Did not go well

[Vegas Teacher]

The wiring did not go well. I thought I would have my truck all ready to go this weekend after I spoke with a friend of a friend. I pulled up in the Volvo and the look alone on his face was not good. I sent the Jackalopee instructions to the person who was going to do it and they said they understood very well what to do. When we tried to find where to insert all of the stuff for the direclink break control the guy could not find them. So I got in my truck and came home.

I got up at 6:00 a.m. on the weekend for no gain.

There was a lot of frustration there. I am not a mechanic. The Semi is a new animal to me. I am sure many of you look at it and say hey this process is easy just plug and play but I could not find the plugs. It is probably like a snake, "it would have bit me" but I just did not see it, and the masses of wires and harnesses under the dash did not help me any. So driving it down to Flagstaff Arizona this weekend won't happen. I will be pulling my trailer using the Tundra 1/2 ton.

Well they did look at my C.B. and it is working fine now. 

I called and texted Flyer already. He got to hear me in my state of p!$$ed 0** !

Well wish me luck I am doing a 10K marathon that involves biking and jogging with an event or obstacle between each change of riding or jogging.

Later Vegas Teacher - Cory Ossana

[Darryl&Rita]

Cory, don't beat yourself up to much, or your helper. Almost everyone here has had a weekend dissolve into nothingness, at least once. The more pressure you place on a plan, the better the chances it'll derail. 

[Vegas Teacher]

2 minutes ago, Darryl&Rita said:

Cory, don't beat yourself up to much, or your helper. Almost everyone here has had a weekend dissolve into nothingness, at least once. The more pressure you place on a plan, the better the chances it'll derail. 

Thanks I was really upset, I mean really upset! I really wanted to use it to go to Flagstaff this coming weekend. It is only a 6 hour drive but it would have been a great first pull for the set up for me to get my feet wet and get some experience. I know I-40 from Arizona to Kansas like the back of my hand. There are no supersizes, I just really wanted this to all work out. Getting the hitch on was flawless and the people who did it were really nice. I pulled up to a house in the "hood" I just should have known before I even turned the key off.

Later,

Cory O 

[Ronbo]

Mine isn't a Volvo but it is below the steering column. It may have a cover over it. You will just turn the cover to remove. The only wire from the direclink to the jakalope is the blue wire. 

[hone eagle]

the OBD port is next to a circular air vent ,not buried or hidden in any way, nothing has to be moved or disassembled to plug into it.

My direct link was a bit more involved as I don't use a jackalopee ,but the OBD part was simple.

[Alie&Jim's Carrilite]

If there was any way to bring the truck to the WCR, I could put it together in a couple of hours for you.  It's not simple, but not complex either.  

Think of the Jackalopee as a completely different system from the truck.

Think of the Direct link as another different system.

 

[Shallow Draft]

Don't let the brake issue stop your trip. Install a simple electronic brake controller. Likely less than $80 and easy to wire.  Braking won't be as responsive but will work and will get you there.  When you have the time and talent available, the more complicated direct link can be installed. When I got my truck it had a Prodigy controller. 

[Gregg Carsson]

13 hours ago, Vegas Teacher said:

I called and texted Flyer already. He got to hear me in my state of p!$$ed 0** !

Later Vegas Teacher - Cory Ossana

Life's lesson of the day is certain things happen for a reason!  Don't get pissed off, look for a solution to the issue!

[Darryl&Rita]

With the wiring changes involved, I'd be looking at close to a days worth of work, as an experienced tech. This will leave time for looking at other minor fixes along the way, and notes for larger repairs.

Remove the wiring from the rear of the sleeper, and feed it up through the floor of the sleeper. Use a strain relief to suppoty the wire and avoid chafing.

Connect the wires to the terminal strips, already pre-wired to and from the Jakalope. Bring the blue "input" wire forward, to be terminated to the blue output from your brake controller. While running wires under the floor mat, add a fused "hot" wire going to the Jakalope. 

Time to run the wires out to the rear bumper area. Another strain relief, through the floor. for the wires going back. Black Ty-Wraps are UV resistant, and are a perfect long term temporary wire support. They even work on the trailer connector, if your short on time, or bolts.

Edit to add: I think the DirecLink receives power from the diagnostics port, so it's literally "Plug and Play", except for the mounting bracket.

[Vegas Teacher]

Thanks to all of you again. You know it is nice to hear others have gone through this stuff also. I am trying to get it all done so I can at least make the WCR. From the WCR I am going to Michigan from Michigan to Kansas and then back to Vegas. Our summer this year is two weeks shorter. We are starting school earlier in the fall to get done with Final Exams before Winter break.

