Bob_98SR5

Auxiliary 12v Power Supply Installed on a 2nd gen 4Runner
By Corey

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The problem with the stock cigarette lighter outlet in the rig is it's only available when the key is on. This can be aggravating when using a GPS, or a laptop computer when using it for navigation. I was at Fred Meyer's doing some shopping and ran across a small dual 12v supply made by Bell Electronics. It was on sale for $6.95, so I said what the heck, that's a deal. I don't see it on their website, but they do have the double outlet one. Maybe they discontinued the one I bought.




What I did was cut off the plug end after I determined which was positive and negative on the wires. Then I ran a black & red 14 gauge wire through my firewall and it exits right behind where I mounted this on my lower dash. Hooked the wires up with crimp connectors, then ran the black ground wire to the fire wall, and the red power wire with a marine connector on it to the auxiliary fuse box. Put in a 15 amp fuse and flipped the switch on the unit, and the red light lit up just like it's suppose to. I love it when something works right the first time

The only thing I don't like about it is it's held on via Velcro. Their Velcro they supplied was to weak. It may have been OK on a horizontal surface, but as seen in my pics, I have it mounted vertically. I used some stronger Velcro, so I'll see how it holds. If that fails, the unit can be screwed too the dash with two supplied 1/16" screws.

This is a very easy mod, and very cheap! Total time involved on it was probably an hour at the most. Below are some pictures of the setup.
1. The unit mounted below the dash.



2. Unit with Garmin's 12v converter for the E-Trex line of GPS units.



3. Shows my auxiliary fuse box from another mod and where I tapped into it. Still more outlets available on it to tap into.