Apohl17's Iceberg Build Thread

[apohl17]

Not quite done yet- last step was to install a CF-13 adjustable flasher relay ($10 from Ebay) under the dash, behind the fuse panel. I simply removed the lower steering panel, pulled the air tube (one philips screw and loosening a bracket), and the flasher relay is the topmost relay behind the fuse panel, accessible and waiting to be pulled (see the O3B11 relay in the grimy fuse panel pic). With the new relay, I was then able to dial in my blinker speed by the adjustable knob on top- it worked flawlessly. I put it all back together after testing it a healthy amount of cycles...

 

[apohl17]

The moment we have been waiting for

... And here it is with the licence plate, shackles with foam isolators, and LED turn signals installed!!!! Lots more pics to come, and should have the new fogs and skid plate redesigned and installed this week sometime, but it's pretty much there.

Big and special thanks [MENTION=76968]traxman25[/MENTION] at 4xInnovations for working with me on getting equipped with this bumper, hope to eventually get more armor on the rig as time goes on.

 

[J-Roc]

Looks great! Love what you have done to it so far.
Keep us updated

 

[apohl17]

So most of you know or saw that I had fabbed a little front diff skid a while ago out of some thin cold roll plate I had laying around. Nothing too structural, mainly something for some light duty, lightweight protection. For now. Well, the 4xi bumper covered up my previous front mounting points and I needed to weld a new mounting plate on the front . I wanted to use three of the five lower skid rail bolts holding the bumper on, so started by drilling holes in the plate (PIC 1).

Next up, I measured my angle, ground off some of the old trashy paint (going to do it right this time), tacked it on, verified it on the truck, and laid a bead on the front face. Kept speeds and voltage low so I didn't burn through and to get good penetration. I then clamped it in the vice (wood blocks for support, brought out the flap disc, and flushed the welds on the outside surface for a clean mating edge. (PIC 2)

With that, I drilled clearance holes for inserting a 13mm socket using a 1" hole saw bit, which allowed me to access the now hidden attachment bolts, sandwiching the skid and lower lip of the bumper
Had to bolt it on now and check out fitment! (PICS 3-4)

 

[apohl17]

Now, since I went through all that work prepping and painting the bumper, i figured I would do a nice job on the skid. Started off by throwing it in the sandblaster and going to town... PIC 1
Then took it to the booth.... PIC 2
And slapped a nice coat of white on it as well. I was actually considering going wild with red or orange (should I have?), but I felt white was a more happy medium :drummer:

Literally all I need to do know is wait until it's dry and install. Also, I need to try to adjust my bumper down a tad because it's kinda close to hitting my drivers fender on the wing. Doesn't help I have a dent in the fender and it's likely tweaked. :crybaby:

 

[apohl17]

Lastly, I just wanted to throw this on here- I started another thread in which I'll be documenting my fog install and wiring: Want...Some Fog?

I had a hard time locating all the good threads and info for that so hopefully I can bring everything into one place for future fog installers.:rockon:

 

[apohl17]

Another productive few hours last night. My skid was dry enough to install...
I got my 3" Amber Fog Cubes from Ebay here for a whopping $17...
They mounted up slick as snot...
And I got them wired up utilizing the factory fog harness!
Total Cost for fog implementation: $17 (fogs) + $9 (relay) +$8 (set of five rocker switches) == $34 -- can't complain here!

On a side note, since I went with the factory harness, and disabled my DRL's, I haven't figured out how I can get accessory power to these to allow these to work without my headlights on. Down the road I'll try again, but for now, they make a surprising amount of difference even with my headlights on. Hope they last a while!

Oh, and those who notice the wiring sticking out below the bumper- I'll have you know that everything was waterproofed and tidied up after the pictures were taken :beer:

 

[apohl17]

I guess I should add as well, I was able to drop the bumper 1/8" and now I'm not hitting the fenders when encountering body flex over bumps and such. Happy as a clam, I am. :hatsoff:

 

[apohl17]

Took some pics today!! Big shout out to 4xinnovations [MENTION=76968]traxman25[/MENTION] again.

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

 

[Silver.T4R]

I've been watching your build for a couple months and dig where this is going, the new bumper looks great! Also, props for fixing the frame and saving another 3rd gen from the junkyard, that rust looked pretty nasty. Couple questions, how do you like the boss headunit/underseat sub? I've been wanting do a sound overhaul with a new sub and cheaper touchscreen/android headunit for a while but wasn't sure if the audio quality would suffer. Good luck with your build!

 

[zoombyu86]

I'm jealous! This build is turning out great. I'm gonna need your skills to come to Ohio and fix my rockers/fenders!

 

[apohl17]

I've been watching your build for a couple months and dig where this is going, the new bumper looks great! Also, props for fixing the frame and saving another 3rd gen from the junkyard, that rust looked pretty nasty. Couple questions, how do you like the boss headunit/underseat sub? I've been wanting do a sound overhaul with a new sub and cheaper touchscreen/android headunit for a while but wasn't sure if the audio quality would suffer. Good luck with your build!

Right on. Thanks for the support! I agree with you there, it was not a pretty sight before- I'll be watching everything else like a hawk, treating the frame every year with converter, and doing what I can to slow down what the lovely Wisconsin roads throw at it every day. Some rust is starting to peep through on the rear fenders again, which is going to take a little effort to fix in spring. But, I've done it once, I can do it again!