Later,

Cory O

[alan0043]

1 hour ago, Vegas Teacher said:

Thanks to all of you again. You know it is nice to hear others have gone through this stuff also. I am trying to get it all done so I can at least make the WCR. From the WCR I am going to Michigan from Michigan to Kansas and then back to Vegas. Our summer this year is two weeks shorter. We are starting school earlier in the fall to get done with Final Exams before Winter break.

Later,

Cory O

Hi Cory,

Please don't let your own mind be your own worst enemy. You never know if you where suppose to be on the road or not. Everything happens for a reason. I could write a book about the different things that have not gone right for me.

I have a thought or too for you. Look at the Jackalopee and the Direct Link as two separate things. The way that I did my Jackalopee was to lay out everything on the bench first. I wanted everything mounted to plywood. The first thing that I did was get my plywood to size. The size of my plywood is 16" x 27" x 3/4". I used the back wall panel as a templet to find  the  center of the bolt holes for the plywood. There is a place for three bolts on the back wall. Two of the places I needed to put in riv-nuts for the bolts. The plywood is also L-shaped to the side of the storage compartment for extra support. There is also a place for second bolts on the side. You might need riv-nuts on the side. After the plywood is to size and shape lay-out where you want the terminal strips and Jackalopee to go. Screw everything in place. Do you have your RV cable with the seven colored wires in it ? I bought my rv cable longer then I needed so I could have colored coded jumper wires from terminal strips to Jackalopee. Get your wires ready and installed on your terminal strips, then to your Jackalopee. I hope you got a chance to see the pictures that I posted in another thread. You can do all this work and still be able to use your truck. After you like the way you have your set-up, it is now time to install it into the truck. I removed everything from the plywood to make it easier to install in the truck, but that is just me.

Jim from Jim and Alie is a good guy and more than willing to help everyone. It is to bad that you don't live in northeast Ohio.

Keep asking questions. There is someone here more that willing to help out,
Al

[Vegas Teacher]

Well I decided I am going to drive my Semi down to the campground and stay in the cab of the truck. I am not going to let the opportunity to get a little more time behind the wheel just slip away. My wife also needs some time behind the wheel so we can just trade drivers out this summer and sleep while the other person is driving. We are great at that, we always trade out drivers so we can cover more distance. Doing this in the Outback or the Tundra was one thing but now having a real bed to sleep in will be great. I have a bicycle rack to put into my 2" receiver that will carry two bikes so that will be great.

So we now have a slot at the campground that is 100 feet long and only about 30 feet of space we will be using, so I guess I will have around 70 feet of space to play around in.

I have one last question, my wife and I are both teachers, with different teaching styles. My wife is a great driver. How do I teach her to drive the semi without winding up in a divorce? Any tips you all can give me are welcome. 

Anyway I am still going to enjoy this trip come H#!! or high water.

Later,

Cory O

 

[dblr]

5 minutes ago, Vegas Teacher said:

I have one last question, my wife and I are both teachers, with different teaching styles. My wife is a great driver. How do I teach her to drive the semi without winding up in a divorce? Any tips you all can give me are welcome. 

Later,

Cory O

 

Won't help much for this trip but I would have someone else teach her, cheaper then a lawyer

[MrSeas]

Let someone else show her the "Ropes"!

Cheaper than the alternatives.....!

[Darryl&Rita]

Good on you! Sublet the extra lot space, and offset the diesel bill. 

Teaching her will depend on her learning style and personality. Rita watched me drive, for the first trip. I called out each action, before I made it, along with why. If I was looking @ a particular car, or point in an intersection, or whatever, I told her what I was watching for. She also has her bike license, and has a defensive rider course, so most of that was second nature. 

[Exile]

You tube videos

[Ronbo]

Let her get some practice at the rally with some of the women.

[NoDirectionHome]

You drove your truck home with an experienced drive mostly on interstate.  What makes you think she won't be teaching you?

[Darryl&Rita]

2 hours ago, NoDirectionHome said:

 What makes you think she won't be teaching you?

You know my wife?

[I'mdonewiththis forum]

Cory, if at all possible go to a shopping mall with a big parking lot after hours. You can use the lines fir her to figure out just where the wheels are and she could practice all the maneuvering she wants.

[Vegas Teacher]

17 hours ago, Ronbo said:

Let her get some practice at the rally with some of the women.

I think this is good advice along with what everybody else has said but her getting to learn from other people and other ladies might be a great thing to do.

[I'mdonewiththis forum]

Gregg Shields is an excellent driving instructor!