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Be sure to check the gaskets around the rear door. They are notorious for rusting. I shoot WD40 corrosion inhibiting spray behind them every few weeks. The oil actually leaks through a seam in the rear door when I spray the gaskets on the door itself. Not great construction lol.
If you have a garage, consider getting a dehumidifier for it. I run one every night to reduce ambient humidity to roughly 35%, which should evaporate most pooled water (though water behind the door gaskets for example may not fully evaporate even after 10+ hours overnight) and slow corrosion.
Thanks for the tips JD101b. I've read through the entire rust thread and will be implementing many of the suggestions in the near future. For now my car is street/driveway parked, but that should change around the end of the year. Finding a house with a garage with a tall enough door is a "tall order"!
For the WD40 corrosion inhibiting spray you're using, this is it correct?
I have to replace all 4 rear door hinge seals as mine are pretty ripped/warped and I also have the 3 exposed holes for the rear tire carrier I have not plugged. I'll address all of these points in the next week. I have checked all along the rear door seal and I do not have any rust. Will fully remove the seal and all the rear door interior bits to check inside also and add sound deadening material back there, as well as lubing up all the moving and latching parts.
Thanks for the tips JD101b. I've read through the entire rust thread and will be implementing many of the suggestions in the near future. For now my car is street/driveway parked, but that should change around the end of the year. Finding a house with a garage with a tall enough door is a "tall order"!
I have to replace all 4 rear door hinge seals as mine are pretty ripped/warped and I also have the 3 exposed holes for the rear tire carrier I have not plugged. I'll address all of these points in the next week. I have checked all along the rear door seal and I do not have any rust. Will fully remove the seal and all the rear door interior bits to check inside also and add sound deadening material back there, as well as lubing up all the moving and latching parts.
That's the stuff. I'd thoroughly soak the backside of the window seals (stick the straw behind the stripping and spray away), all the door hinges, the rear rubber gaskets and the sunroof surround with the stuff. In order to prevent overspray, I tape off all areas surrounding the area with masking tape and several layers of newspaper. If you want to be extra cautious, use LPS to coat the chassis and underside of the vehicle...LPS is similar in nature to that WD40 I mentioned but will stay for months on exposed surfaces. DO NOT use rubberized sealant of any kind as it will just trap water and exacerbate rust. A rust inhibiting paint is another option, but LPS seems to be the best overall solution.
Unless you live in the desert, a climate controlled garage is a necessity for owning a G. To further promote circulation of dry air, you can place a few fans in the garage and underneath the truck to blow dry air into the chassis.
That's the stuff. I'd thoroughly soak the backside of the window seals (stick the straw behind the stripping and spray away), all the door hinges, the rear rubber gaskets and the sunroof surround with the stuff. In order to prevent overspray, I tape off all areas surrounding the area with masking tape and several layers of newspaper. If you want to be extra cautious, use LPS to coat the chassis and underside of the vehicle...LPS is similar in nature to that WD40 I mentioned but will stay for months on exposed surfaces. DO NOT use rubberized sealant of any kind as it will just trap water and exacerbate rust. A rust inhibiting paint is another option, but LPS seems to be the best overall solution.
Unless you live in the desert, a climate controlled garage is a necessity for owning a G. To further promote circulation of dry air, you can place a few fans in the garage and underneath the truck to blow dry air into the chassis.
Thanks for the tips! I'll be sure to be thorough with the body rust spots and underbody rust. I had purchased rust encapsulator and undercoating from Eastwood to take care of the undercarriage, but will use the undercoating sparingly on areas that are low risk. I'll grab some POR-15 also and paint seal some of the body rust areas as well as the suspension components/frame members that need the refinishing. I also picked up Eastwood's 2k epoxy primer in black to spot touch some of the more visible areas.
I'll finally be able to get under the car tomorrow so will take a closer look. I'll also address many of the trouble spots in the wheel well/suspension area when I replace my shocks/springs in the coming week.
I've been thinking recently about a few other design projects I can tackle with the G that others may also be interested in. I have several ideas that are in the working phase and will post details about them when they are more complete.
