My Electrical Build in 4RunAmok
- Thread starter Mitch
- Start date
Not very many photos today, in fact, none really.
A mid-morning start, I finished the rock light installation by placing the four front lights, two in front of the wheels and two behind, wired them together and tied them into the SPOD.
After that, I ran the new wire for the lightbar to the SPOD.
A remnant from the prior electrical work, a CLA was hastily wired with an inline fuse directly at the battery, and grounded at the fender with the battery. I originally put this power port in to plug the tent in so we could open and close that, but it has also been used as a constant hot port for charging phones, as well as where I would plug in my solar panel controller for quick and easy charging. I've grown used to it being there, and we definitely need it for the tent still, so I kept the location the same, but redid the power and ground over to the fuse block to keep the wiring at the battery clean, even though the port is literally one inch from the battery.
Lastly, I chose the location for the SPOD HD Control panel and mounted, and programmed it.
We're going camping this weekend, so with all the electrical finished, we're wasting no time testing it out! I'll be watching Apryl as she does her tasks around the truck (making her coffee with her aeropress, mainly), and while helping with cooking, cleaning, etc, I'll be taking notes on what she wants changed, if anything, or seeing if there's something that needs to be done differently. I doubt we'll need to change anything, we've both put so much thought into this, and I think we've knocked it out of the park for the lighting and other little conveniences.
Things that Apryl wanted changed/added that was completed with this rebuild:
A) Mission accomplished on the charging ports.
B) Lighting is now overhead from the hatch in both red and white providing plenty of light.
C) The water pump now has a more reliable power connection.
D) And finally with the addition of a rear control head for the SPOD, we can now turn on the rack left and right camp lights, the water pump, the rock lights (providing light for things you might have dropped under the truck was taken into consideration when placing the rear rock lights), and air compressor from the back, eliminating the need to always back to the driver seat like we used to have to do.
Items I wanted corrected with this rebuild:
A) Now that the switch pro is gone, I can reliably use the bluetooth app and not worry about other devices I want left on losing their power.
B) Prior to this build, one of the switches called "Rear Power" operated a 75 amp relay that powered the fuse block that lived in the back of the 4Runner powering the ham radio, cell phone booster, rear USB port and the Fridge. So if that switch lost power, all of those items shut off together. I should have never put the fridge on a switched power source. Yes, it's nice looking down at the switch panel and knowing immediately if I forgot to turn it off when it wasn't being used, but it just wasn't worth losing a switch over. Now the fridge, ham radio, and USB ports have constant power. The water pump and cell phone booster now have their own switches on the SPOD and will only be turned on when actually needed.
C) Before, we had four total usb ports in the truck, two switched with the ignition, and two hot in the back, we would sometimes have to wait for the other to finish charging something to open one up. Not anymore, with six easily accessible constant hot USB ports, and two more when the water pump isn't in the truck, there'll be room for all of our stuff plus a port or two for friends that need something charged.
D) The last setup with all power in the back coming from the rear passenger storage pocket, the fridge power cord ran across the truck out in the open and it was just messy. Now, the fridge power port is within 10" of the fridge, the water pump power is within 12", and the charging station will have convenient pockets above to hold phones and other things while they're charging.
E) This has already been discussed, but I'm very excited for these changes. Apryl's smile while I showed her around the new conveniences and features made it all worth the work, and I think I know how my customers feel when they see the work I've done and think about how cool it will be to use it in the wild. And it's finally done with the same care and thought I put into my customers vehicles, so I can be comfortable showing it as a proper example of how I do my craft!
F) Within the harnesses are spare power and ground wires. And now that the wires are cleanly run through the factory channels, there's room for more if need be. Also because I tied the new wires to the factory harness behind trim panels, there's no wires criss-crossing around things back there, moving the panels to add more things down the line won't be such a nightmare.
Doing it right the first time is so important, removes so much worry and stress. When you have to pull it all apart again later to perform a fix or add a new item, you'll thank yourself. I guarantee it.
The only casualty: The rear hatch plastic trim panel. $75 at a local junk yard for a new panel because I drilled the holes for the lights to close to the window area, and the spot I chose to mount the switch was directly over the metal of the hatch, and there was no space for the wiring. There was no way I was going to leave three holes in the panel, so I replaced it. Live and learn, LOOK BEHIND before you cut, and measure measure measure.
A mid-morning start, I finished the rock light installation by placing the four front lights, two in front of the wheels and two behind, wired them together and tied them into the SPOD.
