the Rescue Runner build thread

[iamadam1122]

You have the ipf bulbs in stock headlights? Did you have to upgrade the harness? Where do you order them from?

 

[the great him]

I was think about joining SAR what all does that entitle for all the legal stuff?

what do you mean? you have to go through a background check, you have to take some classes, and get certified ect. there are a couple of groups in the sw wa area. i know the sheriffs office (who i work for) is closed/full, but there is clark county search and rescue, and silver star search and rescue. id look them up also there is PNW SAR

You have the ipf bulbs in stock headlights? Did you have to upgrade the harness? Where do you order them from?

i did, i dont anymore. ran them for a year or so. no issues at all. i loved them infact. i just couldnt find another set(the same ones anyhow) when they burnt out. i was running a 5000k super j bulb, it was still a 60/55w bulb but had the output of a 120/110w bulb.
i am now running a PIAA 4800k bulb, still a 60/55w but output is equal to that of a 140/125w bulb.
they look HID, but with out the glare that people hate. it gives a nice clean crisp light and its a focused light being that is a halogen type bulb, not an HID in a halogen housing.
technically neither of those bulbs are DOT compliant and are not for sale in the US, so i have to source them from japan.

to answer your question, no i have not touched the wire harness, have not needed to. i have no signs of overloading the harness or plug, and have never blown a fuse. i look for bulbs that only draw 60-70w of light max, the rest is all in the design of the gases/chemicals in the bulb and the type of element/filament, and the design of the bulb it self, to produce more light.
-note that these bulbs generally cost around $100 a set but far outlast anything else i have used that produces a "better light". silverstar sylvanias i have found to not last and burn out too fast, not to mention the light they produce is no where close to what IPF and PIAA bring to the table. and both PIAA and IPFs customer service is second to none while i have been told by sylvania that it was "my fault" and to go buy another set... -i did it was just a set of PIAAs lol

 

[SCRunner12]

i installed a fire extinguisher the other day in the back of my runner. i mounted it so that the cargo cover still be useable and cover it, as its bright red and could attract attention.

What did you use to attach the fire extinguisher? I got one for Christmas and need to attach it in the same spot as you.

 

[the great him]

it had its own wall mount/bracket that came with it... the thing had been sitting around in my garage for a couple of years so i lost one of the band clamps that hold the bottle to the bracket, but i still have one of them and its holding fine. to attach the bracket to the 4runner, i just used some small screws and mounted the bracket to the interior trim panel. at first i was kinda skeptical about it, but its been doing fine, none of the screws have come lose and i was careful not to strip any of them putting them in.

 

[Hepar]

How much are those PIAA's and roughly how long do they last?

 

[the great him]

i had the IPFs for roughly 18months i think... and most of my driving was done after dark i think i paid just over $50 for them -i wish i would have bought several pairs for that price. as far as the PIAAs the go for around $80-100 depending on where you get them(you cant find these state side, PIAA does not sell these in the US) and im not sure the life span on these, but if they are anything like the rest of the PIAAs i have owned they will last a couple of years at least. i have a set of intense white 4100k PIAAs in my 85 truck(did the hella H4 headlight conversion on that) sense i left for iraq so 09... 4 years(?), and have the same bulbs in my wifes car. she has had hers for over 3 years now, and its a daily driver and she drives with her lights on in the day time too.(does not have DRL). also the same bulb only in an H3 is what i have in all of my off road lights on the 85 truck, and the PIAA 940s that i was using on the brush guard. -those 940s i had wired up so the driving light portion of them was on when the key was in the "run" position, so they where my driving lights... on all the time when the truck was on or running. and i never had to replace them either. they hold up well to usage and vibration.