Question: What are the forum rules for selling/advertising custom designed things for public purchase? I can 3D print almost anything with my FDM printer for prototyping/parts that require finishing, and also have contacts for small and large scale production if anything ever comes to that. I would not take on any reseller or distributor contracts, so just the things that I design and manufacture.
Anyway, I had seen the few Youtube videos before I found my truck that Icon did of the G-wagon several years back. I liked some of the elements they improved on and wanted to recreate them with my own twist.
I wanted to start with the side marker cover/guards.
I had thought about replacing the OE side marker lights with LED, and iJDMTOY looks to make a good replacement housing set, but I like the OE color better (amber up front, red out back) and wanted to keep that color contrast. I will end up replacing the bulbs with LED and wire in a load resistor if needed, but also wanted to blend them into he G's design better than just sticking them on the fenders.
This is what I came up with:
After 3D printing with some light sanding work. These would need to be completely finished on the outside as there are several curved surfaces that FDM does not render well. Alternatively, I plan to quote these for CNC out of 6061 Aluminum with a Black Anodize.
Test fit onto the truck in the front:
Test fit onto the truck in the rear:
And here are some shots from farther away. Overall, I like the look and don't even mind the lines of the FDM 3D printing. These will work with existing OE hardware, but I have also sourced black oxide stainless steel hardware. All they really need is a UV protective clear coat to prevent them from fading/degrading over time.
Any feedback on the design? Any other design features for a set of side marker covers that you would like to see? Would anyone be interested in a set of these if I started selling them? Let me know!
On a side note, I will not end up using the OE hardware screws. I plan to use longer bolts and mount a custom bracket/housing on the inside of the fender to house a Load Resistor Assembly with additional head sinks and small fans to pair with the headlight low beams.
My JW Speaker Evo J2's are running into load issues with the MB computer and are shutting off due to low current draw (2.2A nominal draw with low beams on). I could easily just wire in a 6ohm 50W load resistor in there and call it good, but these get very very hot, so I wanted to design a system that would take care of this in the best possible way, and have everything bolted to the chassis. Everything will also be plug and play/bolt on so no changes to the existing body panels/wiring. This will also be a convenient location for a load resistor in case replacing the sidemarker bulbs with LEDs will require them.
I'll share more on this crazy load resistor/heatsink/fan design after it is completed and installed.
How did you wire those lights up? I'd love to do something like this eventually. Was it a difficult process? How are they activated?
Originally Posted by Limey Hooligan
Yes, the LP6 Pros are pretty sweet, not sure I'd use them as regular headlights though...
Here's my setup:
After some off-roading and plentiful stone chips occurring on my rear fender flares (not to mention the whole side being mud-splattered frequently), I looked long and hard around for a mud flap solution, especially one that would extend out far enough to cover my wider tires and track due to big wheel spacers. I ended up finding some universal fit mounting brackets in powder coated thin steel at SharpTruck.com: Sharp Truck Universal Mud Flap Mounting Brackets
Ha... looks like they've added my G Wagon as a customer picture there.
Then I just paired them with standard 12in wide rubber mud flaps from eBay. You do have to screw them into your inner wheel arches, but they are fully adjustable as far as positioning up-down, inboard/outboard, and the thin steel is very flexible.
I ended up mounting the rear bracket higher than the front, so the rear rubber mud flaps are longer. However all 4 flaps are the same distance off the ground. What the rubber flap doesn't catch, the steel bracket catches, so they're working out well so far.
How did you wire those lights up? I'd love to do something like this eventually. Was it a difficult process? How are they activated?
I'm not sure if Limey will see your question, but there are many choices for this.
The LP6's are rated at 90W so you will need a relay wiring harness connected to the battery/battery connection points. Since you'll most likely be running 2 of these, you'll need a 15A-20A fuse directly off the power connection. The LP6's also have a DRL function, so you'll have to connect to the OE Mercedes DRL power line, or you can choose to power this any way you want depending on how it will function. The LP6's also have a 'high' and 'low' setting, so that will be something you have to consider how you want to control that.
For the cabin switch, you can go with an aftermarket switch in any location, or tie into a factory switch. Baja Designs also recomments using their switch + wiring harness which has everything ready to connect. One function I was thinking of connecting additional front lighting to was the rear fog light switch. It's seldom used and really not all that effective, but the switch function is already there. There really are endless possibilities for power wiring and control switches
Thanks for the pointers. I'm going to need to do a lot of research on this!
