Project: Midnight Panic

Skipped_Link said:
The input shaft I had a little decision to make as I was not to sure about the origonal part I had bought for this project,
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The top shaft is 300M & advertised as “good to 2000+ ft/lb of torque” This was hte second shaft I had purchased for the project
Second shaft is an unknown manufacturer, also 300M & was considerably cheaper. This was the origonal part I had bought.
Third one I believe is 4340, & has already served its life in a 1,500+ HP heavy truck
& only in the pic comparing shaft design
Last is a stock input, also for comparison purposes

Notice the difference in spline termination on that second shaft compared to all the others, while I beieve it is probably a strong part, I decided to go ahead & go with the known manufacture that was claiming it would handle over 2000 ft/lbs, (top shaft)
Click to expand...

The spline difference is intriguing to me. It looks like all of the shafts except the second from the top have a relief cut that's a smaller diameter than the rest of the shaft.

I assume all are cut splines as opposed to rolled? Looking at the pic I'd choose the one second from the top, it appears to be the maximum allowable diameter for the whole length.
 
Skipped_Link said:
After sending pics to Meziere, & explaining my concerns, the owner of the company told me to "Bolt it on & torque it down, it'll be fine,
So I did,
That was actually the first thing on my to-do list after getting the truck back in the shop this time around,
I pulled the SCS, & transmission so I could install the flex plate, the torque converter, & the transmission input shaft,

Here's the Meziere billet flex plate installed with new ARP bolts torqued to 85 ft lbs,
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The converter was one I had bought from Edge racing converter many years ago for my old mud truck, (probably around 2006)
I was shipped back to Edge for a cut & clean, & make a couple adjustments to suit this project,
The input shaft I had a little decision to make as I was not to sure about the origonal part I had bought for this project,
776.jpg


The top shaft is 300M & advertised as “good to 2000+ ft/lb of torque” This was hte second shaft I had purchased for the project
Second shaft is an unknown manufacturer, also 300M & was considerably cheaper. This was the origonal part I had bought.
Third one I believe is 4340, & has already served its life in a 1,500+ HP heavy truck
& only in the pic comparing shaft design
Last is a stock input, also for comparison purposes

Notice the difference in spline termination on that second shaft compared to all the others, while I beieve it is probably a strong part, I decided to go ahead & go with the known manufacture that was claiming it would handle over 2000 ft/lbs, (top shaft)

I have not reinstalled the transmission yet, but I hope to have everything reinstalled in the truck next week, & maybe even get started on a little of the main wiring,
Click to expand...
#2 is going to crack at the ends of the splines much sooner than #1.

Can you tell if #1 is rolled splines?

Meziere..... I had issues with the spacing on the BBF flex plate. It is not the same as stock. The starter needed the depth changed so it didn't rub. I went over there with a stock plate and a moroso plate to see what the fuck. CAD guy couldn't tell me where they got the flex plate they modeled. I had to show him how to measure it on the granite surface plate.

So, good luck with that.
 
GLTHFJ60 said:
The spline difference is intriguing to me. It looks like all of the shafts except the second from the top have a relief cut that's a smaller diameter than the rest of the shaft.

I assume all are cut splines as opposed to rolled? Looking at the pic I'd choose the one second from the top, it appears to be the maximum allowable diameter for the whole length.
Click to expand...
download.jpeg


Kinda hard to make a well designed shaft when it needs to ride in bushings. But just terminating the splines into the OD is asking for problems.
 
bdkw1 said:
#2 is going to crack at the ends of the splines much sooner than #1.

Can you tell if #1 is rolled splines?

Meziere..... I had issues with the spacing on the BBF flex plate. It is not the same as stock. The starter needed the depth changed so it didn't rub. I went over there with a stock plate and a moroso plate to see what the fuck. CAD guy couldn't tell me where they got the flex plate they modeled. I had to show him how to measure it on the granite surface plate.

So, good luck with that.
Click to expand...

I believe the splines are cut, not rolled,

I’ll double check that clearance between the flex plate & the starter,

Probably should have went with the CSR Aluminum flex plate.
Maybe next time around.
 
