Schoeny's Kid Trax Fire Truck

[schoeny]

Well, I found a fire truck on CL that the lights worked and the motors didn't. I immediately figured it was the circuit board, so I could just wire around it and flip it. I got there, and the lady said she had a new circuit board (The new style doesn't have the same connector as this older version, so they couldn't figure out how to fix that). Said she had a new battery too, but it just wouldn't work and they needed garage space. She even had a receipt for the circuit board from a month ago, so her story of trying a battery, then trying a new board made sense to me.

I talked her down from $75 to $40 (Which was under the assumption that the battery was a month old), and told her she could keep the CB to return to KT if they let her.

Got home, tested the battery, it's bad. NEVER AGAIN WILL I FALL FOR THAT :evil: . I put my 12V battery in, and the whole truck works. Either she bought a bad battery, or they never actually tried a good one...



So I figured, well, I can still just re-spray the truck real quick, then flip. Quick $120 for me after $40-50 in paint. Not so fast. I dumped the truck off in the garage, and went to pick up my son who is 22 months old (you all should know where this is going). We come home and I open the door, and he says "Daya. A cuck (truck). DAYA!". So we're keeping it :lol:. The neighbor is a fire fighter, and brought the truck the neighborhood the prior weekend, and he's been obsessed with them since. He sat in it for over an hour and played with the buttons while I was picking stuff up.

So now my plans for the truck are as follows:
Replace stock LEDs with Red 2x22 Strobes. (3 sets) Link: http://www.iwill2sellmore.com/goods-3.html
Install headlights using white 2x22 Strobes. (1 set) Link: http://www.ebay.com/itm/251107452554
Repaint the entire truck, and get new Vinyl stickers for the window. http://www.ebay.com/itm/25-Wide-Black-C ... 4aa84ac2c9

I'm planning on making new decals that match the WDM FD decals on their truck using the bumper sticker paper that gwinny is endorsing.

For the LEDs, I'm going to have a SPST switch that will power the strobes on, a momentary switch that will change their pattern, and a switch for the headlights to stay on all the time. If the switch for the strobes is on, then the headlights will strobe with them. Haven't gotten the wiring figured out yet, but will work on that when the time comes. Still waiting on the LEDs from china.

[schoeny]

Gonna post an update to this tonight with pictures, but have a quick question for anyone with some electrical knowledge....

Looking for a momentary switch that I'll be using to switch the flash pattern on my strobes. At RadioShack, all they have is 125VAC switches like this one: http://www.radioshack.com/product/index ... Id=2062508

Are these fine to use on 12V? I don't need one with an LED, so there isn't that to worry about. All they are doing is "connecting" wires when pressed, so the voltage type shouldn't matter, should it (unless I was running a huge load through it, which I'm not)?

[ccsurep]

You should be fine. I cant see the exact switch you are referring to, but as a person thats set up quite a few powerwheel and real emergency vehicles, dont see an issue. Cant wait to see some pics and VIDEO :D

[ccsurep]

I went to another computer and was actually able to see the switch you were talking about. That should definitely work no problem. 8-)

[schoeny]

Thanks for the confirmation.

Here's where it's currently at. I'm painting on the white stripes, as I decided I didn't want to cut strips of vinyl that long. I didn't think they'd come out straight. Taping this thing off to do it is a PITA though :lol: The lines are easy to get on there using the old vinyl as a guide. I stuck the vinyl to my shirt a few times so it wasn't very sticky, just sticky enough to hold while I lined up the Frog Tape. Getting the plastic around it takes like 30 minutes though.


I just got done with the first stripe tonight and am happy with the results. Looks straight enough. Thursday, I'll probably do the thin stripe above this one.






I'm debating doing another thin one below it, since the WDM FD trucks have one on each side of the thick one as seen below. (And just for the record, there is no way on earth I'm trying to paint the text on there).



