RainMan's 2021 Lunar Rock TRD Pro Build

I went 4k miles last time around and it was full. Trying 3,500 but might have to go back to 3k.

 

You have the ABC one?

 

Not really sure as it was in the truck from the previous owner but I believe so. I need to redo the whole thing. The wiring job is not great.

 

Congrats

 

Just wrapped up the Brite Box Fogster installation.

So, way back when I had my 2008, I had done the “Fast Eddy” mod to have my fog lights stay on even if the high beams were on (by default, they turn off - I assume because of laws regarding the maximum number of active forward facing lights in most states). When I got the 2021, doing a little research through the wiring diagram showed that on the 2018+ trucks, they revised how the fog lights were powered and the “Fast Eddy” would result in lights that were ALWAYS on anytime the switch was turned to on (including when the truck was off).

Somewhere along the line (through the never ending help of this forum to give me things I want to do to my truck), I became aware of the Brite Box Fogster. This box takes the “hot” signal from the high beams and triggers the fog lights to stay lit. I had added to my list of things to do some day, and kept running into other things more important.

Then, while helping @RegGex get the BSM installed in his truck, he offered to give me one that he had in his pile of parts that he decided he wasn’t going to use. Score (and THANKS man)!

So, I needed to figure out where to mount it, because the directions are very clear about mounting it vertical with “UP” clearly defined. It also has to be near one headlight and close enough to hook power up to the battery or power distribution. The trick is, the natural place to put it (next to the battery on the fender wall) happens to be a VERY BUSY area in my truck already…

Then I remembered I had an SDHQ Switch Pro mount that @Squatting Pigeon had gifted me a long time ago that I hadn’t used for my Switch Pro install. But I also had the issue of that area having all my winch power leads routed through it, so I needed to get creative.

Since the Brite Box isn’t very big, I chopped down the SDHQ mount so that two bolt holes were still used but the main plate was shorter to provide clearance for the winch cables underneath it.


Then I bolted the box to the plate using a couple button head cap screws and nylock nuts.


And mounted it down in that small space in front of the battery - that was a bitch to reach and get those screws in place without pulling the battery or the front grill. I had also added a hole in the bottom of the plate to fish a zip tie through to help anchor the winch power lines as well.


With the “easy part” out of the way, I needed to get to the headlight plug and the fog light plug. This involves fishing the connectors from the Brite Box down through this small gap under/behind the head light. Of course, it started raining like hell at about this point as well.


Then pulling the lower fender liner and peeling back the upper fender liner to get up inside half-blind and find the wires and unplug the head light.


With the two headlight leads from the box plugged into an adapter harness for the LED headlight, and then that adapter harness plugged into the factory plug and the back of the headlight, I then needed to plug the fog light into another set of connectors and tidy up the wiring.

Then there is a power lead to route, which has an in-line 15A fuse in it. For now, I piggy-backed it onto the circuit for one of my air compressor pumps, but I’ll probably re-work it to connect into a dedicated spot on the other side of the distribution block at some point in the future (and get rid of the in-line fuse at that time).


Finally - gave it a test:
Low beams


High beams

 

No sir, thank you!

 

Got my air up/down setup finally put together. Sweet jesus that has been a process. I'm still not totally satisfied with it (the only way I think I'll be totally satisfied is to mount a tank under the truck and run dedicated lines to individual ports).

Anyway, I drew from @TRDFerguson's setup here (link). However, there were a few things I wanted (or needed) to do differently.
1. My compressor is mounted under my driver's seat. This is a great way to keep the compressor out of the elements of dust and dirt and mud under the hood, but it makes it less convenient for hanging a distribution manifold/gage when using the system. I plan on hanging the manifold from my front bumper cross bar when using it, so that means a longer whip to get from the compressor to the manifold.
2. Jake used 3/8" for all of his hoses, but said it was bulky and heavy. Other "packaged kits" I've seen use 1/4" hoses so I went with those to the tires. I stuck with 3/8" hose for the whip from the compressor - hopefully to help with heat (more volume = less heat in the hose I hope).
3. Most setups I've seen use a "Y" manifold and then have a T in the hose splitting a single hose out for the front and rear tires. I wanted a dedicated hose to each tire from the manifold...my thought process here was that if I only needed to do one tire I would only need to drag out one hose.

