2003 Suburban 1500 Pop Top Conversion

boll_rig

Adventurer
Thanks Fiddy, definitely agree with the need for a thick base layer. Went with the 2 inch, firmest foam they had at foam factory, will keep you posted.

boll I'm curious why you didn't put that battery pack up on top of the trim panel above the plug location, it's looks short enough to fit on that shelf. But that does put it out in plain view.

reason I ask is I'm hauling a lot of 4'x8' material with my Sub and your install location would totally interfere with that. Too, there is a lot of dead space behind that panel in the picture, especially if you aren't using the factory scissor jack that is stored in there. In particular there's a nice void right behind where you have that battery pack. It's not quite big enough to fit it, though.
I'm planning to come up thru the floor in that void and out the panel right behind your goal zero location with a pair of fat cables and an Andersen power plug, which runs back to the factory 2nd battery tray. That will be my feeder for the narrow storage box / power conversion module I have planned as part of my storage drawer / platform design. I'm also thinking to modify some jumper cables with a similar cable and a like port on the back end of the power module or even set in the bumper, so I can jump a vehicle from my rear, like a mil truck 'slave cable' arrangement.

Stereo install was a bust. All my 'one piece at a time' shopping for all the adapters etc needed and I totally missed that I needed an aftermarket module / wiring interface to work with the Bose amp & speaker setup. Blind spot, been dacades since I last installed an aftermarket stereo. I got a pigtail adapter and a few other bits, antenna adapter etc got everything hooked up and seemingly working right, bluetooth hands free iphone ops, DVD playing Drive, but NO SOUND. So back to the factory stereo for another week.

But it sure looked pretty

pioneer04_zpseph707xr.jpg
pioneer05_zpsl18zjhnr.jpg

You make a valid point and the short answer is that I'm trying to finish this as fast as possible and this seemed like the easiest option. And also somewhat temporary as I will eventually pull that whole panel and make a bed/drawer system there. However I did think about putting it higher its just that its very heavy and I needed a solid way to secure it for offroad and ontop would have been dicey. Its also resting all the way back as far as it can go, still sticks out. I could have though moved it to rest on the wheel well/wooden made stand and hang out the top. Kind of what I wish I had done, but as I said didn't want to spend the time when I'm focused on finishing the topper.
The plywood issue isn't a big deal for me because I can just pull it right now and move it so easily to haul, the exposed plug getting knocked around is what Im worried about, hence the need to cover it with second bed/drawers.

Anyway I really am liking that idea for the rear jumpers. Thats a good call. And bummer about the no sound issue! sure does look good though and at least you know your issue. Excited to see how that all works out.


Got the roof racks, tail light, and flood lights all mounted up and bolted on. Roof racks were a bit of a pain to line up perfectly with my underside cross supports but it all worked out.

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Really liking the tan more an more. What do you guys think? Excited to get it on the dam* vehicle and see how it looks.

Finished up all the wiring for the LEDs, USB outlet and exterior floods and then mounted my foam insulation yesterday on top of it all. Putting up cloth headliner today.
 
D

Deleted member 9101

Guest

boll_rig

Adventurer
I have been really curious about the cleap Chinese lights on Amazon. The reviews for a good portion of them are really good.

You know curiosity just got the best of me too... and not being able to find a warm light LED flood ANYWHERE, regardless of price. These are about 4-5k on the ol scale, can't stand the 7500k at night.

Will be really interesting to see how long they last.. bets? I give them 1 year.
 

Mushin_Noshin

Adventurer
I've had an amazon 42 inch bar for about 3 years with zero issues.
Some small led pods for reverse/camp lights on my truck and trailer for 4 plus years, no water intrusion no burn outs, no problems with any of em for a fraction of the cost. Just some fyi, back to the sweet build

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk
 

rayra

Expedition Leader
I really like the look of the black fittings on the tan roof, really sets things off. Is that a 3rd brake light from the '99 series? or maybe a Ford Explorer?
I presume you're going with tan material for your side walls?

Hey if your factory 3rd light is still working, I'll buy it off you, mine's dead. They're ~$40 new and I can't seem to catch one at the junkyard.
 

boll_rig

Adventurer
I've had an amazon 42 inch bar for about 3 years with zero issues.
Some small led pods for reverse/camp lights on my truck and trailer for 4 plus years, no water intrusion no burn outs, no problems with any of em for a fraction of the cost. Just some fyi, back to the sweet build

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

Thanks Mushin this is what I like to hear! Maybe Ill change my estimate to two years ha.

I really like the look of the black fittings on the tan roof, really sets things off. Is that a 3rd brake light from the '99 series? or maybe a Ford Explorer?
I presume you're going with tan material for your side walls?

Hey if your factory 3rd light is still working, I'll buy it off you, mine's dead. They're ~$40 new and I can't seem to catch one at the junkyard.

My thoughts exactly on the tan and black combo. Unfortunately I am not going with tan canvas. It would have added about 200 dollars to the already outrageous price tag of the canvas. So it will be light grey.. oh well. Hoping that its come in by now. Also the brake light is actually factory, just unscrewed it from the roof and remounted it on the topper so unfortunately I think you're in it for $40 unless you find a junked one.
 

boll_rig

Adventurer
So got a little more work done over the weekend. Wired the interior and put it on the roof to take a couple more measurements.

Gotta say I'm pretty happy with the outcome, minus this horribly blurry photo..
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And did some tests of the lights.

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Pretty good output! You can also see the inter LEDs which are nice and bright. Glad I got them all on dimmers :elkgrin:
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Really did a professional job wiring ha. Made slits in the foam to bury them and keep them safe from vibrating into half.. hopefully. Duct tape will likely fall off but eventually I'm going to redo some of this back with a potentially vent/fan. The cut out foam is where the actuators go, its a tight fit in here.

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Heres a little preview of the interior wood/cloth with the LED light wires getting mounted. Will get some close ups taken when its all done, almost there.
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rayra

Expedition Leader
heh, somehow it didn't register on me that you had the barn doors, the liftgate 3rd light is quite different. And yours looks just like the previous gen.
Looks really good and slitting the foam to bury the wires is a fine idea. Once upholstered it should all disappear.
The only potential trouble spot I can see now is water being forced thru the front seal at highway speeds / heavy rain.
 

Burb One

Adventurer
Thanks for the replies guys! Almost, kind of, finally, starting to come together.

Like almost everything I've purchased I got the flood lights from amazon. Price was a whooping $9.79 each.... we will see how long they last haha.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008XZAQDU/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I've had those same ones on my rig for over 3 years, one of them gets condensation after going under water for a few days, but the rest all are flawless. The screws on them got some surface rusted, but I just hit them with some flat black paint to match the light body

I am an in awe of those last pictures. Looks so awesome, can't wait for more!
 

Pntyrmvr

Adventurer
...
The only potential trouble spot I can see now is water being forced thru the front seal at highway speeds / heavy rain.

On the Sportsmobile tops water is kept out of the interior by folded canvas making a "dam" behind that front seal. The seal is not expected to stop the water at the roof perimeter and is more like a roof paint protector than anything.


"Talk is cheap. Whiskey costs money."
 

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