ThundahBeagle

How are these affixed and wired if there are no holes?

In another thread I mentioned I had just bought a used Leer 180 cap for my truck. It rises about 4 inches above the cab roof line. Has anyone else thought about, or done, an installation or roof lights but on top of a 180 cap? I could put them right atop the crest where it finishes rising. I just think that while I'm making payments on the truck and it's under warranty I may as well drill open the simple cap instead. Easier installation of lights. Easier leak mitigation. Not as devastating if there is a leak for that matter. Would that be wierd?

Also, as someone who has an aversion against drilling into the roof as long as the truck is still under warranty and I'm making payments, I'm tempted to place my rooftop lights at the creat of the Leer 180 instead. It does rise about 4 inches higher than my cab roof... I feel like it would be easier to install them there, and easier to mitigate any possible leakage if it did spring a leak. Has anyone else done this or thought of it?

I went the easy route. I stopped into Cap World and bought a T harness. The used Leer 180 I just bought has an odd 4 flat coupler to connect the high mount and the interior dome lamp. The T harness I just bought has the necessary coupler/ connector in the kit. First get the black red and white wires into the protective corrugated sleeve. Then use a pull string to fish the wires up through the stake pole. There is another, smaller hole that I chose to use but the stake hole should do. Do this before you connect the T coupler below so you dont wind up trying to fish live wire. Place the individual wires into the white coupler as indicated in the included instructions and connect to the coupler from the bed cap. Get behind the bumper and squeeze in the metal tabs that hold the 7 pin trailer coupler. I used my hand on one side and a screw driver on the other clamp but be careful. Once the clamps are squeezed, push the 7 pin connector out of the bumper (away from the spare). Remove the little lock tab and separate the coupler from the harness (a pain in the a$$) and separate the harness from the coupler. From under the bumper, connect the T harness in place between the coupler and the harness you just separated. Zip tie everything nice and tight. Dome light turns on with its switch, brake light turns on when I brake or activate the alarm.

Ducky - that's an interesting tent setup you have there. I'm sure it's hard to decide rooftop or trailer, it's hard enough for me to decide which toolbox. While I'm not an over lander per se, I've done a fair bit of truck camping and road trips. For me, the best solution was a big Blazer. The k5 types. Mine were a 93 and a 94, two door. For others I guess they'd want a suburban. Flop the back seats down and I have room to sleep. Kayak on top, bike on the back. Me and the dog or the lady inside. It might mean some shifting around of cargo, but it works. My other alternative, since my Blazers are both gone now and I have a 2014 Sierra, is a Leer truck cap. Camper shell, topper, whatever you want to call it. With a double cab and a Leer cap, there's plenty of room for the two of us and a dog, and although we bring a regular tent, we can always jump under the cap if it starts pouring.

Couple things... Henderson - I'm no expert but you should probably also get your rear universal joint checked. Although I was never into concrete following, I had the same symptoms on an old k1500 big Blazer I had, only I felt it right under the floor shifter at about 40mph. Turned out to be the front u-joint in my case. Not nullifying the garage saying its ball joints, just it sounds like a u joint to me. Madcow...personally, if it were me and I were you I would pass on the cold air intake. Hard pass if you have a z71 package. Cold intakes provide more airflow because they filter less particulate. Overlanding means that -even more so than highway driving - you will be driving down dirty, dusty roads, logger trails and such. With a cold intake, more tiny bits are making thier way into your engine and you aren't even getting one measly horsepower to show for the possible long term damage to your engine. And if you have a z71 package you already have a high capacity air filter. Bring a few extras with you on long dusty trips.

There IS a remedy for this, actually. I have two keys and the only time both keys are inside the truck, is when I'm inside the truck. I try to always keep a key in one of my pocketses.