New ride!!! 2011 Escape Upfit

Jarred J.

Lifetime VIP Donor
May 21, 2010
11,580
Shelbyville, TN
So i'm currently paying for a new vehicle. it was finally time to retire the Kia.

I got a 2011 Ford Escape with 4wd and a v6

i will be recycling the lights from the KIA and adding more. only problem so far i am trying to figure out how to mount the microman lights to the escapes rear hatch as they will not just "bolt" to it. I'm guessing i will have to build a bracket with some angle iron and use the child restraint brackets for it...

here's what i've got so far....


IMG_0219.JPG

of course the first thing was the reflective LP

IMG_0221.JPG
after i dismantled the A pillar i reused the pipehanger bracket for the titan 100's

the dual Apollo is suction cups, as is gps.

IMG_0222.JPG


all the wires tucked in the headliner, and ziptied up...
 

Jarred J.

Lifetime VIP Donor
May 21, 2010
11,580
Shelbyville, TN
IMG_0223.JPG

wires ziptied and back on the A pillar goes...


IMG_0226.JPG

i dont have my console ordered so no switches in it yet, but these are being ran off a 12v 7ah battery for these pics...

IMG_0141.JPG

taken from inside, these are whole lot brighter then when they were in KIA because they arent behind 20% tint...

Ill upload vids tommorow
 
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Jarred J.

Lifetime VIP Donor
May 21, 2010
11,580
Shelbyville, TN
Thanks
 

Jarred J.

Lifetime VIP Donor
May 21, 2010
11,580
Shelbyville, TN
and the VIDS

dual apollo in amber

and in red white


and mini jet on top...


was about to get paged out and i dont have any rear warning on ride yet...

things to be added.

HLF
console, with radio, scanner, switches, siren , etc.
2 red /white Apollos for the grill (on the way)
possibly 2 Amber Feneix T3s in grille for non emergency situations
4 antennas (waiting for one antenna to get here. then just poke the holes in the top There will be a 2m/70cm dual band, scanner, a 220 mhz, and a single band 2m for APRS)
Siren speaker

all the microman lights, and cannons from kia


plus when money allows i will be getting some lights for side warning, 4 sos Mpowers in red/ white and red /amber

thought about starting up a go fund me to help with all this LOL more pics to come as stuff goes in.
 

Jarred J.

Lifetime VIP Donor
May 21, 2010
11,580
Shelbyville, TN
apollos arrived last night, i set the patterns and modes last night but of course theres a slight snag...


so opinion time..

IMG_0236.JPG

do i remove (aka cut off)some of the black slats to recess mount the light or do this...

IMG_0237.JPG

with the bracket holding in up to the slats the whole lighthead will stick out...

ill play around with some ideas this weekend im thinking of mounting them high on the grill because the bottom portion is to low and i could use a LP bracket for the same affect. ill also try the upper middle area to see if theyll mount to that.

ive got a busy weekend with my nephews birthday party, some leaf mulching, and needing to uninstall more stuff of the car so i can get it sold, and probbaly more before its over with.....
 

Jarred J.

Lifetime VIP Donor
May 21, 2010
11,580
Shelbyville, TN
IMG_0238.JPG
This just seems to low for me... a LP bracket would be a hair lower... plus in the future 2 amber t3s will be here for when I'm doing bike rides, races etc.

IMG_0239.JPG
This way the lights seem to close and would lose their effectiveness

IMG_0240.JPG
So I see I can mount it here by just notching 1 vertical slat per slide

And this "old dog" just learned a new trick.... how to post a pic on mobile... :cool:
 

NJEMT

Member
May 22, 2010
377
Essex County, NJ
My former Escape. Just some info, that blank space above the taillight is a full reflector, just waiting for some cannons.
 
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Jarred J.

Lifetime VIP Donor
May 21, 2010
11,580
Shelbyville, TN
Good to know that's where I was planning on putting mine
 
May 9, 2012
1,153
Central Florida
I would try to recess mount them. On my issued FD car I mounted two Feniex T6s to the grille and I don't like how they protrude out. I can't cut up the grille or else I'd recess them. I'd throw a light coat of VHT nightshade on the apollos you got...it won't affect the output at all (depending on how dark/light you do it) and it will help it be more hidden. Just my thoughts.
 

otacon

Member
May 25, 2010
88
Saint John, NB, Canada
There is a local dept that has 4 LINZ6's setup with two in the upper grille next to each other like you're second pic and 2 in the lower grille like your first pic in a fast X pattern. If your only using two I like the third pic myself. Truck looks good Jarred can't wait to see the final setup.
 

