How do you like those Dutch doors on the rear? Always an interesting design, I thought. Nothing else quite like them in the van world.
I'm loving them so far. It has been handy to just pop the top hatch and drop items in, so you don't have to slam the rear hatch shut to squeeze everything in if that makes sense. Very packing friendly.
Got the new power window motor and the new door lock actuator installed yesterday. Also got the new speakers in place. I was so cooked from several days in the sun, I forgot to take very many pictures of the progress, but I'll share what I can.
So the Memphis 1" tweeters I ordered from eBay arrived. Darn if that box doesn't look huge for a pair of 1" tweeters right?
Yeah, that's a big box because the Amazon seller sent me a whole case of them. I just re-read the Amazon description, and there is nothing in there to indicate you are purchasing 10 SETS of 1" tweeters. LMFAO! Oh well, I have extras now.
So the factory tweeters have a female pigtail you can clip off, but the factory door speakers female socket is soldered directly to the speaker. I have a very nice soldering station, but still didn't want to fiddle with trying to wire to the socket direct, so I stopped back by the stereo shop and he had packages of two female pigtails ready to go. I also mistakenly grabbed 5.25" door speakers, but when I pulled them I realized they were 6.5" speakers. So while I was at the stereo shop, I grabbed some "Power Bass" brand (first I had heard of them) 6.5" speakers for cheap.
Old factory tweeter
Notice the disc that the tweeter is mounted in. I couldn't find an easy way of getting it out of that disc without damaging either, so I just used clear packaging tape to hold the new one firmly in it's place. I will say I'm very impressed with the new Power Bass brand speaker, it sounds great.
Here is the factory socket attached to the 6.5" speakers.
And the new pigtails I got to remedy that issue.
I'm satisfied with all the parts I've used for this job, so I'll link them in case anyone else needs some.
Cleaned and painted the Reese hitch receiver. Paint was supposed to be a hammered finish, doesn't look very hammered to me, but I hosed it on anyway. Nice and shiny now, no more crusty rust.
Got the little ladies (Jasmine is 14, Miakota "Mia" for short is 13) out yesterday and worked with them on installing the trailer wiring and hitch receiver. Taught them how to test the wiring from the factory harness, solder and shrink tube the connections, and remove the rear bumper, then lastly install the hitch receiver.
The original inner bumper reinforcement is rotten pretty bad, so we ordered a new one, and will re-install the bumper once it arrives. Broke one Stanley socket wrench in the process, but overall they had a great time learning, and I had a great time teaching. Going to need help getting the wiring bracket mounted to the receiver as my drill just wasn't cutting it today.
Got the little ladies (Jasmine is 14, Miakota "Mia" for short is 13) out yesterday and worked with them on installing the trailer wiring and hitch receiver. Taught them how to test the wiring from the factory harness, solder and shrink tube the connections, and remove the rear bumper, then lastly install the hitch receiver.
The original inner bumper reinforcement is rotten pretty bad, so we ordered a new one, and will re-install the bumper once it arrives. Broke one Stanley socket wrench in the process, but overall they had a great time learning, and I had a great time teaching. Going to need help getting the wiring bracket mounted to the receiver as my drill just wasn't cutting it today.
Excellent! Neither you nor they will ever regret the quality time you spent teaching them how to be self sufficient. Good job!
Front brake pads and rotors are done. Right side pads were cracked and missing a chunk, probably causing the pedal vibration. Kept the old rotors in case I can find someone local to turn them for me. Driver side has a fairly new caliper and hose already. The girls did a great job on their first brake job (13 & 14). Front and rear shocks tomorrow. Forgot to grab pics of the new rotors and stuff, but they're working great. Might grab pics of that tomorrow while doing the shocks.
Started off the morning teaching the girls how to bleed the brakes, they are nice and solid now. Then removed the old rear shocks and installed a set of Monroe Load Adjust rear coil overs. Hard to tell in the comparison picture, but we gained about 2". Pretty sure the leaf springs are weak as well, so they will be on the short list as well. HUGE improvement in ride as the old shocks were well past garbage. True test will be in a few days with the 6'x12' utility trailer loaded down and all the kiddos in their seats. So far I'm very pleased with the new shocks. Picked up the front shocks today on the way home, will hopefully install those tomorrow.