SOcalTrail's 2011 Trail Edition Beast Build Thread

[eddiebx]

That is one way to do it, but I stopped crimping them. The first couple I did, I crimped and I wasn't too happy with how they came out. After that I solder them... It takes all of 5 minutes to do a male and female Deutsch Connector and with solder, they are 100% bulletproof.

I will do a little pictorial later on.

I know you will make fun of me but, I crimp and then solder, lol. I figured if the mechanical compression gives you've still got the solder and vice versa

I try to make sure not to go too crazy with the solder though, you don't want it wicking too far down the wire or else you make the connection a wee bit more brittle vs naked cooper. You ever notice how if you feed too much solder in to a joint the wire feels a bit stiff? It's because soldered cooper is not as flexible as the bare cooper wire...too much bending back and forth could break it eventually. That's the problem with soldering connectors since you're usually bending/twisting them in all sorts of ways when moving it around.

I think I've read that this is why military and/or aviation only uses crimp connections exclusively? But as you have already experienced a properly fused crimp connection is way harder to achieve then a properly soldered joint

 

[SOcalTRAIL]

Ok - so I took a few minute break here from work to do a little "socaltrail" demo on how I assemble Deutsch connectors:

Here is the little kit they come in: 1 male plug, 1 female plug, the little locking pieces for each plug, and the poles / pins / terminals / or whatever you wanna call em:




For my demo, I am doing the male Deutsch connector - you pull out the male plastic connector, the larger green, plastic lock, and the 2 FEMALE connector pins. Note this because I screwed this up the first time.... the MALE DEUTSCH CONNECTOR USES FEMALE PINS. THE FEMALE DEUTSCH CONNECTOR USES THE MALE PINS. The short female ends are where the wire you are connecting to attaches.



Heat the soldering iron up, strip your wires about 1/4", put some flux on them, and slide the connector pin on. I like to leave the soldering iron on the table and hold the solder in one hand, the wire in the other and touch the wire where the pin is covering it to the iron. You will notice a small hole in the connector pin... have this facing up at you and feed your solder right down in this hole. The fluxed wire will suck the solder right through this. You can see the little hole in this pic.



Both pins have been soldered here, ready to insert into the actual Deutsch connector. Note the short female end of the pin where the wire goes into as opposed to the longer end that is the plug portion of the pin.




Another view: MALE PLUG - FEMALE PINS




Slide them right in the back through the silicone seal. Sometimes this seal comes seperate or slides out... No biggy, you can slide the wires through this before you put them into the connector, or do like I do and put the silicone seal in the connector and slide the wires right through it.



Push em in and all the way through... the pins kind of click into place and must reach the end of the plug as shown.



Here is how the back looks after inserting the pins - nice seal on the wires:



Now you have to lock it down - Take the appropriate plastic locking piece (on the kits I buy, the male uses the larger of the two plastic pieces.



Slide it it (it really is pretty self explanatory when you see it - it only goes one way)





Snap it down and BINGO!!!




You have one half of a Deutsch connector done!

 

[SOcalTRAIL]

I know you will make fun of me but, I crimp and then solder, lol. I figured if the mechanical compression gives you've still got the solder and vice versa

I try to make sure not to go too crazy with the solder though, you don't want it wicking too far down the wire or else you make the connection a wee bit more brittle vs naked cooper. You ever notice how if you feed too much solder in to a joint the wire feels a bit stiff? It's because soldered cooper is not as flexible as the bare cooper wire...too much bending back and forth could break it eventually. That's the problem with soldering connectors since you're usually bending/twisting them in all sorts of ways when moving it around.

I think I've read that this is why military and/or aviation only uses crimp connections exclusively? But as you have already experienced a properly fused crimp connection is way harder to achieve then a properly soldered joint

Crimping and soldering is a great way to go, I do that myself sometimes when the pesky wire doesn't wanna stay put or I am connecting multiple wires to something.