Jarred J.

Lifetime VIP Donor
May 21, 2010
11,580
Shelbyville, TN
Didnt get anything installed this weekend but a lil bit o pre wiring done...

started out with wires...

IMG_0242.JPG

and made a harness with some shrink wrap... (guess i was in such a hurry i didnt get pics in progress... ) but this harness is now on 1 of the apollos...

to make this..


i wont hook it up till its in the vehicle so next up is both lights in both modes...




i had another video taken but apparently it didnt save on IPOD and sorry for the VVS...
 

Jarred J.

Lifetime VIP Donor
May 21, 2010
11,580
Shelbyville, TN
And here are some of the other items ...

IMG_0246.JPG

blue seas power panel, (put all the fuses in and labeled some of the stickers).

Ill have a
scanner
usb ports pictured
12v plug (they will not be on the panel mount you see in the picture here.. it was cheaper to buy it that way)
and a few more items yet to be determined. (probably radio used for aprs at a later date..)


60A circuit breaker to go under the hood.

the 3 outlet panel i cut the fuse that came on it off cause it will be added to that fuse panel. i will have it switched because it will be used for GPS, cell phone charger, and dual appolo or GF's cell phone charger whatever else... and attached to side of console.

Ive got a squad meeting tonight, but i need to get the trunk lip mount antennas off of the kia. My last antenna showed up saturday so im ready to punch some holes in the roof whenever i get time to drop the headliner...
 

acala91

Member
Oct 15, 2010
1,662
FL
img_0239-jpg.161450



This wouldn't be bad if you flashed them simultaneously. Or in an x-pattern with some Cannons in the fog lights ;)
 

Jarred J.

Lifetime VIP Donor
May 21, 2010
11,580
Shelbyville, TN
interesting idea.. i thought of mounting cannons there but ill be putting in a HLF and that maybe way to much white to the front... plus eventually theyll be a bull bar with an off road light on it... and with the fog lights always on with the low beams, wouldnt the heat melt them?
 
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Jarred J.

Lifetime VIP Donor
May 21, 2010
11,580
Shelbyville, TN
got my box of these last night...

IMG_0266.JPG

couldn't find colored around these parts so bought it off Cable ties and more

Red - power from battery in
Blue - communications 1 radio for now another to come at a later date (since they have to go direct to battery)
Yellow - lighting out, from interior (apollos, HLF, t3s, and eventually SOS mpowers
White- will be for siren speaker.

already made the power wire from battery to circuit breaker made up the other day but here it is loomed...

IMG_0267.JPG
crimp connectors with heat shrink

and here is the harness for the apollo with it attached..

IMG_0265.JPG
I was thinking about this the other night, and im not going to directly connect the 2 sync/pattern change wires. i will either put them on a spade male/ female connector or attach both of them to one male spade connector and when i want to change patterns ill attach the female end on and touch to the battery ground... thats if they will BOTH change at the same time. (hypothetically should)
 
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Hoff

Member
Aug 2, 2011
892
SW Ohio/US
I like your pre-work Jarred. They should switch together with the way you describe. I also like your choice of radio program.
 

Jarred J.

Lifetime VIP Donor
May 21, 2010
11,580
Shelbyville, TN
Don't tell Mark lol....

If you go back to my green t3 vids you'll hear Phil valentine in it.

My OCD wants me to do this right the first time.... lol

Got the circuit breaker in about an hour ago....


IMG_0268.JPG

Debating if I want to try getting a cannon in before bed. I've done a number on my arms from pulling back wheel wells to replace marker lights with leds.
 

Jarred J.

Lifetime VIP Donor
May 21, 2010
11,580
Shelbyville, TN
didnt mess with the cannons but i did do this...

