Posts by BKL

  • online tires?

    Since I have a local Discount Tire just a few minutes from my house, I've ordered several tires for my Slingshot from Discount Tire Direct and just had my local Discount Tire install them for me. Gives me access to brands/sizes not normally available locally.

  • Aftermarket radio antenna

    Generally speaking, roof mount antennas work best simply because the roof tends to place the antenna as high as possible and is usually also relatively flat, meaning no obstructions to impact reception, but on the Slingshot, even if you have a roof, there isn't much to function as a ground plane. The hood is probably not a good place since a hood mount would place the antenna close to engine noise. In my mind, this leaves the rear deck as the best location. It has a metal framework underneath the deck to support any metal reinforcement/ground plane you may want to use for the antenna. The only potential problem I can see would be the need for an extension cable to reach the radio and any impact that might have, if any, with DAB reception. I have seen DAB extensions up to 5 m, so i assume the extension shouldn't cause any problems.


    Here are a couple Google Searches for High Quality Car Radio AM/FM/DAB antennas - LMGTFY


    and


    AM/FM/DAB antennas for fiberglass body vehicles - LMGTFY


    Since the Slingshot doesn't have a conventional metal car body, the link for fiberglass vehicles may be more useful.

  • Hearing the radio

    Here's a link to Crutchfield's Amplifier Wire Gauge Sizing page - How to Determine the Best Wire Gauge. Lots of useful info on choosing what size wire you need for a given load.


    As the article points out, 13.8V is a better value to use than the 12V I typically used in the past (12V makes for easier multiplication/division than 13.8V :D ).

  • Air conditioning has arrived !

    I posted about this unit on TDS back in 2016. Don't know if they're still in business, but it looks to be the right size to fit somewhere in the Slingshot. I wouldn't expect it to do much when the Slingshot is moving, but it should provide some comfort when stopped for a light, especially if the Slingshot has a Top.
    https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/zero-breeze-the-world-s-coolest-portable-ac-unit#/
    http://www.zero-breeze.com

  • Space x

    Quote from Slingrazor

    With the amount of research he claims to do on simple tasks, it amazes me he has not provided us with the knowledge of how it all worked.
    If you get your head out you will discover they have successfully been landing the rockets for quite some time now. Have a closer look and you can see the panels on the boosters that had to come off to allow the reconfiguration of the landing gear.
    The world is flat, we didn't go to the moon, and Elvis and JFK are alive and kicking sharing a cool one in Hawaii.

    I thought Elvis was at the helm of the Exxon Valdez way back when.

  • Hearing the radio

    If anyone plans on upgrading their speakers, try to get the highest Sensitivity rating you can for the price point you're willing to spend. A speaker rated at 94 dB Sensitivity will sound much louder than a similar speaker rated at 91 dB at the same amp power output.
    Here's a decent article on speaker sensitivity - What Is Speaker Sensitivity and What Does It Mean?. As the article states, a 3dB increase in volume requires twice as much power, so a speaker with a 97 dB sensitivity rating such as the Pioneer TS-G1345R will have a significant advantage over a speaker rated at 91 or 88 dB (88 dB being a typical industry average sensitivity).
    Also, try to match the sensitivity of all of your speakers as closely as possible to avoid one brand's higher sensitivity overpowering a different brand. As long as the sensitivity ratings are relatively close, you should be OK, but pairing a 97 dB sensitivity speaker with a\another speaker rated at 91 dB will probably result in the lower sensitivity speaker being drowned out by the higher rated speaker.

  • Space x

    Just watched the launch on YouTube. Impressive, especially both outer boosters landing simultaneously. Hopefully, the center core landed safely on the drone ship. I would have expected a support ship to be relatively close by, just in case, so I'm surprised there hasn't been any update on the center core/drone ship status.


    Just found this article posted at 1839 Eastern Time - The middle booster of SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket failed to land on its drone ship - The Verge. The payload stage still seems OK, though.

  • es-designworks.com

    Glad to hear things are developing for you. Guess I'd better get to work designing my pieces. I have a mockup now (needs further work).

  • es-designworks.com

    Quote from ericastar76

    SOON!! :thumbup:
    Once I have the website built (lol, I put a countdown timer on there to keep me on track so I don't play in the garage too much), I should be able to take-on a couple of custom jobs right away while we button up everything else. That said, we're still setting up/testing/building equipment. Stacy is crafting me a powder coating booth (which may be a couple months), as her machine to make it, doesn't arrive until the middle/late of this month. That said, if you don't mind plain colored aluminium for your ideas, just come by one weekend and we can take a look.

    Can't wait for more info on your machining capabilities. I'm fabbing up some mounts from 1/8" aluminum stock, but would prefer something cut from 3/16 - 1/4" aluminum plate. I'd certainly prefer to pay my money to a fellow enthusiast than a local machinist. :D I'll PM you some pics once I have a test mounting done.

  • After market head unit install but no speaker sound

    Quote from slingo

    hey guys! I bought an after market head unit with the Scosche wire harness and I am having a little problem. The head unit turns on, the back up camera works and everything seems fine except there is no sound from the speakers. I tried the radio, Android car play, and a USB stick and no sound at all. Am I missing something here? It seems the speakers get their connection from the radio module behind the GUI interface. (That giant 36 pin harness) i can plug the USB stick into glove box and get the speakers to work but nothing with the new head unit. Any ideas guys? Is there another harness I need? Any help is appreciated. Head unit is a 10.1 Android double din from Eincar.

    Pics might help. Especially of the wiring connections between the new head unit and the speakers. Since you say you get sound suing the original amp & a USB stick, but not from the new head unit, it sounds like there is no connection between the new head unit and the speakers. Do you have a wiring diagram for the factory unit to compare to the new head unit to ensure connections are properly done? The pics may us give a better idea of how you have everything hooked up.

  • 2016 Slingshot headlights...

    Quote from Ice9812

    Yes. I used FX-R projectors from the retrofit source.Bi-Xenon: Morimoto FX-R 3.0 - HID Projectors from The Retrofit Source


    I choose these because of the size and there's a chrome ring that holds the lens in so I didn't need to modify or use a shroud cover the projector. I believe the D2S 4.0 is a better projector but I was concerned about the finish look without a projector. The only thing is none of these projectors are meant to be mounted outside a headlight housing. That being said the projector lens could become damaged or cracked if hit with a rock over time. They're also not 100% water proof, but I'm not worried about that because I don't directly spray them when washing the slingshot and I don't drive in the rain.


    As far as the installation it did take some cutting and modifying to the metal mounting piece on the slingshot. It was a lot of trial and fit and I had to make sure I left the areas for the mountains screws. Here's a pic, it's all I could find and I did clean it up and paint it before I installed it. if you have any other questions let me know.

    Thanks. I haven't been happy with the output of the Slingshot only Canadian Headlights as the Polaris aiming mechanism has the Canadian lights pointing down to the ground if the outer lights are properly aimed. Been thinking about either shimming the lights for better aim or maybe even trying to mount the center units on the outside.

  • 2016 Slingshot headlights...

    Quote from Ice9812

    I have a 2015 so I removed the center lights and I retrofitted a set of projectors in and had the lenses etched with the slingshot logo. I did buy a set of 2016 center lights from Ebay but I never tried to see if they would fit the mounting bracket.

    Do you remember what projectors you used to replace the outer headlights and what you had to do to make them fit?