Truckers, lets see your rigs!

Anyone plumb a coolant heater into a Detroit? I can't find info on what I should use to tap into. Thinking port on oil cooler an one on back of head on passenger side or maybe lower rad hose? Getting conflicting info on wether hot should be pushed in top an cold pulled from bottom or reverse.
 
Anyone plumb a coolant heater into a Detroit? I can't find info on what I should use to tap into. Thinking port on oil cooler an one on back of head on passenger side or maybe lower rad hose? Getting conflicting info on wether hot should be pushed in top an cold pulled from bottom or reverse.

You want heat to go in high and pull from the lowest point possible. Otherwise the heat transfers out into the radiator and your coolant heater works overtime.
 
You want heat to go in high and pull from the lowest point possible. Otherwise the heat transfers out into the radiator and your coolant heater works overtime.


Oil cooler should be low enough? If I pull from lower rad hose then it has to pull coolant through coolant pump as well as there shouldn't be a need for that.
 
It's waiting...
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The tail lights on the rear of truck should function correctly and you can run a jumper wire from the harness feeding then up to your trailer plug. Or you can jumper the correct wires right up by the turn signal switch in the cab. The turn signal switch is what separates the stop/turn lights from the dedicated turn lights. You'll have two wires that flash with the left turn signal but one will also be energized when you hit the brakes. You wanna put a diode in between the Stop/Turn wire feeding the dedicated turn wire. No fancy convertor boxes needed or relays. I had one of those boxes melt on me and almost burn a truck down.

...or....rewire the truck. Either way. LOL

I was assuming you'd be swapping back-n-forth from trailer to trailer.
 
You can just wire an adapter. Give me a bit and I'll type it out for ya. The only difference is the semi will have split turn and stop wires and split clearance and tail wires.

Hold please.

The tail lights on the rear of truck should function correctly and you can run a jumper wire from the harness feeding then up to your trailer plug. Or you can jumper the correct wires right up by the turn signal switch in the cab. The turn signal switch is what separates the stop/turn lights from the dedicated turn lights. You'll have two wires that flash with the left turn signal but one will also be energized when you hit the brakes. You wanna put a diode in between the Stop/Turn wire feeding the dedicated turn wire. No fancy convertor boxes needed or relays. I had one of those boxes melt on me and almost burn a truck down.


Thanks for the info guys! I should have known this was right up your alley Jory, especially after your trailer rewiring project. The wiring all makes sense now, I'll get to it this weekend.

Thanks again!
 
If it's a trailer you will pull a lot, just rewire the trailer to work with your recept on the tractor. You just need two sets of red lights on the back, one for brakes and one for turn. The other wires can be moved in your trailer plug....but then it won't work with a normal 1-ton. This is why I would build an adapter. Diodes will work fine if you have LED lights, but the current rating is what will cause heat and fires, thus, the mention of relays. $.02
 
Thanks for the info guys! I should have known this was right up your alley Jory, especially after your trailer rewiring project. The wiring all makes sense now, I'll get to it this weekend.

Thanks again!

So, setting on the can I started thinking...how exactly would one connect the beast. So, this is the concept of a 10 minute dump and about 30 minutes of ciphering on the PC. Hopefully you can see it. If not, PM me, and I'll send you a larger version.

attachment.php


Easy First:
Ground to Ground
Tail Marker or ID Marker to Tail Lights

Harder Next:
If you have a brake controller in the truck, connect the brake through. If you don't, I would connect +12V to the brake pin (7) of the tractor receptacle. It will be required for operation. If you have a brake controller in the truck and patch it through, you will need to run a +12V wire to the converter box.

Blow your mind is last:
You will need four (4) relays (or you can combine K1 and K3 into one as they will both toggle at the same time). As shown in the diagram, K4 is driven by the Lt Turn wire, K2 is driven by the Rt Turn wire, and K1 and K3 are driven by the Stop wire.

How it works.....K2 and K4 are normally closed connecting both turn wires in the trailer to the stop on in the tractor. This is a fail-safe such that the instant you hit your brakes, the lights come on and if the relays fail, they fail to "STOP!". If the stop is energized, both sides come on solid and K1 and K3 toggle from +12V to no connection. Then if you are holding the pedal down and hit a turn signal, the turn signal wires toggle K2 or K4 depending on direction from hot (stop) to no connect (off) thus flashing them. If you take your foot off the pedal, K1 and K2 toggle back to +12 and the lights on the trailer toggle from +12 to the stop wire which is now "off" or open.

Looks like it will work to me. Like I said, this is my first attempt at a converter so make sure all your plugs are wired like the diagram and modify if necessary. I couldn't find anything online about how it is done commercially but I see no reason why this won't work for you. Just put it all in a box and mount it to the frame of the tractor. Plug it in when you need it. Let me know if I screwed something up or you see any flaws in the plan. ;)
 

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I've found some of it now. On the Pruitt guy's channel. Looks like you did pretty good in this one. Do you know what the guy in the green International cabover is running? That thing was healthy!!!!

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DdIHiTRHE4"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DdIHiTRHE4[/ame]
 
What he said, that was the first time we got by him.

Kind of wish my K100 had stayed together just a bit longer. I'm pretty sure I would have gotten by him, i was 7 ft behind him.

Full video.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ceb9IENRhTc"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ceb9IENRhTc[/ame]
 
Jory, Thanks! I'll get back to you on the wiring hopefully by this weekend. Got a busy few days coming up.
 
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