Turn Signal Mod and Tow Hooks (DUW)

Ok, so after last Saturday's adventures in Marlin, Tx, I had damaged my front spoiler and driver's side turn signal.

Upon doing this I needed to repair what I had done to be legal again, so here goes the fix/mod:

Here's the damage

 

[SVO]

So I removed the pig tail sockets from the lamps and then removed the lamps and the mounting brackets completely, and kept them incase I ever wanted to put them back on, note the spoiler was removed at the sciene of the crime.

 

[SVO]

Check the wires with a testlight to see which one is the signal and which one is the parking lamps.

 

[SVO]

Then I cut the pig tail socket off and used butt connectors to block off the unused wires from shorting on anything.

 

[SVO]

Next I removed the sidemaker lamp from the truck and made another hole for a "soft" 194 bulb socket (made of soft rubber), your factory ones are hard plastic.

 

[SVO]

Finished hole.

 

[SVO]

After relocating the turn signal/parking lamp wiring loom, I reinstalled the lamp and tested.

NOTE: Pending on your location, your local law enforcement may or may not find this a suitable repair, here they are a little more leanent towards things like this.
Plus I used amber 194 bulbs for the parking lighs and white 194 bulbs for the turn signals as the white bulbs give off more illumination than the amber ones do.

 

[SVO]

Now since my spoiler was removed and there are really no places to latch onto on our vehicles, and as I read in other threads you must have tow points.

I grabbed a set of HD tow hooks off of a Z71 truck and decided to mount them to the "Nasty Hoe"

The hooks on the Z71 are bolted on and use a small metal plate with threaded holes in it, unfortunatly this will not fit into the frame horn of our trucks.

so I scrounged up a couple of nuts and washers.

 

[SVO]

next I fed the washers and nut into the frame horn to psudeo mount the hook so I could weld it into place.

 

[SVO]

Snugged it up after I got it into postition.

 

[SVO]

then after it all looked good, I cleaned the surfaced to be welded.

 

[SVO]

and super glued those puppys into place!

 

[SVO]

Please! besure to un-hook your battery before welding, don't take a chance on frying your computer (ECU)!!!

 

[SVO]

Check your welds and make sure you have good penatration.

 

[SVO]

And paint your welds so they don't rust, and that's it!
Your done!

And the next time you get stuck they can have something to latch onto to pull you out!

P.S. the location of these will also work if I decide to put the front lower spoiler back on too, Explorer guys will have to notch there lower spoiler to put thier's back on to clear the hooks!


Happy wheeling!


Thanx go out to SVT Girl for shooting the pictures!

 

[SVT Girl]

Pictures look good if I do say so myself!

Good job Sweetie! Looks great!

 

[Muskrat]

I like what you did with the turn signals, but not a fan of welding on tow hooks

 

[SVO]

You can always use a "Mexican Speed Wrench" to remove them if you ever bend them or have to take them off.

 

[TravisC]

Looks good and looks like you've got the setup for working on your truck, and the toys to go along with it.

 

[SVO]

Originally posted by TravisC
Looks good and looks like you've got the setup for working on your truck, and the toys to go along with it.

Travis,

I have a very gracious employer, we're like a little family.
He has supplied us a nice work area, and benifits that rival some other companys.

It's very nice to be able to work after hours or on the weekends, on my own projects or side jobs.

And not really to plug them, but to show my gratitude towards them, they have a few over 30 Explorers and Navajo's in stock, from 1991's to even a 2001 Sport Trac, the have on-line inventory checking (not totaly 100% correct but close), but if you need specifics you can call them on there 800 number:

www.andersonautosalvage.com

If you call talk with Shad and let him know you found it here, and he'll work with you on pricing!

Hope this helps someone out!