Rig my T680

[Dollytrolley]

Had to be passed along......

 

Scrap,

 

The for sure cure for ....tailgaters....

 

Most days when I drive over the Longview / Columbia River High bridge I look down on to two of the largest log export docks in the world at any given time you will see 300 to 400 KW's being unloaded and EVERY driver that is looping the log wrappers looks like the model for your mud flap.........

 

Obviously Longview is NOT the place where the "girlie-mud-flap-models" hang out........(they must be in ....TX).

 

Drive on.........(some mud-flaps look better with .......mud)

[Exile]

 

 

 

Those tires look small, are they 22.5 low pros, or 19.5" rims?

[GeorgiaHybrid]

295/75R 22.5 tires on Kenworth 7 spoke rims from and rear. They might look small but they are normal sized.

[tyates007]

That is a beautiful truck. Those 680s are really eye catching in my opinion. This has not been a great year for my 2000 T2000. Lots of opportunity to make friends at the shop. Last time I was there the service manager was joking with my wife and I how could solve all of my problems with the old truck by swapping it out with the new 680 on the lot. It happened to be white with gray fenders and fairings. It sure was pretty. However, at this point in our lives the old paid for T2000, even on its worst day this year has not added up to what a potential payment would be on the new rig. I have noticed that there are some mid height smaller sleeper 680s that have vertical stacks on the sides. Is that an option on the big sleeper models? I have to admit there is a part of me that is a sucker for those big chrome stacks.

[GeorgiaHybrid]

I haven't seen a large sleeper with side stacks. Rear stacks can be gotten but I'm not sure about side pipes but Scrap would know if it is possible to order them or not. There is no way on this planet you can justify buying a truck like this but sometimes you have to say that you just wanted it.

On this one I ordered it with a weed burner exhaust as we kept the back of the cab completely slick to let me maximize our drom box size but still keep it low enough to mount the APU condenser on top of the drom box.

[GeorgiaHybrid]

Finished fit up on the Smart hitch last night and burned in all of the welds. Will clean and paint it tonight. Wasn't too bad once I figured out how to work around everything. At least I know that a 2016 Smart can have a hitch added to it that is capable of a center pull. Had to replace 6 bolts to make sure I had enough thread engagement but this hitch will bolt up now without any issues.

 

[Jack Mayer]

Finished fit up on the Smart hitch last night and burned in all of the welds. Will clean and paint it tonight. Wasn't too bad once I figured out how to work around everything. At least I know that a 2016 Smart can have a hitch added to it that is capable of a center pull. Had to replace 6 bolts to make sure I had enough thread engagement but this hitch will bolt up now without any issues.

 

Want to build another one? I got my 2016. Pics soon....

[GeorgiaHybrid]

OK,

 

Painted and installed the hitch last night. Not too bad but I have access to equipment that helps a lot.

 

Painted and ready to install:

 

 

For those that have never worked on a DeDion rear suspension, you will need to slightly compress the mounting tube to bolt the cross link support back under the car:

 

 

Back on the ground with a 1 1/2" riser ball mount that will be replaced with a 8" riser:

 

 

Close up of the hitch under the car. Note that I am a touch fit with the heat shield over the muffler as the mount was already very low to the ground and I didn't want to get it any lower:

 

 

Jack,

 

You are more than welcome to take pictures and notes of mine at Hutch but I don't like building for other people due to liability reasons. I would change the material on the next one to be 1/4x2 and 3/8x2 in place of the 3/8x2 and 1/2x2 that I used here. The 1" bar channel would remain the same but the bar stock I built mine out of is overkill.

[Jack Mayer]

Jack,

 

You are more than welcome to take pictures and notes of mine at Hutch but I don't like building for other people due to liability reasons. I would change the material on the next one to be 1/4x2 and 3/8x2 in place of the 3/8x2 and 1/2x2 that I used here. The 1" bar channel would remain the same but the bar stock I built mine out of is overkill.

Understand....but I don't have the facilities to do a build easily myself....part of the downside of being fulltime.

 

I'll wait for Curt (or whoever) to come out with a hitch....in the meantime I may have to drive it on, since Danielle says she is NOT going to drive behind.

 

BTW, I'm noticing that the front air dam on the new car is way lower (but flexible rubber). That is likely going to mean mods to the chocks....most peoples chocks are too large (tall). Brit, you may want to check that out.

[GeorgiaHybrid]

Jack, No problem, I will check with Larry to see if he would like to build them. I will be dropping off the paint for our truck in just over a week so I can ask him about it then.

 

Yes, the 2016 has a lower air dam in the front and ours is a little worse with it having the sport suspension added to it. The tires are also a little wider on this model as well. One thing I do like is the 4 bolts holding the wheel on the car instead of 3 bolts. I still don't like the fact that they are bolts and not studs though. One welcome addition with ours is the built in GPS and the new touchscreen in the dash. I like that a LOT better than the older style dash. And yes, it is that hot in Georgia today

 

 

The other improvements that I particularly like are the peppier engine and the 6 speed dual clutch tranny for the drivetrain and the widened interior. I did add a different armrest from Smart Madness instead of the factory arm rest but the rest of the car is getting to be fairly well thought out. There are a few things I would like to see them change though. My number one pet peeve is the location of the power mirror control, both of us hit that with our left knee all of the time. The other stupid problem is the cup holder. Who in their right mind designs a cup holder that a normal coke can will not fit in it correctly?