I'd love to be able to use the blank switch on the dash (next to the windscreen heater) to control the lights. I wonder if there is any way to get a custom switch made that looks like it came from the factory.
The rear fog isn't that useful, but you should look into replacing it with a brighter LED bulb. I swapped out the turn signal bulbs for LED and I swear you could almost drive at night with them if they were wired to stay on continuously...
Originally Posted by shiann
I'm not sure if Limey will see your question, but there are many choices for this.
The LP6's are rated at 90W so you will need a relay wiring harness connected to the battery/battery connection points. Since you'll most likely be running 2 of these, you'll need a 15A-20A fuse directly off the power connection. The LP6's also have a DRL function, so you'll have to connect to the OE Mercedes DRL power line, or you can choose to power this any way you want depending on how it will function. The LP6's also have a 'high' and 'low' setting, so that will be something you have to consider how you want to control that.
For the cabin switch, you can go with an aftermarket switch in any location, or tie into a factory switch. Baja Designs also recomments using their switch + wiring harness which has everything ready to connect. One function I was thinking of connecting additional front lighting to was the rear fog light switch. It's seldom used and really not all that effective, but the switch function is already there. There really are endless possibilities for power wiring and control switches
Thanks for the pointers. I'm going to need to do a lot of research on this!
I'd love to be able to use the blank switch on the dash (next to the windscreen heater) to control the lights. I wonder if there is any way to get a custom switch made that looks like it came from the factory.
The rear fog isn't that useful, but you should look into replacing it with a brighter LED bulb. I swapped out the turn signal bulbs for LED and I swear you could almost drive at night with them if they were wired to stay on continuously...
There is a lot of YouTube videos regarding the installation of the LP6. Mostly for Jeeps, they commonly use SPOD. I did saw another video using the factory switch by the gear shift area. G/L
Thanks for the pointers. I'm going to need to do a lot of research on this!
I'd love to be able to use the blank switch on the dash (next to the windscreen heater) to control the lights. I wonder if there is any way to get a custom switch made that looks like it came from the factory.
The rear fog isn't that useful, but you should look into replacing it with a brighter LED bulb. I swapped out the turn signal bulbs for LED and I swear you could almost drive at night with them if they were wired to stay on continuously...
It seems like Karl from GWagenAccessories is the only one who has retrofitted switches into the blank switches and reported about it. He made a post about it over at Pointed Three linked here: http://www.pointedthree.com/disc/for...search#M154712
I plan to get a second switch module for my 2005 to do this switch retrofit, but it will end up being quite complicated. In addition to physically getting a switch in there in the correct position, you'll have to create a remote relay box to power whatever you plan on powering. This switch would only be used as the trigger for the relay. This is on my long long list of projects that I've thought about for the G that I will get to in time. I also want to use these for auxiliary lights or other custom things in the future.
Here are two photos of the switch panel from an early MBUSA W463 disassembled (rehosted from Karl's thread over at Pointed Three)
I've had a few members (across all the W463 forums) reach out to me with very different model year W463's interested in a glove box hinge repair. Oldest model was a 1992 and newest was a 2013. It doesn't look like the glove box handle mechanism has changed much at all over the years.
I was discussing with a forum member to help fix their glove box and noticed there is supposed to be a spring on the hinge to return it to the flush position after being pulled. I had no idea there was a spring in the assembly as my glove box did not have it after being fixed by a previous owner. I went back to my design and added in the largest torsion springs I could easily retrofit into my design. I wanted to post an update about this as I was able to retrofit my glove box with the new solution with torsion springs.
The design works overall, but the springs are not strong enough to fully return the handle to the flush position. It returns it approx 75% of the full travel. You would have to push he handle back to the flush position after shutting the glove box.
For me, this is not an issue as I would shut the glove box by pushing on the handle area anyway, but I understand not everyone would be fine with this.
Here is the glove box side of the hinge after I used a Dremel to carve out the old hinge piece.
New glove box side hinge glued in with torsion springs trimmed and installed. I also greased up the contact and pivot points using silicone paste.
Handle side hinge also greased up.