Now, that last point may be flawed logic as I've been putting this thing together. It most certainly has meant that I needed to buy more hose (because from the manifold to the front tire, I basically have to have that amount of hose twice). This adds up to more bulk to the whole setup - likely offsetting any weight and bulk savings I gained by using 1/4" hose. I may revisit this at some point, but I'm also reconsidering the setup of the hoses themselves and may redo more of the configuration in time. One thing that I think might be beneficial is to actually set up the ends at the tires to have female quick connect chucks, and then put the tire fill valves on male quick connects. This would add a little bulk, but would also provide more flexibility with the system - I could chain two hoses together if I was needing to reach further to help assist someone else with filling up a tire perhaps. We'll see...for now, this at least gives me the ability to air up or down all four tires at once, or just two tires at once, or just one, as I see fit.

The final parts list (after a few rounds of failed attempts at trying a few different scamazon parts to get the right combo).

• ONE -
  $25 INTERTOOL 5-Way Air Compressor Splitter Manifold, 1/4", Female NPT, Straight Block, Brass Quick Coupler Connectors PT08-1857
  INTERTOOL 5-Way Straight Air Splitter Manifold, 1/4-inch Female NPT, With Quick Coupler Connectors PT08-1857 - - Amazon.com - I removed one of the (5) female chucks off of this to install the male connector and bleed-off valve.
• ONE -
  $12 MEASUREMAN 2-1/2" Dial Size Digital Air Pressure Gauge with 1/4'' NPT Bottom Connector and Protective Boot, 0-60psi, Accuracy 1%, Battery Powered, with LED Light
  Amazon.com: MEASUREMAN 2-1/2" Dial Size Digital Air Pressure Gauge with 1/4'' NPT Bottom Connector and Protective Boot, 0-60psi, Accuracy 1%, Battery Powered, with LED Light : Industrial & Scientific - pressure gauge that is threaded into the single open port in the manifold opposite all of the quick connects. Note that this gauge maxes out at 60psi, so testing it with a compressor that is dialed above that results in a reading of "OP" and may cause long term damage (I'm not sure).
• ONE SET -
  $22 AstroAI 4 Pack Air Chuck, Heavy Duty Closed Flow Lock On Tire Chuck with Clip for Inflator Gauge Compressor Accessories
  Amazon.com: AstroAI 4 Pack Air Chuck, Heavy Duty Closed Flow Lock On Tire Chuck with Clip for Inflator Gauge Compressor Accessories : Automotive - tire chuck fillers for all four tires that will thread directly onto the ends of the air hoses.
• ONE -
  $19 Hromee 18 Pieces Air Coupler and Plug Kit, 1/4" NPT Air Hose Fittings and Compressor Accessories with Universal Quick Coupler, Brass Ball Valve, Swivel Air Plug and Tee Pipe Fitting
  Hromee 18 Pieces Air Coupler and Plug Kit, 1/4-Inch NPT Air Hose Fittings and Compressor Accessories with Universal Quick Coupler, Brass Ball Valve, Swivel Air Plug and Tee Pipe Fitting - - Amazon.com - This kit had all the connectors I needed for putting together the full kit.

1. • There are four FPT x male quick connect ends that go on each of the four tire hoses.
   • On my "whip" I used the FPTxFTP coupler with one of the MPT x male quick connect ends to connect to the compressor, and then used one of the FPT x female quick connect ends for the end connecting to the manifold.
   • On the manifold (after removing one of the female quick connects), I threaded in the MPT x FPT ball valve into the manifold and then one of the MPT x male quick connects into the valve.

• ONE -
  $26 Flexzilla Air Hose 1/4 in x 50', 1/4 in. MNPT Fittings, Heavy Duty, Lightweight, Hybrid, ZillaGreen - HFZ1450YW2
  Flexzilla Air Hose 1/4 in x 50', 1/4 in. MNPT Fittings, Heavy Duty, Lightweight, Hybrid, ZillaGreen - HFZ1450YW2 (amazon.com) - This is the "non-pro" hose (the difference is that the "non-pro" ends cannot be field repaired, and it is cheaper).

