# Share your affordable mods & ideas



## JD3430 (Jan 1, 2012)

I thought I'd start a thread for sharing cheapy mods/ideas for trucks/tractors????you know,,,,little upgrades ranging from free to a few hundred bucks. Hey, we're farmers, not the billionaire boys club!!
I'll go first:
I started putting these in my cig lighter outlets. Dual USB ports and whats really cool is there's a digital readout with your charging system volts displayed and also alternating with your power consumption displayed.
I noticed many newer trucks and tractors no longer come with a volt meter. I thought this would be a good "poor mans" volt meter and charges your devices like I-phone, I pad, tablet, etc.

$10-$12 on Amazon. I have them in both my trucks and my 3 tractors. 
Now they have one that does all the above and has a thermometer in it, too. Not overly concerned with the temp in my cab, but some may like that. LOL


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## slowzuki (Mar 8, 2011)

Added bed plugs for rv and semi trailer and wired my bed tank pump to plug into them.


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

I add drain plug to the pans of all my automatic transmissions. Don't care what the manufacturer claims, fresh ATF keeps a tranny going a lot longer. Most I weld in, however kits are available as well if your not keen on welding something thin.

Every third oil change on the engine and I drain the tranny and add fresh ATF. Filter gets changed per manufacturers recommendation. A drain makes that a ton easier instead of having ATF running down your arms or wearing it.


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

When installing a new receptacle on a pickup or straight truck, I weld a 1/4"x1" stainless bolt directly to the frame for a ground. If the wiring already has a ground in the harness I bring a ground out of the plug and hook it to the bolt as well. This also gets done on all trailers or equipment. I then spray battery protector on the bolt and all the connectors or even undercoating.

Wiring headaches are greatly reduced when you know you have a good ground.

Had a seed tender that when you hit the turn signal the trailer brakes would activate, instead of saying anything Dad was gonna fix it. Had the plug tore apart and half the harness. Was simply a bad ground, it came from the factory with nothing more than a TEK screw in the ground eye to the frame. Removed that and welded a bolt in. End of problem. Had a bad ground and the turn signal was completing the circuit by going thru the coils in the brakes.

By welding a stainless bolt on as a stud, corrosion issues are greatly reduced since stainless is a pretty neutral material far as galvanic reactions.


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