Tundra CrewMax

[Sean Slavin]

After far too long of being truckless, we finally got into a position to change that and my wife told me to go buy my Tundra for my birthday a couple of weeks ago. Almost immediately, I started ordering parts and making some cosmetic changes. Meaning getting rid of all of the chrome. Too. Much. Chrome. Swapped out taillights and headlights. Added Bushwackers.

It's going to be setup for overland family adventures as well as a backcountry mobile photo studio. I've got some plans for my photography business that I don't see a lot of people doing are being willing to do. Fingers crossed it works.

A topper and Decked drawers are on order. Should have those in another week or so.

Camburg and King bits are coming for the suspension. I need to figure out what to do with the leaf springs. Been looking at Deaver and Atlas but I may seek professional help from the folks at Slee. Depending on weight, I may add a set of Timbrens.

She'll sit on a set of Nitto Trail Grapplers, 35s, with Method wheels. Small body mount chop will be necessary to make them fit.

Bumpers coming from Expedition One. They are finally starting to produce a dual swing out system for the Tundra. Woohoo! From what they've said on the phone and the pictures I've seen, it's going to be awesome.

Then inverter, solar panels, fridge and Foxwing awning.

I'm starting to noodle around on trailer ideas but that's down the road. Also, considering ARB lockers, replacing the electronic LSD with an Auburn LSD and a regear. After speaking with the folks at SDHQ the other day, the LSD may come sooner rather than later. We'll see how it runs.

Going to be fun.

 

[smslavin]

On the road for the day job but my lovely wife was nice enough to let me know that these arrived...

 

[Sean Slavin]

So, these just arrived...

Almost too pretty to get dirty. Almost.

 

[bob91yj]

^^^^Those are sexy. I bought some Eagle I-beam connecting rods for a Jeep stroker motor a few years back, they looked to cool to bury them in an engine.

 

[Sean Slavin]

LineX, ARE Z topper and Decked drawers installed today.

Sketching out some ideas for a box to build at the front of the bed under the window. Purpose would be to house the second battery, air compressor, inverter and a few other tidbits. Already have a couple of spots picked out on the Decked lid for sockets to be used by the fridge and my photography gear.

Really happy with the Decked system. Solid unit. Drawers are smooth and there is plenty of space for recovery gear, tools, supplies, etc. I think they will hold up really well.

The friendly neighborhood guy in brown dropped these, along with the rears, off today.

Deaver expo leaves should be here next week along with the tires. Front bumper and winch should be here towards the end of August. I have some day job related travel the next couple of weeks then I'll put the suspension on.

I'm getting giddy.

 

[Sean Slavin]

Put the LED strips into the bed this afternoon. Huge improvement.

The kind folks over at SDHQ found these for me. Deaver's "expo" rated leaf springs. They shouldn't have any problem supporting all the weight I'll have on the rear.

FedEx guy was not overly excited to see me this afternoon. When the full set of BudBuilt skids arrive tomorrow, I'm sure he'll never want to stop at our place again.

 

[Sean Slavin]

Picked these guys up yesterday.

A few parts still need to trickle in (winch, bumpers, sliders) but now it's time to put it all together.

 

[Sean Slavin]

I had planned on doing the suspension install today but got bogged down with some honey-do's and ran out of time. Started installing the SwitchPros but as I was wrestling with getting the connector through the firewall grommet, thunder, lightning, rain. So, the switches are in and I'll finish the rest tomorrow afternoon.

My card finally got charged by the dealer which I'm guessing means that my Pro Grille will be on the way soon. Plan is to start some of the hood surgery this week for SDHQ's light mount in the scoop. When the grille shows up, I'll be a couple of steps ahead and can just bolt the light in.

Also, going to try and get the suspension on this week. Probably do the fronts one afternoon/evening then the rears the next day. Will need to find someone to do a BMC as I don't have the welding skills or tools to tackle that one.

 

[Sean Slavin]

Finished wiring up the SwitchPros. Now, I just need to add stuff to it. Hood scoop light bar will probably go in this weekend.

Just replaced the two dash lighters with Blue Sea 4.8A USB sockets.

I'll swap out the rear tomorrow.

 

[Sean Slavin]

Spent the morning working my way through SDHQ's hood scoop light bar mod. A little nervous at first but once that first cut was made, all was well.

I'm having an issue with the SwitchPros at the moment. Light bar is all wired in but the SP's switches are no longer working. Spoke with SDHQ earlier this afternoon and we tried to troubleshoot over the phone. SP goes into programming mode and the backlight for the key pad comes on but I can't turn anything on. SDHQ is going to speak with SwitchPros on Monday and let me know what else to look for.

Has anyone here ever encountered that?

After that, I swapped in color matched door handles and mirror caps. More of a vanity thing then anything I suppose but the truck has a much cleaner look to it. Peeling the vinyl between the doors also helped.

