[jackbyo]

These are ones I used. The strip is 5mm wide, but you can 10mm wide strips with the LED's turned sideways, and with more LED's per meter of strip.

Thanks mate. I'm trying to figure out a way to do this same project myself, but I'm fairly new to 12v wiring.

What I'd like is a carling switch to control the lights (which I intend to use most of the time), however would like the option of using a wifi/RF/IR remote for changing colours and dimming as required. Is that basically what you have?

I guess the big question is, does your Wifi controller have a memory? So if you have it set to say 50% dimmed on the warm white setting, and you switch it off/on via the carling switch, will it come back on at the same dimmed setting?

Thanks mate

 

[Neardood1]

Thanks mate. I'm trying to figure out a way to do this same project myself, but I'm fairly new to 12v wiring.

What I'd like is a carling switch to control the lights (which I intend to use most of the time), however would like the option of using a wifi/RF/IR remote for changing colours and dimming as required. Is that basically what you have?

I guess the big question is, does your Wifi controller have a memory? So if you have it set to say 50% dimmed on the warm white setting, and you switch it off/on via the carling switch, will it come back on at the same dimmed setting?

Thanks mate

Yep that's what I have. The controller has memory and goes to whatever brightness it was last set at, so you don't need to connect to it with your phone every time. I've updated the original post on page 3 with a wiring diagram to help. You might want to invest in a some DT series deutsch plugs, and a crimping tool for them.

 

[jackbyo]

Yep that's what I have. The controller has memory and goes to whatever brightness it was last set at, so you don't need to connect to it with your phone every time. I've updated the original post on page 3 with a wiring diagram to help. You might want to invest in a some DT series deutsch plugs, and a crimping tool for them.

Oh that diagram is really helpful thank you. I was actually wondering how you managed to have different "zones" and now I can see you've done that via the RGBW channels. Clever stuff

 

[Neardood1]

Oh that diagram is really helpful thank you. I was actually wondering how you managed to have different "zones" and now I can see you've done that via the RGBW channels. Clever stuff

If you read back through the original post you'll find it's all there.

 

[Neardood1]

Rear Mud Flaps Fitting

Ever since I fitted my (custom made) rear bar five years ago, I haven't had mud flaps. I've got away without them for so long, and I've decided to stop pushing my luck and finally fit some.

Above: The rear end without mudflaps.

I purchased these 30.4 by 35.5cm mudflaps. They are nice and plain, heavy duty and they cover the full width of the tyre. Now do decide how to mount them. I decided on a simple mounting system that uses one of the bar's anchoring bolts. I went down to my local salvage yard, then to a fastener shop and got what I needed. I cut a length of 3mm galvanized steel flat bar to length, then mocked it up and decided where I wanted to mount it relative to the rear bar. If I drilled a hole in the middle of the bar, it would have stuck out too far, so I offset it inwards by 25mm. Then I marked and drilled holes to mount the mudflap to the bar, before bolting the two together.

Above: The mudflap test fitted to the bar. Note the larger bolt offset to the right.

I used oversize washers for extra strength. I chose galvanized cap head bolts because with my old suspension setup the tyres would flex up so much that they would actually rub on the lower bar mounting bolts, causing damage to the tyres from the hexagonal edges. I doubt this will happen with my new setup, but just in case the rounded heads will mitigate most of the damage.

Next step was to test fit the assembly to the bar. I checked nothing was interfering with the bar, tyres ect.

With everything looking good, I basically made a copy of the first mudflap assembly by placing one bar on top of the other and using it to mark the holes (saves measuring again). After drilling everything out it was time for paint. Since these parts will be actively getting sprayed with mud, gravel and f*** knows what else, I decided to use both primer then a top coats. After spraying and allowing time to dry, It was time for the final assembly.

I think it turned out all right

The final step was to flex my Patrol up to check if the wheels will hit the mud flaps. Unfortunately there was some scrubbing on the inside edges of each mudflap as the angle of the rear bar where I've attached the flaps is not parallel to the wheel. This can be easily fixed by bending the mudflap plates, a job which I'll do first thing tomorrow morning.

 

[J0SHMAN]

Hey Mate, good job, which rear bar is that? It's a decent looking bit of kit.

 

[Neardood1]

Hey Mate, good job, which rear bar is that? It's a decent looking bit of kit.

Hi Josh,

That was a custom made jobbie. There's a story behind it but basically the people who made it screwed me around for 6 months. They were unprofessional and incompetent and as a result they aren't in business any more.

 

[Neardood1]

Intercooler Pipe Insulaiton

This is a job I've been meaning to do for some time now. I wasn't happy with how close some wires and hoses were to the turbo outlet pipe, and was worried they were getting cooked from it. Many don't realize that the air from the turbo becomes quite hot from being compressed; I measured a stainless turbo outlet pipe at work running constantly at 22psi to be over 120C!. The stainless steel pipe acts like a heatlamp and heats up anything around it, which eventually causes rubber hoses to go hard and eventually leak.

