Xterrarising

XterraRising

Bumpers Installed
Location
Utah
The only thing I did was use an aluminum backing plate to add support since the body support there isn’t wide enough.
 

TheCrabby1

I Smell Fishy
Supporting Member
Location
Burtonsville, Md
Made some progress you can see today. The paint is still drying on the support brackets, but the lights are installed in their final location. I used a 27.5”x1.5” piece of aluminum stock to make a support for the lights to mount up inside the opening between the bumper and the grill.

View attachment 16992
View attachment 16993
I need to get a couple of longer bolts for the support, so I’ll plug away on it tomorrow after work. But I couldn’t miss an opportunity to get it out into the sun and see how it will look when it is finished.

I’m still waiting in a fuse block that I ordered and need to get some wiring odds and ends. Might save the wiring until next weekend since it is supposed to rain, and I can’t do much outside anyway.

Slowly but surely.
I put a 20 inch bar in the same place and since I seem to get pelted with gravel and everything else on the road I found these cover's that I keep on unless offroading at nite . You get 2- 6" and 1-8" cover with this set . Thought it might help ;)
 

Attachments

  • 20210325_130815.jpg
    20210325_130815.jpg
    1.4 MB · Views: 6

XterraRising

Bumpers Installed
Location
Utah
Those are a good idea. Might go for them, depending on how often I use these. They are driving lights, more or less. I don’t know what it is about Utah at night, but these roads are so dark, even with street lights. Or maybe it’s a side affect from LASIK all those years ago. But I practically need an arsenal of light when driving around at night.
 

Brunnie

Bumpers Installed
Supporting Member
Location
Colorado Springs
Those are a good idea. Might go for them, depending on how often I use these. They are driving lights, more or less. I don’t know what it is about Utah at night, but these roads are so dark, even with street lights. Or maybe it’s a side affect from LASIK all those years ago. But I practically need an arsenal of light when driving around at night.
It helps to open your eyes too. ;)
 

XterraRising

Bumpers Installed
Location
Utah
This is a test. The wiring isn’t fully integrated yet. But I wanted to get a general feel for them. I did drive around at night with them on (connected to the battery with a fuse and switch). They throw out a bucket of light right where I want it. No need to adjust them! Yay! I plan on getting the primary relay installed in the relay box and my control wiring ran into the cab over the weekend. Then hopefully, it all works.

MEmKWDr.jpg


CXzOPuN.jpg


And this may be gimmicky, but I don’t care. I’m
having fun with it. It actually lends itself to the momentary OEM Offroad Lamp switch operation with the latching relay. The lights can change modes when the power is cycled within 3 seconds: white spot, amber fog, white/amber, white strobe, amber strobe, white/amber strobe. Don’t know why I’d ever need strobe, but why not? The amber actually looks kind of neat when all the lights are off, but in this pic, the low beams and fogs are on.

vFRAFKb.jpg
 

XterraRising

Bumpers Installed
Location
Utah
Well, you can’t really pose as a cop with amber and white, and anyone dumb enough to fall for it deserves whatever they have coming to them. Though, they’d be pretty trick in a parade. ;)
 

XterraRising

Bumpers Installed
Location
Utah
Bringing it all together this weekend. Spent the morning retrofitting the relay box to accept the driving light relay. I also made up a pigtail with the other relay socket that I have so I don’t have to crack this box open again. It was a pain in the butt. It looks pretty clean though.

IM64SCS.jpg


I’m using the relay position on the left for my driving light relay. I still need to run the control side wire into the cab from it, so I’m going to work on all that after lunch.

L9bc68Y.jpg


I still had connector terminals left over from the heater mirror project. So I used them. They are identical to the ones that came out, so they were a perfect fit.

UxXOD21.jpg


Here’s a pic of the spare pigtail I made up. I used heat shrink labels so I know what wire is what when I decide to use it for something someday.

XSiBusr.jpg


The end is in sight. But this stuff is the tedious work of making up the harnesses with wire loom and routing, rerouting, taping, zip-tying, cutting, retaping, terminating the connections, and landing the wires. It’s time consuming.