If anyone needs a set of black handles and mirror caps, let me know. I'll put them in a box and send them your way.

 

[jscusmcvet]

Never saw lights mounted like that before. I like it, very stealth.

 

[Sean Slavin]

The idea is to try and keep the roof line clean. Trying to find a nice low profile rack and I'll probably wait until Prinsu works through their backlog and gets their Tundra stuff going. Really like what they produce.

I'll have that bar in the hood, a 20" amber on the bumper and two 6" PIAA bars, as well as two PIAA 530 Ions, in the bumper. Should be way more than enough light.

 

[Gallowbraid]

If anyone needs a set of black handles and mirror caps, let me know. I'll put them in a box and send them your way.

I'd like to take these off your hands. Tried to send you a PM but your profile is locked so it won't allow me to...

I looked over the installation and wiring guides for the switch pro's and if their troubleshooting didn't already cover it I'd look at the following:

Are you grounding the switch pro directly to the battery or to some point on the vehicle? If it's not the negative terminal on the battery I'd try changing it over or trying a new grounding point. Poor grounds can cause all kinds of odd things to happen.

The installation instructions indicate that the switch pro can prevent powering items on unless is receiving a 12v signal on pin 4 of the module. Is this how you have the buttons programmed at the moment? Is it receiving a 12v signal on this line? Try changing the programming so it doesn't require the ignition to be on, do the accessories work then?

If all the wiring is correct, the grounding is good and the programming is right I'd say there's a problem with the microcontroller in the SP. I've never torn one down but with the features it offers I'm assuming there's at least one microcontroller in there.

 

[Sean Slavin]

I'd like to take these off your hands. Tried to send you a PM but your profile is locked so it won't allow me to...

Oops. Didn't realize I had myself locked away. Should be all set now. Try it again.

SwitchPros is grounded to the factory ground on the wheel well by the battery. Pin 4 is wired with an add-a-fuse to the A/C circuit. The weird part about it is that prior to adding the light bar, when nothing was hooked up to it, all the buttons functioned normally. I could turn the switches off and on. Light bar is grounded to the same spot as the SP and I soldered the hot to the SP switch input.

I've downloaded the SP app for my phone and will monkey with the programming this morning. I'm also going to unplug the harness to the light bar. Maybe the S8 is not happy about something.

Thanks for the ideas. Much appreciated.

 

[Sean Slavin]

So, I was just playing around with this a bit more. Downloaded the SwitchPros app for my phone, fired up the truck and got it connected. Guess what? The switches work again and the light bar comes on. No issues. Disconnect the app and the switches no longer function. I can't seem to figure out if that's the way it's supposed to work or not. Seems weird if it is and I definitely do not want to be dependent on my phone especially once the locker and compressor are connected.

 

[Gallowbraid]

If you disable bluetooth on the SP do the switches work?

Bluetooth control disable.
Bluetooth control can be disabled by pressing and holding the programming switch and pressing
switch 1. The programming led will flash 3 times for indication. Bluetooth connection must be off when disa-
bling Bluetooth. Bluetooth control can be enabled by pressing and holding the programming switch and
pressing switch 2. The programming led will flash 3 times for indication.

 

[Sean Slavin]

Yeppers. Tried that probably about the same time you were typing it. Disconnect the bluetooth and... nada.

 

[Gallowbraid]

This is where you're at correct?

With your phone connected both the app and the physical switches work, disconnect the phone or disable Bluetooth and the switches don't work. Unplug the light bar connection from the switch pro and the switches work even without the phone being connected.

If you move the light bar to a different switch output line does anything change?

 

[Sean Slavin]

You are correct. I'm going to let the sun move across the sky some more and put a bit more shade in the backyard then, I'll try swapping the wire to a different switch. Thanks for helping me debug this.

 

[Sean Slavin]

This is where you're at correct?

With your phone connected both the app and the physical switches work, disconnect the phone or disable Bluetooth and the switches don't work. Unplug the light bar connection from the switch pro and the switches work even without the phone being connected.

If you move the light bar to a different switch output line does anything change?

Finally got in touch with SwitchPros directly. Need a sanity check on what they told me.

The issue you are having has to do with no sufficient ignition signal. That's the blue wire you speak of. The location you tapped into is not receiving the ignition input that is required. The reason you can get control, once connected via the app, is that ALL switches (regardless of their battery or ignition input designation) become temporarily battery input, so that they can be controlled via a bluetooth device with the driver leaving the keys in the ignition. That's why the panel will respond and the phone screen will respond when you are using the app.

We know that SDHQ usually taps into the 12v outlet in the dash approx 6-8 inches before the outlet, using the factory green wire. This has power during both accessory and ignition key position.

So, I have the blue wire tapped into A/C fuse under the dash. Based on what they've said above, that does not provide sufficient power. Ideas on where to move it? I do not have a 12v outlet on my dash.