2555 Cab, how to remove roof...???

[JerryK]

I took off the five 8mm bolts [two each side, one at rear]. Figure the sunroof has to be open. But still can't lift the fiberglass top to expose the wiring. Putting in new lamps, strobes, rotating beacon, etc. Some thing still holding it down in place. HELP...!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Have lots of time to get it done before snow time, and most of my ' stuff ' is still on it's way. Have had a maint manual ordered for a couple months, but still no dice... It's terrible to be an electrician and not being able to see wiring. I MUST SEE WIRING........!!!

Phillips screws around sunroof opening....???? [ attacking as we speak ]

 

[JerryK]

Yup, five 8mm perimeter bolts, 10 of those plastic rivets around the escape hatch, and two screw securing the block the hatch grabs onto.. Top is fairly light. Wires and stuff under there. Two big blowers.... I just put in 3 of my new 36 watt LED work lamps... one to go. Stock 35 watt halogen vs 36 watt 6000 kelvin 3600 lumen light... I'd go bigger, but want to put strobes and an amber rotating beacon on it like I put on my 5035. Go too bright, and you would never see anything but the LED work lights...

 

[dickfoster]

Yup, five 8mm perimeter bolts, 10 of those plastic rivets around the escape hatch, and two screw securing the block the hatch grabs onto.. Top is fairly light. Wires and stuff under there. Two big blowers.... I just put in 3 of my new 36 watt LED work lamps... one to go. Stock 35 watt halogen vs 36 watt 6000 kelvin 3600 lumen light... I'd go bigger, but want to put strobes and an amber rotating beacon on it like I put on my 5035. Go too bright, and you would never see anything but the LED work lights...

Why all the lights, beacons, strobes etc.? Don't forget the disco ball as long as you're into it and remember those color organs that made different color light to the music? One of those might go well with the disco ball.

 

[JerryK]

Why all the lights, beacons, strobes etc.? Don't forget the disco ball as long as you're into it and remember those color organs that made different color light to the music? One of those might go well with the disco ball.

We get this white stuff for several months of the year. It also gets cold and windy. Not cold as in 50 degrees like you get down there in Kalifornia, but quite a bit lower. Try to imagine that. If you sit on your back deck, sipping on a barley pop, and look up in the mountains in the far off distance..... you may see a white deposit high up amongst the mountains in your area. Well, where I live, that white deposit lands right where I try to drive my trucks, walk, and generally live. I have to move that white deposit off my driveway and road in front of my place many times during those white deposit times of the year. The lights/beacons/strobes help the general public to be able to locate me in the white cloud of stuff that I am blowing off said areas. Think sandstorm, thick Kalifornia smog, heavy smoke from the hills around you burning [ sorry, touchy subject, again, sorry ], hoards of drug smuggling planes flying above your house, or something like that which would impede sight.... That is what it is like up here in God's Country in those cold months...

 

[dickfoster]

We get this white stuff for several months of the year. It also gets cold and windy. Not cold as in 50 degrees like you get down there in Kalifornia, but quite a bit lower. Try to imagine that. If you sit on your back deck, sipping on a barley pop, and look up in the mountains in the far off distance..... you may see a white deposit high up amongst the mountains in your area. Well, where I live, that white deposit lands right where I try to drive my trucks, walk, and generally live. I have to move that white deposit off my driveway and road in front of my place many times during those white deposit times of the year. The lights/beacons/strobes help the general public to be able to locate me in the white cloud of stuff that I am blowing off said areas. Think sandstorm, thick Kalifornia smog, heavy smoke from the hills around you burning [ sorry, touchy subject, again, sorry ], hoards of drug smuggling planes flying above your house, or something like that which would impede sight.... That is what it is like up here in God's Country in those cold months...

LOL The mountains are not in the so far off distance for me, they are in my backyard or rather my front yard. It's that little rock pile called the Sierra Nevada Mountains. FYI Nevada in Spanish means snow covered. I am also in the hills that are apt to be burning almost any summer and my place is in a development called Snow Mountain Estates if that's any clue.
There are no drug smugglers that I've seen flying around here because pot is the primary cash crop in this county. Many of my neighbors grow it so any smuggling going on would likely be to export the stuff. Smugglers in planes would be in constant danger of having mid airs with all the borate bombers flying around so they're better off on the ground.
In summary I live in Nevada (snow covered) county, in the Sierra Nevada (snow covered) Mountains, on lot 1 of Snow Mountain Estates. Since I'm in the process of replacing or planning to replace my current back deck I just happen to have looked up the snow loading just moments ago, it's 83 pounds per square foot. But I'm only at 3600 ft here so it's not so bad as all that.

 

[JerryK]

LOL The mountains are not in the so far off distance for me, they are in my backyard or rather my front yard. It's that little rock pile called the Sierra Nevada Mountains. FYI Nevada in Spanish means snow covered. I am also in the hills that are apt to be burning almost any summer and my place is in a development called Snow Mountain Estates if that's any clue.
There are no drug smugglers that I've seen flying around here because pot is the primary cash crop in this county. Many of my neighbors grow it so any smuggling going on would likely be to export the stuff. Smugglers in planes would be in constant danger of having mid airs with all the borate bombers flying around so they're better off on the ground.
In summary I live in Nevada (snow covered) county, in the Sierra Nevada (snow covered) Mountains, on lot 1 of Snow Mountain Estates. Since I'm in the process of replacing or planning to replace my current back deck I just happen to have looked up the snow loading just moments ago, it's 83 pounds per square foot. But I'm only at 3600 ft here so it's not so bad as all that.

