RainMan's 2021 Lunar Rock TRD Pro Build

Have you noticed any difference with the steering kit?

 

Honestly - it feels a little "floaty" but I'm not 100% sure if that's the steering kit, the slightly wider stance, the brand new tires (with much more tread), the slightly lower caster (they left me at 2.3* and I was at 3* when I went in), or a combination of all of it.

 

Oh yeah, that's a lot of changes at once for noticing changes.

 

It’s also been windy as hell here lately and that doesn’t help

 

So I've heard!

 

Someone may have a $550 cable grommet (damn price has gone up) that showed up so that a couple NMO to SO-239 adapters will connect the rack mounted antennas to the radio while keeping the duplexer neatly tucked away as per JSON’s build…

 

This weekend was Operation: REWIRE
Two solid days

• Pulled the “power tray”
• Pulled the battery
• Pulled the grill
• Pulled the windshield wire hider (the tape was peeled off the windshield for more than half of it)
• Pulled out the wire running to the OnX6
• Pulled out the wire running to the A-pillar lights
• Pulled apart the wiring loom for the S8 in the bumper.
• Clipped all the zip ties for the wires routed behind the engine
• Unhooked and untangled everything in the bumper corners (fog lights and parking sonar)
• Mounted a small Blue Sea ground block into the fender wall

Then proceeded to rework ALL of it…

• Terminated the power lead for the future amp
• Trimmed back the sheath on the ARB compressor leads and landed the ground to the factory ground point (photo above)
• Landed the front camera ground on the Blue Sea bus
• Cleaned up the windshield wire hider, put new VHB tape on it, and reinstalled
• Ran new 12AWG wire to the OnX6 using some direct bury rated sheathed 12/2 but trimmed the sheath off where it routes through the wire hider to make it fit.
• Used Sumitomo TS187 connectors/ terminals for the connection to the light bar, and anchored the wires with Sherpa wire mount clips
• Cleaned up the sheathed 14/4 wire that was already running up to the roof - it will be used for the chase lights and whatever auxiliary lights I ultimately add to the roof.
• Ran new 16/2 sheathed wire to the two A-pillar light positions
• Routed the 12/2, 14/4, and one 16/2 cable around behind the engine with the #4 Amp power wire and got it all zip tied
• Got all the wires behind and around the fuse box into the space along the fender.
• Ran 14/2 sheathed cable out to the two XL Pros in the bumper
• Ran 16/2 sheathed cable out to the two S2’s in the bumper
• Tidied up all of the bumper wiring and got it all zip tied up clean.
• Trimmed, organized, and terminated all the grounds - the 12AWG for the OnX6 and S8 when to the lower body grounds. The rest went to various terminals on the Blue Sea.
• Overhauled my connectors for the SwitchPro - the farthest two (#7 and #8) I combined the two separate wires into a single TS187 terminal (per circuit) and then landed the OnX6 to the upper one and the S8 to the lower one.
• I kept the middle dual-wire circuits separate with the TS090 connectors and hooked up the A-pillar lights to the upper one (#5) and the XL Pros to the lower one (#6) (one light per lead).
• The two hot leads for the roof then hit the two remaining upper circuits (#1 and #3), the two S2 leads were combined and connected to lower circuit #4 and the S8 backlight was connected to lower circuit #2.
• Did some cleanup of the wires on the power tray - landed the switch pro ground on the Blue Sea Power Unit, and routed the BrightBox power up to the same power unit on a dedicated circuit with the blue sea fuse block instead of the inline one from brightbox. Also added a connector in line with the brightbox power to facilitate power tray removal in the future.
• Connected the Blue Sea ground bus to the upper/main body ground point.
• Reinstalled the power tray, the battery, and the winch control box.
• Tested all the different circuits and functions

Of course it had to start raining about two hours before I finished…

 

Are you dual battery?

 

Not currently, no.
That project might lead to a divorce…

 

Que es?

 

Looks like maybe a power switch for the winch?

 

Solenoid disconnect for the winch power.

 

Thanks for the reminder! Gotta sell my spare.

 

Ah, I tend to use those for dual batter configs, not as a disconnect. Por Que disconnect?

 

Someone can walk buy with two paper clips and jump your winch into retrieve and burn your truck down when it reaches the end of its rope. Or if you get into a front end collision.

 

Yep, though it would be hard to get to inside the bumper with how the wiring is connected.
I don’t like the idea of a high amp load connected directly to the battery without some sort of physical disconnect, and the little switch on the controller box isn’t that.
The switch that controls the solenoid is on IGN circuit so the truck has to be “ON” for the winch to have power…and will fail open if the truck loses power.