TBVQ8mh.jpg
 

XterraRising

Bumpers Installed
Location
Utah
Done. Finally. I’ll post some pics tonight after it gets dark. I had the thing idling in the driveway with the lights on, and they were blinding me. Doesn’t help that my driveway slopes up, so they were literally pointing at my face.

Here’s a shot of the latching relay and wiring pigtails behind the dash. I put it there because it was most convenient. The adhesive is a super strong, soft kind. You’d have to get a tool to pry that thing away from the plastic.

cWWrsNc.jpg


Here’s how it looks from the front. Nothing to see here. Just a second Offroad Lamps switch.

i5rHOmo.jpg


The engine bay is buttoned up and finished. I actually used the same hole provided from when I did the heated mirror upgrade. It was perfect. Didn’t have to drill into the firewall after all.

0UKWi3D.jpg

zPp07OQ.jpg


All in all, it turned out to be a pretty clean install. It took me awhile to do this because I have so much going on with work and other house projects. Plus, I wanted to do it in smaller chunks, with regular stopping points to minimize overall downtime, and pace myself. A lot of guys start a project just fine, but end up rushing toward the end, and just start stuffing wires wherever they can. I’ve been guilty of that before. But I don’t want that for this vehicle. Anytime I started to feel like I was starting to rush, I’d walk away and take a break. Clear my head a minute, get something to drink or a snack. Then come back with a renewed sense. It’s amazing what a 10 minute break will do for you.

Anyway, night pics are next
 

XterraRising

Bumpers Installed
Location
Utah
Would you believe me if I said taking a picture of a light at night is difficult? :rolleyes:

I couldn't get the exposure right for an in-cab shot. They don't look like much at all. But I will say that the way these lights are aligned, they throw out a bunch of light in the low beam area, and a huge area off to the sides. The whites will illuminate reflective street signs much farther down the road than headlights can. They are almost too bright in that respect. But hey, you gotta take the bad with the good, right? When the high beams are on, the driving lights provide a crapload of usable light in the low beam area, so there is this constant pillar of light going out from the vehicle from the bumper a beyond the high beam area, and everything is illuminated nicely. Thumbs up for that.

The amber setting is kind of interesting too. The amber is much more amber than the yellow fog lights I have in the OEM locations. While not putting out a bunch of light, it makes everything seem really crisp and sharp. I almost like this shade better than the yellows I have now.

The two settings that are most useful are the bright white and amber. The combination white/amber just looks white from inside the cab. As far as the strobes go, well... they are gimmicky at best, but like I said before, I'm having fun with it, so whatever. I can see them being useful at a photoshoot or a parade or something, and maybe as front emergency lighting... maybe.

So here we are. I had to find an area with some ambient light so I had something to contrast the light. It overwhelms the camera otherwise.

I will say this. The white/amber combined actually looks pretty trick if you can actually stare into them without blinding yourself. I have some white and amber spots in my vision right now, LOL! o_O

Vp7WYPn.jpg


azME3uQ.jpg


8Ebl1vw.jpg
 
Last edited:

XterraRising

Bumpers Installed
Location
Utah
Okay, I get to blame my wife. We were parked in front of a window of a restaurant and I turned on the lights to show the kids the flashing strobe function, which they liked. But I switched to the amber fog function to see how they are for driving around town. Nobody flashed me. Guess that’s a plus. But my wife said to me, “awww, they are not the same color as the regular fog lights.”

So I bought some new ones in the 6000K range to match the headlights. These are a bit nicer than the yellow ones I installed a few weeks back.

lmRwPEj.jpg


These ones have the voltage conditioner to prevent flicker and check engine lights.

8KYI6Iq.jpg


The LED chips are mounted to a board only 1mm thick, which is closer in lighting to a filament than the thicker one next to it.

b1p662F.jpg


The new ones also have a cooling fan built in, much like my LED headlights.

yWlWEsN.jpg


I checked it all out in the garage. Looks better with the super white fog lights. It also looks good with the amber driving lights. I’ll have to take a short cruise tonight when it gets dark and see how they work.
 
