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Suburban Dad posted:This guy didn't go to math school. I was going to say I only do 88 degree bends but that's a problem....
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Jul 9, 2021 04:31
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StormDrain posted:I was going to say I only do 88 degree bends but that's a problem.... I only do 69 degree bends.
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Jul 9, 2021 05:55
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AmbassadorofSodomy posted:I only do 69 degree bends. "man this routing is inconvenient but it is nice"
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Jul 9, 2021 16:30
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ryanrs posted:What do I do with this sound insulation stuff? It's thick and heavy, like tar paper but it's not tar paper. It's some plastic or rubber sound deadening sheet. I've cut it with a box knife before, no problem. You can use a good tape to tape it back together if needed. e: never mind - you done already went for it! That ended up looking pretty good. Trim the mat a bit and slap it back on there with some aluminum or butyl tape. STR posted:Wait, that lights up? Well, the icons for the various modes of the headlight switch and the dimmer "scale" do. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-z2TfRlpI8 That video shows you why you have to extend the legs if you use the LED from, say, a dash light. This guy just used raw 12V LEDs (and still had to modify it a bit). I *think* it's on all the time the car is on, so you can see where the switch is without the lights being on, which is probably why they burn out all the time. STR posted:I know the check engine light in particular has the possibility to piss off the ECU if it's replaced with an LED. The one on my Crown Vic is very dimly lit all the time. You can only see it in full darkness. It still lights properly bright for bulb check (and when it's actually triggered...) I'll probably replace it with an incandescent next time I have the gauges out, but it's been fine for years now, just as a data point. A resistor or diode in line might be enough to knock it down, but, eh.
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Jul 9, 2021 17:54
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StormDrain posted:I was going to say I only do 88 degree bends but that's a problem.... Did you see some poo poo when you hit 88?
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Jul 9, 2021 17:54
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Darchangel posted:The one on my Crown Vic is very dimly lit all the time. You can only see it in full darkness. It still lights properly bright for bulb check (and when it's actually triggered...) I'll probably replace it with an incandescent next time I have the gauges out, but it's been fine for years now, just as a data point. A resistor or diode in line might be enough to knock it down, but, eh. Put a 10k resistor in parallel (i.e. across the LED, not inline). That'll suck up the leakage current. e: I mean across the terminals of the LED bulb assembly where it connects to the dash. You don't have to solder to the actual tiny LED chips. In other news, I sent Califabrication an RFP for the prerunner front bumper. We'll see what they think of the idea. But work won't happen until late August or so. ryanrs fucked around with this message at 19:39 on Jul 9, 2021 |
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Jul 9, 2021 19:28
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I sketched some nifty aluminum parts to hold a quick release pin so I can mechanically lock out the brake levers. This seems prudent for road use, and will also look cool, esp when anodized bright blue.  but then I was quoted $850 to have them made.  Lemme see if I can make something cool out of plastic instead.
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Jul 11, 2021 01:18
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ryanrs posted:Lemme see if I can make something cool out of plastic instead.
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Jul 11, 2021 01:54
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Cost is dominated by setup, so type of metal doesn't matter that much. How strong does it need to be, anyway? This is to prevent accidental activation from cargo rolling around or your foot hitting it. If this was a production car design, there'd be some sculpted chunk of plastic around it (plus a leather boot on the higher trim levels). But my hand brakes are bolted to the flat floor, I thought I should make something. I don't think it's something that needs to be indestructible, like your brake pedal or whatever. But I'm going to make it pretty strong. You won't break it on accident, but you could probably do it on purpose.
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Jul 11, 2021 02:18
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i feel like if you were a little less concerned with how it looks, you could get 90% of the way there with a chunk of flat metal of your choice, a hacksaw, drill, and file. then you can paint it for a couple bucks instead of having to pay an anodization lot fee
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Jul 11, 2021 03:14
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I think it needs to keep your [cooler/dog/nephew/addition to rock collection/come-along] from sliding forward and activating them under panic braking/while doing anything except wheeling, honestly. I’d want that lockout pin to be on the order of “you can kick it as hard as you want while you’re driving without it doing anything”. Is it overkill? Sure, by some metric, but think about the consequences if it goes wrong. I doubt an OEM would make it out of plastic. Certainly a plastic covering, though. For the quote you got - you might be overshooting how it should be made. You don’t need custom cut aluminum, you need $20 worth of metal cut/welded into about the right shape. Maybe try your fab shop or just a local welder. I’d offer if I was better at welding, but, uh, I’m not there yet.  Raluek posted:i feel like if you were a little less concerned with how it looks, you could get 90% of the way there with a chunk of flat metal of your choice, a hacksaw, drill, and file. then you can paint it for a couple bucks instead of having to pay an anodization lot fee Honestly a fairly simple piece and some time with a grinder/paint can look really nice. And it doesn’t cost $850!
