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What have you done to your CUCV today/lately? - Part 1

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chief1983

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290
1
16
Location
Saint Charles, MO
Ah I see. Yeah I have an Alpine I've been meaning to put in mine. Where did you tap the actual ignition controlled hot wire? I thought the ignition slot in the fuse panel was before the switch and always hot.
 

unaffiliated

Member
394
11
18
Location
Coosa, Georgia
There are two slots in the fuse panel (maybe three). Anyway, one is hot all the time, the other is key on hot. I had my add on cig. lighter socket (cell charger and Garmin use) plugged into the key on hot, then I discovered the slot that was hot all the time, so I changed it to that one so I could charge my phone without the key on.
 

Abbylind

Member
284
14
18
Location
Palm Harbor FL & NM
Theres a few slots in the fuse block One marked ignition is only hot when the key is on. There are other slots that are battery hot. Check with a meter though one slot is 24 volts!
 

chief1983

Member
290
1
16
Location
Saint Charles, MO
Yeah, I know what they're labeled as from the diagram, but that doesn't always tell me if the switch for an item is before or after a fuse. And I've even been probing a couple times and haven't found a key-on hot or accessory-on hot slot yet. I'll keep digging around on it. Got a CB, a head unit, a cigarette lighter, and hopefully a fuel pump to get power to somehow.
 

ryan77

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Cary IL
I went to junk yard got a nice blazer center console, wife got pissed when i put it in the dishwasher to clean it!!!!!:roll:
 

Clearboy

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Location
Sand Lake /MI
I really like the rack, the truck keeps it's purposeful look. Today (tonight) I started mine in zero weather w/o using the block heater. It was a test.
 

chief1983

Member
290
1
16
Location
Saint Charles, MO
Pictures! Taken at night, so not the clearest, but if you want more just ask.

A neighbor of mine helped me fab up some patches for the holes in the driver's side wheel well area. After he had them mounted, I removed them and sealed them on with black RTV. Now I can hit the mud without flooding the floor under my feet so easily, and maybe even drive it through a car wash.

He also cut some brackets so I could mount the PowerBright 1500W inverter on the wheel well. It was a little too wide to sit flush, so now it sits on some simple brackets which are mounted to the well instead. I used 2 gauge car stereo amplifier kit to hook it up. 80A on the 24V side should get me 2000W of 120V, minus heat dissipation, so it should be enough for the constant supply of 1500W, although if I hit the peak of 3000W on the inverter, I'll be in trouble.

Lastly, got my cigarette lighter installed and wired up. To tap the fuse box, I used a male lead of a quick disconnect as the blade. For the lighter, I finally did enough probing on the fuse box to find that the empty terminal labled blah/AC was always on at 12V. I used that for the lighter. I found that while the 'Accessory' fuse is not actually controlled by the accessory switch in the ignition, the wiper fuse is, and I installed a fuse tap on that 25A fuse (before the fuse) for when I install my CB. I want it to be only on in accessory or ignition on. I will probably split that tap into two for the future radio install as well. I also found the spot I'll use to hook up an electric fuel pump in the future, the ignition terminal on the left of the fuse block. For grounding, I found a little set of 6 quick disconnect blades for grounding to the chassis, way up behind the dash on the left wall. Had to really crawl under the dash to find it. I should be able to ground just about anything I can think of installing there.

No photos, but I also fixed my right rear blackout light. The Dodge ones have better wiring than that thin, brittle wiring they used on the Chevys. That's what the problem was with mine in the first place, the wiring snapped off right at the housing. I don't see that happening with the new one. If you want to see the Dodge terminals, just look for a CUCV blackout light on eBay. They're all for Dodges.

Unfortunately, after all this productive work I did on the truck this weekend (I had a 4 day weekend), last night on the way home, I started to notice a shudder under load, and then BAM, there goes rear driveshaft #2. So what could possibly be making my truck burn through a driveshaft like that? The first one was lost while off roading. This one was just cruising down the highway. I did the install myself, and it was a junkyard find, so I'm wondering if it was perhaps out of balance, or if I messed up the install somehow. I had to limp home about 8 miles in front wheel drive again.
 

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chief1983

Member
290
1
16
Location
Saint Charles, MO
I did do both new ujoints when I replaced the shaft last. I thought about getting the original shaft repaired, but I don't know a good shop in the St Louis area for that kind of work. The one place I called, Axle Boys in St Charles, quoted me $400! The place that does SYE kits does full custom CV/slip shafts for less than that. Anyone know a good place in the StL area for driveshaft work?
 

chief1983

Member
290
1
16
Location
Saint Charles, MO
Well, if I could mail someone my yoke and broken shaft, and have the yoke polished and reassembled ready for installation, I'd pay pretty good money for that. But not $400. At this point I'm thinking about just rebuilding the NP208 since I'm pretty sure it's acting up anyway, and eliminating the slip yoke. Just not sure I want to stray so far from stock.
 

Anubis8472

New member
149
3
0
Location
Redford, Michigan
Pulled the dash and replaced fuel gauge.
While I had it apart I took the opportunity to clean the plastic cover, the tin cover, and the light and gauge slots, the plastic light covers, bulbs, contacts, etc.
All the while thinking about the time I spent trying to remove a dead moth from the sealed cluster on my pickup, which to this day sits next to the speedo needle.

Learned a lesson in there as well.

Do Not Use ArmorAll Cleaner on those black plastic light filters!
(Gen/4wd lights etc.)
It smudges the white/silver circle on them.

I about flipped when I saw that after vigorously wiping the filter.
Thankfully I was able to preserve most of it and clean the smudge marks so they still look fairly decent. (I can still see one of the smudges when the sun hits it just right)

Speaking of the sun.....

Contemplated making a 'hood' to fit over the gen light bank.
Never fails on sunny days driving around I glance down and think "Oh Crap!"
.....
"Oh alright it's just the sun making it look like my warning lights are all on."
 

ryan77

Well-known member
2,584
56
48
Location
Cary IL
Got the power tailgate finished and working, I cant believe i ever messed with that roll window up garbage for years!!!! Now i flip a switch and she goes up and down!!!!
 
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