Last edited:

XterraRising

Bumpers Installed
Location
Utah
Well, these will do. I didn’t want it to be so dark that the lights overwhelm the camera. These bad boys are way brighter than stock.

pWOALnQ.jpg


ZvVg42g.jpg


Here’s a cool shot over Utah Lake with Mt Timpanogos in the background.

PUDyL6L.jpg
 

Prime

Shut up Baby, I know it!
Admin
Location
Denver Adjacent
Okay, I get to blame my wife. We were parked in front of a window of a restaurant and I turned on the lights to show the kids the flashing strobe function, which they liked. But I switched to the amber fog function to see how they are for driving around town. Nobody flashed me. Guess that’s a plus. But my wife said to me, “awww, they are not the same color as the regular fog lights.”

So I bought some new ones in the 6000K range to match the headlights. These are a bit nicer than the yellow ones I installed a few weeks back.

lmRwPEj.jpg


These ones have the voltage conditioner to prevent flicker and check engine lights.

8KYI6Iq.jpg


The LED chips are mounted to a board only 1mm thick, which is closer in lighting to a filament than the thicker one next to it.

b1p662F.jpg


The new ones also have a cooling fan built in, much like my LED headlights.

yWlWEsN.jpg


I checked it all out in the garage. Looks better with the super white fog lights. It also looks good with the amber driving lights. I’ll have to take a short cruise tonight when it gets dark and see how they work.
Which ones did you get? Why those and not the Morimoto direct swap fog lights?
 

XterraRising

Bumpers Installed
Location
Utah
Too clean for some. I work in dirt, mud, snow, and sand all day. I get plenty of dirty at work. I used Sea Lights.
 

XterraRising

Bumpers Installed
Location
Utah
Not much of an adventure pic, I know. We decided to be parkies this weekend and do some hiking at the Snow Canyon State Park in southern UT. The scenery was beautiful. I’m always blown away at the sheer beauty of this part of the word. Even though I’ve lived in UT for almost a decade now, I still get that first time feeling when I go see what else Mother Earth has in store for me when I visit.

nTGcQIY.jpg


Uj6VxLB.jpg


WxirF2K.jpg


P38a7Ak.jpg


oCaS3TX.jpg


aLIEjhY.jpg


Since it was our wedding anniversary on Saturday, we spent most the day doing all the things. Honestly, it felt like we were making up for our last one too since 2020 sort of got rained out over this pandemic you may have heard of.

All in all, I needed to get some miles on the rig. Most of the driving we do with it, which isn’t much for daily stuff, has been short jaunts. With summer coming, I want to knock the cobwebs out and take care of a couple little things before we start up camping and such.

And since we are traveling, I packed the most important item:

SYEI5RJ.jpg
 

Xterrorista

Charcoal Briquette
Supporting Member
Location
Denton, TX
Not much of an adventure pic, I know. We decided to be parkies this weekend and do some hiking at the Snow Canyon State Park in southern UT. The scenery was beautiful. I’m always blown away at the sheer beauty of this part of the word. Even though I’ve lived in UT for almost a decade now, I still get that first time feeling when I go see what else Mother Earth has in store for me when I visit.

nTGcQIY.jpg


Uj6VxLB.jpg


WxirF2K.jpg


P38a7Ak.jpg


oCaS3TX.jpg


aLIEjhY.jpg


Since it was our wedding anniversary on Saturday, we spent most the day doing all the things. Honestly, it felt like we were making up for our last one too since 2020 sort of got rained out over this pandemic you may have heard of.

All in all, I needed to get some miles on the rig. Most of the driving we do with it, which isn’t much for daily stuff, has been short jaunts. With summer coming, I want to knock the cobwebs out and take care of a couple little things before we start up camping and such.

And since we are traveling, I packed the most important item:

SYEI5RJ.jpg
Looks like a blast, I love those slot canyons!
 

XterraRising

Bumpers Installed
Location
Utah
So there I was, trying to decide how best to install my next upgrade in the ole rig, and realizing there just isn’t a lot of space to work with. So I decided to do something cheap and easy to update the interior just a skosh. So I replaced all the dim dome lights with bright white LED. Much better. While I was at it, I swapped out the reverse lights and replaced the dim Autozone LED lamps in the license plate lights.