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Jul 11, 2021 03:22
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Give me a couple days. My McMaster shipment was delayed, so I don't even have the fancy quick release pin yet. (You can tell we're doing real automotive engineering in here because the accountants vetoed the cool stuff and now everyone is bitching about the low quality materials.)
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Jul 11, 2021 03:45
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You need one of each? I'd need rough overall dimensions but that looks like something I could knock out on a Saturday pretty easy.
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Jul 11, 2021 04:30
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I was going to say, while the design looks cool and all, you could get something functional with just flat stock and a bit of work. It's all the setup and programming, more than the actual milling, that a shop is killing you on. A small-scale shop that likes doing one-offs might be able to do it more cheaply, but I've never priced out something like that, so grain of salt and all.
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Jul 12, 2021 18:20
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OK here is how the prices break down: $0 scrap metal $100 cheap plastic, which is weak and might melt $400 for fancy plastic, more than I was expecting $600 cnc aluminum, raw finish $800 cnc aluminum, cosmetic quality blue anodize So right now this decision is blocking the project and extending the schedule, because the mounting plate has a dependency on the lock mechanism bolt pattern. I think we all agree that the mounting plate, which holds the actual brake mechanism, shouldn't be plastic. So there's a long lead time on that. Though if we go the $0 scrap route, I could make the base out of plywood, which is strong enough. At that point I might as well fully embrace farm engineering and tie off the levers with a loop of fence wire. The benefit would be saving quite a lot of money and up to two weeks of schedule. I don't want to pretend I'll do the $0 solution for now, and make something nicer later. I'm pretty sure whatever gets made first will stay forever.
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Jul 13, 2021 02:06
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The plastic parts look like this. The large hole is for a carbon fiber tube to connect the two arms. The carbon fiber tube is cheap. The high cost of the parts seems to be the filament. The parts are just big, I guess. I'm leaning towards the $400 option because it'll look nice and I get to try some new construction techniques like the carbon fiber tube.
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Jul 13, 2021 02:19
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The Fedex guy just dropped off a pile of beautifully machined camera parts for work, so now I want to do the fancy CNC option again. These decisions are easier at work, where it's all someone else's money. Just choose all the fancy options and add a 100% expediting fee, done.
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Jul 13, 2021 02:57
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I'd say I'm on the very sane side of AI so take this with a grain of salt. I already thought it was crazy you're doing a quasi brake-LSD setup on a old loving minivan. Now to spend hundreds of bucks on some fancy brackets out of billet or carbon fiber when the rest of the van is...not is another level. All that said, it's cool to watch unfold despite it breaking my sensibilities. Much as it would look cool, holy gently caress the waste of money and just get it up and running with some backyard fabbing, IMO.
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Jul 13, 2021 03:24
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I vote scrap steel and a bunch of stickers on top of a rustoleum finish.
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Jul 13, 2021 04:07
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You could even use a jigsaw, belt sander and some aluminum stock to make that... Dont spend more than $100.
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Jul 13, 2021 04:10
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Atticus_1354 posted:I vote scrap steel and a bunch of stickers on top of a rustoleum finish. Seconded. The half-assed rustic jury-rigged aesthetic is much more in keeping with the rest of the van.
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Jul 13, 2021 04:12
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OK! FINE! I'll make it out of plywood and unistrut, as befits an offroading minivan. The lock will be a little chunk of polycarbonate that wedges the lever mechanism. It might even be on the road by the end of the month.
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Jul 13, 2021 04:45
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I guess we know where this thread lies on the Structural Offroad Minivan Alignment Chart
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Jul 13, 2021 05:46
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ryanrs posted:
Fixed that fer ya.
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Jul 13, 2021 05:52
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 Next order of business: front bumper I think I'll call the shop tomorrow and chat a bit about the front bumper. StormDrain suggested something like this:  One thing I noticed is that truck bumper mounts are below the radiator. So that solid panel on the n-fab bumper won't block a truck's airflow. But on the Sienna, the bumper mounts are directly in front of the radiator. I know the shop has a CNC plasma cutter, so maybe they can cut a grille out of light metal. I wonder how 14ga steel would hold up? It's ok if it gets banged up, just not torn up. Round lights are also bad* and will be replaced by an LED light bar instead. (Is this a controversial statement? I'm kinda worried there might be round light partisans out there, like the white tire lettering cult.) The cheap option is probably something like this: https://www.amazon.com/CURT-31114-2-Inch-Receiver-Excursion/dp/B00076RLHW then cut a hole in the plastic bumper cover for the hitch receiver, and slap it back on. Would still need to be fabricated, though. I guess the difficulty is the Sienna bumper is doing several thing at once, including directing airflow to the radiator and acting as a body panel to protect the washer fluid tank. Anything that replaces it will also need to act like a large panel, or grille, or something. 