IMG_0269.JPG

took a mini hacksaw to the slat in the grill and just seperated it from the bottom rung..

there isnt enough room there for the brackets to be screwed into so it will have to be attached with a very small piece of sticky tape.. plus the friction is doing a good job of holding it like that


180 of grill lights

(ive got to quit making videos sideways but it was past 11:00 pm last night)


180 of dashlights and grill lights



these arent permanently in, i was having a hard time finding a grounding point, but i think ive got one now... also i havent taken the plastic covering off the apollos so this isnt even as bright as they will get...:D
 
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Jarred J.

Lifetime VIP Donor
May 21, 2010
11,580
Shelbyville, TN
I pop offed the rear lights last night and found this...

IMG_0276.JPG

IMG_0277.JPG

apparently the previous owner attached a trailer wiring harness the hard way...

so the fun began..

IMG_0278.JPG
removed cannons from KIA and drilled holes in the blank spaces in the housings which have the reflecter material in them.. (as stated in another post)

hole drilled in subframe and exterior panel to get flasher unit in vehicle. one of my cannons is the newer model where the lighthead can be separated from the flasher via a quick disconnect. the other i had to remove the top cover off the flasher unit to get it through the hole.IMG_0279.JPG
 

Jarred J.

Lifetime VIP Donor
May 21, 2010
11,580
Shelbyville, TN
IMG_0280.JPG

this is the one that had the removable ligthhead... i had to put this one the other side after this pic because it was getting late and chilly outside... and i ran it through the wrong side..

IMG_0282.JPG

on the passenger side near the factory sub there is a ton of room between it and the light assembly. I will mount the small flasher for my red micromans here. that's another project for another day...

ok so i have 2 mounting locations conveniently in the back of the vehicle..

the tire jack area has some room left in it thats pretty deep...
IMG_0289.JPG

and the "lockable storage area", has tons of room for wiring etc... but isnt as deep.

IMG_0288.JPG

ill be doing a way to run all three modes off cannons and power to 2 flashers plus whenever i get the side warning in off s terminal strip in here.

im still debating if i want to have in the console
1 switch for rear only like i have in the kia now, or
3 switches for 3 modes of cannons, and 1 flasher for reds and one for amber..

if i do the 1 swtich for rear ill have main power which will run 3 switches in the rear to control the rest. (like in kia)
 

Jarred J.

Lifetime VIP Donor
May 21, 2010
11,580
Shelbyville, TN
vid time...

cannon mode 1


mode 2


mode 3

and everything all buttoned up...

 
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Jarred J.

Lifetime VIP Donor
May 21, 2010
11,580
Shelbyville, TN
was busy for about 2.5 hours last night..

IMG_0290.JPG

this is about as much tape that is going to "bond" to the grill. the friction from rung and slat is going to be doing most of the work...


IMG_0293.JPG

right light in and looming process

IMG_0292.JPG

left before it was mated to other wiring harness...
IMG_0294.JPG

butt connectors for the light side... spade connector for the sync/pattern change, in case i want to easily change patterns later.. you can also see the grounds in back ground.. each light is grounded separately..


I got these ready for the parade today. i simply used the battery as the "switch" LOL it worked for now..

I swore i took more pictures last night but once again it was getting late so apparently i didnt, otherwise there would be a picture of the cannons hooked up to a small battery right here....
 

Jarred J.

Lifetime VIP Donor
May 21, 2010
11,580
Shelbyville, TN
I started this project last night but hadnt eaten enough Wheaties apparently. on the "economical" version of the escapes the spare tire is in the back hatch in a hole... in the more "luxurious" models the spare is under the vehicle and a nice storage tray is in its place... so i figured it must come out somehow...

so, i found 2 bolts and started undoing them... one of them turned fairly easy and the other not so much.

today after putting up the Christmas lights up on the house i took another crack at it after letting it soak in wd40 to get these results.. There are also 2 more near the seats and they came out with no problem

IMG_0297.JPG

a very dirty bottom under the tray there was 11 cents in there, a partial balloon, grass, some marbles, a small bolt and 5 years worth of dirt.

then to the 1 inch hole saw we go..IMG_0300.JPG

there was supposed to be another pic of where i took it directly after drilling the 2 holes but once again the ipod has failed me.

but this is the 2 cannons wires and 2 power wires for the other 2 flashers. I also put a 8 gang terminal strip in there today.. i'll grab the 4 gang out of the kia and it will be my ground side strip. Im debating if i want to use my 3 switch panel out of the car and remove the switches from the panel and mount them on the side trim or if i want to use 3 round switches i have just sitting around to do this... may have to get some opinions.


one of which has now been mounted in the rear access panel..