I6o1VGT.jpg


https://i.imgur.com/gobbleLTSb.jpg

6L9WWci.jpg


Looks like we had a stowaway in one of the dome lamps. Old spider web.

9LkbiSz.jpg


Lil touch of modern. The bright white is so much more useful than the dim light in there before.

ugjuvwd.jpg


These 194 solid state replacements are pretty nice. No thin wire connections to burn up.

18jmRTR.jpg


Nice and white.

SRXsoLV.jpg


What I wouldn’t mind are some lights in the driver and passenger side foot wells. I think the easiest way would be to get some LED light strips and adhere them under the dash kick panels and then run wires up to the front dome light assembly, and directly solder them to each light respectively. That way, they can turn on with each map light separately, with the doors, or not at all, depending on the position of the dome light switch. I’d want to check the current draw on a couple sets of LED strip lights vs just a single LED lamp. I have measured my under-hood LED strip, and it draws just under an amp.
 

XterraRising

Bumpers Installed
Location
Utah
No, I don’t think it would be. I was checking out the schematic this evening. Looks like it is getting power from the BCM, which makes sense, given they dim off after the doors are closed. I didn’t get a very good look inside, but I’ll pull it down as soon as I source some lights and do some surgery to it.
 

XterraRising

Bumpers Installed
Location
Utah
Okay, well, the driver side isn’t quite done yet. The family wanted me to come inside to have dinner and watch movies. I’ll finish it up tomorrow. But it’s all done up top, passenger side courtesy light is in, and the wires have been run over to the driver side.

I decided to make it so the lights only come on with the doors open. The function of the push button would require a little more voodoo than I really wanted to get into, given the fact that the only parts I actually bought were the lights. Everything else was leftovers from other electrical projects. I put one light on the passenger side, and while the camera certainly doesn’t do it justice, it is bright enough to be welcoming, but not so bright that it is overpowering. It certainly adds a bit of dimension though, and that was the desired effect.

Testing before final wiring:

BWIDxEu.jpg


Mounting the light to the top of the kick panel.

KMItk7r.jpg


Tucked up out of the way. I can’t see the light itself; just the glow.

IelFSAh.jpg


Just enough light.

TOTxPej.jpg


One last shot from in front of the seat.

7BiyyNs.jpg


All in all, a fun little project. Only took a couple hours to get everything out together once I decided on a process.
 

Prime

Shut up Baby, I know it!
Admin
Location
Denver Adjacent
Tha
Okay, well, the driver side isn’t quite done yet. The family wanted me to come inside to have dinner and watch movies. I’ll finish it up tomorrow. But it’s all done up top, passenger side courtesy light is in, and the wires have been run over to the driver side.

I decided to make it so the lights only come on with the doors open. The function of the push button would require a little more voodoo than I really wanted to get into, given the fact that the only parts I actually bought were the lights. Everything else was leftovers from other electrical projects. I put one light on the passenger side, and while the camera certainly doesn’t do it justice, it is bright enough to be welcoming, but not so bright that it is overpowering. It certainly adds a bit of dimension though, and that was the desired effect.

Testing before final wiring:

BWIDxEu.jpg


Mounting the light to the top of the kick panel.

KMItk7r.jpg


Tucked up out of the way. I can’t see the light itself; just the glow.

IelFSAh.jpg


Just enough light.

TOTxPej.jpg


One last shot from in front of the seat.

7BiyyNs.jpg


All in all, a fun little project. Only took a couple hours to get everything out together once I decided on a process.

That's awesome. Nice job
 

XterraRising

Bumpers Installed
Location
Utah
Normally, when we go camping, I take my 1600 watt inverter generator with us. However, there are times when I just want the option of 120 VAC available to me without needing it.

