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beren

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  1. It's a bad idea, and it will fail before a properly crimped connection. Everyone from NASA to random people on the internet say don't do it. https://www.google.com/search?q=solder+vs+crimp+battery+cables If you use a hydraulic crimper and do a correct crimp, then try to solder it, the copper will be so tight it the solder can't get in. Add the marine/glued heat shrink and nothing can get in. A couple good pictures and explanation of metal fatigue and such is here: https://millennialdiyer.com/articles/motorcycles/electrical-repair-crimp-or-solder/ https://workmanship.nasa.gov/lib/insp/2 books/links/sections/201 General Requirements.html <-- good picture explaining things and for the actual specs https://nepp.nasa.gov/files/27631/NSTD87394A.pdf https://hackaday.com/2016/11/03/specifications-you-should-read-the-nasa-workmanship-standards/ That article is how I discovered all this. The stories in the comments are a fun read too :-)
  2. Just wanted to chime in and remind everyone to not solder these connections. There's multiple reasons. It stiffens the cable at the joint because the solder wicks up the wire. The vibrations can break the joint between metals which causes resistance and higher heat/voltage drop. The high temps of a bad connection can evaporate the lead solder and cause an even worse connection. A cheap 12-20T crimper can be gotten fairly cheap from ebay and as long as you don't blow the seals it'll last and you can lend it to others ;-) I bought the heavy duty tinned brass lugs from fastenel or zoro and used the glue-lined heat shrink to seal it up. My stock cables were corroded pretty far up, I cut back the insulation, cleaned them with vinegar and baking soda and then used the heat shrink as new insulation. It's been going well the last few years but I should check the voltage drop under load to see how it's doing. Switching to AGM batteries are also a great idea since they don't vent gas at the terminals and your corrosion vanishes. I bought Noco lead-free zinc military style terminals to go from the battery studs to eye terminals on the cables. So much better!
  3. Yeah bright, but a bit less bright then new.
  4. Hmm morimoto says they should last 2k hours, this says 3k hours: https://www.jdpower.com/cars/shopping-guides/what-are-hid-headlights
  5. I haven't seen rear bumper brackets, I think it just need some flat bar bent at a 90 and holes drilled, but have so much to do before i get to that…
  6. Yeah my neighbor just moved but does great work and works at a collision center. I need the bottoms of the 2 front doors, the bottoms of the rear doors have some ****** holes, the rockers are almost gone, as is the bottom of the tailgate. The fenders above the front wheels are really bad and above the rear wheels are bubbling bad. I paid $8k and prolly put at least 10k into it in the last 9 years. Bunch of upgrades and some replacements/repairs. Not looking forward to $2-3k in body work, and my Injection pump is failing after less than 40k miles. SHe'll hit 300k miles before the end of next month though. I got a 4th gen bumper from a local place that does utility body conversions and big truck work pretty cheap, need to get someone to make some brackets now that my original has a 3" hole in it…
  7. The HIDs draw as much as a normal bulb, 35W each. They just convert most of the power into light, where normal halogen converts a lot of the energy to heat as well. I silvered the tops of my high beam bulbs with high temp paint and careful masking tape. I hated the brown looking at me :-)
  8. Some good stuff here. BTW you can do a cheap HID conversion as well. I used the smaller 2.5" H1 HID set so I didn't have to open up the bulb area, and some good & cheap FastBright ballasts. There are even better projectors now too you can get. HIDplanet is an amazing resource and where the morimoto guys hang out as well. Remember they don't manufacture much, they import and made deals with boneyards to get the OEM parts. They sure look slick though. https://www.ebay.com/itm/322188522247 Are an upgrade of what I have and except for the cutoff these are basically the Morimoto's. These are the D2S easy retrofits they use, or damn close: https://www.ebay.com/itm/322356161193 You can get them on Aliexpress too. The Sinolyn brand is highly rated on HIDplanet. Throw in some bulbs, and $25 ballasts and it's an amazing improvement. I also did the relay swap and got cheap quad housings so I have normal high beams. I kinda regret not going larger on the projectors, but my old lights were so bad it was like I had a few candles in the front. People are big on doing it right in HIDPlanet, and last I looked there were still no LED bulbs that could replicate the output of the halogen, and if you look close there's likely a ton of scatter and glare with them One thing to remember about HID also, is the bulbs have a lifespan of 2k hours on average. They don't normally go out, they just start to dim so it may be hard to notice at first. Ill have to snap a picture of my headlights, they look pretty good for cheap :-) I think other than the housings it was $100 all in. If I do it over with the larger D2S, it'll prolly be $200-300 or so because of the OEM bulbs. Still not bad.
  9. Man I wish my trucked as good as your before pictures. I don’t even no where to start now it’s so bad.
  10. Good timing I just ordered a full AC replacement from RA. Tired of the compressor leak that has me fill every spring and add a can every month. I got mostly Four Seasons parts.
  11. Any news on this?
  12. Too bad you get far hotter air to the engine which kills performance
  13. Hey good luck! Hope to see you back here soon.
  14. Know anyone with a microscope? Maybe a kid? You can look at it and possibly tell what it is.
  15. Interesting… Looks like there's a few even higher flow pumps from walbro now: https://aftermarket.tiautomotive.com/projects/gss-350-lph-fuel-pump-family/ and a 3x more expensive screw pump as well. Wonder if these 350lph pumps could be adapted to our use? It doesn't look like they have threaded in/outlets not sure if that's an issue.