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Jul 13, 2021 06:44
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A sheet of perforated steel can be got in a substantial thickness with many designs of hole as required, that might be better than laser cutting.
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Jul 13, 2021 11:23
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cakesmith handyman posted:A sheet of perforated steel can be got in a substantial thickness with many designs of hole as required, that might be better than laser cutting. It really can! Buy a big sheet of the poo poo and do the lights and windows, too.
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Jul 13, 2021 15:54
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madeintaipei posted:It really can! Buy a big sheet of the poo poo and do the lights and windows, too. I thought about it, but the lights on the Sienna are so cheap that it would never be worthwhile. New corner light housings are $20 on ebay and the quality is really good. Swapping them takes about a minute (single screw + a wire). So I think I will just keep breaking and replacing them.
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Jul 13, 2021 17:03
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Sgt Fox posted:You could even use a jigsaw, belt sander and some aluminum stock to make that... Dont spend more than $100. This is my vote, and what I would do. I wouldn’t use plywood for that other than as a test fab, personally. You should be able to find some scrap aluminum plate, if there is a scrapper in your area. Metal Warehouse also has decent prices for new material, and if there’s one in your area, they’ll make you a deal on drops or mis-cuts, usually. Aluminum generally works well with medium coarse woodworking blade on jigsaws and bandsaws, and even circular saws. Fine “metal-cutting” blades are usually worse with aluminum, unless it’s thin stuff. The swarf clogs the teeth.
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Jul 13, 2021 21:12
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ryanrs posted:
I'm excited about this. Prerunner bumpers should be put on absolutely every vehicle.
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Jul 13, 2021 21:16
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Darchangel posted:Aluminum generally works well with medium coarse woodworking blade on jigsaws and bandsaws, and even circular saws. Fine “metal-cutting” blades are usually worse with aluminum, unless it’s thin stuff. The swarf clogs the teeth. There's aluminium-specific blades that work better than a wood blade, but in absence of those I have done well with wood blades over the years for cutting alu profiles with a jigsaw.
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Jul 13, 2021 21:29
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Atticus_1354 posted:I'm excited about this. Prerunner bumpers should be put on absolutely every vehicle. Do you have any pics of of a mid-radiator mounted prerunner bumper? What does that look like?
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Jul 13, 2021 23:04
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 Perforated metal rad protection skid plate Light bar Fog lights Ditch lights Radio whip D ring shackles I forgot the front receiver hitch for future winch action.
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Jul 13, 2021 23:54
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If you add the receiver I will forward your drawing to the fabrication shop and link them this thread.
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Jul 14, 2021 01:13
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That picture has a lot of lights! What light brands are good? I imagine there is a range of quality, from garbage lights, through stupidly expensive lights. What brands should I look at? How much should I budget for not-poo poo ditch lights? And do I even need to spend money lighting up ditches? The 1st gen Sienna's stock headlights are loving trash. But I've never felt like bad lights were slowing me down or inviting danger. I'm sure this is because I never drive offroad at night, ha ha.
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Jul 14, 2021 04:49
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ryanrs posted:That picture has a lot of lights! What light brands are good? Buy the eBay lights.
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Jul 14, 2021 05:49
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I've run lovely cheap amazon light bars and a pile of various products from baja designs. its all in what you want the pattern to be. Work light | flood | throw light everywhere and anywhere: Do the cheap ones Want to haul some rear end and see where you are going? BD or bust. Devils advocate: while you're doing lighting, throw one out back as a camp light. Really makes a difference. I ran a couple like that on rovers and it owned. bumpers and radiators: my f350's bumper is about midway across the rad too but it doesn't have a prerunner bumper on it, just a massive old warn unit.
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Jul 14, 2021 17:16
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ryanrs posted:If you add the receiver I will forward your drawing to the fabrication shop and link them this thread. I'm sure they can figure it out! I'm not going thru the trouble of doodling on my phone. Sorry!
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Jul 14, 2021 17:45
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OK, I'll do it tonight. The receiver has to be on there if this drawing is to be the actual Statement of Work.
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Jul 14, 2021 17:53
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cursedshitbox posted:Work light | flood | throw light everywhere and anywhere: Do the cheap ones Yes, this is useful to me. I am primarily concerned about terrain within 2-5 car lengths of me. On anything technical I end up spending all my time puttering around in 1st gear at 5-10 mph. Now that I think about it, there was one time I drove up Hogsback Rd near Red Bluff, at night and in the rain. There were a couple times I had to get out in the rain with a flashlight to check out an obstacle, that kinda sucked (not really, was pretty fun tbh).
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Jul 14, 2021 18:03
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