[Jack Mayer]

I agree on your two flaws. For someone taller, the mirror button is right where you rest your leg. Stupid, IMO. Who designs these things, 5' midgets?

 

Also agree on the cupholders. They are virtually useless and block the HVAC controls. It is surprising to me that a German design team did this.

 

The other thing I really dislike is the turbo lag. To me it is far worse than the old engine.

 

Overall, though, I really think the new car is a big improvement.

[Steve from SoCal]

Regarding cupholders, German car makers generally and, particularly Mercedes were not receptive to cup holders at all. The US market demanded them but, the company thought drinking in the car was an inappropriate distraction at best.

 

Steve

[GeorgiaHybrid]

Regarding cupholders, German car makers generally and, particularly Mercedes were not receptive to cup holders at all. The US market demanded them but, the company thought drinking in the car was an inappropriate distraction at best.

 

Steve

 

What is very funny here is what the Germans consider "appropriate". Drinking a Coke is "inappropriate" while lying for years about the emission control systems is a "misunderstanding".

 

Jack, the one other thing that I remembered while driving to Atlanta today in ours is the center rear view mirror. It works great if you are less than 5 feet tall. Otherwise, you can only see the road about 100 feet behind you. They should have dropped the height of the mirror (remember the old British sports cars with the mirror mounted to the dash?) to allow you to see further behind you on the road..

[GeorgiaHybrid]

Just got back after dropping the Smart car off with Jake so he can get everything setup correctly on the bed. This is the first 2016 only bed that he has done for a car with the lowered sport suspension and we wanted to make sure the chocks and positions would work out OK. Also finished going over the light placement, where to add a door for the APU access and setting up the location of shelves in the drom box.

 

It didn't take Jake long to cut the access door for the APU and add the shelves for the dog stairs and the rest of the bed is almost done. Should be able to knock out the drom next week and then off to paint. It is amazing how slow time goes by when you are waiting for the truck to get finished compared to how fast the birthdays roll by.

 

 

[Larry&Donna-AK]

Just got back after dropping the Smart car off with Jake so he can get everything setup correctly on the bed. This is the first 2016 only bed that he has done for a car with the lowered sport suspension and we wanted to make sure the chocks and positions would work out OK. Also finished going over the light placement, where to add a door for the APU access and setting up the location of shelves in the drom box.

 

It didn't take Jake long to cut the access door for the APU and add the shelves for the dog stairs and the rest of the bed is almost done. Should be able to knock out the drom next week and then off to paint. It is amazing how slow time goes by when you are waiting for the truck to get finished compared to how fast the birthdays roll by.

 

 

Bed looks very nice. Completely understand the feeling how slow time goes while waiting.

[Alie&Jim's Carrilite]

I like the idea of a compartment for the dog steps. Having them in the passenger side storage under the bunk takes that whole compartment.

[GeorgiaHybrid]

OK, I give up. My Google Foo must not be working today. I found the Packard connector to fix the camera inputs to the dash monitor but I can't find out the type of a connector for a hard shell or fit n forget connector at the tail light. It doesn't appear to be a Metri-pack or a Weather-pack connector. I am hoping that someone here can point this idiot to the right place to buy the connector. I can find the pigtails but I am hunting for just the connector and terminals

 

For anyone wanting to get your camera inputs to the back of the Nav+ unit in the dash, you will need to get the camera adapter harness at the dealer. It is a Pana-Pacific part number PP207020 and is available at your friendly neighborhood Pete or KW dealer. What I LOVE about this harness is that they do NOT use a normal camera connection. You will need to take a normal 4 pin DIN coax camera cable, cut the end off of it and buy (4) Packard shells (part number 12047786) and a pack of terminals (Packard part number 12059894) along with a crimp tool for unsealed 150 series Metri-pack terminals. Once you have all of the connectors, double check your pinouts and assemble the new ends to your camera inputs and you should be good to go.

 

The dash unit will display the left/right/front/back camera inputs either as a user select or you can turn on or off having the system auto select the camera using the reverse light, left/right turn signal lights as a trigger. I will be going with the user select option and will make the "front" camera the one on the truck that will be aimed at the hitch. The left. right and rear cameras will be the trailer cameras.

 

EDIT:

 

I think I might have found them. It looks like an AMP Tyco Superseal 1.5 TE series. Hopefully, David or Scrap can verify that.

[Scrap]

Yup they are Superseal 1.5 3 ways.

[Scrap]

NeverEasy inspired me with his diagram a year ago, so now there is a relay harness and idiot light to tell you when the power goes out to the brake controller. Works for Roger's trouble and tells you when the trailer charge line dies halfway through the drive too. Works for air braked trailers when you lose center pin power too. You are the first on the brake controller side so hopefully it works. If it works backwards well then just color the idiot light green.

