04.06.23 (cont...)
Ate lunch and ordered some 12ga wire from O'Reillys [$16.04]. 3' of black, 3' of blue, and 11' of white. Cheaper ($0.89/ft) than buying the 12' rolls ($11.99) off the shelf.
Hit the front weld with the 80g flap disc...mainly because I was too lazy/tired to swap it. Applied a few coats of the flat black I used on the hitch earlier. Let that dry a but, then installed the connector with some "new" slotted machine screws and nuts found in the junk bin. For those with OCD, the slotted screw are all vertical...
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Used the flap disc to get bear metal 7-pin wire ground wire. Crimped and soldered a nickel ring terminal to it, then put some string tubing over the connector. Covered the remaining visible portion of that white ground wire with black shrink tube as well. Raided the shrink tubing stash I found in the basement to repair the damaged blue and purple wires on the 7-pin connector. Used a short piece over the damage, then put a larger piece over that. Hit the bare are by the ground with some flat black.
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I never received an order-ready email from O'Reillys. Since I couldn't do much in the front of the truck without that order, I started to reattach the wires out back. Crimped and soldered the ground wire for the 4-pin connector, then sanded and drilled the hole for the attachment point. Left it disconnected for extra slack on the remains work.
I initially planned on using soldered splices and shrink tubing, but quickly remembered that's not my favorite thing to do, nor necessarily needed. I successfully spliced a 10" piece of scrap 10ga black wire to the 7-pin black wire (12ga) and shrink wrapped it. That went well, but I had easy access. It fell apart while attempting to solder the 10ga orange to that 10ga black.
The tight and awkward location inside the rail and lack of excess wire were problematic. The cold (and rapidly getting colder by the minute) weather didn't make it any easier. To be fair, it also didn't help that the soldering iron was a cordless one with a fine tip point. I just couldn't get enough heat into the wires to get a good joint.
So I had two options as I saw it:
- Borrow the big iron (American Beauty), run a cord, and hope for the best.
- Run to O'Reilly's to grab some handy dandy butt connectors, not to mention hope they forgot to call/email about the order.
The rapidly declining temperature easily dictated the latter, so I hit O'Reilly's and grabbed a multi-pack of butt connectors [$4.76]. Sadly, they didn't have the earlier order, nor did the two employees (Store MGR and some kid) see too helpful or competent.
{begin RANT} This particular location, as well as the "hub" location across town have been unimpressive. I've dealt with quite a few of their locations for years. Both personally, as well as professionally at multiple shops (a national Tire/Auto Center, a few Dealership Service Departments, and a 4wd Speciality Retailer). These locations in NKY have some serious issues that seem to start at the top and need addressing. {end RANT}
It was dark by the time I got back. I tired to install the 4-pin ground so I could paint the bare metal's but the bolt broke as I was tightening it down. I then broke two drill bits trying to clear it. Decided it was too darn cold and quit for the evening.
RUNNING TOTAL: $4708.84