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View Full Version : My version of glad hands... Work in progress

dabears
09-26-2012, 01:17 AM
OK so i have seen everyones trucks with the MFU plug and i was not wanting to go that route at all. Its not scale and i didnt like it. So here is what i did today after a lot of thinking and planning. Im still searching for the perfect wire that is the thickness i want to coil. (i actually figured out how to spring coil the wires)
Heres what i got what do you think?

Started off with the first test plug on the trailer using a 3/32 stereo jack
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b190/firepisser8104/Trailer%20lights/20120924_154953.jpg

After wireing up all three i stupidly found out that they were grounding each other out (DUH Metal mount parts :mad:) so i made a new mount on styrene problem solved
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b190/firepisser8104/Trailer%20lights/20120925_003144.jpg

Bought some mono audio plugs and snipped and filed and soldered some wires on using these parts
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b190/firepisser8104/Trailer%20lights/20120925_204643.jpg

Made a post out of brass and a mount and added 3 ports to the deck like this
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b190/firepisser8104/Trailer%20lights/post.jpg

I still have to remake the middle line as i decided the coils were just not looking right but here is conected to truck and trailer
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b190/firepisser8104/Trailer%20lights/20120925_212138.jpg
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b190/firepisser8104/Trailer%20lights/20120925_212215.jpg

Each Line has a +/- wire so on my truck my blue line is my rt turn lights, my red is tail/brake lights, and my white but will be black line is my left turn. i have full turn radius and when i dont want to run the trailer i disconect the lines... I found some even smaller plugs today 2 for $20:eek: but ill be trying those out in the next few weeks looks wise if i like them better..The three ports on the deck run to the trailer ports on the mfu so you dont tie into other lighting... :D

Let me know what you think. i think it doesnt look too bad and once i can get the colored wires i need it'll look even better!

Thanks for looking!! :) For the first time ever my trailer has brake and turn lights so i was outside half the night running the truck just happy i can see them work... :D

I actually found scale gladhands but they are 1 1/2 inches long.... too big for our scale. still searching high and low. If any Vendors think they could make something close looking that i can run both a poss and neg off of PLEASE let me know!!
dmess62
09-26-2012, 11:31 AM
Hey Aaron those look great. normally on a 1:1 the black plug( electrical) is in the middle. Also there are some trucks that don't have coiled wires other than the electrical wire. I knew you were talking about this at Indy and its looking pretty cool. I was thinking about this some for my build as well. Do they have the stereo plug and port ( male and female ends) . That would make for easy plug/unplug.

Keep up the good work
dabears
09-26-2012, 01:01 PM
Hey Aaron those look great. normally on a 1:1 the black plug( electrical) is in the middle. Also there are some trucks that don't have coiled wires other than the electrical wire. I knew you were talking about this at Indy and its looking pretty cool. I was thinking about this some for my build as well. Do they have the stereo plug and port ( male and female ends) . That would make for easy plug/unplug.

Keep up the good work

I got both the male and female plugs at radio shack. Yea some trucks have only 2 lines some have 4 I went with 3. Now the female are stereo with 3 Ports for wires, three makes are mono with only 2 but you could get the stereo with 3.. So its endless what you could do, servo leads, lights, esc etc...
I did find smaller 2,3,and 4 prong mini plugs in the train area that would work good to but like I said a pack of 2,2 prong plugs were $20... I have $25 total in this entire setup... So its cheaper then the Tamiya set and looks better and can be ran to suit any setup. My lowboy will have this setup with the mini plugs connecting the neck to the platform ;) thus was a days worth of trial and errors for this result. Not too bad and I'll be working on it more next time I get a chance. Been working 60+ hour Weeks since Indy:eek:
plow jockey
09-26-2012, 05:25 PM
Thats a great idea and looks real good.
Tamiya Cowboy
09-26-2012, 07:39 PM
Nice looking... This is how a wedico is set up..
YoungGunz
09-26-2012, 08:04 PM
Looks alot like my set up, I used coaxial power connectors on mine, I almost used audio jacks but found out that they can sometimes short out the circuit...

Heres my set up, one is for my tarp and the other two are for the rear lights (one hot wire, the other three wires are negatives for, left, right, and running lights)

http://i1194.photobucket.com/albums/aa379/JD_Ewen/My%20King%20hauler/SAM_0493.jpg

http://i1194.photobucket.com/albums/aa379/JD_Ewen/My%20King%20hauler/SAM_0478_zps18d04f99.jpg
Diesel Demond
09-26-2012, 08:13 PM
looks real good. looks more scale then anything else even if its off a little still way more closer then the stock hook up! good job
glorydays24
09-26-2012, 09:26 PM
Aaron, you hit the nail on the head:eek::eek::eek:...That's exactly what i've been looking for.;):):p Great idea buddy.:cool::cool::cool:

Big John
Supermario
09-26-2012, 10:26 PM
I like it Aaron, great idea. Glad you got enough room on the lowboy neck to duplicate the hook up. Keeps things clean and simple and realistic.
This is one of the things I love most bout this hobby, it's not all about looking through a catalogue or website and buy what you need, it's the working with what you have in front of you or using ordinary items to make extraordinary stuff:D:D:D

Keep up the great work :cool: take a break from Work :eek:


and thanks for the pics :)

Mario
dabears
09-26-2012, 11:07 PM
Thanks guys! Im still looking for better looking wire.. Making the coils is easier then i thought. (really it is!) i took the wire used a drill to wrap around brass rod, baked in oven @200* for 1 1/2 hours and wire stays coiled and has a spring back... pretty easy..

now the smaller plugs i was talking about are these
http://www.miniatronics.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=4
the 2 prong plugs are only 1/8" these are what im going to use on the lowboy for the neck to deck plugs. nice and small but easily added. only downfall like i said was price for them. $14 for only 2.. when i paid $3.19 per 2 plugs male and female, so 3 sets of males, and 3 sets of females were $18 total... I have endless supply of wire as i use mainly CAT-5 ethernet wire for most my lighting. ( i get rolls of 1000ft at work for free) the only thing i dont like about the smaller plugs are the wires.. they are not coated in one round "coating" they are just like speaker wires side by side and doesnt look right..... so im still searching for more options.

Yea i know i need to take a break working... that was just booked work time not including the hour commute each way all 6 days, so tack another 12 hours on that for drive time..... YIKES!!

Now i found these
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1-20-BRASS-TFCM-Glad-Hand-Angle-Cocks-Set-2-sets-/140616252274?pt=Model_RR_Trains&hash=item20bd61bb72

they are 1/20th scale and look awesome but i cant figure out how i would be able to run both +/- through them...... unless i re cast them in resin, and carefully drill out and wire them... IDK... Like i said ive been looking
woodhog
09-27-2012, 08:08 PM
That looks good i been looking how to do a setup for screw drive hot and ground that would be good if the wires were a little bigger;)
dabears
09-27-2012, 09:12 PM
That looks good i been looking how to do a setup for screw drive hot and ground that would be good if the wires were a little bigger;)

Cab use any size wire or plug you needed too. I was going for small as possible