Thanks! I appreciate the tips. I'm no pro mechanic but I've worked with electronics my whole life so I tend to go overboard sometimes. I'm actually thinking of designing a circuit that does both. I want the convenience of knowing all my lights will normally turn off when the ignition is off but I want the ability to temporarily make the lights work without the ignition on. It will likely involve an additional relay and switch that will live in the engine compartment that will switch the whole system to the alternate constant power source while at the same time preventing it from connecting to the switched source because I don't want it connected to both at the same time. Sounds fun right?

Running off the switched power control under normal operation is a standard configuration. Adding an override switch to switch between normal operation and direct battery power on the control line is easy to incorporate. add a single pole double throw with center term to power the lighting control circuit and each side terminal to your choice of switched power or batt+ power.

 

Today I flushed out my power steering fluid. As well changed out my reservoir return hose & power steering suction hose. The return hose was starting to seep fluid. It was no major leak but with time the heat and fluid ruin the hoses and they become brittle! Some of the hose clamps were pain to get to! After some swearing and a bit of blood shed, I finally got it sorted.

 

Today I flushed out my power steering fluid. As well changed out my reservoir return hose & power steering suction hose. The return hose was starting to seep fluid. It was no major leak but with time the heat and fluid ruin the hoses and they become brittle! Some of the hose clamps were pain to get to! After some swearing and a bit of blood shed, I finally got it sorted. View attachment 416536 View attachment 416537 View attachment 416538 View attachment 416539 View attachment 416540 View attachment 416541 View attachment 416542 View attachment 416543 View attachment 416544

That couldn't have been fun. At least you can console yourself with the knowledge of how much money you saved doing it yourself! 👍

 

Today I flushed out my power steering fluid. As well changed out my reservoir return hose & power steering suction hose. The return hose was starting to seep fluid. It was no major leak but with time the heat and fluid ruin the hoses and they become brittle! Some of the hose clamps were pain to get to! After some swearing and a bit of blood shed, I finally got it sorted. View attachment 416536 View attachment 416537 View attachment 416538 View attachment 416539 View attachment 416540 View attachment 416541 View attachment 416542 View attachment 416543 View attachment 416544

I replaced my PS hoses with silicone a couple of years ago when I swapped all except the coolant bypass hose. I had loads of fun.

 

I replaced my PS hoses with silicone a couple of years ago when I swapped all except the coolant bypass hose. I had loads of fun.

lol I was debating whether to go with Z1 silicone hoses, I hear they are really good. Ended up sticking with OEM. If and when my radiator decides to kick the bucket I will go with Z1 silicone hoses along with the CSF radiator.

 

That couldn't have been fun. At least you can console yourself with the knowledge of how much money you saved doing it yourself! 👍

Yea absolutely, not sure how much this would have cost to have a Technician to install and flush. Glad I was able to do it without braking any parts 😅

 

Since I have the rack system, I was planning to have off road lights facing in all directions including into the bed for additional cargo lighting. I also plan on having lighting on the front bumper guard I've yet to build. I want to be able to control everything independently, that's why I need at least a 6 gang switch. Some of the lighting on the rear side of the bed rack will just be tied to the running lights and brake lights of the truck so I won't need switches for those. I read some reviews about that switch set up saying it works from up to 200 feet away from the truck. I thought that would be fun to play with so I doubt I'll wire the switches in permanently. Of course that brings up the issue of providing 12v to the relay box without the truck being turned on. I have some ideas about a separate switch for that. It would have to be wired in such a way to disconnect the switched power when its turned on so I don't damage anything.

Single pole, double throw switch. I have my Yaesu HAM radio on one, throw one direction, it's ignition ON only, the other way is batt power so always ON. One n done, easy breezy.

 

lol I was debating whether to go with Z1 silicone hoses, I hear they are really good. Ended up sticking with OEM. If and when my radiator decides to kick the bucket I will go with Z1 silicone hoses along with the CSF radiator.

I have installed most of my Z1 Offroad 4.0L master hose kit now, and the fit and finish is top-shelf. Highly recommend, I went with red cause I'm doing all red accents for my silver truck.

 

Thanks! I appreciate the tips. I'm no pro mechanic but I've worked with electronics my whole life so I tend to go overboard sometimes. I'm actually thinking of designing a circuit that does both. I want the convenience of knowing all my lights will normally turn off when the ignition is off but I want the ability to temporarily make the lights work without the ignition on. It will likely involve an additional relay and switch that will live in the engine compartment that will switch the whole system to the alternate constant power source while at the same time preventing it from connecting to the switched source because I don't want it connected to both at the same time. Sounds fun right?