Here is how far the handle retracts under the torsion spring force.
Here is the handle flush with the front of the glove box (pushed all the way down)
I think as far as design/development for this fix, this is probably as far as I will go. If anyone needs these hinge parts to fix their broken glove box and is willing to live with the handle not fully retracting, send me a PM and I should be able to get a set out to you quickly.
If you're looking to have the glove box be 100% perfect again, I believe the only real solution is purchasing a new glove box at a cost of ~$400. My 3D printed hinge solution is significantly less than that.
I've been having issues with my JW Speaker 8700 Evolution J2 LED headlights since I installed them. The driver's side turns off at random times and I get a headlight bulb out warning on the dash. I've only put ~1000 miles since purchase and very few of those have been at night so I didn't prioritize addressing the issue. I haven't seen anyone post about this so I'm not sure if it's just my car, or what. But hope this info finds it to anyone who is thinking of doing this LED headlight upgrade and has the same issue.
According to JW Speaker's specs listed here: JWS Model 8700 Evo J2 Series Specs
Operating Voltage: 9-16V DC
Current Draw: 4.2A @ 12V DC (High Beam)
2.0A @ 12V DC (Low Beam)
Since the OE Mercedes H4 bulb is rated for 55/60W (4.6-5A @ 12V DC), the MB Computer wasn't happy due to the low current draw during the JWS low beam operation (2A vs 5A current draw). I did notice that when I had the high beams on, the headlights never turned off, so load resistors are required to make the set work properly.
The goal was to use the load resistors to dissipate the lowest amount of heat as possible to make the MB computer happy, so figuring out what the max resistance I could use with the low beams working correctly.
In theory, I know a 4.2A current draw will make the computer happy, so that means load resistors to dissipate 2.2A during low beam operation. With Ohm's law, that means R = V/I -> R = (12V)/(2.2A) = 5.5ohms.
I purchased these 50W 6ohm load resistors to see what resistance I would need for the system to be happy. Connected one of the load resistors in parallel between the low beam + and the ground wire. This worked great, but the load resistor got EXTREMELY hot. I doubled the resistance to 12 ohms by connecting 2 x 6ohm resistors in series. Also worked, but still too hot. I did the same experiment with 3x 6ohm (18ohms total) resistors in series and then 4x 6ohm (24ohms total) resistors in series.
Results from the test showed that 12ohms was the max value (lowest power dissipation) for the MB computer to stay happy.
I wanted to add in more cooling surface to the load resistors in order for them to stay cooler, so I designed a bracket to mount on the inside of the fender (using the sidemarker light screw holes) to hold the load resistors and an extra aluminum heat sinks. I coupled the load resistors with the aluminum heat sinks using thermally conductive silicone pads. I also purchased new 'larger' 100W 12ohm load resistors to deal with the heat better.
Below is the design how the heatsinks and load resistor are oriented, and their installation orientation showing the sidemarker lights.
Below is the assembly completed with the adapter wiring harness wired in correctly. This adapter harness is H4 (Mercedes side) -> H11 (JWS 8700 Evo J2 side) I made the wire lengths exact so the MB OE H4 harness reaches and can be tied down tightly. Everything is soldered with 2 layers of heat shrink, and the wiring harness is protected by a corrugated sheath and taped with fabric Tesa tape.
And then the assembly installed on the inside of the fender. I replaced the factory screws and push screw panel nuts with a longer socket head cap screw with a nylon lock washer on the back side. This will make it impossible to change the side marker bulbs without removing the headlights, but that is okay with me. I plan to replace the sidemarker bulbs with LED bulbs from superbrightleds so should not have to ever replace them. I also replaced with all stainless steel black anodized hardware of course. This hardware set will work well with the sidemarker covers I designed previously, so I will install soon.
I performed a test having the low beams on for ~15 minutes and the entire load resistor/heat sink assembly still got extremely hot. I have been running this setup for the past 2 weeks now (with plenty of night time driving) and the headlights have been working flawlessly! But I know that the load resistor/heat sink assembly is still getting really hot, so I decided to go further and redesign the system to be an active cooling setup.