1. • I cut two pieces 10 feet long each that have the factory ends on them, and put the male quick connects onto those factory ends (they are stiffer than the "pro" and field repair ends) and then used field repair "pro" ends on the other end with the air chucks. These two 10 footers reach the front tires from the manifold at the middle of the front bumper (with a little slack).
   • I cut a single 25 foot piece out of the remaining hose and put two field repair "pro" ends on this with a male quick connect on one end and an air chuck on the other. This will reach ONE of the rear tires.

• ONE -
  $21 Flexzilla Pro Air Hose, 1/4 in. x 25 ft., Heavy Duty, Lightweight, Hybrid, ZillaGreen - HFZP1425YW2
  Flexzilla Pro Air Hose, 1/4 in. x 25 ft., Heavy Duty, Lightweight, Hybrid, ZillaGreen - HFZP1425YW2 (amazon.com) - this hose essentially matches my other "home made" 25 foot hose and will reach the other rear tire after installing a male quick connect on one end and an air chuck on the other.
• ONE -
  $27 Flexzilla Air Hose, 3/8 in. x 35 ft., 1/4 in. MNPT Fittings, Heavy Duty, Lightweight, Hybrid, ZillaGreen - HFZ3835YW2
  Flexzilla Air Hose, 3/8 in. x 35 ft., 1/4 in. MNPT Fittings, Heavy Duty, Lightweight, Hybrid, ZillaGreen - HFZ3835YW2 - Air Tool Hose Reels - Amazon.com - this hose got cut apart to make a 15 foot whip from the compressor to the front of the truck, and leaves me with a 20 foot piece left over for at home. I added a male quick connect to the factory end to hit the air compressor, and then used a field repair end on the other end with a female quick connect to conenct to the manifold.
  
• FOUR -
  $7 Flexzilla Pro Air Hose Reusable Fitting, 1/4 in. - RP900250
  Flexzilla Pro Air Hose Reusable Fitting, 1/4 in. - RP900250 - Air Tool Fittings - Amazon.com - two of these were used to complete the front tire hoses, and two were used to make up the one rear tire hose.
  
• ONE -
  $7 Flexzilla Pro Air Hose Reusable Fitting, 3/8 in. - RP900375
  Flexzilla Pro Air Hose Reusable Fitting, 3/8 in. - RP900375 (amazon.com) - used to make up the whip hose (I actually bought two so I can make up the other half of that hose for the house)
• ONE -
  $9 ZTSXLLIM Extension Cord Holder Organizer(4 Pack L), Extension Cord Hanger for Garage Organization and Storage, 16" Heavy Duty Storage Strap for Extension Cord within 100ft
  Extension Cord Holder Organizer(4 Pack L), Extension Cord Hanger for Garage Organization and Storage, 16-Inch Heavy Duty Storage Strap for Extension Cord within 100ft, with Triangle Buckle for Hanging (amazon.com) - I'm using this to wrap around the whole kit, and can also use this to hang the manifold (I made up a paracord lanyard around the pressure gauge to clip into this).

One reason that I used non-pro ends on the two shorter hoses is that I can easily identify them by hose size and end type. If I grab a 1/4” hose male quick connect with a “pro” end I know it’s a 25’ hose and if it’s a non-pro end then it’s a shorter one.

I still need to do a test run on this on the truck, but I've pressure tested everything together and it's working inside the garage.

Making up the hose ends


Finished bundle


I got to test this setup out when I was at T2S and it worked great! It is a lot of hoses though…so I’m still interested and looking at building a dedicated OBA system with air couplings closer to the individual wheels.

 

Sounds like a lot of work to keep your inflatable doll aired up, but who am I to judge?

(short video from my wedding below)

 

Looks good!
You’ll see lots of other setups in Sedona to give you further ideas. I used mine this morning before I hit the highway.

 

I’m almost afraid of the wish list I’m going to have when I get back from Sedona

 

Hahah you need some mod blinders! You’ll definitely get excited for the raffle! There’s always a bunch of cool stuff!

