USAF_GroundRat

In order to keep from having to take the center dash off everytime I wanted to hard wire a device I decided to come up with a easy and cheap solution. Some of you may have a better way to do this but here goes anyway...

I bought a cheap terminal strip from Radio Shack and wired the constant hot on one end and the ignition hot on the other. I jumpered the connections on one side of the strip to distribute the power. Here is my wiring diagram:



Here is a pic of the terminal strip:


I placed the strip under the glove box for quick and easy access:


The strip cost about 5 bucks and I used some wire I already had. You can easily expand upon this project and make a bigger terminal strip, or you can just tap mutiple devices on the same terminals if you run out of room. This saves you from having to continually tap into the wiring harness to add something...

ENJOY!

ksroqclimber

I was thinking this would be perfect addition to a new fuseblock. Run the wires from the fuse block and a ground source to this terminal block that way you only needed to run the wires once through the firewall.

Very nice USAF_GroundRat! I really appreciate the post!

Thanks
Billy

J4EXE4P

Nice diagram — don't mind if I save it.

SpudRacer

I decided to go the same route that I went with my XJ, I purchased 2 auxillary fuse boxes from Painless Wiring, one for under the hood for external accessories, and one for under the dash for internal accessories. Hope to start the installation this weekend.

You can get them from Summit Racing: http://store.summitracing.com/partde...5&autoview=sku

They come with a waterproof cover which is nice if it's under the hood. The inside of the cover includes a label so you can label the circuits. I put two of these on my XJ and had it for 6 years. Not a single problem with any circuit. They are top notch products and worth looking in to, but much more pricy ($49 apiece) then going the Radio Shack route.

Tom
Bryson City, NC

kaffeene

Nice.. but I guess you have to watch you don't overload the circuit powering the strip. Start blowing that fuse.

What is the strip amperage rating?

Gr8gugly

Let me start by saying I don't have a lot of auto electrical experience. That being said can you just patch into the wires running to the factory fuse block to power an aux fuse block and not have to run wires through the firewall? If so how much power can you add? Thanks.

sn4cktime

TO make sure you're not overloading any specific circuit you could always run another lead off the battery using a new terminal. Run the spare lead(s) into a distribution block made for a vehicle (or marine for waterproofness) and that'll break it down into 8,4,2 gauge. It's a good idea for high draw devices like driving lights, or a dedicated cooler circuit. A 3 line battery terminal will also let you run a winch straight to the battery in a clean, well contacted way. I also recommend never having the fuses/power block in the cab whenever possible. It could be a potential fire hazard and the engine bay has less easily flammable materials in it. I've included some pics of good (inexpensive) hardware. Lookup knukonceptz
Fuse Holder:

Battery Terminal:


Other companies do this too, look up Metra, Streetwires, Monster, Scosche.