Blue Ribbon 4x4 Build Thread

I actually think someone’s mentioned that this is needed to match up the rear to the front since the front hubs sit out further from the LT.

 

Turned out great!

 

Looks great!

 

This makes sense

 

Thanks fellas!

 

Some better pics with the Mammoth Guards up.

 

Notice any improvement on driving with those bada$$ looking UCAs?!

Why haven't you painted your frame yet?! Looks great!!

 

I second this! Let's make it happen.

 

Didn’t notice any improvement yet. I drove all highway miles home. Maybe I’ll take her out to hit some dirt in the morning.

 

Just took her for a quick run off-road in a spot I’m very familiar with. There’s a huge difference in the way the truck handles. I really didn’t expect much in the handling, and there’s barely a difference on the road, but a huge difference on the dirt. I’ve read lots of people saying they feel the truck is more “planted”. It really does, with much less roll over whups and valleys. I was able to travel faster over areas I had to slow down before.

 

That's great to know. And now it sounds like I'll be adding UCAs in the spring...

 

You won’t regret it. I put them on mostly beca Of alignment and little hope that there would be a slight difference in handling. But they’re amazing. 100% worth it.

 

Just a tiny one today, getting some little mods ready to go. I wanted to be able to see the amber spots behind the grille more visible, and got some strip lights for the bed. I have small lights installed there already, they have the same clip harness so these will plug right in.
I’m putting a bunch of coats of the 3-in-1 wax on the lenses so hopefully they’re easier to wash off without taking the grille off.

 

Finished up the spots. Gotta wait on the bedlights. Frickin freezing here.

 

Well, I’ve been running LEDs in my headlights the least few months. They aren’t as bright as the HIDs, but they don’t use ballasts or igniters. It makes the installation nice and clean, but they just aren’t bright enough. So today I switched them over to my old HIDs. Everything went fine, but there’s a power leak coming from the HID bulbs. It took me forever to find the issue. The ballasts give power to the igniter, which ignites the HID. The ballast gives a ton of power to the HID, enough to shock you, and enough to hear a power arc from the wires if there’s a leak. It’s coming from the base of the bulb, which zapped me when I touched it. Normally you can handle the bulb as long as you grab the base and don’t touch the lava-hot bulb. So the LEDs went back in, until I can order more damn HID bulbs.
I also cleaned up all the DRL and signal wires by replacing all the t-taps with solder and shrink tube. I may go with a whole new Morimoto HID setup for these, but we’ll see. These headlights have cost me quite a bit, so it’s hard to know when to call it quits on these retrofits. They sure are different than everyone else’s though. I’d like to keep them.

 

Dang.... sucks you are having issues. Hope you get it resolved! Those lights are so sick and unique

 

Thanks Robert! After writing everything out, I think I’m leaning to grabbing a new HID kit.

 

Never posted these up to the build page. Bedlights installed under the deck rails. These have the same riny harness clip as my old little ones, so I thought the install would be a breeze. But I had to reverse the polarity, which is stupid. From all the wiring I’ve done, I noticed that this happens from time to time. I accidentally bought the 60” ones instead of the 48” ones. So I had to trim them down and put a little black silicone in the end to seal them back up. They are connected to the cargo light. Pretty bright!

 

Which strips are those? I put some Nilights in mine...bright as hell for $26.00

 

Nilights also. These were $27.50. Ya beat me by $1.50. Nilight - TR-05 2PCS 60 Inch 180 LEDs Bed Strip Kit with Waterproof on/Off Switch Blade Fuse 2-Way Splitter Extension Cable for Cargo, Pickup Truck, SUV, RV, Boat , 2 Years Warranty

$28 Nilight - TR-05 2PCS 60" 180 LEDs Bed Strip Kit with Waterproof on/Off Switch Blade Fuse 2-Way Splitter Extension Cable for Cargo, Pickup Truck, SUV, RV, Boat , 2 Years Warranty

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07KXR799K?_encoding=UTF8

 

Yep same kit. I changed to a better switch though. I wired mine to the tag light circuit.

 

Yeah I didn’t use that little switch either. They’re on the cargo light circuit, but I was thinking of hardwiring them and putting in a ground switch when the tailgate goes down.

 

Took her off-road this morning. Haven’t been on this trail before. Pretty sweet trail, 15 minutes from home. Love it.

 

how do you get the power line from bed to cab?

 

You can go under the rear left door sill and tap the cargolight wire right there.