My urban child hauler/office

[Shackman7878]

So in my quest to help more people I started researching spotlight bulb upgrades. My current bulb had definitely seen better decades.


View attachment 267660
And the clarity was meh in my mind
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So as much as I'd like to get a led upgrade the only options I found were waaaayyyy more than I wanted to spend ($100 +). So a little searching in the forum and I found mention of a glass build available on Fleabay for $30. Done and done. Light arrived in a timely fashion well packaged so I jumped into action.
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Small torx driver to remove the lock screw and jt was game on. Wiring was straight forward pretty much tab A to tab A, only hurdle was the clocking of the plug in back made getting the wires ,which are short, hard to get back into the housing.

All done
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Brightness.....well...

Not much difference to my eyes. The focus appears to be a little tighter but other than that.....well at least it looks better. View attachment 267665

better option I installed on my SSV, requires to cut and splice the connector. more of a wide beam then a spot light but worked great then spending $165 each from Unity.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B088M93FT3/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[Katarn]

So the next thing on the list was one of my biggest, 3rd row seating. So when I first got the Tahoe the family ended up going on an impromptu day trip to west Texas. Truck ran great, no drama but with 6 of us I ended up with a 5 year old up under my arm in the jump seat but no convenient place for my arm or coffee.
As any parent with multiple kids knows one of the keys to road trips is distance between brats. More distance=less drama.
So after rooting around Sacebook marketplace I found some great condition seats for $600. A quick message to open negotiations and we met at $300. And additional $70ish bucks on Ebay for brackets it was game on.

Before:


During:


After:


So since I'm not breaking new ground here its pretty easy. Only 2 pieces of advice I can offer are;
1. Clean out the threads
2. Sharp knife to cut the floor

Other than that, 45 min, less than $400 and I can now haul 9 people legally. Pretty sweet.

 

[gooffeyguy]

Now you just gotta figure out where to put the luggage!

On our 2001 swb, on trips we've done the "only install one third row seat" thing, so luggage can go on one side and a kid on the other. We've also bought one of those hitch haul platforms and strapped the luggage to that, which works ok but need to keep an eye on things when stopping to eat, etc so nothing gets taken. If you have a roof rack you can put stuff up there, but it has a weight limit of like 200lbs.

 

[Katarn]

Now you just gotta figure out where to put the luggage!

On our 2001 swb, on trips we've done the "only install one third row seat" thing, so luggage can go on one side and a kid on the other. We've also bought one of those hitch haul platforms and strapped the luggage to that, which works ok but need to keep an eye on things when stopping to eat, etc so nothing gets taken. If you have a roof rack you can put stuff up there, but it has a weight limit of like 200lbs.

True but like you I can always ditch 1 seat and have more space. Majority of our trips are short, quick runs plus I do have a roof rack so i have options. Seats are still worth it.

 

[Katarn]

So something I noticed early on that has bugged me is my missing lower valance. It silly but just didn't look right.

So I've been looking for one but either they're cheap and shipping is insane or vice versa. Everything was roughly working out to be close to $100.

So in my wanderings through Amazon I come across a valance for $35 and free shipping! Well nothing to loose for this price so I click buy it now.

About a week later i come home to a big box and no clue what's in it. After reading the tag I put it together and realize the valance arrived! No notifications from the seller about it being shipped or arriving but here it is.

How I found it on my back porch:



Packing was subpar but it was intact and in good shape. 35 big ass staples held the box closed:



Tools I used:



End result:



Excuse the crap lighting but I was super excited.

All in all the piece fit perfectly, product was in great shape and the price was right.

 

[adventurenali92]

Great build thread! Never seen a PPV with roof racks!

 

[CrashTestDummy]

So a week before Christmas one night I come into the bathroom to find my wife in a serious amount of pain. Enough that for once in our 14 years together she agreed to let me take her to the hospital.

To those that haven't experienced the wonders of post -Covid hospitals I'll describe it like this: we might as well have been a gangsters and one of us was wounded in a drive by. Pull up, drop off, drive away or wait in parking garage. Do not pass go, do not collect anything. I only describe this for what happens next.

<SNIP>

Good dead done for the evening I sat back and thought to myself "I need to get a brighter spotlight to help more people". This picture is from the location of the lost keys, in between the 2 cars, right where the Diet Coke is.

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Hopefully, your bride is much better. Yeah, I experienced that, too. Got some sort of severe spasm in my neck. On minute, okay, the next minute a pain of 11 raidiating from my neck. Had to hold my head still, or it happened all the time. We ended up in a emergency clinic place, and I was the only one let in. I hurt so much, I had to have one of the nurses carry my billfold out to my wife to dig my insurance card out. I got better.

As Jonathan pointed out, there are LED replacements for those lights, and if you choose the right one, they're brighter than the incandescent ones. Ours had a yellow hazy plastic lens, too, so we replaced it with a glass one, like you did. Much better, but not as good, or expensive, as LED.

We, too help people out a lot with our 2010 PPV. At least once a week, we'll pull up to an intersection and see a driver on another lane slowly reach over and fasten their seat belt. We always say "Well, we saved a life today!"

I've always wondered how those 3rd row seats go in. Don't need one, just wondered. Thanks for sharing the install.

 

[Katarn]

Bunch of things on the list to knock out, hopefully start tomorrow.

 

[Katarn]

So between weather and life no upgrades got done this weekend. But today I had to do something so I decided to tackle the LED spotlight upgrade.
Big thanks to Sackman7878 for pointing out an affordable alternative as I was underwhelmed with my first bulb upgrade.
So this is probably covered other places but I'll give a brief overview so everyone knows what they're getting into.
This is what the LED plug looks like, it wouldn't work how it comes so you need to take it apart like so:


This is what the existing wiring looks like




No rocket science but the male blades of the LED plug won't fit into the females on the it. (And no option in the DIC to help either)

So here is my TEMPORARY solution.

I modified the plugs to fit then electrical taped them to be secure until I can go buy the right ends.

 

[CrashTestDummy]

I seem to remember having to do a similar mod when going from the plastic bulb to glass on our PPV. It's been a few years, though, so don't remember exactly what that mod was.