Fresh out of days off back to "making that bread"
That means update time,

Before diving to deep into wiring I needed to finish up a couple little fab projects, first was a driveline guard for the center driveline, this is mostly to protect the transmission oil pan & the batterires, I whipped out the flat work on the plasma cam, then a couple minutes in the press break & the part was done,
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That should keep that driveline from tearing too much up if it lets loose,

Next was a couple more clamps, & a bulkhead mount for the oil pressure & boost signal lines,
Both of these come off the back of the engine with short -3 braided stainless AN lines to a couple bulkhead fittings, from there they will continue up the chassis in braided stainless all the way up to the firewall before going inside the cab to their respective gauges,
I was actually going to do these in hardline, however finding quality 3/16 stainless harnline, & getting it shipped here without being damaged has proven to be pretty challenging, (I've made 3 attempts at this)
So if I'm going to go with flex line, It better be tidy,
Starting with a tab to mount the bulk fittings back by the engine, an 1/8" tab would do but a threaded peice of 5/16" will be easier to work with later,
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If you remember way back I build a couple clamps to hold the throttle & fuel shutoff cables to a rail that bolts to the chassis under the drivers floor board,
I simply duplicated that on the passenger side for the stainless flex lines,
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I still have to order the correct lines, I'll get install pics once they show up.
 
Another small obstacle I've been working on for a while now is the valve for the engine oil accumulator,
I had purchased a solenoid valve, then found out it only stops flow one way, After quite a bit of research this seems to be the case for most all solenoid valves bigger than about 1/4" & have any real flow rating, I though I was going to have to build some kind of motorized ball valve, then I found out they actually already make those,
$30 later I had one to play around with,
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Certainly not as sanitary looking as the solenoid valve, but the strait through flow path will be much better for plumbing, & the new motorized unit weighs a 3rd what the other valve does, & now I can shut flow off in both directions,

A peek inside indicates the operating portion of the old valve was much simpler,
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I'm sure "simple" is a matter of opinion, probably guys out there understand exactly what's going on in there,
But for me, if it gives me any fits $30 will get a new one to install, :laughing:
Another small hurdle was the wiring size on this valve, the leads coming out of the case were tiny, maybe 24ga, or possibly even smaller,
So installing a plug was going to be an issue as my standard Deutsch DT series plugs are just a bit bulky for this size wire,

After pondering it for a bit, I remembered the LED lights I used in the hauler project used a very small sealed plug,
And I just happend to have a spare package of those lights,
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I was able to disassemble one of those plugs, & found the pins were not even crimp on, but soldered to the wires,
So I simply did the same thing,
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I say simply, but this was probably pushing the limits of my ability & equipment, the size alone was the biggest challenge, (Ibupofen for scale) trying not to burn up the pins or melt the plug was the main goal,

In the end it all panned out,
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Installing the valve into the accumulator finished off that little project, at least unitil I plumb it in to the engine,
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Finally I was ready to get into wiring,
With a pile of parts,
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Some wire,
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And some connectors,
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The kit on the right started out as a Caterpillar Field service kit, After using one at work to make a repair on a piece of equipment I knew I had to have one, & have been using Deutsch connectors on pretty much all of my projects, (I've probably gone through 3 of these kits at work in the last 20 years or so)

Way back when I bought this kit I had no idea where to get these types of parts, so while it probably wasn't the most economical route I had a part number form work, & a local Cat dealer in town,
Nearly 25 years ago this kit was over $400, & it didn't even include the crimping tool! that was an additional $365 if I remember correctly,

Since then the majority of the original kit has been used up & replaced, most replacement parts are still Deutsch, & some are aftermarket,
Lately I've been restocking it by buying parts online through Waytek wire,

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The kit on the left is one I've put together over the years for my rear steer kits, it contains the parts needed to build RTC harnesses using weatherpack plugs for the ball switches, & the parts needed for te 2.8mm components, (Mini fuses relays, & diodes)

The rear steer harnesses have seen a few updates over the years, so some of these parts arent used there anymore, but they come in handy from time to time still,
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The package of Sharpie markers is important too, as you can see my wiring colors are pretty limited, but 'is pretty easy to add a tracer,
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And of course, got to have one or two of those MS paint schematics,
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The schematic is the basic distribution from the switch panel,
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I am using a Cooper-Bussman fuse/relay panel, & the way it is setup it has two power lugs on the back, one feeds one side of all 10 fuses, The other is connected to one signal pin on each of the 5 relays, so you could hook it to ground, then run a 12 volt+ signal wire to activate the relay,
However, I chose to put power to this lug, that way I can run a ground from the switch to activate the relay,
This meant all but two of my switches would be controlling ground signals,
So a single ground wire & a couple buss bars would do the job, & cut down on single wires on the back of the switch panel,
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I forgot one of the toggle switches had to switch 12v+, so I ended up shortening the lower buss bar before actually running wires,

The switch is for the MSD ignition box, The other switch actually switching 12v+ is the center button, which is taking power directly from the battery & activating on a couple ST95 relays to turn main power on & off,

All of the wiring from the back of this panel passes through a 12 pin connector for easy panel removal later,
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Next I started wiring the fuse/relay panel,
Each relay gets a feed wire from its neighboring fuse so that circuit is protected, since I really needed 6 relays, & only 8 fuses, the last two fuse positions were used for a micro relay, which will feed the lights throughout the truck, (more on that later)

Also while working on the back of the fuse panel, I added a couple deutsch connector mounting tabs.
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One mounting tab holds a 6 pin plug for gauge wiring, The second is a 2 pin plug which will provide power/ground for the ADU display screen that will be installed later,
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YEAYYYY updates !!!

