|
Originally Posted by shadetree
Act, thanks for asking. I wanted to learn every circuit in the truck, and I wanted every wire to be a larger gauge wire than stock. I also was obsessed with walnut (wood) so I drew up plans, and fabbed a fuse box that was made from a solid hunk of walnut. It was in the same location as the stock box (this was a HUGE mistake), and every wire was strung by yours truly.
The stock location was under the dash, on the left (driver)side, right in the path of water seepage from the windshield, open door, window, etc. The walnut warped, and some short circuiting occured (moisture in the wood causing weak current seepage). Live and learn. If I had it to do over, I would have used a much more stable medium (bakolite is perfect) to construct the fuse box from. Also I would park the thing under the hood, near a fender, for easy access.
One item I did do right was install LED lights under each fuse. In practice, this light would not burn when the fuse was good (the fuse being a much better conductor), but it would light up good when that fuse blew. That made fuse replacement easy, even if it was dark out (hell, even if it was DRUNK out).
Parts sourcement? NAPA for wire & solder ends, terminals & LEDs from Radio Shack, junkyard for most everything else. I fabricated anything I couldn't buy, or afford.
The wire schematic followed "stock" except I used my own wire color code. Oh, I used relays for the headlights, too. That made the headlights noticably brighter, and is 'sposed to help them last longer. Another hot rodded item was the power windows. I used window motors from Chrysler products (they are cheaper, more plentiful, and they are made by GM {GM held the patents on gear drive power windows}). I used relays on them too, trying to keep the high amprege needed away from those fragile window switches.
Another deviation from stock was the sound system. Again relays were used for the high amprege items like the amplifiers (3). The crossovers (2), and the equalizer were built into the system from the begining. I designed and constructed a box to fit behind the seat which housed a 12" dual voice coil sub woofer, two 8" woofers, and four tweeters. The top of the box mounted the 3 amplifiers, and the crossovers. The equalizer was under the seat on long wires, so I could tune the system while driving. I had 2 6" x 9" triaxials in each door, and 2 4" midrange speakers top center of the dash. I had 4 tweeters hidden inside the dash, exiting the A/C outlets. Did I mention that I like music? You should have heard Led Zepplin on that crazy system!
I couldn't afford that sound deadening stuff (Dynomat?) so I hot-rodded a substitute. I bought several cases of that expanding foam stuff from a failing hardware store colse out sale. I had every hollow space in that cab filled with that stuff! I could rock and roll, and not upset the neighbors (un like our "ricer" cousins). My sons used to fight each other to get to ride with me in that truck!
I release this reply to you, you can use it in the forums if you want. If there is any interest, I will try to add to the knowlege base with anything I can contribute. I love and strongly believe in this truck forum, I wish I had more time now to invest in it. Shadetree
|