Project VXOverLand

[ipd]

I was thinking more like Hex-grill on the sides, to match the VX theme. But yes. Too bad Middle GA has zero places that do custom bumpers. I'm pretty sure UT had a bunch.

[Thelgord]

Utah has more “fabricators” than it can handle really. Seems like everyone is trying to cash in on it. But yes, there is really nothing available in most of Georgia. So glad I taught myself how to weld. I would love to buy a tube bender to really create some cool projects, but getting one past the wife’s budget ... meh ... not so easy On the flipside she keeps my credit score good

[ipd]

Well if you ever find a decent shop, keep us informed. I'm still hunting an upholstery shop.

[Thelgord]

There is one in Augusta, Uber expensive. They mostly restore classic cars for the pebble beach cars. Nothing so far for just a hot rod guy damn it.

[Thelgord]

Got my brush guard on today!!! Yay!

[ipd]

Not bad! Looks like you have the same weatherstripping-poking-out-the-door issue I have. Still haven't figured that 1 out.

The cladding could use some love though. A good temp fix is Mother's Back-to-Black. I use it myself, and the difference is quite drastic. A good wash and some treatment and it will just pop.

p.s.
I don't remember the diameter of the center caps on the stockers. It might be cook to put some decals over the "Isuzu". I did that with the center caps on my Volks. Small pic, but that's an Autobots logo. Same on all 4.

[Thelgord]

The wether stripping has been doing that since I got it. Should probably, one day, maybe, replace it.

I am going to be painting the cladding when I start the body work. For now I am not really concerned with it.

I have of Toyota rims that I may be swapping out for. Higher offset to push the wheels out more. They are steel wheels and have some surface rust, I need to clean those and paint them up before I decide if I am going to switch them out.

[Thelgord]

In the morning I will be starting my trailer light plug install. I have a seven wire plug that also has a four wire plug attached to it. I got it at Home Depot in the clearance rack for something like $10, but that’s whatever. The part that was confusing me was the VX “5 wire” system.

After searching the site, I found this thread: http://www.vehicross.info/showthread...-for-a-trailer

This is awesome, mostly because it tells me what color wires to look for. From the thread:

RT Turn Signal Wire Color (only avail on the Passenger Side): Green/Blue
LF Turn Signal Wire Color (only avail on Driver's Side): Green/Blue
Parking/Running Light Wire Color: Green/Red
Brake Light Wire Color: Green

Basically I need to get the turn signal and brake light onto the same wire without allowing feedback to mess everything up. Yes, there are converter boxes, and they are cheap as all get out (I think like $11 or $12 on amazon). However, I already have a solution that is a holdover from my Toyota Tacoma bed lighting project. Diodes!!!

Yup, I already had this issue when trying wire 22 LED light strips in the bed of my Tacoma and I needed a way to control them. I used a 2 inch long piece of 1/2 inch PVC pipe, some wire, and two high-capacity diodes. I ended up making two of these. It has two inputs, and one put, and keeps the two inputs isolated from each other. Basically it was way to turn on lights on only one side of the bed or the other, or to turn them all on. It was a really simple solution that worked well.

Since I kept all of that wiring, lights, switches, and what not, I still have these two pieces I made, and after testing, they still work. I just need to wire them to the plug and I am in business! I can start wiring up the rest of the plug.

Yes, I intend to hook up all of the wires, including the brake controller, backup lights, and AUX power wires. Though the brake controller and AUX power may wait for a bit. The rest is getting hooked up in the morning for sure, and as long as it doesn’t get scorching hot again tomorrow, I will run the wiring for the power and brake controller.

I needed to put a rush on this as I will be borrowing a neighbors utility trailer to haul off the scrap from a fence I am taking down later this week, but that’s a whole other thing.

[Thelgord]

Not exactly sure what happened, but it was very hot the other day, and I was tired of working on the VX.

First, my diode idea, while it did work, wasn’t an ideal solution. It was fun, but I scrapped it and just got a converter box from my local tractor supply. Much more rugged than anything I made and it was only $15.

Then I get everything wired up, no issues. I zip tie all of the wires behind cladding and what not, got the plug mounted, every looked good. I decided to test the plug again. Damn it.

I must have done something wonky either while wiring, or while zip tying everything down, or both. Only the right turn signal and brake light seem to be working. I was too tired to take it all apart again. I may try again this weekend. Maybe sooner. Maybe not. But I will need to sort that out, damn it.

[Thelgord]

No work on the VX recently. But I did get around to checking on the 4wd and fog light switches. I got the pinouts mapped easily enough. Both the back light bulbs are blown, as are several on my dash. I found a site that had them by the 10 pack for around $12 so I ordered one. The interesting things is the 4wd switch I got from an axiom. It is a Normally Open switch. You press the button “in” to shut it off. Weird, but I can work with that. I plan on getting more of these switches as they become available at my local pull-a-part yard now that I know the bulbs can be changed out. I think I will experiment with one of the switches to figure out how to change the fog light icon. Maybe some sanding and a printed sticker with a clear background? Maybe sand all of the black off and try to stencil my own? Not sure yet. But it should be a fun project. I would love to get one of those laser etching things, but they are crazy expensive. Before all that though I need to figure out how to pull the switch cover off without breaking it. Then I will have a good idea of what I am working with. Who knows, maybe there is a market for OEM looking switches that say things like “LED light bar”?

[MSHardeman]

VXorado found some "custom" switches and it sounded like you could have them print just about anything you wanted on them. They do not match our factory switches, but might be an option.

You can see them in his build thread on page 6 about half way down:

http://www.vehicross.info/showthread...orado+switches

[Thelgord]

So, I lost the “key” to my lock lug nut. Damn it. After spending several days looking for it, nothing. I called a few tire shops, even a couple of dealerships, and they all said the same thing. They were going to have to “break it off”, which would destroy the stud (no big deal there as they are easy to change), but they also said there was a better than even change of destroying the rim in the process. I looked for one of those counter thread bolt extractors and couldn’t find one the right size. After a week of scratching my head over this, I finally found an option that had good reviews online. Hammer a slightly to small socket on to the smooth lock lug and then twist off. All I did was break a socket, dang it.

I did finally get them off, and replaced with matching lug nuts from another isuzu. I ended up welding a nut on the end of the lock lug and they came right off. Took about 10 minutes per wheel. Now I no longer have any locking lug nuts, but I can at least take the wheel off if get a flat tire or need to work on something.

[Thelgord]

Thanks for the link! I’ll look into it

[MSHardeman]

Glad you got it taken care of, but I have had this problem before (lost my lock nut key) and my local tire shop had a way of getting the lock nut off without destroying the rim or the stud. They had a bit that, basically, clamped down on the lock lug and just backed it off. It did destroy the lock nut, but that's an easy replacement.

I have a set of stock chrome rims and bought a set of black lug nuts and lug keys from McGard ( https://shop.mcgard.com/products/aut...olts/cone-seat ). The black looks pretty schnazzy against the chrome rims. I still have a set of lug nuts in the package so I can find the exact model number that fits our VX's if you would like.

[Thelgord]

Would be appreciated