elricfate

Some pics from this morning. Headlight pics are set to manual white balance of 5000k, switchbacks are 5500k, headlights are right around 6000k (and aimed properly after last night).

ToppDog

Had the same truck in all black with the shorter bed. The engine blew up at 60,000 miles as soon as it was paid off, & they wanted 7 grand for another engine that could potentially do the same thing. I ended up getting a 2012 FX4 instead, but I really liked that Lariat. Nice truck! looking forward to seeing what you've done with it.

elricfate

Thanks. I'm actually almost done with it from a looks perspective. I only have two more electrical things to do. Wire in the bed lights on a relay with two switches and re-run the reverse lights to a relay with a DPDT switch.

Anything else from this point on will strictly be invisible.

elricfate

Replaced my spot reverse pods with flood bars. Also wired in a switch so I can run the relay while the reverse is on, turn them completely off, or have them on whenever I want constant hot.

I also added a hot block and used it to power the relay with a 10 amp fuse. This way I can add other stuff easier and not keep throwing stuff on the +12v stud on the battery connector.

I'm a little embarassed at two things. One is how long it took to run the wires, but I did that pretty well so they aren't exposed to anything, and they're all loomed the whole way.

The second thing is I kept going out of my mind because I heard crackling and what sounded like burning when I reconnected the negative to the battery. I did it a bunch of times and finally after not finding anything burning or smelling any burning electrical wiring, I figured out it was the god damn six CD changer in the dash flipping through the CDs to relearn they were in there.

I took everything apart, twice, to check because I thought I'd missed a ground or something. I'm a moron.

elricfate

In other news, now that I've separated the power feed to the relay and not on the direct lines of the reverse lights, my reverse sensors are working again. Funny how much a little extra current draw can make those all janky.

elricfate

And some night shots.

elricfate

New dorman transmission pan and wix filter installed.

elricfate

Got a tailgate seal on the truck today.

Also mounted my slightly modified first aid kit to the bed. It goes along with the one I keep in the center console.

I also mounted the fire extinguisher I've been carrying in the cab in the rear passenger door pocket. It makes more sense to be mounted in the bed than in the cab, since I'll be evacuating the cab if there's a fire, and pulling over if I'm helping someone else with their fire.

elricfate

Added an axe with the aid kit and extinguisher.

elricfate

Added a DeeZee Tailgate assist to the truck. I got it for cheap on amazon because it had cosmetic damage (it was missing its box), except when it got here it didn't have the nutsert (blind nut). Emailed Deezee on Monday, they sent an entire replacement set of hardware (minus the shock) today for free.

I'm pretty impressed with that customer service. And it works great.