I want to start a new thread about nothing, and let it run...

[ducksface]

Today I just happened to have a battery powered sawzall in my truck when I saved this girls tire from being shredded the second she moved the car.
I trimmed it up in two minutes. She passed me on the I-40 about five minutes later.

I always carry some basic tools because it's not always about me.

(I was out junkyarding, that's why I had the sawzall and the big toolbox. The t-bird is allowing me to do the vintage car junkyarding I dearly missed for years. There really is no such thing as c1 corvette junkyarding so I'd been hitless for many years.)

(Had I not had a sawzall, I'd have jammed a big ol' rock in there and rolled it forward. )

[vealessi]

Originally Posted by ducksface

Buy any 32" light bar with a wiring kit. Mine was amazon, $27 bucks. I have four of these. No failures. I can't see much difference in $400 light bars vs $27 light bars. I'm sure the minutia is important and death defying to someone. It's not important to me. But buy any light bar. 32" is the maximum fit between frame rails.

Remove the supplied switch and attach the White switch wire (the trigger 12v for the included relay) on the light bar wiring harness to the Black lead on one of the Thor led lights in the headlight bezel. If you have a multimeter, double check me on this. It's how mine on all the vehicles hooked up. The black wire on the Thor led is positive.

Cap the black and possibly added blue wire that was attached to the switch in your wiring kit.

Attach main light bar power(fat red wire coming from the relay) to the big positive cable connections beside the drivers side of the radiator. It doesn't matter that this wire is always hot. The white trigger wire keeps the light bar turned off.

The new light bar will be on during ddl Thor led use and always on, high beam or low beam.

UNLESS you turn on your FOG lights.
THEN the new 32" light led bar is OFF when using your low BEAMS and ON during high beam use, just like it should be.

So, always on, which I don't suggest, or goes on and off with the high beams depending on the fog light switch. (from the factory your fog lights do not work with high beams and your ddl lights do not work with low beams.(That was handy)
No need for a seperate switch, the coach is already wired correctly for this.

Of course if you want a seperate switch it comes with the wiring kit. I wouldn't want a seperate switch. I'd forget to flip it on and off.

A one inch spacer on your frame rails let's it shine EXACTLY through the lower grill opening.
Practically unseen when not in use it lines up almost exactly with the factory led's giving a bridge of light from one bezel to the other.


Explanations:
Those are 2"spacers in the pictures.
Mine no longer lines up perfectly due to the front hitch install.

I will possibly move the light bar up to the brace going across the radiator front, aligning it with the second grill vent. Maybe a 36" will fit there.

The light bar is OFF in the pictures. That's just the phone flash reflecting. It's incredibly bright and even and.really hard to take a picture of when on.

Thanks for this suggestion - I installed my light bar on the radiator brace, and just got bigger angle brackets instead of adding spacers.

[ducksface]

I still haven't moved my light up to where yours is. I'll use your mounting idea.
I've been ignoring the thor because it hasn't been giving me any grief, so the mods have been pushed back.

The thor has been flawless.

[ducksface]

So...
While down the internet rabbit-hole today I wind up at:
MATERNITY WEEK MAGAZINE.
The article in MATERNITY WEEK I've been lead to is:

'31 hardcore rules of Hells Angels membership.'

Jumping cheeses!
Word sellers will sell anything to anyone and some rags will buy anything to fill a page.

Signed,
Clown world resident

[atreis]

Originally Posted by ducksface

MATERNITY WEEK MAGAZINE.
The article in MATERNITY WEEK I've been lead to is:

'31 hardcore rules of Hells Angels membership.'

Had to read that a couple times to make sure I hadn't read it wrong. Did any of those rules have anything to do with maternity?

[mcr1010]

I looked at some of the light bars and most say they are for off road use. Is it legal to use a light bar while on the highways? I'm always looking for a better way to light the road think the bar is a great idea and great installation.

[Judge]

Originally Posted by mcr1010

I looked at some of the light bars and most say they are for off road use. Is it legal to use a light bar while on the highways? I'm always looking for a better way to light the road think the bar is a great idea and great installation.

They have to be DOT approved.... most aren't and some officers of the law might cite you if it does not have a cover on it while on a highway.

