Trail_Wagon: The story of "Hope". A 2022 power wagon build

[IowaPW]

I went with the shackle receiver from Bulletproof Hitches in 2.5"

Nice!!

 

[Trail_Wagon]

I started working on the on board air and bags today. The ARB twin compressor is mounted, using a NHOverland bracket. The mount was easy to install and puts the compressor in a great location. The lower bolt is a bit tricky and awkward to get to. I like how the breather vents are up high and out of the way. Ventilation is exceptional and the engines cooling fan should keep this thing cool. The NHoverland bracket is expensive, but time is money, and this would have taken me more time to fab up vs the money spent.



To get the wiring from the passenger side of the engine bay to the drivers side, I used some little zip tie brackets from TMR off road. I love these things for tidying up wiring runs. I wrapped the ARB harness with a split seam mesh style loom, just to keep the power and signal wires together. And because it looks OEM. There is enough room left in the loom I can run another wire or two if needed. The ARB harness actually has two more wires for locker solenoid activation... but I will likely use them for Airbag solenoid activation. I will be following in @Fishnerd 's footsteps on this. His setup is clean!





The twin ARB utilizes two 8 gauge power wires that run directly to the battery, each with an inline fuse. The compressor has built in relays and thermo shuttoff protection. I have the fuses tucked up next to the battery with the two power cables run up to a spare post on the factory battery buss bar. Its loomed, heat shrinked and as tidy as I can get it. The ground gets the same treatment. Can you guess which one is mine, and which ones are the factory?



And the finished wiring... Next up is the switch pros SP9100 install. Again, I will be heavily copying @Fishnerd 's and @el_barto 's builds. I highly recommend you check them out.

 

[Trail_Wagon]

In other news...
As always CJC did a fantastic video.
This looks to be the system that I want for my truck. Just have to wait for them to get around to the RAMs.

 

[Trail_Wagon]

I took hope out to Broken Arrow again this moring. Now i'm a little more comfortable with her dimensions, I ran the whole trail. There are some tight squeezes, but she managed. The "devil's steps" were no problem!

 

[Etoimos]

Nice pics as always. A Jeep buddy of mine has a place down in Payson and we are planning to hit some of the trails in your area in the near future. This Broken Arrow trail looks pretty fun!

 

[Trail_Wagon]

Nice pics as always. A Jeep buddy of mine has a place down in Payson and we are planning to hit some of the trails in your area in the near future. This Broken Arrow trail looks pretty fun!

Thanks! Look me up when your in town, if I can get out, I'll go wheeling with ya!

 

[Trail_Wagon]

Some more great pics man and she is flexing pretty good! My buddy at work wanted me to ask if you rain the whole trial and did the steps coming down? It's a Jeep vs PW thing between us (I've been a Jeep guy for a good while and just sold my JKUR and TJR within the last couple of years). lol

Tell your buddy the PW walked down the steps drama free.

 

[Etoimos]

Thanks! Look me up when your in town, if I can get out, I'll go wheeling with ya!

Will do man.

 

[Trail_Wagon]

So I finished up the wiring for the switch pros today. Again, heavy thanks to @Fishnerd and @elbarto for their build threads. They were very helpful. First is the SDHQ switch panel... this is a must. It looks like an OEM install.



I ran the wire through the firewall at the manual transmission clutch block off plate, using a cable gland to pass the wire through so its nice and weather tight.



I Tapped into the fuse box with two Mini2 fuse taps. The "light/trigger2" wire is connected to the cab clearance lights circuit, and the "ignition" wire is connected to the sunroof/rear USB circuit. A small hole with grommet allows the wiring to be neatly tucked under the PDC. I used a DT connector for easy serviceability. If everything works as planned, I may tap into the 42 pin connectors on the bottom of the PDC. I don't love the look of fuse taps.




The Harness from the Switch-Pros to the battery are loomed and labeled. I did have to make a new positive lead... the one switch pros provides wasn't long enough.





Just like @Fishnerd, I created a harness utilizing DT connectors for future additions, and each connector has its own ground straight to battery. See his build for more detailed pics. Here is the common ground.



All of the 8 DT connectors for the switch pros are bundled behind the battery for future use. It looks like a mess, but its actually very well organized... each pair of wires is one inch shorter than the previous so they don't bunch up too bad. Labels make for quick identification.



And finally, I used insulated p clamps to help route the harness cleanly.



Same for the Switch Pros positive.



Everything looks OEM at first glance, which is exactly the way I like it.

 

[jetrinka]

LOVE clean installs. There is nothing worse than poor thought out spaghetti wiring under the hood. Looks great!

 

[UglyViking]

How does that SDHQ mount feel when using it? I really like how clean it looks but am hesitant to pull the trigger due to positioning. Seems like it would be hard to tell what is on and like you'd be fumbling a lot for the switch.

 

[Trail_Wagon]

LOVE clean installs. There is nothing worse than poor thought out spaghetti wiring under the hood. Looks great!

Thanks!

 

[Trail_Wagon]

How does that SDHQ mount feel when using it? I really like how clean it looks but am hesitant to pull the trigger due to positioning. Seems like it would be hard to tell what is on and like you'd be fumbling a lot for the switch.

The mount is great, very solid, but it's angled down slightly so viewing the buttons could be an issue. None of the buttons I'm planning on using will need a quick push (like a horn) so it won't be a problem

 

[Etoimos]

Nice work as always. What are you using to label your wires?

 

[Trail_Wagon]

Nice work as always. What are you using to label your wires?

Thanks!

I use one of these...
Epson LabelWorks

You can print on heatshrink tubing

 

[Andersen24]

Question, where did you mount the "brain" for the Switch Pro? I have a Switch Pro in my Tacoma, and have another Switch Pro sitting in a box along with the same SDHQ mount for the PW that hopefully arrives someday! I am looking to mount mine in the engine compartment on a bracket similar to how I did the Tacoma below...

 

[Trail_Wagon]

I put together a short video of my trip to Broken Arrow from the other day. This is my first time playing with the video editor and publishing something like this. I took the video at 5:30 in the morning so the still pics came out nice, but the video is a little washed out from the low light levels.

 

[Trail_Wagon]

Question, where did you mount the "brain" for the Switch Pro? I have a Switch Pro in my Tacoma, and have another Switch Pro sitting in a box along with the same SDHQ mount for the PW that hopefully arrives someday! I am looking to mount mine in the engine compartment on a bracket similar to how I did the Tacoma below...

I used a bracket also from HDHQ that mounts the "brain" right in front of the PDC

 

[Trail_Wagon]

I took "Hope" to Moab!







Jesus, this thing is a beast. Fins and Things isn't exactly extreme... But it's not for beginners either. The "trail wagon" handled it all effortless with grace... And the growl of the v8... So nice. Several people stopped to talk to me. All of them loved the truck, and all of them were stunned watching her perform.

 

[Etoimos]

Nice! It looks like the trail was pretty empty?