 

[GeorgiaHybrid]

Ok, I guess by now everyone has figured out that Scrap has been working with DirecLink to get the HDT controller working with Pete's and KW's. They also have the new green plug Hi speed links working as well. it looks like FL, Pete and KW are good to go and from what I gather, the Volvo fan club might be celebrating as well. Scrap was nice enough to make up a harness and Alan at DireclLink modified his HDT module for the new KW so I figured Hutch is getting closer and I need a brake controller to pull the house with.

 

Today was D day so I set out this morning to make some headway with all of this. Was also hoping to get the cameras wired as well but after 4 hours of screwing around trying to find the advanced camera function, I gave up. That will take a phone call to find the super secret decoder function.

 

Here is where I started this morning:

 

 

Before starting a project like this, a handy set of good trim tools is a must have to not damage some expensive new trim:

 

 

A few minutes later and the right side is pulled down and ready to play:

 

 

The center section trim removed:

 

 

The left side is now ready for some surgery:

 

 

You will need the radio removal tools that come with the truck to pop the head unit out. The touchscreen and gauge cluster come out by removing some screws:

 

 

Here is the harness from Scrap minus the two inside that I made into one:

 

 

It will take 12Ga Metri-pak non sealed connections to make these two into one harness:

 

 

My wife is really wondering if everything will go back together right now. I'm starting to have fun as the harness from Scrap is working out nicely. The bad words started later while working with the camera inputs:

 

 

Well, it was dark when it made it back together and all buttoned up but I didn't even have any parts left over (that I wasn't supposed to have anyway).:

 

 

And here is the new home for the DirecLink controller, fit very nicely there, easy to see and operate. Booted up and found the truck and installed just fine. Tested it out back at the plug and the voltage varied just like it was supposed to for the electric/hydraulic brakes:

 

 

I didn't show the 2" of 1/4" brake airline that was used to add the new brake light transducer into the brake application line behind the touchscreen. It was also very tight back there to show the routing of all the lines but the harness went from one side of the truck to the other, had two power hookups, 3 grounds, a cluster connection (that I still need to finish), a data link connection on the far right that was an option Scrap had me add plus the wiring back to the brakes. the HDT module, DirecLink controller and the the dash control unit.

 

I have to admit, I really didn't want to drill a hole in the trim on a new truck but the controller looked better there and the wiring is hidden and looks a lot better this way. If everything goes right tomorrow, I will mount the TPMS head unit and the forward dash cam in the overhead console using power hookups from the additional power plugs in the left kick panel. That way, the brake controller will be on battery power all of the time and the camera and TPMS will be on ignition start up.

[Scrap]

Nice!!! On the top side of your cluster on either side of the TFT there should be some rubber plugs. Pull off the plug and inside is a little plastic card. Pull that card out with some pliers and that'll be all your telltales. The little white 2 pin connector should be on the RH side of the steering column somewhere above the throttle pedal but maybe behind the switches or MCS knob above it. There should be a whole bundle of them there.

 

I don't see it parked on a 4 post lift.......Your Mohawk guy must be running behind??

 

Do you really have just under 50# of suspension with just the bed? That's a heavy bed!

[lappir]

Quite a project. Great photos. Thanks.

Rod

[Jack Mayer]

Isn't it great to have a personal Kenworth Engineer "on staff"?

 

Great project and great truck!!! I cannot wait to see it. We will have a discussion at the Rally.....

[GeorgiaHybrid]

OK, armed with the new info from Scrap, back into the truck we go and start digging a little deeper. This time even the center console came out. Sure enough, I found those little beggars hidden behind the ECU, you can see the bundle of wires at the top of the throttle in this picture

 

 

At least the dash came apart a lot quicker this time.

 

Jack, it is certainly nice to be able to talk and get help from Scrap. The two of us started talking about this project over a year ago but if he was "on staff", he would be down here in the 95 degree heat sweating with me ripping this stuff out.

 

Scrap, went out and weighed the truck tonight. With the Smart on the back (which it was when you looked at the gauge) we went 12,880 on the steers and 12,520 on the drives. Went back after we dropped the Smart and weighed in at 12,520 on the steers and 10,620 on the drives.

 

Barebones, no Smart, the truck weighs 23,140 and the truck as delivered was 16,136 so it looks like the bed, drom box, APU and hitch total up to 7,004 pounds. Looks like all of the light stuff will need to go in the drom box and the rear toolboxes will get a little on the heavy side. All in all though, it hit the mark right where Scrap and I thought it would be at. I could have been a lot lighter without the Carrier APU and with a Paccar engine but I prefer being able to pull into a rest area or Wally World and run the APU to cool everything down. With it being a 7,000 watt genset, I can also run the trailer if need be.

 

The Cummins will allow me to get it serviced or fixed anywhere on this continent and Eaton transmissions are about the same as every truck company offers that combination.

[Jack Mayer]

Scrap, do you think the Carrier APU is the unit of choice at the moment...... eg. if building your own personal truck, is that what you would put in, all things considered?