shrink on these. And the horn wiring needs attention, as do the winch control wires.
The two unused circuits from the SwitchPros are bundled into this loom and get laid in with everything else passing behind the battery.
It's getting close. Halfway done!
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One of the many side projects the highlines have exploded into are new rock lights. I am using KC Cyclones, soon to be eight total. And I bought a six pack of the magnet mounts so I can be wishy washy and non-committal.
The first pair go to a mount added to the grill body mount bracket.
The second pair are at the back of the front wheel opening on the angled face where the factory fenders used to attach. Each ground is screwed in near the lights.
The first pair go to a mount added to the grill body mount bracket.
The second pair are at the back of the front wheel opening on the angled face where the factory fenders used to attach. Each ground is screwed in near the lights.
I have a pair of flush mount trims for the third pair, in hopes that they can be inset into the sliders similar to how Blaine did on a recent build.
The problem is that the spacer block that supports the rocker against the torque box is exactly in that spot. In order to recess the mount, I will need to partly cut into that spacer. Doing so should be fine, structurally. I just need to figure out how to do it cleanly. A router with a circle template might be the solution.
The problem is that the spacer block that supports the rocker against the torque box is exactly in that spot. In order to recess the mount, I will need to partly cut into that spacer. Doing so should be fine, structurally. I just need to figure out how to do it cleanly. A router with a circle template might be the solution.
If I am ok cutting all the way through the spacer, then a hole saw will work. I need to look at the welds and see if the rear most piece would be free floating or not. Also, if my router milling process leaves only a thin sheet of spacer, then I might as well just hole saw it.
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I wouldn’t think that rock light in the slider would last very long in that spot. Is the housing metal or plastic?
The KC flush mount housing is cast or die cast aluminum. How many scratches do you actually have on the bottom side of your rock rails close to the frame right in front of the rear tires?
Aluminum. I have mild concerns about that, too. The previous owner of my sliders is from California who used them in JV and who knows where else. There are no rock scars on that surface. Partly, from limited use. But also because that spot is largely shielded by the body mount, frame, the tire and the outer edge of the slider itself.
If that is the set that matched up to the corners, the use was not limited IIRC. Wheeled with him many times in JV and he was one of the first sets of those sliders installed.
Good point. I took a look on mine and on the interior portion of the slider at that location, sure enough, very few scratches. But the entire outer edge is destroyed deep enought that I would have clipped the edge of that light in the location JJ has it mounted. But, I’m not running boatsides, so perhaps that helps.
Edit: meaning that without boat sides, I could mount them farther away from the edge.
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