IMG_0298.JPG

nice little flasher all nestled in its new home. this particualr flasher has a removable wiring harness(its still in the KIA for now)
IMG_0299.JPG

this is the access panel directly behind the factory sub as shown in an earlier pic. (silver is the AMP)

Im still contemplating where im going to put the rotary flasher as it needs to be accessible to change patterns for traffic patterns

thats about as far as i got today because the GF had to take an early lunch so we could eat together before i came to work for a few hours...


and here is some POV porn from after the Veterans day parade today..

 
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Jarred J.

Lifetime VIP Donor
May 21, 2010
11,580
Shelbyville, TN
it was kind of warm night last night, so i did a little more wiring in the cargo area...

IMG_0305.JPG
flasher power wires attached, and working on the cannons' wiring

can i just say how friggin weak that small gauge wire is? if you cut the sheathing just a tad to hard trying to seperate it from the rest of the wires it pulls all the wiring apart. it is very brittle and i dont remember it being that way when they were new last year....

while i was playing around i noticed my mode 2 had become un-synched and so was mode 3

IMG_0306.JPG

and now the 2 cannons are one again. i have the pattern/sync wire connected and it will be added to a slot on the grounding terminal i have yet to install so if and when i decide to change patterns a short jumper can be used to do so...

IMG_0307.JPG

i used terminal strip jumper for modes 1 and 2 which are seperated by mode 3 here. That was to allow the jumpers not to be so close to each other that they might jump current between them, plus as previously stated with the wiring headache that small of a ga wire is...

i need to get some 1 inch loom and all those wires will disappear. still debating on how i want to do the 3 switches...
 

Jarred J.

Lifetime VIP Donor
May 21, 2010
11,580
Shelbyville, TN
IMG_0311.JPG

what used to be power buss bar in kia is now ground... ( i dont know what happened to the other 3 screws probably find them later in kia somewhere...)

IMG_0317.JPG
 
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Jarred J.

Lifetime VIP Donor
May 21, 2010
11,580
Shelbyville, TN
now, where to mount the switches.... it will be hard to find a mounting place for the switch panel without having to cut a hole into a lot of plastic somewhere..

IMG_0312.JPG

IMG_0314.JPG

IMG_0313.JPG

this would be the easiest place, but least impractical due to having to remove the carpet and top of the bin to get to it...

IMG_0315.JPG


this would be easy as well but eventually theyll be a radio, and TNC here.
 

Jarred J.

Lifetime VIP Donor
May 21, 2010
11,580
Shelbyville, TN
so the other option are these switches... which will be a lil easier to deal with...

this is the plastic near the back window...

IMG_0309.JPG


back quarter panel near wheel well. (lower and more forward then 1st pic)
IMG_0310.JPG


lower then 1st pic but further back... the spacing here is just big enough for the switch.. but the cargo cover would block these when its pulled forward...
IMG_0316.JPG

the rotary flasher will be mounted to the access cover for the amp as shown in a few pics above, i may put these in/on it to make it an all in one control point.

ill see what kind of work i get done this weekend on it, but i have a bigger priority first... i was thinking i still had another week to get all the Christmas lights out but turkey day is less than a week away and ive got to get about 1,000 Christmas lights out
 

NEB

Member
Oct 8, 2015
275
NE
Maybe I missed something here, but just curious as to why your switches are in the rear and not up in the front by the driver? Are you going to have switches up front with the ability to also control functions when you have the rear hatch open from the back?

Looks good!
 

Jarred J.

Lifetime VIP Donor
May 21, 2010
11,580
Shelbyville, TN
im already having to use 5 switches for a siren and 1 for takedowns, 3 for the front. plus 2 more when i get side lighting in. that leaves 1 switch left on 2 different switchboxes. my console does not have room after 2 radios and a scanner and cupholders for any more switchboxes...

i cant afford a 4200 or any of the multipurpose units like those. i have 3 modes of lighting in the rear.

red, amber and the cannons 3rd mode red/amber

on the ambers they are set on a rotary flasher for warning /traffic patterns

flasher-jpg.117793


here it is in the kia... it is not beneficial to add this to the console along with an 8 conductor cable (as in the case with the kia)

So this flasher will be in the rear close to all the microman lights i usually just have the rear ambers set to sweep pattern (aka knight rider) but when it comes time to shut down roads or direct traffic i have that capability as well. my vest and traffic wand will be in the back so its a matter of changing patterns whilst getting ready


so to "breifly" answer your question. yes one switch up front will power 3 to the rear...:D

if i could afford a 4200 i wouldn't need to add switches to the rear area... but alas, it is what it is...




last night before the cold front moved in i did this...