 

Dropped a hundred on tickets already…

 

Hahahah more can be purchased on site.
@Cruzer looked like a kid that just won big at chucky cheese with all the tickets in his pockets, don’t try to win what he’s throwing in for……. That’s the only secret

 

I've been very interested in the Brite Box. One question, can you have your fogs on with just your DRL's?

 

nice build!

 

Sorry for the slow reply. I will need to double check...

 

The 2018 and newer trucks will run the foglight with just DRL’s on (this was a change in the wiring in 2018).
Just confirmed this morning that this is still the case with the BriteBox Fogster installed.

 

i loved (and was pleasantly surprised) that my 21 came with the option to run just fogs without needing any modifications.

 

Must be a sequoia thing? Mine shut off if I turn the headlights off on my 21.

 

Did you have factory halogen or LED headlights? My fogs stay on with the parking lights, which I think is what the point of the convo is - and my truck came with LED btw.

 

Headlights fully off (switch not in off position) - yes, fogs go off too. But the parking/DRL lights on will still leave the fogs on. Basically any switch position except OFF, or AUTO when the headlights themselves are off, and your fogs should stay on.

 

LEDs. I took @Fotnot’s message to mean he can do fogs only.

DRLs + fogs is cool, too

 

This is with "fogs only"

 

I've been working on a clean and splice/tap-less version of the DIY Automatic Traction Control Disable setup originally posted by @TRDFerguson and I'm down to just needing to make the final connection to my switch.

To make the connections to the VSC Off switch clean, I found the needed Sumitomo TS connectors (male and female) to mate up with the factory VSC connector and ordered them. I only needed one of each, but a 5-pack leaves me some room for other possibilities (this connector shape is used a few other places in the instrument panel area).

Next up was finding a timer/relay that could be set up to do a ground sink instead of power signal when it was activated (this eliminates needing a separate relay for the setup). I came across this WiFi-programmed one and ordered it up.

My switch is actually a custom dual switch from CH4x4 that came about as part of a mis-hap when I was putting together my original winch power setup (which needed a momentary ON and momentary OFF switch). The first order they sent me was latching. As it turned out, when I re-did my winch power to use a constant power magnetic switch, the latching dual switch was perfect. And by dumb luck, the icon and lettering I chose for the lower half "works" for setting it up as a Traction Control disable switch.


When the headlights are on, the entire switch is illuminated blue. When one of the two buttons is "on" that part of the switch illuminates green.


I programmed the timer using the instructions from their website, and then saved out a "BIN" file of that configuration to simplify doing it again in the future (attached zip file).

Next up is the break-out harness. I have attached a wiring diagram for doing this with a standard AOB or CH4x4 switch and using the VSC break-out harness to also provide illumination. I didn't need that (my double-switch already has illumination from my previous mod of making an illumination distribution harness), so I only tapped off the CSW/VSC and GND circuits in my break-out harness.


The red wire here will connect to the output on my "TEQ OFF" switch.


FULL wiring diagram (again - my own harness doesn't have the two illumination wires in it).


Note for others - different years of trucks have different wire colors. The 2007 also has a different connector and different pin numbers.


Now, pull the lower trim piece where the VSC OFF switch lives and plug the break-out harness in line. I also pulled the AC controls so I could fish the red wire through to the area by my start button, brake controller, and TEQ OFF button.


Then I soldered the red wire to the output from my switch, and tested things out.


With the switch pressed in before starting the truck, as soon as I start the truck it starts cycling the VSC function - first to Auto LSD on the left gage and the collision sensors and VSC OFF symbol on the right gage. Then they all go off for a few seconds and next TRAC OFF shows on the left gage while the other two show on the right gage.


If I press the VSC OFF button, the system resets.

I did notice that if I then turn off the TEQ OFF switch and try turning it back on, I get some mixed results for the system fully returning to TRAC OFF. It’s like the timer doesn’t go the full cycle for the first steps except from a cold start. I may have fiddle a bit more with the timer steps/settings - maybe introduce an “off” count before the first “on” count. I’ll just have to fish out the timer and expose the white wire again…

 

Ouch!
There's a good chance that you'll have to replace the outer sub-frame piece under the plastic in addition to the plastic piece.