[atreis]

They're non-directional and could blind other drivers...

[ducksface]

The slightest bit of personal responsibility is required.
FORD sells the same (basically) light bar for $908.
DOT approval costs a LOT.

If you use a bar solely in high-beam situations, and you're situationally responsible, there won't be a problem on either end of the light bar, sender or receiver.
My 55 Studebaker President Speedster had aircraft landing lights built into the bumper guards. Completely illegal, yet priceless during the elk rut migration across route 66 on a dark lonely night. A switch turns them off...readily.
I have an acetylene lamp/spotlight from a 19teens horse-drawn wagon here at the shop. Very very high-tech back then. Probably deemed to scare horses into jumping tall buildings.

We've been trusted with car high beams since about 1921.
A bar is simply
Higher beam.

The way mine works is it is highly directional and when combined with the slot in the 24.1 grill it shines through it becomes a light beam similar to the tron movie.

Punchline:
Some can't be trusted with light bars.
Subtone:
Don't be 'some'.
Reality:
Some are 'some'.

Decide if auxiliary lights have value and you have values, install if you can be trusted.

[atreis]

Don't know about you, but I've encountered an awful lot of people that forget to turn their high beams off when they should... The thought of folk forgetting to turn even high(er) beams off isn't appealing. It's not myself I have to trust in order to drive safely at night. I also have to trust the other people on sharing the roads.

[vealessi]

Originally Posted by atreis

They're non-directional and could blind other drivers...

I thought about this and decided to mount the manual switch instead of wiring to headlights, so I can shut off when not needed. Also, the way my light bar is mounted, the light -should- only shine forward, it's blocked by the grill from going up/down, but need to test that theory on the road.

Something was needed though - even the upgraded LED bulbs are terrible.

[MLP]

I sold my diesel dully this spring since the chip caused the value to skyrocket. Trucks new or used are very hard to get. I purchased a new Honda CRV Hybrid Touring. On auto for the head lights, the high beams turn on and off via sensor. It is remarkably very good with distance on and off. I did not know it had this feature and was surprised when it first turned on and then off by itself. This would be great for a RV or truck light bar. Does it have an override? Yes all manual. I leave it on auto. For the people who are wondering, cars are also hard to get. The truck paid for 88% of the car. All dealers wanted 5k over sticker. That is if they had the car. I went to a broker I purchased the truck through and he got me 1k above sticker. Such are the times, but I would not have gotten as much for the truck.

[happy]

The reason LED bulbs that replace halogen bulbs are so bad is two fold.

#1 LED bulbs do not have their "filament" in the same place that halogen bulbs do so they do not hit the reflector in the same place. This dispurses light and makes a bad headlight beam. LED in a halogen reflector are usually glare machines even on low beam.

#2 The halogen reflectors may be a minimum design to begin with.

LED does not automatically equate to a better headlight. A Halogen headlight can be very good and surpass a poor LED.

Trucklit, JW Speaker, Peterson, Harley Davidson (maybe made by Peterson) and perhaps a couple other companies make excellent LED headlights. But they are expensive and many will buy a cheap knockoff that LOOKS just like it. Beware that the "Looks Just Like It" is only in the outside parts. The headlight will be a poorly made...cheap knockoff.

[ducksface]

I shimmed my blazer's hid bulbs until they fit the housing in exactly the right spot. It's time consuming but it does make hid/led work like they should.
Then I took them out to replace the housings and haven't bothered to put them back in the Blazer.
The led bulbs in the kr are exactly where they should be in the stock housings. Almost all led bulbs have been corrected to be exact fits in factory lenses. Our 24.1 has the cheapest possible 5.75/motorcycle size lens/lamps/housings.

The lamps/bulbs that came in the 24.1 are awful. I put more powerful bulbs and it's brighter, but its everywhere. I have new lamps ear-marked, just haven't bothered to buy them yet.
I did not shim the new bulbs. I should but the lamps are being swapped sometime and no oncoming traffic has complained.
And
No oncoming traffic has complained of my light bar. Only about 30 hours of me night driving but no one has bright-lighted me yet.

