Winter Wheeling in Arnold, and now all the things I need to fix/add....

[SteveMa74]

Snow Wheeling Trip to Arnold, CA….and all of the upgrades I now need to make!!
Been heading up to Arnold the last several years for an annual snow wheeling trip with a few of my buddies (one really well built 1980 CJ on 37’s, an OK older built jeep on 35s, and then a ridiculously well-built 1997 80 series land cruiser on 35s). This year a new entrant to the mix was added with another buddies new 4 door JK on 37’s and D60’s. This past weekend was awesome. Never had that much snow up there during our trips as we did this past Thursday-Saturday.

Also, I’ve never driven up there at night or in the dark. Always headed up early in the a.m. I knew it would be raining along highway 4 and figured I’d be all right…just take it nice and slow. But I was not prepared for how hard it was raining and then the snow as I started to make my climb up the hill (as I got closer to Murphy’s - before reaching Arnold).
First off, my windshield wipers (and motors) suck. So slow, and the “faster speed” setting was shaky at best. And even though I’ve upgraded my headlights, it still felt like I had candles up front lighting the way. And to boot, I never reconnected my high beam switch when I installed new carpet and sound deadening material in the footwell, firewall. Lastly, have not had a working heater for as long as I’ve owned the truck....14 years. So no defroster.

Boy was that a scary drive. Poor lighting, weak wiper motor and spent the whole drive wiping frost off the inside of my window with a rag. Not to mention I coudln’t see anything inside my cabin as I have no dash lights or other interior lights. At one point, wasn’t sure if I would make it, it was snowing so hard. But I did! Nothing like the fear of not making it to get you motivated to fix some stuff.

So with that, I’ve ordered the following: but before I bore you all with any longer of a post, I’ll add some wheeling pics and then list what I’m going to do, fix, add.

 

[SteveMa74]

Now for the new parts:

12 led light bar and Tom’s Bronco fairlead winch mount: ordered & received
LED lights for Rear Break Lights and lens gaskets (discovered I had none when I took out the old bulbs): ordered & received

Still “to do” or order:
*reconnect high beam switch
*connect rear back up lights
*Order aux backup lights (still figuring out where to mount them and if flush in the bumper, or on top/below not flush.
*new led dash control lights from WH
https://www.wildhorses4x4.com/product/74-77-Bronco-LED-Dash-Control-Lights/Bronco_Dash_Parts

I did also order (waiting to receive) an aux fuse box and switch housing. I know it’s for Jeeps, but should work for what I’m looking for. Ordered this system below. Talked to the owner, really nice guys. Said he’s work with me if the harness needed to be different, longer etc.
https://www.strikeforcezebra.com/central_command


New electric wiper motors (synchronized) from Wild Horses: ordered & received
New wiper arms and blades (also from WH): ordered & received
And of course the new synchronized wiper switch to go with it all: ordered & received

To come later, but also as important: Heat and defrost. Going to order the Heat Blaster Kit from WH. Feel like that install is going to be a bit of a pain, so putting that off a little bit here.

And lastly, back to the theme of not being able to see my gauges (no lights), I’m planning on upgrading/ditching the old Gauge cluster. I’ve already had it worked on once, and I’m just not happy with it. Speedo gauge jumps around a ton below 30mph, voltemeter is broken. And just too small for me. I recently upgraded to an above the column Autometer Tach (sport comp) and just love the way it looks. So easy to see and read. Going with the same for rest of my guagues. Not going to mess around with the dash too much. Going to add the Oil, volts and water temp in a three gauge cluster below the dash (above trans tunnel) and then going to do a 5” speedo in the OG location. And find somewhere up in that left hand corner to mount a smal fuel gauge. I removed my dash pad so I have some more room to work with there.

Oh yeah, not necessarily related to the above, but I also just received my 1 1/4” wheel spacer from WH.

Wow, that’s a lot. Pocket book is definitely a lot lighter after my spending spree the last week.

 

[B RON CO]

Hi, I got this vintage Mooneyes 3 gauge cluster on fleabay for @ $90. Good luck

 

[FFMDX]

Where abouts in Arnold did wheel? How far up the hill? Been going up there for years, but have yet to wheel...

 

[sprdv1]

Good times. Glad you are getting her fixed up so it’s not quite as bad a drive the next go round

 

[SteveMa74]

Got my 12” aux light hooked up. I needed to make some mods/cuts to get the mount plate to fit the way I wanted. I think it was meant to mount with the top side of the plate facing out away from the winch. But I liked it much better facing backwards so I could get a really tight flat fit and not have the aux light sticking out forward from the bumper, but rather right on top of it, and back. I think it looks good this way. Still need to wire it up.

 

[SteveMa74]

The first two pics above are how it looked when I mounted it as it was intended, or at least how the plate fit before I chopped it up a little. These 3 picks shows the mounting plate turned around and the light sitting right on top of the bumper and back a little bit, and not sticking out. This is how I’ll leave it.