So yesterday, I received this 1000 Watt pure sine wave inverter from the usual scumbags over at Amazon. It has some pretty good reviews, and for the price, I figured I just couldn’t go wrong. Now, with inverters, you essentially have two flavors: modified sine wave (MSW) and pure sine wave (PSW). MSW inverters are generally cheaper up front, but they can be hard on electrical devices and themselves. This is because they essentially just switch on and off, and change polarity on the AC side to mimic a sine wave as best they can. This is hard some some types of loads, especially sensitive and inductive loads, and can cause excessive heat. Since most of my electrical devices are sensitive, I opted for PSW inverter instead. Initially a more expensive inverter up front, it uses electronics to better simulate a pure sine wave. Oddly enough, theses simulated sine waves are often cleaner than the grid. The benefit is less heat overall, and longer life out of your electronic devices.

svWZ9MY.jpg


Okay, so I spent some time this morning mocking up just how I want it to live in my Xterra. I found I can actually fit it under the passenger side front seat if I move the amplifier closer to the transmission tunnel. Then the inverter rests right in a small area of the carpet almost perfectly, and I have access to both the outlets without the need to run extra cables or wires to the back or whatever. The goal is to make this a clean install, that will mimic what a factory installation would look like... well, but better than factory.

Initial fitment. The inverter is jammed in there. Need to move the amp over to avoid impinging on the wires.
j9Zsrbr.jpg


With the seat out of the way, I measured and moved the amp over. I’ll need to get some metal to make an offset adapter, but this won’t be hard. Then the inverter sets in place. The only issue is that if the plugs are in the back, the trim gets in the way.
qGUlwnA.jpg


So I flipped it around and test fit with two pretty good size extension cords, kind of like what I use when I’m out camping. With the seat pulled to the rearmost position, it’s quite easy to access, yet out of the way and totally hidden from behind.
N4J60C8.jpg


From behind, with the seat all the way back.
mldBU9T.jpg


Seat pulled forward gives me access to the 12 volt side.
OwhKh8M.jpg


Since the partition between the front and rear carpet is here, it is an ideal spot to mount my bulkhead connectors for the battery cables coming into the cab. Checking underneath showed me there is plenty of room for cable routing and mounting without contacting the frame, exhaust, or anything else.

One last shot with the seat trim removed shows me I can easily elevate this unit up a bit if I want to, and I may use some spacers just to level it out a bit and make plugging and unplugging cords a bit easier.
TSMSZ7A.jpg


With regard to cable sizing, 2/0 will probably get me where I need to go, but I’m going to do some calculations to determine the final cable size given the distance from the battery to the mid point in the cab. I have an IP68 rated breaker on the way. Typically, for a 1000 watt inverter, you need to size your breaker to handle the inrush current that the battery will see when an electrical device is turned on. For instance, my old Milwaukee power drill runs at 275 watts of power, but when I squeeze the trigger, the surge watts were 850. So for my purposes, I’m going with a 150 amp breaker because I don’t ever plan on running loads more than 80% of the inverter rating. Running your inverter up to it’s limit on continuous watt rating is hard on it. If you plan on running 1000 watts all the time, consider a 1500 watt inverter. Most loads I plan to use are less than 600 watts running. So I have plenty of capacity to keep the heat down and promote long life. As an aside, the breaker can be manually tripped open so it acts as a battery disconnect.

So what can you run with 1000 watts? Not a lot. Small power tools, battery chargers, coffee maker, etc. your wife’s hair dryer probably runs on 1500 watts minimum. However, as I stated before, I don’t plan on running high powered stuff with this inverter. It’s mostly there for those times when 120 VAC is needed because we can’t use the plethora of 12 VDC receptacles that are already available. And I want it available to me for times when taking along my generator just doesn’t make sense. The vehicle itself can now be used as an ad hoc generator for those instances, albeit not a replacement for a proper generator. It’s all about having options though.

This is a first stage. The second is to get a battery with the 200+ amp hour rating to help run the inverter more efficiently without making the alternator work as hard when the unit is in use. But the battery will happen in due time. For now, the battery still boasts over 100% capacity, according to my battery tester. So I’m not throwing out a perfectly good battery until it’s ready.
 