The Boss head unit treated me well until I passed it along to my brother. It was super cheap, came with the backup camera, and was easy to wire up. However, I upgraded to the Kenwood DDX9902S for a few reasons:
1. The touch screen wasn't very responsive, needed a "harder than normal" press of any buttons.
2. Basically no audio adjustment!!! A slider with 5 positions for Bass, and a slider with 5 positions for Treble. This is what killed it for me. I put it nice speakers, but couldn't tune them! Spend the extra money to get something with at least a 7 band (or 13) equalizer.
3. Stuck out kinda far from the dash, and screen doesn't tilt up. Since our radios are so far down in the dash, this makes a world of a difference...

As far as the underseat sub, I love that thing. Each song has a different amount of usable bass, and I can set my control knob and forget it, or change my bass response depending on if I am by myself or if others are in the car (and what kind of others, at that :rockon: ) Would recommend!

Totally let me know if you have more questions, this is why I try to document everything here on the forums. :reddance:

I'm jealous! This build is turning out great. I'm gonna need your skills to come to Ohio and fix my rockers/fenders!

Thanks man! Not too many of us here in the midwest. Where in Ohio?? I'd be down to meet up sometime!

 

[zoombyu86]

Thanks man! Not too many of us here in the midwest. Where in Ohio?? I'd be down to meet up sometime!

I am in the northwest, in Toledo. I would like to find my way out there sometime this year. My friend recently moved out that way, I think just north of Madison.

 

[apohl17]

I am in the northwest, in Toledo. I would like to find my way out there sometime this year. My friend recently moved out that way, I think just north of Madison.

Nice! Yup, I float around SW-SE Wisconsin throughout the year. Hit me up if you ever get a wild hair or decide to come this way, and I'll do the same if I am saucing out towards your neck of the woods. :cheers:

 

[apohl17]

Well, folks... I never thought I would be buying one of these... but I couldn't pass up the deal on a local RTT! You never see these things in the midwest, especially an hour away on Craigslist. Pics to come soon, I promise- its a Tepui Ayer Sky 2 in the tan colorway, bought from the original owner (who had it 6 months and his car get totaled (sorry again Matt)). Now I just have to wait until it at least gets ABOVE freezing here so I can use it to the max!

 

[Silver.T4R]

I'll be watching everything else like a hawk, treating the frame every year with converter, and doing what I can to slow down what the lovely Wisconsin roads throw at it every day.

Man, it would stink to have to spray down your truck every year, sure makes me glad to be in the PNW. Thanks for the heads up about the boss head unit, I guess I'll give that a pass and keep looking. How would you say the under seat sub compares with a dedicated sub box in the cargo area? Conrats on picking up the RTT, I've been wanting one of those for a while.

 

[apohl17]

Man, it would stink to have to spray down your truck every year, sure makes me glad to be in the PNW. Thanks for the heads up about the boss head unit, I guess I'll give that a pass and keep looking. How would you say the under seat sub compares with a dedicated sub box in the cargo area? Conrats on picking up the RTT, I've been wanting one of those for a while.

It's just the price I pay for living in the midwest! Someday I think i'll be heading west for a while, hopefully within a couple years. But for sure, mate. If it put it into perspective, I was able to find my Kenwood for less than $200 used on ebay- that's not much more than a new cheaper HU and significantly better. Unfortunately I can't compare my underseat sub to any rear enclosures in a 3rd gen, but the few vehicles I have been in with a sub in back... There is definitely a bass frequency/ response difference, as well as overall output, but for the price, ease of use (not needing an amp, all upgraded speaker wiring, big sub enclosure in back, etc.), it is perfect. I have the output on my underseat dialed down pretty far because I find it overpowering for casual rock/alt/indie listening. I don't think you would be disappointed with a unit like mine!

And thanks! Just did some custom mounting tweaks on it last night.

 

[apohl17]

Mid-install of the RTT! I ended up running the mounting bars perpendicular to the WMM rack sides instead of utilizing another type of crossbar. Sits up there pretty nice- I really want to keep it up there but it doesn't pay for me to leave it up on top until it at least gets above freezing... I've got ants in my pants to take a trip though, so if anyone wants to meet up in a 10 hour radius of Wisconsin, hit me up!! IA, IL, IN, AR, KY, TN, KS... :cheers:

 

[apohl17]

So I am not 100% on how I like the clamps that are provided with the Tepui when it comes to mounting on round rails. I was perusing a thread over on expedition portal and I came across this interesting post ... Long story short, someone utilized surface mount vibration-damping pipe routing clamps and they look slick as snot.

I might see if I can source some locally instead of going through McMaster Carr, or if not, I might make my own rubber grommets and bend myself up some clamps!

Here is the exact clamp I'd want- 304 SS, 1" OD tube. Anyone do something similar here on T4R?

 

[Silver.T4R]

If it put it into perspective, I was able to find my Kenwood for less than $200 used on ebay- that's not much more than a new cheaper HU and significantly better. Unfortunately I can't compare my underseat sub to any rear enclosures in a 3rd gen, but the few vehicles I have been in with a sub in back... There is definitely a bass frequency/ response difference, as well as overall output, but for the price, ease of use (not needing an amp, all upgraded speaker wiring, big sub enclosure in back, etc.), it is perfect. I have the output on my underseat dialed down pretty far because I find it overpowering for casual rock/alt

Awesome! I'll be keeping my eye out for a used HU on ebay, and have to look into the underseat subs some more. RTT is looking good!