That is a great point to bring up Eddie - It takes very little solder to get a solid connection, too much is never good. I strip 1/4" an flow solder until I see it at the bottom of that 1/4" stripped area, no more.

The problem with crimped connections I have found is the crimpers - I have probably a half dozen good wire crimpers and found you MUST use the correct crimpers for the job - sounds crazy but not all crimps are equal - you have crimpers for insulated, non-insulated, different styles, different thicknesses, ets.

 

[SOcalTRAIL]

Did the 60K maintenance on Friday after work, re-lubed all the suspension bushings, rotated tires, washed, etc. etc.


Saturday I left at about noon and headed to the desert for a little overnight camping, wheeling, shooting adventure. Great weather, lots of fun!!!!

Whats funny about the thrid to last pic is I was the first to go up this really nasty rutted out hill and I have to say... it was not as dramatic. 4-Low and the T4R just crawls right up, never had a tire leave the ground.

 

[RG79]

[MENTION=74569]SOcalTRAIL[/MENTION] Painted Gorge??

 

[swimmerdude1127]

Never even remotely considered one of those rack-mounted tents until I saw this pic. That makes an AWESOME shooting area.

 

[SOcalTRAIL]

[MENTION=74569]SOcalTRAIL[/MENTION] Painted Gorge??

Painted Gorge indeed! You can see Plaster City in one of those pics.

I would have hit you up to join but it was a seriously last minute trip. Next time I'll give you a buzz to join up.

Never even remotely considered one of those rack-mounted tents until I saw this pic. That makes an AWESOME shooting area.

It is absolutely awesome for shooting like that. Three of us spent a good 4 hours under there in camp chairs rattling off .22 LR into the hills, its a great place to shoot because there is hardly anyone out that far and you are surrounded by mud hills. Pretty much safe to shoot 360 degrees.

 

[RG79]

No worries, I have some friends going out there for Plaster Blaster next weekend. I might head out there

 

[Gabex35]

Subd

 

[Gabex35]

I used the gaskets that the seals came with as well as good old black silicone to "seal the deal." All stainless hardware, all good quality stuff!


Here is the flange you mount to bolt the grommet and cover to:

I just ordered up two of these. Did you use the self tapping screws from the kit or...?

 

[SOcalTRAIL]

I just ordered up two of these. Did you use the self tapping screws from the kit or...?

Negative. I used some stainless flat head machine screws, I believe they were 6-32' s... Used stainless washers and nylocks on the underside... Very nice seal.

 

[SOcalTRAIL]

I've been away for a little while so I figured I would stop by and say helooooo!

Some recent stuff I have been working on:

-Bought a Yaesu Ft7900 R/R Dual Band VHF / UHF radio - found out where I am going to install it and studying up to get my HAM license.

-Still buttoning up my new switch panel in the dash.

-Redesigned my Group 31 replacement battery tray, have yet to cut it out and install it.

-Took two nice deer 2 weeks ago, enough meat for a year!!!

-Been wheeling a TON!!! Almost every weekend for the last couple months. Last weekend on a thanksgiving trip out to Lake Havasu, I busted a upper shock stem on one of my Icon Omega Bypass shocks. Big bummer! I pulled the shock off on the trail, found the bushings and parts that fell off and limped home which took over an hour. Luckily we had a welder out there so I did a quick and dirty fix on the stem, re mounted the shock, and made it home last night. Already made the arrangements with Icon for the fix, under warranty of course! While the shocks are at Icon, I am having them refreshed and re-valved to match the increased spring rate of the OME 896 springs I run. I have said it before, but you cannot beat Icon's service!

Some pics:

 

[Redswan]

Dude I love your ride. Icon certainly is great to do business with.

 

[Gabex35]

Hey SCTrail,

i've been following your thread for a while now (even before i bought the t4r) and was curious if, when you went with the ICONs, you ditched the KDSS.

The reason i ask is...I have King OEM series with adjusters all around that i took off of my FJ which were valved perfectly for my higher speed desert driving but for some reason they feel totally different and much stiffer on the t4r. maybe the KDSS and its small hydraulic input is keeping the C/O's from doing their thing.