 

[the great him]

so i have been meaning and wanting to do this for almost as long as i have owned this truck, with in the first year of owning it, i have been in three accidents, and was getting very frustrated with insurance companies for not wanting to do their job ect. then with having a winch off of my 1985 toyota 4x4 pickup stolen this last month i was reminded that insurance companies are pretty much only a bunch of legal thiefs and are truly not on your side... long story short you need prof of everything these days, and its really sad but thats they way this world is getting. so i decided to just buy a dash cam for my daily driver.

its a pretty simple camera, small, about the size of a film canister(yes i know i just dated myself), or Rx pill bottle. it sticks to the inside of the windshield, and has one wire that pig tails off and then splits into 3 wires, one power, one ground, and one audio visual cable plug in(the yellow one -not sure what its for and i didnt use it). at first i couldnt get the audio to work, then i realized i had the camera on mute... the little LED light under the word "mute" needs to be on for the audio to record, you simply turn that on, by pressing the oval orange button and then you are recording audio too.

i mounted it just to the right of center in the windshield, next to my LED mirror strobe lights.

in the 3 times i have been hit in my 4runner, only once was i able to get the other insurance company to pay, all three people lied about what happened and i was only able to prove it once. if i had had this camera back then i would of been show proof and been awarded settlements well over $1500 in both cases. -fortuantly none of the accidents i was in cause me or anyone i was with injury, or major damage to my truck, it was all minor cosmetic stuff, but still it would have been nice to have 488s and dual ARBs right now, along with some $$$ left over to go in the bank. if i had had this camera there would have been no dispute over any of it.

i picked this camera up for like $40 on ebay. it took about an hour to install from start to finish -but i hit all the wiring and pulled a lot of panels and to run the wires under and behind the dash and A-pillar. i also decided to wire it so it has constant power, so it is recording even when the truck is parked and tuned off... so i got to work and someone bumps me, i got it on video. i just have to check it within 24hrs or so other wise the camera will re-record over the files. once the card is full the camera will start recording over the earliest files progressively.

-i have yet to figure out how to change the date and time, so those are way off... -the china-man who translated the instructions into english was well less than specific about things lol and so yeah im just gonna live with the wrong date and time... the video will speak for itself...

 

[TCMach]

Genius idea! I've always debated getting one since I know multiple people who have had their cars broken into. I don't know if your camera would work this way or not but I think some of them have ability to plug into a portable hard drive. You can get some of those with over a terabyte of memory for pretty dang cheap. It would probably get you more than 24hrs of recording time.

 

[shootmymime]

give me more info on that camera!!!

 

[4-Ripcord]

Got enough stuff by your mirror hoto:

I like that model a lot! And for $65 on ebay it pays for itself pretty quick if something happens. I want one now!


Have you tested the G-sensor feature where it saves that video?
How does that mic work, you just route it to where you want it to record sound, such as in cab or maybe in the front bumper or something?

 

[the great him]

Genius idea! I've always debated getting one since I know multiple people who have had their cars broken into. I don't know if your camera would work this way or not but I think some of them have ability to plug into a portable hard drive. You can get some of those with over a terabyte of memory for pretty dang cheap. It would probably get you more than 24hrs of recording time.

i figure 24hrs of video is plenty for me to get a crash... if i want more i can always buy a second card. but this camera has no previsions for a external storage other than the card, and its max size is 32g.

give me more info on that camera!!!

HD 720P Smallest in Car Dash Camera Video Register Recorder DVR Cam G Sensor | eBay

Got enough stuff by your mirror hoto:

I like that model a lot! And for $65 on ebay it pays for itself pretty quick if something happens. I want one now!


Have you tested the G-sensor feature where it saves that video?
How does that mic work, you just route it to where you want it to record sound, such as in cab or maybe in the front bumper or something?