Blazer crapped the couch this week. Fired it up, drove about 2 miles...pegged the temp guage, oil in the radiator overflow....
Just an intake gasket I'm pretty sure,
No need for me to guess or diagnose.
The shop mechanic I'll trailer it to doesn't want my opinion anyway.

It should be LS7(427ci corvette/z28) engine time since it's down, but I just don't drive it enough to care about the silly 4.3 being a turd.

The ls7 is the very last thing left to do but I don't want to dump another $20k into my $15k/$3,500 truck and I sure don't want a 6 month project right now.

Spousal unit thinks I should LS7 it and just shut-up about the cost. I told her when it dies the next time I'll do it.(it's a 4.3. It'll do this again)

[ducksface]

Thor 49.6 RV.
(Our 24.1 had a 25.5 house guest this week.)

[ducksface]

We're a fairly aged group here and I need to purchase/trade for something old and valueless.

I need an early 60's late 50's car phone.
Just the head, no trunk module needed.
A briefcase phone would be a great alternative.
These aren't brick phones. These had dials(usually) and landline type handsets(always).

They pop up on eBay maybe 6 times a year, have no value but generally are not the ones I want. One will show up in the next year or so but I'm on a roll and my caring gene is weak and will wane with time.
If you have one pm me.
If it was important to you and you want to write a paragraph, I'll attach the paragraph to the phone for all to know.

It's just an unimportant prop for a vintage 1963 Thunderbird(an sr M-code)..but I want one.
Other people outfit theirs with the drive-in trays, phony food and poodle skirts. Mine is more of a 'Burkes Law' type vehicle.

[Chateau_Nomad]

On return trip from southern WV today I took an errant turn and wound up in the ghetto of south Charleston. While pulled over on a side street in an industrial area, the alarm on the Big Foot levelers control box started screaming. So... I had to get out and check that none of the legs were extended... they weren't.

So we're sitting there reprogramming the GPS, browsing Google Maps with an insane beeping which is driving the dogs bananas.

I made the assumption that a limit switch wasn't "making". I started driving, and the beeping stopped about 10 minutes later... showing a green light... all legs retracted.

We found our way out of there... and safely home several hours later. Isn't that what RVing is all about?

[ducksface]

Chevy Chase and Family Vacation,

We made the same wrong off-ramp in St Louis. Same neighborhood, same 45 minutes to find our way out. A kid on a bicycle guided us out.


Over a camp fire one night I'll tell you all about me in the Rodney King riots and the bit of looting I was inadvertantly involved in.

If you want to see the ugly of all ugly
Type 'kennsington Street' into YouTube.
(I DARE you. Then make a kid watch one.)

[Jimbo56]

Originally Posted by Chateau_Nomad

On return trip from southern WV today I took an errant turn and wound up in the ghetto of south Charleston. While pulled over on a side street in an industrial area, the alarm on the Big Foot levelers control box started screaming. So... I had to get out and check that none of the legs were extended... they weren't.

So we're sitting there reprogramming the GPS, browsing Google Maps with an insane beeping which is driving the dogs bananas.

I made the assumption that a limit switch wasn't "making". I started driving, and the beeping stopped about 10 minutes later... showing a green light... all legs retracted.

We found our way out of there... and safely home several hours later. Isn't that what RVing is all about?

South Charleston was called “The Chemical Center of the World” back in the 50’s and 60’s. Everyone worked for Union Carbide. Then the gas leak in India. South Charleston became a ghost town. As has Charleston and the rest of WV as well.

[atreis]

Originally Posted by Jimbo56

South Charleston was called “The Chemical Center of the World” back in the 50’s and 60’s. Everyone worked for Union Carbide. Then the gas leak in India. South Charleston became a ghost town. As has Charleston and the rest of WV as well.

My best friend lives in Charleston. First time I visited she and her husband had an apartment very close to downtown, a block in from the river and Kanawha St. Lovely area with a very active nightlife and good restaurants, but a lot of traffic. Most recently, she had a place at the tip of Kanawha City (the end closest to Charleston), much quieter area, and also very nice. South Charleston might be a ghost town, I don't know as that's the other end, but other areas are not.