I also got the cabinet locks installed that I got at Lowes. They are item number . I totally stole this idea from 12vwhiz in this thread: http://www.modifiedpowerwheels.com/foru ... C_ID=21178




I'm also working on the decals using the bumper sticker paper from Office Depot that gwinny suggested. Here are some of the decals I'll be using:
I took the black/white image of the WDMFD logo and prettied it up for use in place of the KidTrax version:

I re-created the storage box handle sticker from scratch, since the stickers off the truck were so pixelated it bothered me after I scanned it.

I also touched up the "FIRE" lettering so that I could have a nice even color on them after the scan

Last thing I'm doing is replacing the little oval KidTrax stickers on the front/back with the logo for the Pierce company that actually makes the trucks for WDM. (this looks like hell this big, but when it prints it's smooth)

[schoeny]

Just a quick update on parts/status, I'll have more pics tonight.

I got the Black Chrome Vinyl for the windows from this eBay seller (metrodiscountproducts): http://www.ebay.com/itm/270724954783?ss ... 1497.l2649 They shipped fast and the only gripe I have is that they didn't acknowledge my request to have them roll the vinyl sticker side in in the tube so it'd be easier to apply later, but that's petty 8-)

The white LEDs came from China just fine, and they sent an email acknowledging the sale, with a mention of the Chinese holiday that may delay shipping by one day. I ordered them on Sunday the 7th, and they arrived on Friday the 19th.

The red LEDs are what worried me since they weren't part of eBay. They didn't send any email after the sale (other than the PP confirmation), and there was no tracking number. They did arrive yesterday though, with a how-to to install the lights that is actually useful for someone who wouldn't know exactly what to do with them. My only advise for buying from this seller is to sign up and not use a guest account. I did that, then tried to check order status and couldn't. They will also not answer emails about the package, but it does show up. The only reason I trusted them was PayPal being the payment method.

I got the decals all printed and cut out last night. For anyone using the bumper sticker paper, make sure you are adjusting your printer to hold the paper snugly so it doesn't wiggle when printing, and it helped me to print more on the leading edge of the paper than the back edge.

I have decided that I'm just leaving the one white stripe on the truck. This is because I'm not sure that my current line is perfectly straight. It's not noticeably off, but when I try to tape on another line, it looks off, so I am just going to leave it as-is.

Tonight, I'm going to apply the decals, and then clear coat over the body and the two "top caps" that have the lights on them.

[RACER_X]

from your link w/ the strobes

what is the yellow wire for?



and do you think a pair of these would look better?



or is red/blue Police, red/white FD

[schoeny]

For these lights, the red wire and the yellow wire are both positive wires.

The red one does the 2 left, 2 right alternating strobe, and the yellow does left right left right strobe. Does that make sense? If you look on eBay, you can see the difference in some of the listings that have videos.

So basically, I'm going to have an "LED On/Off" switch that gives power to a second "Strobe Pattern" switch. That switch will determine which wire gets the 12V power to light the lights. I may use a relay to accomplish this, I just need to figure out exactly what I need it to do (since I'm leaving some of the existing lights and the headlights will be added in too).

For a police car, I would go with the red/blue. Firetrucks (at least around here) have no blue lights. They are red, white and have some amber on the side markers. Since these are going on top, I got red, and then a set of white for the headlights that will strobe too.

[ccsurep]

You could also just get an "on-off-on" switch too. That would give you a different flash pattern depending on way you flick the switch. No relay required. :D

[schoeny]

Correct, but I want to have the headlights so that they are able to be "always on" when the headlight switch is on. But is the strobes are on, then I want that to override the "always on" and have them strobe too. I think the relay will just control the headlight functions based on the LED switch. Haven't thought it out all the way yet, but that'll probably happen this weekend.

[madmaxdecals]

Looking good so far...I am planning a repaint on a fire truck...so I will be watching this project

[All4TheBoys]

Excellent job on the truck and looks like you have your decals all figured out. If you happen to need any of the factory style decals, LMK. I can add,remove and change colors also. I have probably one of the very few known NOS sets here I have been producing for customers in need. Love the shield idea, looks very nice with the leafing!

