Anyone have a power source installed in their bed?

Hello, wondering what my options are for adding any power sources into the bed. Just want to future proof myself now. Should it be installed before a spray in liner or it can be installed after?

 

You mean like I this?
I’d do it after the bedliner. Easier to replace if it gets smashed or something. mine is a marine grade outlet and I used hot-glue to seal the end where the leads connect to the terminals. It came w a 10amp in-line fuse, but I have it hooked up to my switch panel (to control when it is on) so it is actually double fused.

oh, and mine has a volt-meter readout so I know when my battery is getting too low.

 

I installed this it has standard cigarette lighter and arb/dometic connector

 

We need to Tacoma powerbox. I believe Toyota already responded and said No. Lol

 

I just ran 10 gauge wire to my bed and have outlets kinda like post 3, but mine are connected to my are cap. The are cap came with an outlet but 16 gauge wire and my fridge kept shutting off. I have 3 outlets - 2 12v and 1 usb with battery volt gauge.

 

I’d do before the bed liner so when you cut the hole it can be cover with the liner and all bare metal will covered to prevent rusting ... take your time on positioning and think wisely. Make sure to use step bit or hole saw if needed. Loom all wires underneath and follow factory cable runs for clean installs. Good luck.

 

X2
Make all the holes before the lining. Then install it after it's done.

 

Anyone have a power source installed in their bed?

Hells yeah! Her name is Svetlana.

 

so 10 gauge wire straight to the battery with an inline fuse? has anyone done a battery to inverter for 110v plug outlet? thanks everyone for their input

 

If you are just running a single/dual USB, 12 gauge is adequate. Much easier to work with as well.


Here is the BlueSea chart that outlines what gauge to use based on distance and amps.



Link: http://assets.bluesea.com/files/resources/newsletter/images/DC_wire_selection_chartlg.jpg

 

10 gauge is probably overkill. I have a fridge that kept cutting out so I am overdoing it. An inverter will take more than 10 gauge. I’m messing with one now that is giving me errors on 17 ft of 4 gauge. You’ll need about 20 feet to get to the bed. It’s a 1000w inverter.

 

Overkill is good if you don't know what you might need later. I'd run at least some 10 gauge from the main battery to the bed and for now just hook it up to some USB's if that's what you need. You could even pop in one of those BlueSea 12v fuse panels if you want provided the combined amp usage is ok for the wire gauge and length.

Then later when you add your solar panels, 2nd battery and DC-DC charger you already have the wiring to the main battery . Actually might has well go 8 or 6 gauge just in case. In all honesty I just learned this lesson. Ran 12 gauge from the battery to a 12v socket in the bed since that's all I needed then when I added my 20A DC-DC charger I had to run more wiring

 

20’ is all? I was thinking it might be more like 25ft. Going from the battery, straight down the driver side rail to the front of the bed. Don’t want to short-change myself. @abomb60 you remember how long your run was?

 

Sorry don't remember exactly but looking at my Amazon history I believe it was 25 ft that I ordered of 10 gauge. With all the wire routing that's probably the minimum I'd order. I also ran my back towards the tailgate so front of the bed would be less.

 

I have a second battery in the front passenger side corner of the bed. It’s not as OEM-looking as some of the setups here, but I like being able to easily remove it. And I haven’t drilled a single extra hole in my bed. The battery is in a trolling motor battery box with 12VDC and USB jacks and a battery level indicator. I can disconnect the battery and carry it and my Dometic fridge to another vehicle (say, a boat) for the day.

Write-up here.

 

Read through your write up. Looks like you used the bed mount bolt for the battery box as well? Didn’t see anything about that. I was going to do something similar to your idea with the plywood to mount my slide but got nervous the bed bolts might come loose from vibration. Might have to move my battery out of my cross-bed toolbox to underneath due to heat

 

The battery box should probably be more secured than it is. Right now, I just have tightly wrapped with a ratchet cord to the corner tie-down. I did think about mounting it to another piece of plywood that is secured by the bed bolt, but I'm not anticipating it going airborne.

The plywood I used for the fridge slide is 19/32" I believe. It's thin enough that I could still get a good amount of the bed bolts threaded, and the fridge fits under my American Roll Cover. The bed bolts take a quite a bit of torque just to thread them (with plywood or without). Seems to me they were designed to not come loose. I had mine torqued down tight enough the plywood was every so slightly bent in around the bolt heads. They stayed very tight for the entirety of our recent 3,500 mile Colorado trip.

 

I had mine installed after the Line-x.

 

Got pictures of your setup?

I did this (see below) in my Tacoma and my wife's 4runner with 10ga wire and now that I have the Tundra I'd like to replicate it but not sure where to start, where to route up through the inside of the bedside, etc. Interested in where you placed yours in the bed cap since I'm getting a cap as well.

 

I wanted something in the bed sides like that, but also don’t want anything permanent. This is something like what the ARE top came with. I replaced the housing and outlets.

My fridge still cuts off. There’s about a .5-.7 voltage drop from the battery. Someone told me to ground the wire near the bed, which I’ve been too lazy to do.

 

It's probably also due to the wiring from the ARE kit.

I have an ARE shell on order and inquired about the power outlet option since it wasn't available on my previous ARE shell in my Tacoma.

It gets run directly to battery but it's only 16ga wire, and 20ft long. Definitely not enough to support voltage drop along that length and support a fridge like a Dometic or similar.

So I decided I'll do something similar on my own with 10ga, like my Tacoma project. I'm not in love with a non-permanent option in the Tundra bedside either. I like your solution of using the lip of the shell to mount it similarly to how ARE offers it.

 

What outlet did you use? And did it come with housing for it? Or are the wires and connections exposed behind it?

I’m about to have my camper shell installed but agonizing over the wiring situation. I did purchase the outlet from ARE but assumed it would be inadequate for running a fridge. Also I want a switch to cut power to the outlet any recommendations on an appropriate switch?

 

I also have an ARE shell and skipped on the power outlet option because it's only 16ga wire and I'd want 10ga minimum, especially for the distance it's got to travel from the battery.

On my Tacoma and the wife's 4R, I did this:



Would like to replicate it in the bed of the tundra but getting through that bedside is a PITA, so not likely to happen... Lol

 

This the app on this page from Blue Seas is cool as well, a tailored approach to your wires/fuses.
https://www.bluesea.com/resources/1437

 

I ran 4 AWG welding wire from the battery into the bed because Im using a cheap HF winch for pulling up street and dirt bikes into my tundra. wireless controller. works great.

 

I did a wire tap to a fuse in that’s only on when the engine is and ran a wire to the bed. Drilled a hole and mounted a cig lighter

 

No issues. The relay keeps the batteries separated when the truck is off and allows both to charge just fine when the truck is running.

I’d love to see your outlet setup when you’re done.

 

I used 2ga to join the batteries via the relay. 12ga otherwise. Probably overkill, but that’s just keeping in line with the rest of the truck.

 

It’s a solid housing that is open underneath. The wires go through a small hole on the side. I found it on Amazon and bought waterproof outlets to add. The housing came with outlets, but they were cheaper and didn’t say waterproof. I didn’t use any switch. I also pulled out all the ARE wire and redid it with 12 ga wire. Make sure to put disconnects in for when you need to remove the cap.

 

Here’s my updated power in bed setup. Box fits perfectly where it’s located. Haven’t had to use the AC yet, but will be nice should I need to run power tools so where. Batteries, mppt and inverter are in the toolbox