XterraRising

Bumpers Installed
Location
Utah
I made a relocation bracket to move the factory amp over enough so the wiring isn’t impinged on by the inverter. It’s a tight squeeze in there, but I got it mounted today. Next up is to run the cables from the battery to the back.

I may or may not run a remote switch. I’ll have to see how much I use it to see if it’ll even be necessary.

As for mounting the inverter itself, I used rubber isolators with 1/4” studs on either side. It should help with vibration. I sealed up the holes I drilled in the body to keep the moisture out.

aPwgtD9.jpg



4SWKOJ0.jpg



NnZUM2H.jpg
 

XterraRising

Bumpers Installed
Location
Utah
Sheesh! Everywhere I go, there’s a shortage. I couldn’t get 2/0 5/16” terminals lugs on Amazon or locally without paying some exorbitant shipping cost, so I sourced some with 1/4” holes. Get the handy red drill out with a 5/16” bit and voila! 2/0 5/16” lugs for my battery and fuse block connections.

BTW, 2/0 cable is so expensive, it should be criminal. But ya gotta pay to play, I guess.

HzJhcEA.jpg


On the inverter itself, the 1/4” holes are fine. But I’m not sold on those thumb screws. I’m going to find myself some nuts and star lock washers for that. I have some lug covers to keep everything playing nice.

uWYyuts.jpg


Up top, I got a head start since I have some materials to play with. So I made up the connection to the fuse block for the 175 amp Mega fuse. Nice short run from the positive terminal. Sadly, there wasn’t any other good or logical place to put this thing that would be serviceable. The last thing I want to do if the fuse blows is dick around with removing the battery or reaching down in the engine bay where I can’t see, and where nuts and washers will surely go to die.

XBuU7BX.jpg


And here it is buttoned up for now. When I get my black heat shrink in, I can plug away on the rest.

4MtoTbS.jpg


If you’ve followed my vehicle at all, you know I’m pretty anal about hiding mods like this to make it look as factory as possible without sacrificing too much function. Well, in this case, form will have to follow function because there just isn’t any way to hide a cable this big when you want to have easy access to the fuse. When I thought about it, I initially said, “I could hide this down under the battery area,” but I thought about all the times I’d been out wheeling up in WA with my old Ramcharger, and ended up having to make weird field repairs while sitting in a foot of mud and snow. Nah, as much as I want my Xterra to be as factory looking as reasonably possible for what I do with it these days, I still need the mods I perform to make sense.
 

XterraRising

Bumpers Installed
Location
Utah
So a note on the fuse: I decided to go that route instead of a breaker. Even the nicer breaker I bought felt cheap. And I also found out they are monumentally slow when compared to fuses. In fact, I had read in more than one place that if you run a breaker, run a fuse too. I had a mega fuse in my old Peterbilt service truck, and it worked fine. Popped it a couple times trying to overload my inverter, but it was easy enough to get to. There is a breaker for the inverter in my current service truck, and that damn thing trips when I try to fire up my 700 watt microwave. It’s a 2500 watt inverter. POS breaker. Wish I remembered how stupid that arrangement is when I initially ordered it. Live and learn.
 

XterraRising

Bumpers Installed
Location
Utah
Well, I gave a lot of consideration as to where to put the remote and outlet on this sucker. At first, it made total sense to put it out back, but the more I thought about it, the more I hated it. So I let it set for awhile to give more thought to it. Besides, I’m still waiting for more stuff to come in to tie this thing together. So I’ve been nibbling at it as I get an hour here and there. Gosh! I’ve been so damn busy the last couple months.

So I figured I’d put the remote switch and outlet on the passenger side of the center console. It makes the most sense to me. Shorter wire run, easy access, and the ability to use it while the cargo area is jammed with camping gear.

5JV8gHl.jpg


A bit farther out.

EPFymp3.jpg


From the inside. No interference with the shifter or wiring. Fitting them was a pain, but it’s in now.

9kc7uXn.jpg


Hopefully, I get the last bits of hardware and clips I need to get the cables run under the body and make the angry pixies flow.
 