for some reason the mic isnt working for me, but ehh thats more of a luxury at this point... the point was to be able to record vents as they happen and be a unbiased passenger/witness. video should be awfully compelling to an insurance company... and the mic is built into the camera, just above the buttons there are three small holes and the word "mic" above them so im assuming thats where the mic is, so it records sound from inside the cabin.
but as you said for $65(i only paid 41) its more than worth it.
i have not tested the g-force sensor, and im not gonna trust it either, im gonna just pull the card and and download the files or at least pull the card out of the camera so it cant record over them. -if the mic isnt working im not gonna trust the g-force sensor lol
yeah i think im about full... the Valentine One is perfectly located, then next to that is a hand held GPS on a suction cup mount (its got a 24K topo map of the US on it, and has most 4wd trails and old fire roads on it as well... comes in really handy in Search and Rescue, and 4wheeling, its very detailed, and then i have an LED strobe light behind the mirror. -you cant really see that because the rear-view mirror hides it so its not really obstructing any view. and then next to it is the camera, and again the rear-view mirror is hiding that as well from my view so yeah. -i have an amazing field of view compared to what i get in a HUMVEE

 

[Stockwell45]

If it's really that cheap, I'll be getting me one! Even if it does end up being around $60. I always figured those cameras were $100+

 

[the great him]

by the time you buy the card it will be close to $100, but that $100 can save you thousands in insurance "non"payouts

 

[Stockwell45]

by the time you buy the card it will be close to $100, but that $100 can save you thousands in insurance "non"payouts

Exactly! Worth it IMO. Too many idiots out there that might hit you and lie about it, like you said...

 

[BigFishAllDay]

Very cool. Now let's hope you don't get rear-ended. :behindsofa:

 

[shootmymime]

so it says u can plug them into your head unit. i already ahve a back up camera that is wired up to my reverse lights. the only way to view it is to put power to the back up lights. but it would be cool to have this in the back to see people parked behind you at a stop light or what ever.

just change the setting on my head unit and view the people behind me! lol

 

[the great him]

Very cool. Now let's hope you don't get rear-ended. :behindsofa:

:flipoff:how dare you!:lalala: if i do, im coming after you lol

 

[the great him]

so i got something in the mail today, i ordered these from [MENTION=9139]steezemcqueen[/MENTION] at toytec. great customer service! and excellent shipping!

 

[TCMach]

112620s? Your gonna love those things. I just made the swap from TRD Tundras to those and it's great! Can't wait to see them on the truck!

 

[the great him]

ok so i got my 112620s installed -the toytec eibach coils, set them on the 2nd perch on my tundra 5100s, they ride fine but i still want more lift. i will probably put in my 1/4" top plate spacers to add a bit more lift. -either that or ill be dumping my LC coils for some other rear coils... anyone have a good recommendation, i dont want more than 4" in the rear, i dont really like aggressive rake.

also i "fixed" my 4wd... and i say fixed in quotes like that cause i wasnt really broken at all... it turns out i had plenty of diff fluid -yes it was a little dirty, but not bad, and no metal in it. i looked at the bearing i thought was bad, and it was fine, spun free and smooth, no abnormal signs or wear ect. so i was baffled... then i picked up the CVs to put them back in, and i instantly noticed my issue... the outer joint on my passenger side CV was bad, the thing was froze up bad, it took all my strength to just bent it around.... WTF, these things are only like 8 months old, and have less than 10K on them... not happy, but at least they have a lifetime warranty. -and before you go telling me, "i told you to check you CVs..." i did, i had a spare set in my garage that i swapped them out for(back when i first noticed the issue -before it got really really bad). well the spare CVs i had were old, and ones i used as cores, and i remember one being stiff as well when i turned them in for my brand new ones(the ones i just replaced these with). well i bet i put that stiff one on the passenger side as well so i was given then impression that it was not a CV issue.... lesson learned, always swap from side to side as well as with other units to "double check" things... if i had known the fix was this easy i would have done this weeks ago, and been playing in the snow.
i put the new CVs in and ran it up to 70 in 4wd, with no pull or drag. so the bad CV is sitting in the back of my truck ready to go back tomorrow and get yet another brand new CV.

i also flushed my front diff, and filled it with synthetic, so now im full synthetic all the way around.

i did notice that i should probably replace my brake likes as they are really starting to crack, and i can see the white inner tubing, tomorrow ill be ordering some steel braided lines for it.