After that, I ran the new wire for the lightbar to the SPOD.
A remnant from the prior electrical work, a CLA was hastily wired with an inline fuse directly at the battery, and grounded at the fender with the battery. I originally put this power port in to plug the tent in so we could open and close that, but it has also been used as a constant hot port for charging phones, as well as where I would plug in my solar panel controller for quick and easy charging. I've grown used to it being there, and we definitely need it for the tent still, so I kept the location the same, but redid the power and ground over to the fuse block to keep the wiring at the battery clean, even though the port is literally one inch from the battery.
Lastly, I chose the location for the SPOD HD Control panel and mounted, and programmed it.
We're going camping this weekend, so with all the electrical finished, we're wasting no time testing it out! I'll be watching Apryl as she does her tasks around the truck (making her coffee with her aeropress, mainly), and while helping with cooking, cleaning, etc, I'll be taking notes on what she wants changed, if anything, or seeing if there's something that needs to be done differently. I doubt we'll need to change anything, we've both put so much thought into this, and I think we've knocked it out of the park for the lighting and other little conveniences.
Things that Apryl wanted changed/added that was completed with this rebuild:
- Constant hot charging ports at the front seats and rear of the truck (A)
- Better lighting at the tailgate for cooking, making coffee, etc. (B)
- Put the water pump back in! (C)
- Ability to turn on/off lights and water pump from the back. (D)
A) Mission accomplished on the charging ports.
B) Lighting is now overhead from the hatch in both red and white providing plenty of light.
C) The water pump now has a more reliable power connection.
D) And finally with the addition of a rear control head for the SPOD, we can now turn on the rack left and right camp lights, the water pump, the rock lights (providing light for things you might have dropped under the truck was taken into consideration when placing the rear rock lights), and air compressor from the back, eliminating the need to always back to the driver seat like we used to have to do.
Items I wanted corrected with this rebuild:
- Get rid of the switch pro. (A)
- Properly power each device separately and correctly, and remove the fridge from the switching system. (B)
- More power ports than we could fill between the both of us (room for friends to charge their stuff too!) (C)
- Make sure that devices get their power as close to the actual device as possible. (D)
- Be able to show off the 4Runner to potential customers without having to make excuses for how it looks. (E)
- Expandability. (F)
A) Now that the switch pro is gone, I can reliably use the bluetooth app and not worry about other devices I want left on losing their power.
B) Prior to this build, one of the switches called "Rear Power" operated a 75 amp relay that powered the fuse block that lived in the back of the 4Runner powering the ham radio, cell phone booster, rear USB port and the Fridge. So if that switch lost power, all of those items shut off together. I should have never put the fridge on a switched power source. Yes, it's nice looking down at the switch panel and knowing immediately if I forgot to turn it off when it wasn't being used, but it just wasn't worth losing a switch over. Now the fridge, ham radio, and USB ports have constant power. The water pump and cell phone booster now have their own switches on the SPOD and will only be turned on when actually needed.
C) Before, we had four total usb ports in the truck, two switched with the ignition, and two hot in the back, we would sometimes have to wait for the other to finish charging something to open one up. Not anymore, with six easily accessible constant hot USB ports, and two more when the water pump isn't in the truck, there'll be room for all of our stuff plus a port or two for friends that need something charged.
D) The last setup with all power in the back coming from the rear passenger storage pocket, the fridge power cord ran across the truck out in the open and it was just messy. Now, the fridge power port is within 10" of the fridge, the water pump power is within 12", and the charging station will have convenient pockets above to hold phones and other things while they're charging.
E) This has already been discussed, but I'm very excited for these changes. Apryl's smile while I showed her around the new conveniences and features made it all worth the work, and I think I know how my customers feel when they see the work I've done and think about how cool it will be to use it in the wild. And it's finally done with the same care and thought I put into my customers vehicles, so I can be comfortable showing it as a proper example of how I do my craft!
F) Within the harnesses are spare power and ground wires. And now that the wires are cleanly run through the factory channels, there's room for more if need be. Also because I tied the new wires to the factory harness behind trim panels, there's no wires criss-crossing around things back there, moving the panels to add more things down the line won't be such a nightmare.
Doing it right the first time is so important, removes so much worry and stress. When you have to pull it all apart again later to perform a fix or add a new item, you'll thank yourself. I guarantee it.
