So today is double update day, with a third to follow mid week haha. After some serious neglect and a busy schedule its finally time to add some updates.
Lets start with the work I didn't do. I had this thing wired up! Sgt Taco on TW did the work for me. If you are in ABQ I 100% suggest you talk to this man. Not only was his work very clean and to my standard, but way above! He knows all kinds of tricks on things you didn't know you need tricks for. Like relays, I guess there is the normal way where the relay can only go in a specific way and if backwards will cause problems. But he wires this thing up so it can go in either way and not only will it not cause problems, but everything still works. Didn't know I needed that but he took care of it.
Here is a picture of the engine bay. Nice and clean even though there is a lot going on in here.
This is the Bussman fuse and relay block. It is 100% weather sealed, holds 5 relays and 10 fuses. You use all metrapack connectors and everything is all pinned out like a factory distro block. These things are very cool!
And a look inside.
This is where all the wires run into my cab for my switch panel.
And the grounding block.
Here is where the magic happens. 10 switches of glory haha. They are all tapped into the dimmer and you can adjust brightness with the factory knob. They glow green on the bottom at night with the lights on, and the pictures light up red when on. I will get some night shots one night. Some switches are for future mods (winch, inverter, front locker).
In addition to all of that I got my CB mounted and wired in. Still need to get the antenna mounted, more to come on that. I also installed a DVD head unit in this thing a while back. I don't think I posted on that. It's a pioneer. Doesn't have the Nav feature but I use the smart phone for that anyways.
Next big addition, got my rear bumper built and installed!!!! I didn't post much on the build for this one. I was concurrently working on 4 bumpers at the same time so it all got blurry haha. But this is the finished product. I am still buttoning up the swing out and all the attached goodies, so that is my additional update I plan on posting mid week next week. It's rather elaborate so it will have it's own section haha. More on the bumper. Made from 3/16" main rectangle tube, 1/4" mounts and hitch stuff, and then 1/8" plate everywhere else in an attempt to save overall weight on the rig. It is a seriously heavy bumper though even with the thinner plate work. Has a hitch that I am confident will handle decent weight. Have to give some credit on this one. Did a lot of feature searching on bumpers before I built mine and I drew some influences from some CBI features and style cues from [MENTION=22788]prospectator[/MENTION] 's bumper that he built.
Side shot
Pass corner.
The tube work on the side. The jury is still out on how I feel about the tubing. It will add some good protection but I scratched up the side of my rig trying to put this on by myself... haha kinda defeated the purpose there, oh well.
Rear shot, you can see where the swing out will attach and bolt on.
Drivers corner.
Hitch area. This will get a filler panel down the road when I get to it.
Swing out pivot and electrical weather pack connector.
Front bumper got a major overhaul. I posted in my bumper build, but was waiting to add to this one. Added an 1/8" aluminum skid with dimples. Also I took the LED strip blinkers out and added the standard optical eye looking ones. Did some various clean up on the thing and re-painted it satin black. If I like this I may end up getting it powder coated some form of this color down the road.
Other small stuff, got the GT seat covers installed. These are very nice leather and look stock. I am a little too dirty for these haha... I may end up switching to Poly ones later. But not because they suck, I am just ruff on cars.
Lastly, finished my front skid. This is all 1/8" steel plate. IT has about 8 ribs in various spots to keep it rigid. I know it won't stay straight from the big hits, but I am not a big rock crawler and this things will offer plenty of protection. I won't be sad if it gets tweaked, haha.