I'm really a fan of my Switchpros and the mobile app for it.

 

My light project is finally done, Switchpro is almost full, have room for my compressor switch and maybe another set of lights when I get a bumper.

Really like the Switchpro mobile app

These side lights are really bright, more than I thought, 3 are Prinsu, 5 are Baja Designs. The Prinsu are supposed to BD lights, but the real BD lights are brighter and more white

Hood lights and roof light still need aimed properly

New lower fog light, need to adjust it too and see how it looks with my Morimoto dual beam fogs

The final light, needs aimed, combination “oh crap I can’t see backing at night” and “back the F off” or “oh, you won’t turn off your high beams”. This light is seriously bright.

 

when you power all the lights on at the same time does your truck slow down?

 

Ordered up new engine & cabin filters last night...to be installed after all the Autumn leaves are down.

 

when you power all the lights on at the same time does your truck slow down?

My total draw with all lights on is under 40 amps

8x .5 amp
4x 1.4 amp
1x 13 amp
1x 8 amp
1x 4 amp

 

****. I got the stuff to do mine but haven’t checked the clearance for you @Skinny06 !

UGH TAKE FOREVER!

hahahaha, all good man, I hope it works! Then we'll be wheel twinsies!

 

Fun morning. Started the day with antifreeze on the pass side floor. Ordered a bypass kit and will order the heatercore and dorman inlet hose from Rockauto shortly. I am not looking forward to tearing out the dashboard.

 

Hey all, it's been awhile. Been too hot to work on the truck much, and it's just starting to become reasonable again.

So 10,000 miles after doing my big gear ratio change by installing D41 parts in my D40, I found the brakes to be subar. Going to bleed the brakes I found a whole lot of sludge at each front corner. Turns out that the two CV axles were handled poorly and the boots were damaged enough that they were able to pinhole-leak eventually. Driver's side outer boot and passenger's side inner boot. After pricing boots and looking at the process I decided to just order a pair of Nissan CVs, and did the install today.

Because I've been in there due to the previous gear ratio change only a little while ago it wasn't too bad save for the excessive mess from the leaking boots. None of the hardware gave me trouble at least. I did revisit videos on how others have done it and I have to say that they all take off more than required, at least on a truck with the Bilstein 5100s on the 3rd position. Here's the steps I followed:

1. before raising off the ground, remove the CV cotter pin, break the CV nut loose, and back off until CV shaft threads are no longer visible at the end
2. normal raising and removal of wheel
3. remove brake caliper and use some wire to hold it up out of the way
4. clean up as much of the mess from the leaking boot as possible
5. remove upper balljoint cotter pin and loosen the nut until no threads visible below
6. Unhook the rubber grommets holding the ABS wiring from the three places they attach between the connector an the sensor
7. variously smack the steering knuckle at the upper balljoint and the underside of the UCA to break loose the balljoint from the steering knuckle
8. remove the CV shaft nut from the end of the CV shaft
9. turn the steering all of the way to the opposite side (if driver's side, turn to the passenger's side)
10. remove the upper balljoint nut and separate the UCA from the steering knuckle
11. Wiggle on the CV behind the steering knuckle while rotating the steering knuckle down, eventually the outer end of the CV can be worked loose of the hub and bearing
12. pull out on the CV at the center shaft hard, it will reach end of travel and cause the inner spline to disengage from the differential
13. finish cleaning up the area from all of the grease that got everwhere
14. Slide the new CV shaft into the differential until it clicks into place, may require a bit of force
15. manhandle the outer end back into the splines in the hub
16. Tilt the steering knuckle back up to the upper balljoint, wiggle on the CV shaft to help it seat into the splines on the hub
17. Install the upper balljoint nut finger-tight
18. Center the steering
19. Install the CV nut and spin it on until it stops finish seating the splines
20. Tighten the upper balljoint to 58 ft.lb
21. Insert a screwdriver or other obstruction into the brake rotor where it will stop against the caliper mount and tighten the CV nut to 101 ft.lb
22. Reinstall both cotter pins
23. Reinstall the ABS sensor grommets into their respective slots
24. Clean the brake rotor and anthing else that might need cleaning and then reinstall the caliper
25. Reinstall the wheel and lower back down

It was not necessary to remove the ABS wire entirely, or to remove the caliper bracket, or the brake rotor, or the dustshield, or the strut assembly, or even the antisway bar.

I didn't take any photos, sorry. It was messy and wanted to get it done quickly. Probably took us three hours to do both sides, my dad did the clean stuff while I handled the messy stuff and brute force stuff. It's more than a one-person job but not much more than a one-person job.