The only casualty: The rear hatch plastic trim panel. $75 at a local junk yard for a new panel because I drilled the holes for the lights to close to the window area, and the spot I chose to mount the switch was directly over the metal of the hatch, and there was no space for the wiring. There was no way I was going to leave three holes in the panel, so I replaced it. Live and learn, LOOK BEHIND before you cut, and measure measure measure.
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The wiring saga continues... Well, coming to a close actually.
I've been given the go-ahead to show some snippets of the SPOD Bantam installation.
PowerTrays allowed me to buy a custom one-off tray specifically for the Bantam, his final product will be quite a bit different, but will be available to the public, and hopefully coincide with the release of the Bantam to the retail market.
Don't ask me the price, please, none of the testers know that info. Being a SPOD dealer, I was chosen to help beta test this unit, and when I turn this in, I will be buying a production model.
The new SPOD has some cool features that I'm taking advantage of to automate some things for me. Input triggers that sense either + or - will turn on corresponding outputs.
My battery cage used to be an Artec Group 31 cage, but on our last trip, for some reason it just stopped holding on to the battery, allowing it to rattle around, causing a horrible banging noise, and I could feel it in the footwell along the trail. So that's gone.
Immediately picked up a Pelfreybilt mount, which contrary to some opinions does in fact fit the 4th Gen 4Runners perfectly (I forget where I heard someone say it wouldn't fit). Now the battery is in tight, and won't move again. Those SLEE Offroad battery terminal extensions are pretty awesome too.
This is almost it, really. All of the crimping and zip-tying is done, a couple small things here and there, but otherwise, the re-wire is complete. The SPOD Bantam will change slightly from this version to the production version.
I'll get some interior shots of the installation sometime soon, I chose to go with two control heads for the Bantam, one on the dash, and one at the rear of the 4Runner, so I'll include those shots.
I've been given the go-ahead to show some snippets of the SPOD Bantam installation.
PowerTrays allowed me to buy a custom one-off tray specifically for the Bantam, his final product will be quite a bit different, but will be available to the public, and hopefully coincide with the release of the Bantam to the retail market.
Don't ask me the price, please, none of the testers know that info. Being a SPOD dealer, I was chosen to help beta test this unit, and when I turn this in, I will be buying a production model.
The new SPOD has some cool features that I'm taking advantage of to automate some things for me. Input triggers that sense either + or - will turn on corresponding outputs.
My battery cage used to be an Artec Group 31 cage, but on our last trip, for some reason it just stopped holding on to the battery, allowing it to rattle around, causing a horrible banging noise, and I could feel it in the footwell along the trail. So that's gone.
Immediately picked up a Pelfreybilt mount, which contrary to some opinions does in fact fit the 4th Gen 4Runners perfectly (I forget where I heard someone say it wouldn't fit). Now the battery is in tight, and won't move again. Those SLEE Offroad battery terminal extensions are pretty awesome too.
This is almost it, really. All of the crimping and zip-tying is done, a couple small things here and there, but otherwise, the re-wire is complete. The SPOD Bantam will change slightly from this version to the production version.
I'll get some interior shots of the installation sometime soon, I chose to go with two control heads for the Bantam, one on the dash, and one at the rear of the 4Runner, so I'll include those shots.
DUUUUUUUUUUUUUUDE?!
travis.diller
Adventurist
so when are you coming to WA?
To do what? Explore, not as soon as I want to, that's for sure.
travis.diller
Adventurist
So are you only running a group 31 and no other batteries?
Correct.
WashingtonTaco
Adventurist
That's all I put in my daughters 4 Runner, constantly charging when sunny with a 100 watt Renogy solar panel. She's been traveling in it for 5 months.
Personally, I believe the whole "gotta have dual battery!" thing is a myth. Yes, it has some conveniences, but at a pretty steep cost. For less then the cost of a second battery, I can buy a lithium jump pack and a Renogy solar suitcase (or permanent panel for even less) and be perfectly fine. All I need to do is carry the fridge through the night.
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FireJeep
Adventurist
Mitch, I would really like to hear your advice for my trailer. I drive a 2005 Jeep LJ and am building a M416 trailer (picture attached, I hope). I am a simple firefighter and do not have deep pockets for things like SPODs and $1200 Yeti Zero or whatever it is called....... I would like to run a 12 volt fridge at some point when funds allow, the trailer will have a RTT on top and a 20 lb. propane tank for running a water heater and our homemade skottle. Any advice you can give would be much appreciated.......