This thread is where I will post updates of my modifications, issues i've had, and potential upgrades I'm considering.  

 

This page is dedicated to @TFaoro, because without him my truck would be bone stock still....

 

To start off, today my VP died.  It took me by surprise, as it gave no indication there was an issue.  But, it threw Death Code P1691, and that's that.  Good thing it died before I bought tires.

 

Is DAP everyone's first choice for a new VP?

 

Edited March 15, 20178 yr by trreed

Sounds good!

They do look just like the ones I got.

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01ATPDGS8/ref=ya_aw_od_pi?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

L8tr

D

They really do. Thankfully the place I got them from has a lifetime warranty too. 

Did a thing tonight. Had the 6x0.013’s in in just over an hour. Holy crap does this truck run smooth!  There’s so much reduction in engine noise, all I can hear is the exhaust when I’m next to a wall. And all the lost noise came back as turbo whistle, so it’s win win!

 

But of course, nothing can be easy. Yesterday I found out I'm pushing oil through a turbo. I'm betting its the secondary AGAIN. It was just rebuilt in December too. 

Edited April 10, 20187 yr by trreed

What size oil line? Stock?

-6 AN on both turbos. Which is 3/8" iirc

Edited April 10, 20187 yr by trreed

11 hours ago, trreed said:

But of course, nothing can be easy. Yesterday I found out I'm pushing oil through a turbo. I'm betting its the secondary AGAIN. It was just rebuilt in December too. 

 just quit messing with it. It's getting tired of your crap!

It gets it from your truck!

 

Turbo is angry, VP is angry....  Can't wait to see what else is going to get mad at me!

Edited April 10, 20187 yr by trreed

7 minutes ago, trreed said:

It gets it from your truck!

 

Turbo is angry, VP is angry....  Can't wait to see what else is going to get mad at me!

Park it next to a 4th gen and don't drive it for a week or two. It'll straighten up! Mine just has an oil leak since I did that. 

Looks like I'm coming down for a visit then...

1 minute ago, TFaoro said:

Park it next to a 4th gen and don't drive it for a week or two. It'll straighten up! Mine just has an oil leak since I did that. 

 

... eventually, @TFaoro will just sell the 2nd Gen because it broke all the time. 

That will be the day Hell freezes over, Mike!

Just now, trreed said:

That will be the day Hell freezes over, Mike!

 

Ok, it just did... Now what?

It's all up to him now...  I've only heard him talk about lighting it on fire a handful of times.

1 hour ago, trreed said:

It's all up to him now...  I've only heard him talk about lighting it on fire a handful of times.

 

He's got a few more to catch up to me lol

1 hour ago, Mopar1973Man said:

 

... eventually, @TFaoro will just sell the 2nd Gen because it broke all the time. 

Can't do that. If I keep using the 4th gen the way I have been the exhaust will be plugged in a month. I will won't sell the old girl - I'll use it for everything around town from towing to getting groceries. The 4th gen will be used for out of town stuff. 

 

1 hour ago, Mopar1973Man said:

 

Ok, it just did... Now what?

 

And now that hell has frozen over, it's time to fix that oil leak  

On 4/5/2018 at 9:21 PM, trreed said:

@SilverMoose they came from 1AAuto. The actual product looked slightly different than the website, which annoyed me. Hopefully I don't have any issues with bad LEDs. I'd love to hear your findings

Sorry for the delay

 

I finally got my lights modified and put back together.  I will try to keep this short and to the point.

 

First off, these are the lights I got. Most other similar lights I assume are made in the same Chinese factory.

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01ATPDGS8/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

The LED's kept going out on me after about a month. After my 4 set, (all compliments of Amazon) I decided to dissect a set to see what was happening. And this is what the problem was

 

 

The lights has a DC Buck in them to control the voltage (and I assume current as well) to the LED's. I'm assuming the voltage our trucks can put out (especially during the cooler months) led to the Bucks frying.

 

I did a little searching on Amazon and discovered this adjustable Buck. It's very easy to adjust and nice and small.

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00C0KL1OM/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

I determined the forward voltage and current for each LED. They were connected in 3 sets of 3 in series and kept that arrangement. I set the output of the new Buck to just above the voltage of 3 of the LED's and computed what resistor was needed for each set of 3. A 1/8 watt was needed and I used a 1 watt to reduce chances of heat issues.

 

 

 

I hope this helps if you ever have the problem I did.

 

L8tr

D
 

@SilverMoose Thank you for this!  My end goal is to not have to open these lights up again after the retrofit is complete.  So I guess it's a trip to the electronics store for me, and I gotta find that dang soldering iron....

 

Am I seeing the colors correctly as red, red, black, gold, brown?

Edited April 11, 20187 yr by trreed

4 hours ago, trreed said:

@SilverMoose Thank you for this!  My end goal is to not have to open these lights up again after the retrofit is complete.  So I guess it's a trip to the electronics store for me, and I gotta find that dang soldering iron....

 

Am I seeing the colors correctly as red, red, black, gold, brown?

It's a 22ohm 1 watt resistor and my buck is set to 9.5 volts. I think you could probably just use the adjustable buck and lower the voltage til the lights turned off then raise it 0.5 volts.  Leave the little buck in there and save a bunch of time.

 

L8tr

D

 

 

I started messing around with timing on my idiot/race/dyno tune.  Previously, top end power was being reached above 3200 rpm, so in an effort to bring the power bands back down (and see what happens if I try to emulate p-pump timing) my idiot tune timing starts around 20* at 1500 rpm.  Truck is MAD when it starts off, but then settles down a bit when RPM's come up, and pulls harder.  Also, as I reach 3400 RPM, it starts bucking and surging until it reaches 3500 RPM, which it will hold.  

Moral of the story: my VP does not like high timing down low, but timing is power.

For reference, here's my timing curves from my daily tune and idiot tune

RPM             Daily         Idiot

1500:             17             20

2000:             21             23

2500:             23.5          27

3000:             26.5          30

Max:              30             30