I'm all the way up a little over 1200' [ twelve hundred feet ] .... It's the thin air up here that gets 'ya .....

 

[bluefin650]

Is it possible to change out the lights with out removing the roof? Can the connectors be pulled out of the roof without ruining them?

Does anyone have pics of the escape hatch fasteners that need to be removed?

 

[JerryK]

If you look where the light wire goes into the metal cab structure, there is a grommet. You could pop this grommet out [ comes out easy, and will probably come out with the wire when you pull on it anyway ], then pull on the light wire. This may or may not work, depending on how the wire lays inside the top of the cab. At the end of the sheathed light wire there are a male and female pin connector that connects to the cab wiring. I ended up cutting off these pin connectors and splicing them on the end of the wires coming from the new lights [ wires twisted together longitudinally, soldered, then covered with heat shrink tubing ]. So, another option is to pull the old light wires out some, then do the splicing of the new light onto the old wires right on the tractor [ probably a pain ]. If you open the escape hatch, you should see the 10 plastic rivets [ phillips screw head ] that need to come out. And the black block that has two phillips screws you need to take that off with. The 10 rivets can be removed by carefully turning the phillips head CCW, without pressing into screw too much. Or, pry the center section out with a small pointy object... carefully of course.

 

[bluefin650]

I will try pulling out the grommets, thank you. The stock lights definitely suck!

 

[dickfoster]

I'm all the way up a little over 1200' [ twelve hundred feet ] .... It's the thin air up here that gets 'ya .....

I remember getting stationed in Cheyenne WY from essentially sea level then having to run aerobics in a gym as soon as I got there. I thought I was gonna die from hypoxia, Cheyenne is at 6K ft. We had to run it in the gym because it was something like 10 degrees outside with about 3' of snow was on the ground. Their snow is as dry as gunpowder because there is little humidity to speak of. My native Floridian wife had me wetting the stuff down with a garden hose to make a snowman, because it was the first time she'd seen real snow.

 

[bluefin650]

Do you have a pick of the lights you installed? Specifically the mounting bracket.

 

[JerryK]

Do you have a pick of the lights you installed? Specifically the mounting bracket.

I bought four 36 watt LED floods on Ebay, they are just a little longer [wider] than the stock 35 watt halogens.

4pcs 7inch 36W CREE LED Work Light Bar Flood Offroad Lamp 4WD Boat ATV Truck SUV | eBay

The new lights are normally held onto the new brackets that came with them with 4 short stainless bolts. I bored a clearance hole all the way thru the top tap'd ones so that the stock bolt would go all the way thru them and let the new light mount exactly like the old one using the original brackets. So the new LED floods mount exactly like the stock ones did, in about the same exact position. In the second picture below, the bolt now goes thru the right set of holes all the way thru... think it was 5/16" drill that I used. You can buy higher output LED lamps, but if you stay close to the 35 watts that the stock ones draw, you won't have to worry about the stock wiring or fuse on that circuit. The 36 watt I bought fit the bill. I put 27 watts on my 5035, and they put out tons of light. Added picture of mounted lamp....

 

[JerryK]

Picture of how these 36 watt lights fit into the stock Mahindra light pockets in the fiberglass cab top.. still need final alignment later. Still wiring....

 

[bluefin650]

Thanks! That was what I was looking for. I just measured today and the cut outs on the cab are 6" and the lights are 6.5" according to the specs but it looks like they fit fine. I was almost going to pull the trigger on the 4" ones but will reconsider now.
Thanks again.

 

[JerryK]

I accept donations... [ to support my tractor addiction... ]

 

[bluefin650]

Lights came in this week. Got around to pulling the grommets to try and swap out the lights. There isn't enough slack in the wire to get the connections through the hole. Looks like the roof has to come off. Is the anything that I have to pay special attention to when I remount the roof?

 

[JerryK]

Lights came in this week. Got around to pulling the grommets to try and swap out the lights. There isn't enough slack in the wire to get the connections through the hole. Looks like the roof has to come off. Is the anything that I have to pay special attention to when I remount the roof?

The rear window has a rubber piece attached to the roof that has to be dealt with when you lift it up, then again when you lower it back down. I did not actually take the roof off, just removed the 5 big 8mm bolts holding it down, and the the inside screws around the hatch area [ and the hatch lock piece ]. I then lifted the passenger side and put a couple cardboard boxes under the roof to hold that side up [ don't put the boxes on the A/C or blower ]. You can then get to that side wiring pretty easy. Then move the boxes and do the other side. I was doing it by myself, did not have anyone to help lift it off. You could lift it with a couple ropes or something similar. But the old box thing worked OK. When you lower it back down finally, make sure you put the rubber piece by the back window around the rear bolt the way it originally was. Easier to just look at it than try to 'splain it. It is a simple operation, though. Only bad thing would be is if you let it slide off onto the floor, but I would not worry about that. When you get it up, take a good looksee under there for future reference... Another option is just cut the wires going to the old OEM lights and do the splicing out there.. leaving the roof alone. I gave my old lights away, not good for much. They are only 35 watt halogens...

 

[bluefin650]

Got the lights installed today. Thanks for all your help JerryK. I had help, so I just slid the roof ahead a few inches back and then a few inches forward. Much easier to change out than it sounds.

 

[JerryK]

GREAT..!!!!! Lights bright enough for ya.... ????????

 

[bluefin650]

:thumbsup:
Is it bad that I went out 2 nights in a row to check them out??