Prime

Shut up Baby, I know it!
Admin
Location
Denver Adjacent
Well, I gave a lot of consideration as to where to put the remote and outlet on this sucker. At first, it made total sense to put it out back, but the more I thought about it, the more I hated it. So I let it set for awhile to give more thought to it. Besides, I’m still waiting for more stuff to come in to tie this thing together. So I’ve been nibbling at it as I get an hour here and there. Gosh! I’ve been so damn busy the last couple months.

So I figured I’d put the remote switch and outlet on the passenger side of the center console. It makes the most sense to me. Shorter wire run, easy access, and the ability to use it while the cargo area is jammed with camping gear.

5JV8gHl.jpg


A bit farther out.

EPFymp3.jpg


From the inside. No interference with the shifter or wiring. Fitting them was a pain, but it’s in now.

9kc7uXn.jpg


Hopefully, I get the last bits of hardware and clips I need to get the cables run under the body and make the angry pixies flow.
Nice!
 

XterraRising

Bumpers Installed
Location
Utah
Oh boy! I’m wrapping this up. All my parts are finally here!

But first, let’s drill out some 1” holes with the hole saw to make way for the big ass cable glands that will reside there. These provide a waterproof connection as well as strain relief for the cables.

0KFMzKc.jpg


iaDEn2i.jpg


2/0 cable is some stiff stuff, and doesn’t want to make tight bends easily. So I brought in enough for them to lay under the carpet kind of naturally.

pbEurTA.jpg


The cable routing is about as exciting as it would be if it were smaller. But I removed the inner fender to facilitate access. Now that the fender is reinstalled, it’s all hidden for good.

GaYRzT3.jpg


When my wife came out to bring me lunch, she got all wide eyed and said it looks like the Xterra barfed up a bunch of parts. Yeah, it’s sort of an odd mishmash of stuff. Who knew you might need to remove a tire to install an inverter?

Lt0Shvz.jpg


And here’s the finished product up close. It’s functional now.

ASXyZma.jpg


And since the seat is out, and because we can, here’s a shot showing the remote panel and the plug on the side of the center console.

eGeReir.jpg


All in all, it isn’t a difficult job. It’s just tedious. But I love doing it. Gets me out in the garage with my music, and allows my mind to slow down and not worry about anything except doing the work at hand.
 

XterraRising

Bumpers Installed
Location
Utah
Yup. It’s probably the best thing about my job. I’m usually alone, just getting the work done, and the world can do what the world can do in my absence.

C128CA47-D7BA-4F00-9DCA-B6E4F14FD00F.jpeg
 

XterraRising

Bumpers Installed
Location
Utah
Couple last minute details on this. Getting the seat fitted back on, making sure nothing that isn’t supposed to touch isn’t touching, and final routing of the remote wire and AC cable for the plug in the center console.

I couldn’t find a cord I liked with the plug oriented the right way. Luckily, I found this plug, which can be clocked in any orientation at 45 degree increments.

EIQYiP5.jpg


Perfect!

8HPEszq.jpg


And getting those pesky AC connections made in the center console. Instead of using run of the mill flag terminals, I opted for some high heat ones that are designed to be used in AC compressor and oven type applications. Crimped and soldered, and sprayed with some insulating goo to keep those connections from burning up anything.

dKTG5fb.jpg


If you look carefully, you can see the AC wire and remote coming out of the back of the center console. I chose to route the AC cable above the carpet and held it in place with a couple of P-clips. The remote went under the carpet and pops out in front of the inverter.

C8ZhXb2.jpg


With the seat reinstalled, and the trim in place, you wouldn’t be able to tell anything was added, except the control and receptacle that are visible.

4G4MeS9.jpg


And there we are, tucked away in its new home. This is a view from under the front of the seat.

NLPhxZq.jpg


With the seat fully forward, I have access to the DC side in case minor maintenance needs to be done.

sHkUScT.jpg


And it works now! There is about 1 amp draw when it is just on with no loads. I checked amp draw while off, and it was so low, the meter couldn’t tell whether it was drawing anything or if it was just the impedance of the meter. Either way, if it kills the battery, I have room to install a run solenoid or a switch.

UygoS2J.jpg
 
Top