Do you think the KDSS has something to do with the harsher feel you experienced from your rear kings and (assuming) your front Fox'?

i am considering having my kings re-valved much softer for my compression adjusters to actually be useful but am wondering if its even worth it due to the KDSS.

btw, stopped by line-x of SD today and Dallas showed me some photos of the work he did on your rig, looks sick dude.

 

[joneseyyy]

I've been away for a little while so I figured I would stop by and say helooooo!

Some recent stuff I have been working on:

-Bought a Yaesu Ft7900 R/R Dual Band VHF / UHF radio - found out where I am going to install it and studying up to get my HAM license.

-Still buttoning up my new switch panel in the dash.

-Redesigned my Group 31 replacement battery tray, have yet to cut it out and install it.

-Took two nice deer 2 weeks ago, enough meat for a year!!!

-Been wheeling a TON!!! Almost every weekend for the last couple months. Last weekend on a thanksgiving trip out to Lake Havasu, I busted a upper shock stem on one of my Icon Omega Bypass shocks. Big bummer! I pulled the shock off on the trail, found the bushings and parts that fell off and limped home which took over an hour. Luckily we had a welder out there so I did a quick and dirty fix on the stem, re mounted the shock, and made it home last night. Already made the arrangements with Icon for the fix, under warranty of course! While the shocks are at Icon, I am having them refreshed and re-valved to match the increased spring rate of the OME 896 springs I run. I have said it before, but you cannot beat Icon's service!

Some pics:

Damn! Same thing happened to Limamike in Ouray 2 yrs ago! Glad Icon is stepping up (they did for Limamike too).

 

[HOJeepster]

Damn! Same thing happened to Limamike in Ouray 2 yrs ago! Glad Icon is stepping up (they did for Limamike too).

I would think a $400+ shock shouldn't break like that in the first place?

 

[SOcalTRAIL]

I would think a $400+ shock shouldn't break like that in the first place?

Its kind of a crap design on Toyota's part - ideally there should be an eye up on top like there is on the bottom. The way the stem goes through the mounting point on the frame, there is quite a bit of force applied on it when the suspension cycles. The stem also broke at a stress riser; right where the smooth part of the stem starts its threads. Basically it was worked back and forth until the metal fatigued and one good bump broke it loose. That wouldn't happen had there been a spherical bearing or eyelet up there instead. Lots of people in the offroad world who have suspension setups with the stem, convert those to eyelets. I may end up doing something similar....

Warrior Products Shock Mount Conversions - Shock Absorber Conversion Mount - Shock Absorbers & Shock Accessories - Lift Kits, Suspensions & Shocks - by Performance 4 Trucks

 

[eddiebx]

^^Better hop on the waterjet and start cutting...make sure to make about ~20-30 extra for the inevitable group buy while you're at it :hello:

 

[HOJeepster]

Its kind of a crap design on Toyota's part - ideally there should be an eye up on top like there is on the bottom. The way the stem goes through the mounting point on the frame, there is quite a bit of force applied on it when the suspension cycles. The stem also broke at a stress riser; right where the smooth part of the stem starts its threads. Basically it was worked back and forth until the metal fatigued and one good bump broke it loose. That wouldn't happen had there been a spherical bearing or eyelet up there instead. Lots of people in the offroad world who have suspension setups with the stem, convert those to eyelets. I may end up doing something similar....

Warrior Products Shock Mount Conversions - Shock Absorber Conversion Mount - Shock Absorbers & Shock Accessories - Lift Kits, Suspensions & Shocks - by Performance 4 Trucks

Yep, make sense, I had the exact same thing happen to my bilstein 5100...that was quite the experience.

 

[joneseyyy]

Great idea on the eyelet. Please do it so I can copy you after my next shock rebuild Is Icon able/willing to convert your shock to be compatible with the eyelet?

Cheers,
Ben