 

[Rustytruck]

Rebuild your heater system before putting that lower gauge set in. The heater system is not hard to do its the access that is a problem. Blocking what little access you have with new gauges you will hate yourself the next morning. Make sure you get the newer style plastic coolant valve for the heater and get a rebuild kit to replace the foam inside the heater box. You need a can of 3M super 90 spray adheasive to glue some foam down. That and a new heater core will give you all the heat you will need.

With the winch and other electrical upgrades are you running a 3G alternator? If not you will be adding that to your list of things to do.

 

[bronkenn]

The first two pics above are how it looked when I mounted it as it was intended, or at least how the plate fit before I chopped it up a little. These 3 picks shows the mounting plate turned around and the light sitting right on top of the bumper and back a little bit, and not sticking out. This is how I’ll leave it.

Looks like it was made for it. Nice

 

[CA Monkey]

The space behind the dash is limited and the ductwork for the heater takes up some of the best real estate. i tried to modify my stock defroster ducts but ended up buying a custom kit from summit which worked "ok"

 

[SteveMa74]

Rebuild your heater system before putting that lower gauge set in. The heater system is not hard to do its the access that is a problem. Blocking what little access you have with new gauges you will hate yourself the next morning. Make sure you get the newer style plastic coolant valve for the heater and get a rebuild kit to replace the foam inside the heater box. You need a can of 3M super 90 spray adheasive to glue some foam down. That and a new heater core will give you all the heat you will need.

With the winch and other electrical upgrades are you running a 3G alternator? If not you will be adding that to your list of things to do.

Thx for the suggestions. Got the rebuild done. Man, what a pain. Tight spaces and not a lot of fun. But that heat blows now!! Got the heater box rebuild kit; with the larger squirrel cage and stronger blower motor and of course the new heater core. It’s awesome now. Heater box was pretty rusted so cleaned and painted too.

 

[Howard2x4x4]

Nice! I like the heater rebuild suggested by Rustytruck. Is a rebuild kit available from most vendors?

 

[sprdv1]

That one bolt is def a pain the ying yang.. lol

 

[SteveMa74]

Strike force Zebra central command box is in place! Check out the location of the install on top of the DS wheel well, and the routing of the harness. Going with an under dash mount, as opposed to top of windshield somewhere. I now have 8 rocker switches in the cabin. First switch is wired to the light bar. Connection successful!

 

[SteveMa74]

New wiper motors are in place.....

And wiring to Synchronized rocker/wiper switch is almost done. Just need to connect one more wire to the wiper fluid pump. But what should I do with the old wiring harness that’s at the top of the windshield frame? This is a pic? I’m tempted to leave it up there and tap into for something else? Any ideas? It’s the wiring for the old dome light and the wiring for the old motor. I can obviously run a new light up there and tap into the old dome light wire. But what about the wiring for the old motor? Can that be repurposed for something else? And would it only draw power if the I kept the old wiper switch in the dash and turned it on to one of the two speeds? Thx

 

[SteveMa74]

And wiring to Synchronized rocker/wiper switch is almost done. Just need to connect one more wire to the wiper fluid pump. But what should I do with the old wiring harness that’s at the top of the windshield frame? This is a pic? I’m tempted to leave it up there and tap into for something else? Any ideas? It’s the wiring for the old dome light and the wiring for the old motor. I can obviously run a new light up there and tap into the old dome light wire. But what about the wiring for the old motor? Can that be repurposed for something else? And would it only draw power if the I kept the old wiper switch in the dash and turned it on to one of the two speeds? Thx

Finished the install and wiring of the new windshield wiper motors. Ran the wiring down the sides of the windshield frame as best I could. I think it looks ok. And mounted the electric rocker control switch under the dash.

 

[nvrstuk]

I read your first post and starting laughing...not at you but that sounds SOOO much like the first 20 years we owned ours!! Bought our '68 in '76 and live in SNOW country... defrost barely does anything...heater's on-hold it, are you SURE it's on?? Wipers just cake with ice and you have to grab it with your hand out the open DS windwo and catch it as it comes to the edge, lift it and let it bounce the ice off the blade so it resembles a wiper... yellow headlights glowing like a candle in the dark...


Yeah, the good old days of our ONLY vehicle and of course the DD...

So many changes and upgrades over the years. Your's is looking great!!

We still have it...in fact, I just put heated seats in last week. (retrofitted my seats)

 

[SteveMa74]

I read your first post and starting laughing...not at you but that sounds SOOO much like the first 20 years we owned ours!! Bought our '68 in '76 and live in SNOW country... defrost barely does anything...heater's on-hold it, are you SURE it's on?? Wipers just cake with ice and you have to grab it with your hand out the open DS windwo and catch it as it comes to the edge, lift it and let it bounce the ice off the blade so it resembles a wiper... yellow headlights glowing like a candle in the dark...


Yeah, the good old days of our ONLY vehicle and of course the DD...

So many changes and upgrades over the years. Your's is looking great!!

We still have it...in fact, I just put heated seats in last week. (retrofitted my seats)

Thx man. I didn’t have the heated seats listed, but been thinking more and more about doing that insert/retrofit. Prob not before the next snow trip (Feb), but maybe later this year.