Search and Rescue H3 Alpha build

[RamRod]

that'll give the light bar more flare, does it create any wind noise?

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

that'll give the light bar more flare, does it create any wind noise?

yes, but it's the stands that are creating the noise... I'm thinking some clever grinding to make them rounded (or even round).... it wasn't so much the flare I was looking for, rather there's little need for something more substantial...

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

So I've continued working on it....
the rack is shorter, and stronger.


as for the whistle, it's gone.... just a bit of door-edge-guard


and I finished wiring up the lights


and added some additional reverse lights


​

 

[High Five H2]

how did you wire up the reverse lights? are they hooked directly into the oem ones? do they need their own relay and power supply?

 

[RamRod]

how did you wire up the reverse lights? are they hooked directly into the oem ones? do they need their own relay and power supply?

I know with Halogen lights you would need to run a relay, but with the low current draw of an LED perhaps you could get away with wiring it directly...

I still prefer to set my lights up with a relay still (and a switch)

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

the rock lights go through a relay, the reverse lights through the switch I detailed earlier in front of the shifter.

I've found the reverse lights to be adequate for backing up because I have a reverse camera that I use a lot more than the rear view mirror.

honestly, it's kind of a test, I'm interested to see how the LEDs do without a relay - everything else is run through a relay (all the other LEDs); but I read the current draw for all three lights and it's less than 50% of the rated capacity of the switch - so all should be fine.

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

so a bit of dinking about..
my race radio (SAR frequencies are at 155.000 and up mHz) has an antenna behind the rear tire. It works excellent for reception ~ 55 watts; but abysmal for broadcast ~ 15 watts (on a 60 watt radio). The fix is move the antenna to the roof. The problem is it'd get knocked off going into my garage and parking garage at work - I know it's kind of hard to see, but it's now on the rack, behind the side light


I swear the longest part of wiring is making it look good... notice the battery box?


takes up a lot of room - and I need more power


this is a to-be-continued post, but here's what's coming next


I have a battery controller where I can jump the main battery, and all of my accessories (lights, air compressor, winch) run off the auxiliary battery. Tomorrow I've got to go get a deep cycle that fits in the hole
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[RamRod]

I spy a dual battery set-up coming soon!

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

another light picture

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

time to finish the torsion bar lift.....



disconnect


stack 1/2" washers


bolt back together.... I should have used 1 less washer - but no mind, I simply shaved a bit of the bushing off with my vertical band saw


and this is what it nets you... about 1/2" more vertical travel


the other tire is on the ground and the vehicle is level in that picture....


and for those who wonder what a BMW wagon is good for - my answer


a dog house.

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

I've stunned you all to silence.... or bored you to sleep... it's okay, I self-entertain
continuing on the dual battery install
the batteries


here's where they will fit when done...


now to build a battery box


completed... now to weld in place (after the paint dries)

​

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

A side note on something I've learned - if you do the washer trick, it helps in daily driving. On my way to work are (stupid) speed humps (not bumps, more gradual) that have a cut in the middle for, ostensibly, water to go through. If you put your driver's side wheels in that slot, it makes for a smoother ride. Before the spacer, the vehicle would not go straight over the hump, but would shimmy as it went over. I attributed it to decreasing the wheelbase and didn't think much of it (when you lift one side of the vehicle, the rear wheel moves towards the front wheel effectively shortening the wheelbase). Once I put the washers in, I didn't have the shimmy problem.... was a nice bonus of getting 1" more travel.

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

picking up from yesterday


I had to do a bit of creative body work on the corner to get it all to fit without pulling on the harness (next to the motor)


all wired up


and the controller


basically it allows me to monitor the health of each battery, jump start myself, of isolate one battery. The impetus behind this is I end up doing traffic duty in the middle of the night on missions - and starting the vehicle every hour to charge the battery is not a good thing... now I can simply leave the lights on without fear of leaving me unable to start.

time to finish the C3 (tomorrow), then on to the Discovery diesel project

 

[Bananatank]

If it helps any, i myself am entertained lol


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[RamRod]

This is a project on my list of things to do in the Fall, would be great to have that security once winter rolls around!!

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

As I posted elsewhere, I went out playing with my 3. It was a lot of fun to play with switches and make it go (locking differentials, changing from high to low, etc)... the friend who went with me was pretty impressed at how well it works now.... though, I love his comment. He was the one taking these pictures.





then this picture


he commented that when I was simply screwing around - you could see the snow fly - and it was fun to watch and take pictures.... however, once I decided to carry on up the trail it was boring because I was going so slow and letting the computer control the traction... of course, that's when I was breaking trail and not getting stuck.

 

[poweraidon]

Great build!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

COMING SOON TO AN H3 ROOF

minus the toyota, of course.... those go on the end of my tow rope.

 

[Chocflip201]

Yep Adam told me you got it.

My name is Chance by the way.

 

[HummerRoller]

You guys make me want an RTT so much more now

Sent from inside the cardboard box in the alley behind your house.

 

[ABNTROOP]

Having used my loaner this last weekend, I'll say it's worth the hype. I slept very comfortably, both mattress and temp wise.

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

Yep Adam told me you got it.

My name is Chance by the way.

I admit it was a bit awkward saying "well, I talked to this guy online, no idea what his name is... drives a Hummer"

lol

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

You guys make me want an RTT so much more now

Sent from inside the cardboard box in the alley behind your house.

what, and give up the cardboard box?!!! we aspire to cardboard, buddy

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

The autana tent has arrived - pictures to follow at 11

 

[Chocflip201]

The autana tent has arrived - pictures to follow at 11

I'm anxious to compare. If I didn't get a smoking deal on my ARB I wanted a Siberian Autana really bad. I still haven't seen an Autana (or any Tepui) in real life.