Below he outer case is transparent, but you get the idea. I minimized the gaps in the empty space to direct the air as much as possible close over metal, to draw heat away from the surface. I am now using 2x 100W 6ohm load resistors as well as 4x heat sinks as well as 2x 50mm fans, one pushing, and one pulling air for redundancy. I'm printing the parts out now and will assemble in the next few days. Hope to have it all installed by the weekend along with the sidemarker covers.
In other news, my G63 springs arrived also so will be planning a day in the near future to install the Fox 2.0's along with the G63 springs. Can't wait to have a comfortable ride!
Hope everyone is doing well this labor day long weekend.
Small updates for my truck and other g-wagen related things.
1. I updated the design for the glove box hinge fix to now include 4 torsion springs, as well as a higher preload on them to return the handle to fully flat. I was contacted by a forum member to help repair his glove box and I was able optimize my hinge fix, as well as document all the steps required for the hinge retrofit. Thanks Rob! From what I have learned from a few members looking to repair their W463 glove box hinges, the OE design does not look to have changed between a 1992, 2005 (mine), and a 2013, so that pretty much covers all W463 models.So if anyone else wants to fix their broken glove box hinge and not have to shell out ~$4-500 for a new one, let me know.
2. I replaced the rear cargo door hinge seals as mine were completely falling apart. I ordered some OE parts a few weeks ago but finally got some time to install them while waiting for street cleaning/ASotS parking rules to end. The hinges now look a ton better and should help to keep the water out. I greased up the whole area with WD40 to hopefully keep the rubber moist and the water out.
3. I ordered an interior LED bulb kit from Amazon to convert the older yellow OE halogen bulbs to bright white LEDs. I know there are several expensive options, but wanted to give this kit a shot as it looked good based on the limited reviews and fair price. The bulbs I got looked surprisingly well designed and manufactured. I've installed half of them and they all work like they should and the light output is great. I'll finish up the LED install and update with more pictures tomorrow. The kit includes 12 lights, 2 rear cargo, 2 rear passenger, 4 door courtesy lights, 1 glove box light, 2 map lights, 1 center dome light. Shipping actually only took 2 week also vs the 2 months advertised.
4. I ordered a front speaker component set to finish off the sound system. I went with the Polk Audio MM 6502 as the will match the audio signature of the other Polk speakers (Polk Audio DB652 Coaxials and Polk Audio DB402 Coaxials), as well as being an upgrade over the DB6502 I was planning on going with. They should add a more full bass sound due to the stronger lithium magnets and stiffer cone materials, and the highs should be more clear yet less tinny since the tweeters are larger. I will have to, once again, design custom speaker ring adapters for the front doors, as well as tweeter cups that bolt to the OE locations, so of course this will not be a straight forward install.
I hope to install these next week some time and finally be "finished" with the audio system upgrade. The last step to this will be to remove all the AC/Speaker surrounds to fix/refinish them so they won't be an broken mess/eyesore anymore.
If I really do enjoy the sound of the MM series better than the DB series, I may just upgrade the rear doors to the Polk Audio MM652's and rear cargo area speakers to the Polk Audio MM522's, and then eventually upgrade the amp+dsp setup to an Audio Control D-6.1200 and an Audio Control ACM-1.300 for the kicker subwoofer. But that would be a ~$1700 addition, so may not happen for a while.
5. I'll be taking a day off next week to install the Fox 2.0 Performance Adjustable shocks along with G63 springs. Hoping this goes without any issues as the install is very straight forward. I'll address any rust/undercoating issues in the wheel area also at the same time. I've been taking some accelerometer data with my phone while driving (a few very specific roads at a constant speed) to see how rough the OE G55 suspension is. I will then take the same data with the Fox shocks/G63 springs at different adjustment settings to see how much softer/better the new suspension actually is vs the OE setup. Pretty much everyone has said that the trucks are significantly more comfortable, but I want to try to quantify that and add the data to this forum so anyone else on the fence about this modification will have empirical data to back up their decisions. Here's an example of the data I took the other day on a short road by my work with little traffic that represents the average road, some good smooth sections, some large dips, pot holes, manhole covers, etc. I was holding my phone down against the center console but will find a better solution for this as the phone cannot move relative to the truck if I want the most accurate data.