Above: The old setup with no insulation. I wrapped the hoses & cables closest to the turbo in kapton tape (not pictured) to stop heat damage, but it looked ugly and probably didn't work very well.

So to prevent this from happening, I ordered some Car Builders heat shielding.

It's just two layers of embossed aluminium, but it works incredibly well to stop the heatlamp effect of shiny pipes, particularly stainless steel. Without going into too much detail, this is because aluminium has a much lower emissivity value than polished stainless steel does.

To apply it to the boost pipe, I first removed it from the vehicle and did some rough measurements. From there I cut the sheet with some tin snips, and used a piece of scrap steel to fold over the sharp edges. After that I wrapped it around the straight sections of pipe. The bends were a little trickier. I used piers to make pleats in the material so that it would form around the curved parts of pipe, then used a small hammer to flatten and further form the pleats. It wasn't particularly difficult, just time consuming. After I had the first section in place, I used hose clamps to secure it to the pipe.

Below: The finished product.

After I had everything where I wanted it, I moved onto the next section and used the same techniques. I went down to my local racing/auto parts shop a couple of times to get the correct size hose clamps. I ended up adjusting a couple of the wires and hoses to put more distance between them and the pipe which will help prevent them touching when starting and stopping the engine.

I took my patrol for a drive to test the insulation, and unsurprisingly it works very well. The stainless pipe was too hot to touch, and the shielded sections were barely warm. In the future I may invest in a turbo beanie, to stop further heat damage from the turbo's stainless exhaust turbine housing.

 

[Neardood1]

3D Printed Antenna Bracket & Suspension Testing

One thing that has annoyed me for quite some time is how I have my 4g phone booster antenna mounted. It's on a mount that folds down across the roofrack, but the end of the antenna wasn't supported and would flop around and make noise over rough terrain. To fix this I started a little project with the help of a mate. I drew up by and the dimensions of a bracket to hold the antenna in place, and my mate created a CAD drawing of it.

From there I sent the .STL file to a 3D printing company, and had them print it out of durable nylon. A few weeks later I recieved the part in the mail. It was of very good quality and didn't require any filing or adjustment. I drilled two holes and mounted it to my roofrack.

Above: The part mounted to the rack, with the antenna resting neatly inside

Now the antenna sits neatly and securely in place and will not move around.

I did a trip out to the hills last week and really gave my suspension a proper workout. I wasn't able to fully flex it up near home and wasn't sure how much flex I'd get with the new shocks and superflex swaybar. After that trip I'm very happy with my flex.

Sadly, my rear coils are sagging. With no load on them the rear driver's side is 15mm lower than the passenger side. The heavy draw on the driver's side (plus the constant weight of the spare tyre and sub tank) have caused the uneven sag. The newer 3" coils I put in were the heaviest duty Dobinsons I could get at the time, and evidently they still aren't enough. With that said, I have booked my Patrol in to get some even heavier duty Toughdog coils fitted in the rear.

 

[Neardood1]

Refitting Needle Valve to Vacuum System

This is a little mod I've been meaning to do for a while. To increase my fuel economy and extend the life of my turbo, I've fitted a needle valve to the boost control system. My goal is to reduce my boost at freeway speeds and under moderate engine load while keeping it at an acceptable level. Lower boost levels increase EGT's which isn't necessarily a bad thing if they are kept in check. The extra heat helps the fuel ignite and burn better in the combustion chambers. Also, by having the turbo vanes more open, the exhaust isn't as restricted, allowing the engine to breathe better, increasing efficiency.

Since I moved my dual battery to the rear, I made use of the bracket on my airbox to mount the boost solenoid. I used a scrap bracket to piggyback the needle valve on top of the the solenoid.

I used two tee pieces to plumb the needle valve in. Basically the needle is connected across the turbo actuator and the intake, so that it reduces the vacuum pressure in the actuator, which in turn lowers the turbo vane actuator and makes less boost. See below for a diagram i made of the system.

Another little jobbie I finally got round to doing was throwing away my front coil tower covers and replacing them with some aluminium bars. When I pulled them off, one tower had water in it and the other was full of mud. Having a more open space above will allow the water to evaporate and mud to be easily scooped/washed out.

In other news I bought myself a combined MIG/Stick/TIG welder and some steel, and have been hard at work building workbenches for my shed. MIG has made welding about 3X quicker and easier for me; it was definitely a good investment! Down the track I plan on buying the gas and wire for 316 stainless and having a go at modifying my inlet pipework so I can fit the custom inlet manifold I bought a few months ago.