You need to look into the other lines of deutsch connectors
DTM would have been perfect for that accumulator valve.

Also, the solenoid valve letting flow pass form the engine to the accumulator is how they are setup from the factory.
 
Speaking of gauges,
I'm still disappointed that we're living in 2023 & Autometer is stil using spade connectors on the back of their parts,
I was told about their plug kits, & even though it's better than having to bolt on each wire, marginally better than individual spade connectors, & the light circuit is completely left out of the plug, I went ahead I bought a couple, (can be seen in the previous pic)

I also built a work-around on the ground side of the lighting circuit so I didn't have to run two ground wires, or a jumper wire on the back of the gauge,

This weatherpack style spade end I had on hand for fuse & relay holders,
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Crimped & bent like so,
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Fit perfect from thig gauge light ground pin to the guage ground stud,
A dab of solder will keep it from going anywhere,
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I'll be getting plenty of solder practice on this project, anything that is not crimped & sealed in a plug, gets solder & heat shrink,
I know there are some people that do not agree with soldering in automotive applications, but I just don't think I've seen a better option out there, Maybe the spot weld style with heat shrink?

Either way, I'll stick to what I know,
801.jpg


While I did not get any pics, the gauge harness is done, & I got the fuse/relay panel bolted in so I could start routing the under dash wiring,
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And that's where I'll be continuing this weekend when I get back to it.
 
Bebop said:
YEAYYYY updates !!!

You need to look into the other lines of deutsch connectors
DTM would have been perfect for that accumulator valve.

Also, the solenoid valve letting flow pass form the engine to the accumulator is how they are setup from the factory.
Click to expand...

I looked at DTM, Indeed the pins are smaller, the plug body itself is not much smaller than the DT series, I actually considered buying a small DTM kit just to have on hand,
I do have a handful of the larger DTP parts that I may be using later on,

Flow to the accumulator concerns me a little, I'd like to see good oil pressure in the engine before filling the accumulator,
plus I'd like to hold oil in the sccumulator (close valve before stopping the engine) so I can prelube before firing it up,
 
Nice work on the wiring, everyone's favorite part of a build! Well planned out and clean execution.

MS paint is rough for a schematic though, many free schematic layout programs out there.
But what I see is that your 'Schematic' is a combination of a functional diagram (aka schematic) and a physical representation (aka build instructions) including wire color and and routing. Great for trouble shooing at a later time.
 
Skipped_Link said:
I looked at DTM, Indeed the pins are smaller, the plug body itself is not much smaller than the DT series, I actually considered buying a small DTM kit just to have on hand,
Click to expand...
I have a legit DMC crimper for the DTM stuff. I crimp on 26AWG no problem.
DTM is still way smaller than DT.

Skipped_Link said:
I do have a handful of the larger DTP parts that I may be using later on,
Click to expand...
Love those :)

Skipped_Link said:
Flow to the accumulator concerns me a little, I'd like to see good oil pressure in the engine before filling the accumulator,
Click to expand...
I understand that.
If you're using the accumulator as a pre-luber that shouldn't be a concern though.

Skipped_Link said:
plus I'd like to hold oil in the sccumulator (close valve before stopping the engine) so I can prelube before firing it up,
Click to expand...
You can absolutely do that with a solenoid. Just shut the solenoid before turning the engine off. Doesn't need to block the flow in both directions.
Again, that's how they're sold if you buy a valve from Canton.
 
For comparison sake, & those researching the subject,

Regular DT series on the right, DTM on the left,
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DTM combination closest to the camera, DT combo behind it,

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I think most people that have the anti solder mindset (me somewhat there) see the shit everyone else does.

A good solder joint, with adhesive heat sink and well supported (zip tied) to something around the joint makes a very good connection IMO.

What Iron are you using? I was turned onto the TS100 and its awesome.
 
Java230 said:
What Iron are you using? I was turned onto the TS100 and its awesome.
Click to expand...
I have a couple, neither are anything special, both combined wouldn't cost a guy $40

I could probably talk myself into investing in a better one pretty easily.
 
Skipped_Link said:
I'll be getting plenty of solder practice on this project, anything that is not crimped & sealed in a plug, gets solder & heat shrink,
I know there are some people that do not agree with soldering in automotive applications, but I just don't think I've seen a better option out there, Maybe the spot weld style with heat shrink?

Either way, I'll stick to what I know,
801.jpg
Click to expand...