6. I've been working at night also on a crazy design project that I will finish and get working for my truck, but being able to sell to others is another question that I can't address now. For the Fox 2.0 Performance Adjustable Shocks, The rears are easy to access, but the fronts end up being buried behind a metal and plastic splash shield. This makes adjusting the fronts very difficult. Another member recently wrote up a great how-to for remote mounting the reservoirs horizontally behind the wheel in the fender, but this will involve cutting which I'm not sure if I'm willing to do (yet). Enter my idea how to make the shocks adjustable using a servo motor on each shock adjustment knob, all wired into the passenger cabin, and controlled with an Arduino. The adjustment will be done using a rotary encoder with detents, and will be displayed on a mini 8x8 matrix display.
I started first working on the design for the servo motor/shock adjustment knob side first and have flushed out the design pretty well and am up to this point now. The servo motor itself is waterproof, but the new mounting flanges and housings will have seals to aid in keeping out water/dirt for a longer life. I plan to 3D print all of these parts at first for testing but will eventually quote it for CNC out of 6061 and Anodized Black.
I also purchased an Arduino, 8x8 matrix display, rotary encoder, and servo motor to start testing how to control all of these components as well as how to create a simple program that will allow the user to select adjustment settings 1-9 and save that setting until the user changes it. My plan is to have the fronts and rears independently controlled, and put all of the user controls/display within a circular knob that can live on the left side of the steering wheel, on that round blank plate that is in every W463 that I have seen. I have not worked on the knob design yet, but that will start soon.
The Arduino programming is relatively easy. I have it currently set up to adjust the shock setting value of 1-9 when you turn the knob. The number is displayed in a 'low brightness' setting when switching, but when you click the rotary encoder in (built in click switch), the number is switched to a 'high brightness' display setting and the servo motor then rotates to the correct position of the shock adjustment value set. That value is then written into EEPROM so the value is stored even during power down. This system only works for 1 servo motor currently, but I will expanded it to work for 4 and have the front and rears independently controlled in the next few weeks.
I plan to use all waterproof connectors and waterproof cables and make this a simple 'plug and play' as all the system will need to work is to be connected to the 4 shock adjustment knobs, and power.
Anyway, when I have more to report on this, I'll upload more pictures and videos of the system in action. I think the best part of this system as planned/designed is that ANY vehicle that uses the Fox 2.0 Performance suspension with adjustable knobs on the external reservoirs will be able to use this system. The system is not super quick to react, so you can forget about millisecond response time and automatically adjusting for the coming road ahead, but now you'll be able to go full soft when offroading to a middle comfortable on-road setting, and a full hard setting for super smooth roads or when your rig is loaded up with lots of gear without having to crawl under the truck.
Hope everyone is doing well this labor day long weekend.
Small updates for my truck and other g-wagen related things.
2. I replaced the rear cargo door hinge seals as mine were completely falling apart. I ordered some OE parts a few weeks ago but finally got some time to install them while waiting for street cleaning/ASotS parking rules to end. The hinges now look a ton better and should help to keep the water out. I greased up the whole area with WD40 to hopefully keep the rubber moist and the water out.
Any comments or feedback is always welcome!
Really impressive stuff. Can you please tell me the part number and how many of the rear cargo door hinge seals that you purchased? Thank you!
6. I've been working at night also on a crazy design project that I will finish and get working for my truck, but being able to sell to others is another question that I can't address now. For the Fox 2.0 Performance Adjustable Shocks, The rears are easy to access, but the fronts end up being buried behind a metal and plastic splash shield. This makes adjusting the fronts very difficult. Another member recently wrote up a great how-to for remote mounting the reservoirs horizontally behind the wheel in the fender, but this will involve cutting which I'm not sure if I'm willing to do (yet). Enter my idea how to make the shocks adjustable using a servo motor on each shock adjustment knob, all wired into the passenger cabin, and controlled with an Arduino. The adjustment will be done using a rotary encoder with detents, and will be displayed on a mini 8x8 matrix display.
I started first working on the design for the servo motor/shock adjustment knob side first and have flushed out the design pretty well and am up to this point now. The servo motor itself is waterproof, but the new mounting flanges and housings will have seals to aid in keeping out water/dirt for a longer life. I plan to 3D print all of these parts at first for testing but will eventually quote it for CNC out of 6061 and Anodized Black.
