More rust repair for me driver-side front of the rocker panel is taken care of, well for the most part. Tomorrow will hopefully get done one of the corners on the passenger side, possibly the front...

Well, today I had to cut a wire. Boo hoo. My little red dually lights under my tailgate stopped working a few days ago when the rains came. I never weather proofed it because it hardly rains in SoCal and because I'm an idiot. So I've been just ignoring it but checking it occasionally. I know for a fact it hasn't worked once until tonight. All of a sudden we're backing out of the driveway in the 4Runner and my wife says, 'hey I thought your lights didn't work anymore.' The truck was off, headlights off, no keys, but those three little dually lights were lit about half strength. Odd. Normally I would get excited and go finish up the job, but it was really coming down outside and I don't have a garage. I knew I couldn't do any wiring in the rain so I had to just reach under and clip the wire to keep the battery from draining. Sad Panda. It's official. Haha. I suck at wiring.

Thats weird. I don't see how they are getting power if the lights are off.

I detailed the interior with Meguiars Quick Wipes and cleaned the windows with a damp lint free towel.

Alex, where are you getting power at for those lights? The easiest way to wire such things is to install one of those oppy T-connectors between the frame harness and the bed one, these are used for wiring up 4-way trailer connectors but since you have a gooseneck I suspect you already have a 7-way installed instead,which would put you in the same situation as me - trailer goes to the 7-way, so I was able to use the Hoppy connector for wiring up two more park/stop/turn lights on the corners of my bumper, works good IMHO.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...r-console.html

Center console is in. Thread is up.

Got a little issue with my battery, but in the morning ill get one on the way to school.

I know, right!? I am utterly baffled. That is exactly what I said when I saw them lit.

I hardwired them straight into the tail light wire. Now that I think of it, I don't know the input cap and I should have tossed an inline fuse in there, but it shouldn't really matter. My gooseneck is actually kind of old so I have a 6-pin there and a 7-pin at the bumper. But yeah, I don't understand how they were getting juice. I'll figure it out this weekend with a voltmeter.

I'm fixing more rust - got the pasenger-side A-pillar reconstructed for the most part, then realizes a good 1/4 of the floor pan right next to it is gone too, AND there is also a PACK RAT'S NEST under there!!! I had a customer show up so I couldn't finish that part, so tomorrow morning I'll be welding in new panel. This is really all patch work, to bring some structural strength back and seal off the elements outside... The easy way of taking care of things will be getting a new cab, but that will have to wait till summer.

Got toget an alternator for it, well get the charging system checked out. The battery has ran dead for three days strait. Shows dead center when it is running, and no charge light on. Just dies. I can drift start it, when there is a hill or another truck (try pushing 2 tons yourself, haha). It dies seem that the drain is constant, with engine running and with it off.

Here's a little help;
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/p...ictureid=48889
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/p...ictureid=48890

The regularor is Brand new. I replaced that when I bought the truck back (dads old one.)(about 2-3 weeks ago). I have also tried a new one 3 days ago. I am 100% sure it is not the regulator.

What I am thinking, And I'll test this when I go home, is that there is a Drain on teh battery while it is running, and it just don't have enough power to turn it over afterwards.
If I charge it up to 12 Volts, it will hold a charge for 2-3 days (New battery, already thought of that) then dies. It dies after running for about 60 miles at 65 MPH (2500 RPM). (30 miles both ways to a resturant, and it stayed running while there).

To truckerboy: new VR, new battery, if wiring is also good I'd be very tempted to blame it on the alternator. However, charge up the battery till it's full (usually leaving it on the 2 amp charge overnight does that pretty good) and do these simple checks first:

1) at the battery, test the voltage first with the engine and ignition off, and then with the engine running - you should be around 12V with the truck off, and over 13V with the engine running. If you see no change in voltage, charging system is inop, so continue with the next steps.

2) at the VR, locate the green wire with red stripe, and test voltage at it with the ignition on (engine don't need to be running) - you should see battery voltage, so about 12V. This is the wire that tells the VR truck is running (or at least should be) so it can turn on the alternator. Next, turn ignition off, and measure voltage again - should be nothing.

3) at the VR, locate the yellow wire with white stripe, and test voltage at it with the ignition off - should be battery voltage. This is the wire that is hot all the times, it goes directly to the battery and the VR uses it to sense the battery voltage and adjust the alternator's output accordingly.

4) as a good measure, and just to make sure you don't have more than one problems at once: when you go to park the truck overnight, disconnect the alternator from the rest of the system. Immediately afterwards, measure voltage at the battery, and write the number down somewhere. On the next day, before you head out for somewhere, measure the voltage at the battery again, and compare it with the reading you got the night before - if it's significantly lower (as in 1V or more difference) then you have a drain somewhere in the truck's electrical system.

Report your findings here, and maybe I'll be able to figure out what's going on with your truck.

ok,
1. off it measures 12.4 volts. Running it measures 12.8 volts.

2. running it is 12.6 volts. off it registers 0.00 volts.

3. 12.4 volts off and 12.8 volts running.

4. 12.4 when i took the alternator wires off last night (1800) . 12.4 when I went out to go to school this morning (0620)

well. i havent done anything to it, but the ol exploder is still wingin and zingin those pistons around inside the 4.0 everyday. been doin it for almost 233,000 miles now. and its now due for an oil change... lol.