This is the textbook application for a Raychem Mini-Seal Splice.
 
Skipped_Link said:
I have a couple, neither are anything special, both combined wouldn't cost a guy $40

I could probably talk myself into investing in a better one pretty easily.
Click to expand...
The one mentioned is great and works off a battery etc too..... I really like it.
 
Continuing on with wiring, particularly under the dash, I had to run a few more wires, & weld in a tab to hold plug clips in place, It was a good days worth, but the under dash wiring is done, (at least until I get into setting up the ADU)
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:question:

I do still have to mount up the two pin plugs for the 3Built lane lights (RII stuff) on either side of the dash, but that wil be done once I decide what I'm actually going to run for lane lights,
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There's really not a lot of wiring needed for the basics of the truck to function, which makes for a pretty tidy harness,
I did decide to add one extra plug to the 3Built harness, just in case the remote ignition shutoff malfunction I could easily plug in a jumper to bypass the system if needed,
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The remaining bulkhead plug & pressure sensors will be used later for the ADU (Advanced display unit) but none of that will be necessary for the truck to function,

Before moving on to the chassis harness, I decided to get the fairlead & front light mounts built & installed,

I got the fairlead mount done, but decided I didn't like the light mounts, so those went on hold for a bit,
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Also before any more wiring, I needed a box at the rear of the chassis to house another switch that will kill all power when pressed,
Also with the addition of the motorized ball valve for the accumulator I needed a place for a relay to operate it. By turning on the relay the valve will open, when the relay is shut off the "normally closed" leg will feed power to close the ball valve, All pretty basic stuff, I just have to place the relay somewhere, & all my relay positions in the power distribution box are full/in use.

The easiest route would be to find a nice box of sorts, install the kill button/switch & a bulkhead plug, with a micro relay mounted inside, & bolt it to the back of the chassis,
But, the right letters to even spell "easy" cant be found in Midnight Panic.

While looking over a 2.8mm power distribution block/plug I frequently use for my rear steer RTC kits, I thought, "this would be really nice to incorporate into the box, & eliminate the bulkhead plug all together"

Doing so would definitely require custom building the box to use the seal on the plug/block, but I could certainly cut down on the size while I was at it by not having the relay, plug/block & any mounting completey inclosed inside,

Armed with a few dimensions & a Bridgeport, I decided a couple blocks of aluminum was a good place to start,
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The biggest piece of material I had on hand was 2"x2", which isn't quite big enough to provide the depth needed for the kill button/switch & using a typical 1/8" or so cover, So a chunk of 3/4" plate was cut out & squred up to the needed size to make a cover,

First order after getting the two parts machined to the same size was making the two bolt together,
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Since I only required the additional depth for the kill button/switch, a lot of material was removed from the cover where it was not needed,
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The back side of the cover was also hollowed out to fit the button/switch & the mounting hole was drilled,
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This is the same type switch used inside the truck, the one in the cab will control 12 volt + to the master relays at the batteries, this switch at the back of the chassis will control the ground side, hence the reason one leg of the switch is bolted to the cover,
in short both switches must be ON for the electrical system to recieve battery power,

Back to the box,
With the cover finished up the main portion of the part was put back in the Bridgeport & several passes were made with a roughing mill to hog out a cavity inside, then it was flipped over & a hole was machined through the backside where the 2.8mm plug would pass through & seal.
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I spent entirely too much time considering using the clip on the plug to secure it to the box, then I remembered I have to fight with mud filled clips way too often at work,
So a retaining screw was used instead,
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The fit on the cover is pretty snug, so a "split point" was added to make getting the cover off a little easier,
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Before adding any mounting holes I took a little video of how the unit is assembled,
Hopefully this link works,


The excessive threads on the button/switch wasn't going to go un noticed, so a spacer was built & a seal was added to keep the moisture & crud out of the switch itself,
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After a couple mounting holes were drilled/tapped all it took was a couple tabs on the chassis to have this thing in it's forever home,
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I've already been notified that "a plastic box would have done that job just fine"
But I think we're a little past a plastic box on theis project,
 
To wrap up the week I got the majority of the big power cable routed in the chassis,
Starting with shortening the factory winch power lead to just reach the power lug / pass through at the firewall, Then a new cable from that lug to the master relays,

If you look closely you can see the cables & those zip tie rails being put to use,
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The main feed for the rear steer pump was also routed from the floor pass through down to the mater relays,
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Both of these power leads routed & connected to the main power relays,
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Somewhere I have a piece of copper bar I was going to machine to tie the two relays together, but I must have misplaced it, maybe it'll turn up before the project is done, I'm sure the 4 guage jumpers will work for now,

Next week wiring will continue, hopefully I'll finally get to the chassis harness,
 
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