I also purchased an Arduino, 8x8 matrix display, rotary encoder, and servo motor to start testing how to control all of these components as well as how to create a simple program that will allow the user to select adjustment settings 1-9 and save that setting until the user changes it. My plan is to have the fronts and rears independently controlled, and put all of the user controls/display within a circular knob that can live on the left side of the steering wheel, on that round blank plate that is in every W463 that I have seen. I have not worked on the knob design yet, but that will start soon.
The Arduino programming is relatively easy. I have it currently set up to adjust the shock setting value of 1-9 when you turn the knob. The number is displayed in a 'low brightness' setting when switching, but when you click the rotary encoder in (built in click switch), the number is switched to a 'high brightness' display setting and the servo motor then rotates to the correct position of the shock adjustment value set. That value is then written into EEPROM so the value is stored even during power down. This system only works for 1 servo motor currently, but I will expanded it to work for 4 and have the front and rears independently controlled in the next few weeks.
I plan to use all waterproof connectors and waterproof cables and make this a simple 'plug and play' as all the system will need to work is to be connected to the 4 shock adjustment knobs, and power.
Anyway, when I have more to report on this, I'll upload more pictures and videos of the system in action. I think the best part of this system as planned/designed is that ANY vehicle that uses the Fox 2.0 Performance suspension with adjustable knobs on the external reservoirs will be able to use this system. The system is not super quick to react, so you can forget about millisecond response time and automatically adjusting for the coming road ahead, but now you'll be able to go full soft when offroading to a middle comfortable on-road setting, and a full hard setting for super smooth roads or when your rig is loaded up with lots of gear without having to crawl under the truck.
Really impressive stuff. Can you please tell me the part number and how many of the rear cargo door hinge seals that you purchased? Thank you!
The Back Door Hinge Seals for the W463 trucks is MB P/N 460-743-01-78-64 - $6.44/each - Qty 4
Part #17 Here. I purchased from myMBgenuineparts.com but you can get them from any of the OE parts suppliers.
To install you'll need some WD40 and a thin trim removal tool like the white one pictured above. Soak the whole thing inside and out with WD40 and slowly work it around the hinge and making sure the inner lip goes on the inside of the panel. It took maybe 10 minutes for all 4.
My fox reservoirs are attached to the main bodies and pretty easy to reach front of rear. Maybe the 2009 W463 mounting is different
It's probably all the same and I'm probably making it a bigger deal than it actually is. I'll be installing my Fox 2.0's on Wednesday so will see how "difficult" it is. Nevertheless, I enjoy the tinkering and this gave me a perfect excuse to get back into the world of Arduino's and simple programming.
How' are your truck and the other 2 projects coming along?
3. I ordered an interior LED bulb kit from Amazon to convert the older yellow OE halogen bulbs to bright white LEDs. I know there are several expensive options, but wanted to give this kit a shot as it looked good based on the limited reviews and fair price. The bulbs I got looked surprisingly well designed and manufactured. I've installed half of them and they all work like they should and the light output is great. I'll finish up the LED install and update with more pictures tomorrow. The kit includes 12 lights, 2 rear cargo, 2 rear passenger, 4 door courtesy lights, 1 glove box light, 2 map lights, 1 center dome light. Shipping actually only took 2 week also vs the 2 months advertised.
I've got the same LED bulb kit and they're really great, even the packaging was perfect.
I don't know if you've replaced the map lights, but I had real trouble putting the lens back.
You should take out the the whole dome lights and replace the map lights from inside.
Once you take out the map lights lens, it's going to be really difficult to put them back, at least for me.
I've got the same LED bulb kit and they're really great, even the packaging was perfect.
I don't know if you've replaced the map lights, but I had real trouble putting the lens back.
You should take out the the whole dome lights and replace the map lights from inside.
Once you take out the map lights lens, it's going to be really difficult to put them back, at least for me.
Thanks for the tip. I was wondering how to do the map lights today and will tackle them tomorrow from the inside.
Took the truck with the family and the parents on its first road trip to upstate NY. A cool ~250 miles one way and the G performed flawlessly. Plenty of power for the uphill sections (loaded with 5 people and all the whole cargo area packed with stuff), and averaged an amazing 13mpg. Doesn't sound like much different than the 10mpg I've been getting with mixed highway/city driving, but 30% is nothing to sneeze at!