 

Looks great! Lights are awesome too.

 

Proceeded to install the world's most expensive antenna grommet yesterday...

Popped loose only the C-pillar trim on the passenger side to be able to route the cables.
Dropped down the headliner in the back (thank god for the full roll-down window on the CrewMax).
Removed the factory TBL without much drama - dropped one nut but it was easily visible when the TBL housing was pulled away.
Got everything cleaned up and ready for new install, and marked and drilled the mounting holes.



The proceeded to fight with everything else ever step of the way. Primarily with getting the damn nuts back onto the TBL studs. Dropped the nuts countless times (despite using a magnetic socket). Dropped the fucking socket with the nut attached to it at one point, which fell off the headliner, dropped down between the bed and the cab, and decided to disappear into the years of old wood chips and stuff that have accumulated on top of the gas tank...

BUT, finally found it hunting around blind with my arm wedged up between the exhaust and the driveshaft laying under the truck and finally got everything put back together.


Hooked up the BPD antenna mounts with

$17 Tram 1296 NMO to UHF (SO239) Mobile Antenna Mount Adapter, Silver

NMO-SO239 adapters, a short 24" jumper, and an

$18 Anina NMO to UHF Female SO-239 Connector NMO Mount Assembly with Cover PL259 Adapter Short Type for VHF/UHF/Ham Radio Mobile Dual Band Antenna 5/8" Mounting Hole 1" Stud

SO239-NMO mount that is mounted into a Sherpa Antenna Mount on each side.

Routed the wires down the passenger C-pillar, into the passenger side wire gutter, and then turned the two antenna wires off toward the center console under the passenger front seat while continuing the BD light cable toward the passenger kick panel.

Inside the console is mounted a COMET CF-4160 Duplexer - orange tape wrap is the UHF cable (passenger side). Drilled and tapped two 8-32 holes in the bracket that holes the center cosole lid spring. (JSON Spec)


Then got the two Rugged Radio Stealth Antennas (VHF and UHF) mounted up on the roof rack mounts.

 

Made some progress on the Icom radio install recently as well.
I pulled out the center consol half-safe and drilled some holes through the side of it to mount the radio to the inboard side of the non-locked space. This puts it in a convenient spot for routing all the wires out through a hole I had previously made for my since-removed JBL DSP amp bass knob.

Then I mounted it back in the console and got the wires rounted to/from it (for the most part). The power lead is still bundled up inside the transmission hump while I finalize my plans for power and external switch for it, but the antenna lead from the duplexer is connected, as well as the controller cable, the external speaker, and the mic CAT5.


Also finally mounted the external speaker to the Rago plate. Had to extend the slotted holes in the speaker base just a bit to line up with the holes in the plate.

 

Got the Chase Lights installed and wiring harness set up on the roof rack.
Baja Designs S1 with Factory Amber Wide Cornering Lenses.
It was dark and late when I finished the wiring, so no pictures but it's as purdy as it's gonna be...

 

Also finished setting up the Switch Pro symbols based on the final configuration. And swapped out the bezels on the SAE fogs for standard "square".

 

Someone has been busy…

looks great. I’m still on fence about the roof rack.

Does the last cross bar of the roof rack overhang the TBL?

 

It does not. It's close, but a taller antenna would clear.


There's also room to slide the rear cross-bar forward a bit (less if you have a shark fin).

 

So because of the stubbies, you chose to run em on the rack?

 

Yes
The stubbies wouldn't really clear the rack otherwise.
And I've not fully run down the rabbit hole of radio wave nerd...yet...

 

Hell of a job on your truck. I swear I've seen it around... I live in Scappoose now. Keep up the great work.

 

It's possible. I don't make it down 30 very often that way, and do my best to avoid Portland, but there's plenty of times I still have to head down in there.

 

Looks Great!

Did you happen to sell the SSO bumper? If not, might be interested in it. was going to go with ARB, but it's a lot in a lot of ways!

 

Yeah, the SSO is on its way to TX via the Tundras Express.

 

Running out of time before T2S so I pulled an audible and took it in to the locale dealer to have them knock out few maintenance items (brake system flush, fluid change in the diffs and TC) and get the HotShot Offroad brake line kit installed.

3/4 through the allotted time, I get a text from the service writer “recommending services” - with a video attached commenting on how well outfitted my truck is and how well done it is… and that my rear brake lines should no longer be my limit straps.
He then asked about what I did for my brake lights ‘cause he wants to do the same on his Tundra, and that he was impressed I managed to fit a full size spare tire up in the factory spot.

Not great pictures, but all of the flex lines are now swapped out.