 

[geordie4x4]

Hey how did you get on with installation of the new inlet manifold. I have used the same one, so if you need any photos or help, just let me know.

 

[Neardood1]

It 's still sitting in my shed. Never got round to fitting it and at this stage I don't think it's worth the effort for the gains I'll get.

 

[Neardood1]

March 2022 Update: New Boots, Broken Hubs & Recovery Improvement

A few things have changed since my last post. I'm now settled into my house, and have had more time to go on trips and work on my Patrol out of my now (mostly) set up shed. I had an...shall we say interesting? New years trip, during which I did about $1500 of damage.

Long story short, the cheap aftermarket auto locking hubs I fitted packed up when I needed them the most, along with my spare one. I ended up attempting Callcup hill (longest continuous sandy hill climb in WA, possibly Aus) in 2 wheel drive, and with a lot of winching and help from strangers got 150m from the top before calling it quits. Not a bad effort I reckon 😆. I took the summertime track out and drove home without further incident, but the grand total of damage on the trip was:

• Rear left mudflap bent into and mangled by the tire; I unbolted it and binned it
• Winch rope snapped in multiple places (amazingly the old Grande still works, but it copped a flogging)
• Recovery damper got ran over and destroyed
• My cheap Tred recovery tracks were wrecked from overuse. They are also woefully inadequate when compared to proper Maxtrax.
• 3X failed front hubs (one factory, 2X ching-chong)
• A few tyre caps lost
• One failed reverse LED globe

So I got to repairing all of this damage.

I decided to fit a new kings winch since my old one did so well. Time will tell if this was a mistake or not, however what I will say is the new one is alarmingly lighter than the old Grande. At first I thought the body was made of GRP (plastic), however turns out it was just the powder coating finish they put on the steel. The winch solenoid box is not properly sealed like the Grande's, so I sprayed it with some Penetrene before mounting it to my Patrol. It took me about a day's work to take my bullbar off, swap winches, then remount the bar. I also took the opportunity to replace the remote control wiring I installed that runs from the winch to the hardwired switch in my roof console (it had corrosion tracking along the wires, probably from when they were disconnected in the months between installing my FMIC and modifying the winch braket to remount the winch). Having an engine crane made the job a breeze.


Prior to going on my new year's trip, I decided to replace my worn out and frankly dangerous Mickey T's with something new. I settled on the Maxxis Razr MT772's. They have good reviews, and let me tell you they copped a beating on that trip and are no worse for wear (including getting a 4mm steel bar pushed into the tread). After running them for 3 months or so, I reckon they are quieter than the MTZ's, however the wet weather performance is just as dismal. At least it makes for some fun sideways action 😉.

Next on the repair list was a way to positively fix the front hubs that worked only when they felt like it (and then not at all). I did want to replace like for like with the factory auto lockers as they were great for many years, but the extortionate ($1200AUD Each!!) pricetag on them changed my mind. I decided to keep it simple and change to hand operated manual hubs. The AVM units bought from Superior ($319) fit the bill without breaking the bank. They are a pretty simple design; there two concentric rings inside. The outer ring is bolted to the hub, and the inner ring moves toward the diff when the handle is turned, slotting into the outer ring and the axle. Not much to go wrong there, and let me tell you I was pretty over using a 22mm socket and the tire iron in my door pocket just to engage 4wd! Finally, I put a shiny new set of tire caps on each wheel that match the hubs.

After fitting up the hubs, I moved onto the mudflap. Nothing special here, I just fabbed up a new bracket out of some spare steel and bolted a spare mudflap onto it (good thing I bought four).

And last but not least,my special order blue Maxxtrax arrived, and I mounted them to my roofrack with some aluminium cladding strips. There was a bit of fouling on my awning mounts, so I made up some spacers out of scrap aluminum to make them clear the bracket and sit level.

In other news, I have discovered a practical use for my Victron 1200 watt inverter. I found an old miniature oven, and mounted it in my Touring Unit shelves by wedging some wooden blocks on top (it's temporarily permanent), and put a piece of thin aluminum sheet underneath to avoid melting the carpet. The result: A oven/grill built right into my Patrol. Now I can cook frozen food as well as expand my camp cooking repertoire, and let me tell you having a hot pastie or sausage roll ready to go after a long road trip is amazing 😀. The only downside to this however, is that because it's so power hungry (1250 watts!), I need to have the engine running and the bridging solenoid between the alternator/main battery and lithium system on when running it. There is however, a caviat to this, as the oven has a grill mode that only runs the top heating element, halving the power draw. My Lithium setup will run this on its own with no issues, however the temperature control is disabled on the oven in this mode, so food can burn if not regularly checked on. This isn't an issue when camping though.

I hoped you enjoyed reading this, safe travels!