I was finally able to finish the Fox 2.0 install. I got the kit from Eurowise through JackWagonOverlanding and although they technically fit and bolted on, I would not call the kit completely bolt-on. I'll write up a more detailed post about the install next week when I get home. The fronts took about 12 hours to install, and the rears about 5 hours. I replaced all 4 shocks and springs (G63 springs - FYI, the G63 front springs are just about the same thickness as the G55, but 1in longer. The rear springs on the G63 and G55's are the same, one green stripe).
This is a list of what I needed to do to install the Fox 2.0 Adjustable kit from Eurowise
1. Drill out the upper front bushings to fit the bolt. Impossible to fit the bolt prior.
2. Source washers for the front upper mount as the rubber bushing just squishes when you tighten it down
3. Cut away a good section of the metal inner fender liner for the shocks to not hit anything
4. Had too bend the inner fender liner metal away to not hit the shock remote reservoir
5. Had to reverse the shock bolt on the driver's side to not interfere with the steering linkage nut (Bolt head now facing the front of the vehicle)
6. Driver's side shock mounts with the fitting pointing towards the engine - Passenger's side shock mounts with the fitting pointing away from the engine (not possible to fit it the opposite orientations without hitting metal on both sides)
I set both Fox 2.0 front and rear adjustable settings to 2 clicks off full soft, and the ride was pretty compliant, but there is still a little bit too much swaying and bouncing around for my liking. I may end up around the 3-4 clicks from soft range, but the ride is NIGHT AND DAY compared to the OE G55 suspension. So much better on the highway, and so much better on the slow speed poorly maintained roads (think light offroading/badly maintained cobblestone streets). Everything is less jarring at initial impact. I tried recording data of this, but the absolute G readings aren't that different, but you can definitely feel the difference. The truck definitely doesn't ride like an S-Class or any luxury sedan, but it no longer rides like a 90's sports car with coil-overs lowered to ride on the bumpstops.
Anyway, even with all the issues I faced installing the Eurowise kit, still very happy with the outcome. The ride comfort is now more than tolerable, almost in the enjoyable range. A great modification if you have the energy, time, and patience to figure everything out.
Glad you're finding the Fox shocks to your liking. Yes, the setting adjustment can be tricky, I think 2 or 3 clicks in the back and 2 in the front is the sweet spot for an unloaded G. Once loaded up, I went to 3 in the front and 5 in the back and that seemed to work well.
What did the family think of the G?
Glad you're finding the Fox shocks to your liking. Yes, the setting adjustment can be tricky, I think 2 or 3 clicks in the back and 2 in the front is the sweet spot for an unloaded G. Once loaded up, I went to 3 in the front and 5 in the back and that seemed to work well.
What did the family think of the G?
Thanks for the tip Limey. I think I'll set the fronts at 2/3 clicks and increase the rears to 3/4 clicks on the way home.
The family liked the G. It made for a great road trip car, minus the gas mileage. Didn't matter for this trip as door to door was under 1 tank, but my trip later this year back down to Florida will be filled with gas station stops. There was enough room for 4 adults and 1 kid (big car seat) to be relatively comfortable, and plenty of space in the cargo area for everything we brought for a week including a full set of tools + emergency gear.
I do have to get the seat air bolsters working to make the driver's seat more comfortable, but overall no real complaints except for copious amounts of dead bugs on the windscreen! I think the only real improvement from here would be increased sound deadening throughout the truck to quiet down the road/tire noise. I don't know how much time I'll have to tackle that between now and the end of the year given the weather changing, moving, work picking up steam, and everything else in between.
Also will have to change out the tires for A/T's for the winter as the tread depth of the Pirelli's is getting a little bit low for my comfort. BFG KO2's in 285/60R18 are the frontrunners for me currently unless anyone has other opinions on a good A/T tire for mostly on-road, but still aggressive enough looking/actually good at offroading/good in the winter mix/snow. I've heard good things about the Yokohama Geolander A/T's but still have my mind pretty much set on the BFG's.
08-20-2020, 12:54 PM