 

It's all good!

 

Dumb questions Casey, but did the sensors snap fine into the 7/8 hole?

I recently ordered some new painted bumper caps from a vendor I'll leave unnamed until they have time to make it right and they sent me one with a hole for the sensor and one without it (of course I did not notice this until they were both installed )

I just wanted them without sensor holes at all but as luck would have it the one they sent with the sensor hole was the one that needed to be replaced for damage.

I bought a sensor on Amazon to snap in there and it looks better but I think it'll drive me nuts only having one sensor, then once I have them I almost feel obligated to go ahead and install the actual parking assist too...

 

Yes
They snapped into the 7/8 hole perfectly

 

I can confirm, the new Voodoo VRS 22” Overland Rack will work with the Truck Covers USA retractable tonneau cover. I picked up the 22” one and got it just the week before I left for T2S, so it was a bit of a treat getting it installed after work during a week where we had rain, snow, sleet, hail, lightning, wind…

First step was to pull the TCUSA cover off and get the VRS rails mounted to the bed sides. Because the TCUSA cover requires relocating the factory utility rails down, you use the Voodoo no-drill clamps to anchor to the truck bed sides.


Hold these bolts down a little from the top of the slotted channel to allow clearance for the tonneau cover rails. In retrospect, I would recommend getting these rails temporary installed with clamps just snug, then proceed to reinstall the roll-up canister and side rails (again, just getting things temp snugged up). THEN, final clamp the VRS rails to ensure the nuts clear the tonneau rails and finally shim and anchor the tonneau rails.

You can see here where the VRS anchor nut was too high the first time and rubbed on the tonneau rail (actually kept the tonneau rail from fully seating on the other side). Then the position had to move when I lowered the nut because the carriage bolt head was hitting the rail drop bracket bolt. So there is a little tweaking you need to do to be sure everything is fitting right.


Also note that the middle anchor point is very close to one of the rail relocation bracket bolts - you may have to adjust your fore/aft spacing of the VRS rail to ensure the two don’t interfere with each other.


At the end of day 1, with hail, snow, and rain, I had the rails mounted and the TCUSA cover anchored back down. A nice thing about the VRS rails is that they simplify the shimming of the TCUSA rails, and seem the lock it down more positively than the bedsides by themselves.


Next up was assembling all of the rail components. The top angle pieces get assembled to the uprights using stainless carriage bolts with stainless nylok nuts. Any time I’m using stainless hardware, I dab a little nickel anti-seize on the threads to reduce the thread of galling.




With the rack pieces all assembled on night two (the one nice weather night that week), the NEXT night was final assembly…in the dark while it was raining, snowing, hailing, and lightning. Needless to say, I did not get any pictures during the install. I did get an installed picture the next morning though.


Some observations/comments on the assembly of the uprights and cross-bars:

The uprights have slots cut in them that key into slots in the rail - sort of how the dividers in a beer box slip together. This makes the whole assembly very solid when just the upright is bolted up, but it does require a little bit of “tilt and twist” to get things together. At the cab uprights, the TCUSA canister cover doesn’t provide enough room for this, so you have to remove the canister cover to install the two front uprights, and then slide the canister cover into place under the uprights (they are notched and provide ample clearance once in place).

I used a quick-acting “F” clamp to hold the extruded cross bars flush with the upright brackets while adjusting the spacing and tightening the bolts. This allowed the uprights to sit even and square to the cross bars. It took a few tries to get everything lined up, but the process is pretty straight forward.

With the rack all tightened up, it is ROCK SOLID. I can jump up and down hanging on it and the whole truck moves. There’s no movement in the rack. I also ran Broken Arrow at T2S and after getting back to camp it had no loose parts or wobble.

With the VRS rails in place, the Yakima tracks on the TCUSA rails (if you have them) are not really useable. Both the Rhino rack uprights that I have and the Yakima “control towers” won’t have enough clearance to open/close their locking mechanism.

The 22” height rack sits just right that anything mounted on top of it will clear the shark fin on the 2020/2021 trucks.

 

That rack looks really good in person and is built!