[madmaxdecals]

All4...pm me a price on the set of firetruck decals in red

[12vwiz]

I also got the cabinet locks installed that I got at Lowes. They are item number . I totally stole this idea from 12vwhiz in this thread: http://www.modifiedpowerwheels.com/for ... _ID=21178

HEY...that is a 'Patent Pretending' procedure. :lol: :lol: :lol:

Correct, but I want to have the headlights so that they are able to be "always on" when the headlight switch is on. But if the strobes are on, then I want that to override the "always on" and have them strobe too. I think the relay will just control the headlight functions based on the LED switch. Haven't thought it out all the way yet, but that'll probably happen this weekend.

With relays you would need 2 SPDT or 1 DPDT relay to accomplish this. The main reason is that the strobe controller has 2 isolated power outputs. This means the "always on" switch must have 2 isolated outputs wires as well.

If you do not mind the "always on" headlights being primary. You could use 4 diodes instead of relays. It would be a lot less wiring and cheaper.


Your work is looking great!!

[schoeny]

Thanks for the clarification 12vwiz. My brother used to install car stereo stuff, and was cleaning out his garage and had a couple relays he gave me for this project, so cost is not an issue 8-)

I tried getting everything wired up the other night, but the strobe controllers that came with the lights just won't work for some reason. I have them all wired together coming off of a terminal block (on 12V in, all 4 of the controllers are attached to the other end). They will flash both lights at the same time now, there is no alternating pattern. If I switch to the other wire, then only one light flashes. It's very strange.

So, since I can't figure that out (and since I smelled a burning smell coming out of one of the controllers :o ) I decided to go with a better flasher. Bought a SHO-2011 flasher off of ebay that should be able to handle all of the lights by itself. It's going to be here next Wednesday, so I'll try and work on it that evening some, should have it done by the weekend.

[SigEp]

All4...pm me a price on the set of firetruck decals in red

+1, how much for a set of decals?

[schoeny]

So finally I got all the parts I needed for this in (except for one which I was unable to go pick up last night). I bought a flasher from California, and if came to Iowa, then went to Washington, then came back and finally showed up Monday. :evil:

After doing a ton of wiring/soldering in the basement Monday night, last night I finally got to start putting it all together. I got the front lights working, as well as the headlights being always on, or flashing depending on if the flasher is on.

The only things I have left to do is to paint the wheels black again, buy one more relay and connect the wires waiting for it, put on all the wire cover pieces, and screw down the back end of the truck once the wiring is done.

Should finish this up tonight, if not then definitely tomorrow. Will have pics up tonight with progress (and hopefully final shots).

[Jmsnsdrinker]

Working on one of these myself right now. Can't wait to see your finished product.

[ceejkay]

it seems a few people have a fire truck now a days, you might want to throw those decals up in for sale.. looking good on the project so far

[SigEp]

it seems a few people have a fire truck now a days, you might want to throw those decals up in for sale.. looking good on the project so far

I think those were All4TheBoys decals. He went AWOL and no one has heard from him since.

[schoeny]

Working on one of these myself right now. Can't wait to see your finished product.

This has been close to done for a while now, I will throw pics up tonight. Totally forgot that I didn't update this when it was reassembled.

All that's left is to fix the hose since it's leaking a little.

[schoeny]

I had a question about which paints I used in a PM, so I figured I'd just post it here so anyone could see.

I used the Rustoleum 2X paint for this. I picked a bright red, bright yellow, and the white and grey. Got them at Menards, but I'm pretty sure HD or Lowes would have them too.

The red doesn't cover too great so plan on an extra coat or two, and take it out in the sun to get a good look at it and make sure it's covered. Yellow and white both covered well.

[schoeny]

Also, here's a finished pic minus the water hose. I'll get more up on Friday when I'm off work cleaning the garage and it's warmer.



Still need to work that big bubble out of the windsheild