12V Power for Center Row

[jonheld]

With all the talk about aux power around here, I decided to do something about the lack of it in my truck. Since no one in my household smokes, I made use of the snap in ash trays in the armrests. I purchased a pair of West Marine 12V receptacles, part# 371849. They’re waterproof, stainless steel, and have a shiny mounting plate which I think is just too sexy.

Tomorrow or Sunday I’ll wire them in, but this is what I have so far. All cuts were done by hand with a hack saw, all holes were drilled by hand with a cordless and a stepper bit for the big hole.

Pictures are pretty self explanatory. I used the hyphen in the part number on the backside of the cover for the pilot hole. Took an hour to do both.

 

[jonheld]

Some more pics...

 

[jonheld]

Last one...again...

 

[Grench]

Be sure to put some low low amperage fuses on those.

Children, skinny little fingers, spare change and 12V receptacles should be combined only with great care.

 

[jonheld]

I was planning on that. The window power is off of a 30 amp fuse. Even though my kids are old enough to know better, sh*t happens.

 

[Grench]

When we bought the brown '92 (since sold) the lighter and the CD player didn't work. The lighter had 43 cents in it and the CD player had a Britney Spears CD and some plastic gear bits and a Chuck E Cheese token. I think thats the likely order that they arrived in the bottom of the CD player's metal pan anyway.

 

[jonheld]

LOL...
My first time tearing into my dashboard was brought about by my son Josh sticking quarters in the cd slot when he was about a year and a half old. He's 14 now, but still manages to do some silly things.

 

[jonheld]

OK, not hooked up yet, but I had to see them in the daylight. The kids like the idea, but still think dad is nuts.

 

[pint]

That is a great idea and looks very clean!

 

[96Cruiser13]

i like it

looks great

 

[gbell210]

Curious.. was there any room inside the ash trays to mount the 12V receptical? The lid could then double as a cover as well and still look fully stock. I like your idea though. I've added power to the rear side panel and 3 up front, but there is still nothing in the center.

The benifit of tapping into the window power is that when the truck is off, all gadgets plugged into them are off as well. Just have to make sure the gadgets don't draw too much power while operating a window to blow fuses.
But for recharging an ipod or something like that should be no problem, I'd think.
Does anyone know how much power a window motor draws while in use?

 

[jonheld]

Not too much room in there. I needed to cut away the front in order to fit the diameter of the unit. The ash trays have small ledges for extinguishing cigarettes. The way the're mounted, there is "just" enough room for the center terminal to clear the bottom of the armrest. It's all plastic, but if it makes contact it won't sit correctly.

I have raised and lowered all 4 windows at once, so I would imagine less than 7.5 amps a piece or the 30 amp fuse would have gone.

I purchased some in line fuse holders from radio snack and some 2 amp fuses. That's plenty for the ipods/phones/nintendo ds/ that will be used by the kids on trips.

 

[jonheld]

Tried to get them wired up today, but it's cold out and I need to take the panel off the door to make clean splices in the wires.

 

[jonheld]

Small faux-pas on my part here. After getting them all wired up and working (about another hour including R/R of the door panels) I realized that the accessory plugs I like (iGo) interfere with the door handles when plugged in. This means that they must be removed in order to open the doors from the inside. Not the end of the world by any means, but not as elegant of a solution as I had hoped for. They still look neat.

 

[Devil's Slide Doug]

Did you consider mounting the plugs on the back of the console? Easy to do and looks clean. Wired to the battery via a fused terminal block so the kids dvd player doesn't shut down when gassing up.

 

[jonheld]

I assume you mean the center console? That's where my CB lives. I also didn't want power plugs by floor where they can get easily kicked, bent, full of mud, etc.

 

[Devil's Slide Doug]

Good points, Wasnt trying to jack your thread or dis your mod. We make our rigs our own as we see fit. I simply chose to mimic a configuration I have seen in some newer non toyota suv's. There is space in the outer shell of the center console where the plugs wont intrude into the usable interior well but will still be above the heater vents. I used a west marine dual socket with the flaps. i saw a similar installation in a rotw.

 

[jonheld]

Yea, I saw that thread too which is what got me started searching the WestMarine site. Once I saw those shiny ones I was hooked.

"Wasnt trying to jack your thread or dis your mod"

I really never thought that at all. I just answered your question. I wheel with my kids most of the time and they're in and out constantly with muddy boots and such. My CB has taken quite the beating over the years hanging on the back of the center console. I couldn't see power cords lasting more than one weekend in that location.

I also discovered that I can loop the power cord around the arm rest and it will keep it from dangling when plugged in. I can also keep a phone or ipod between the armrest and the door panel and it stays pretty well. I might have to come up with a small gineric device holder for each armrest now.

 

[97 FZJ80]

Here is my setup.

 

[jonheld]

So I had an extra 12 recepticle laying around (they were on sale after all) and I was looking for a cool place to put it. AHA! Found the perfect spot. Now all 3 passengers have their own 12VDC power. They all work, and are easy to install. The passenger door has lots of room under the window control panel.