IMG_0319.JPG

this is the separable pig tail of the SOS flasher for the red micromans
it uses different wiring combinations of wiring in the pigtail for different patterns. i have mine set up as quad flash and it just needs one wire to activate it. so above you see the pattern wire and the main power for it...

also attached ground. blue and yellow are the led leads

IMG_0320.JPG

and here it is plugged into the flasher...


didnt get any work done today due to spending 4.5 hours mulching leaves and setting up more christmas lights
 

Jarred J.

Lifetime VIP Donor
May 21, 2010
11,580
Shelbyville, TN
Christmas lights are up and running so now back to the install...

IMG_0327.JPG

was thinking about mounting storm pro here but will wait for the console to get in too see how much space is in it to mount.




drill drill here, drill drill there,

IMG_0328.JPG

and the rotatory flasher is mounted to its new home.

IMG_0329.JPG

hooking up the rotary flasher to power and ground... and hooking up a permanent ground from the distro panel to the vehicle (large black wire near battery)IMG_0331.JPG
 

Jarred J.

Lifetime VIP Donor
May 21, 2010
11,580
Shelbyville, TN
i ran the ground to a large bolt to which the white leads of the battery are going to test the distro panel...

IMG_0332.JPG yep, its working...



rotary flasher on its panel back in the vehicle...

IMG_0334.JPG


and since im tired of only hearing 4 sources of radio traffic with 2 HTs in the car i grabbed my scanner out of the kia, stuck a window mount wire antenna on the BNC and cig plug adapter fro power... (not whats pictured, thats the 4way)


IMG_0335.JPG its just sitting there...
 
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Jarred J.

Lifetime VIP Donor
May 21, 2010
11,580
Shelbyville, TN
after i made the connections for new power and ground and before i tied it into the rest of the distro strips...




if your wondering i actually shot this upside down but it came out as VVS

and the leatherman is acting as a ground bar....:D

 
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Jarred J.

Lifetime VIP Donor
May 21, 2010
11,580
Shelbyville, TN
decided to "kick it old school"last night on a call out...


it was pouring down rain so i wasnt going to take the vid during the rain...
 
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Jarred J.

Lifetime VIP Donor
May 21, 2010
11,580
Shelbyville, TN
kept the old school look for the Christmas parade

 
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Jarred J.

Lifetime VIP Donor
May 21, 2010
11,580
Shelbyville, TN
going to have to do a little unistalling or really unwiring to re wire up the micromans... i forgot that the micromans need their own power and or grounds depending on its unctions.. the reds need their own grounds and the ambers all need power because they are ground side switched but this shaint be a real problem...

i got some angle iron and flat stock and a metal shop where some info turned into free steel...

i brought the metal to work and saw i had to cut 4 more inches off the angle iron... (started off as 40 inches)

i then bent the flat stock from angle of roof to level for back window... we mocked it up in the vehicle and then he did all the welding....

IMG_0342.JPG

the angle iron is facing down with the l on top so the micromans will be under the "L"

IMG_0343.JPG

welds are a lil sloppy but it works...

IMG_0344.JPG

the MM lights now sans the pipe hanger that had them supported in the kia...
 

Jarred J.

Lifetime VIP Donor
May 21, 2010
11,580
Shelbyville, TN
IMG_0345.JPG

thats my friend, we were measuring and mounting the brackets for the MM's

IMG_0346.JPG

painting

IMG_0347.JPG

and mocked up back in the car, we checked for spacing for both the hatch and rear glass hatch everything lined up perfect... used the child restraint bolts up top for mounting reused the screws and only had to use a lockwasher and washer to even out the spacing...


sometime tonight or so ill add the lights back to the brackets but cant "permanently" install this until antennas get put in because ill have to drop the headliner...
 
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