Crimson Yota

Alright, I know there's already a few threads on YT on the subject, but those went waay over my head. I'm brand new to wiring so I'd greatly appreciate some help on this. If someone could give me some detailed instructions and a parts lists that'd be great.

I own a 1990 4Runner, and I want to add power outlets where the ashtray is behind the center console. I've seen pics of this, wish I knew who did it so I could give credit for the idea. A toggle switch would be nice, idk if its necessary though. But if anyone could give me some help on this that'd be great. Like I said completely new to this so explain in detail please.

Thanks in advance
-Charlie

Crimson Yota

88TacoRunner is who did it, looks great

http://i677.photobucket.com/albums/v...yl77/014-1.jpg

77RogueRunner

Here's some tips and pics to help you with that mod. I'm not sure the differences in the 1st and 2nd gen Runner insides, but I'll assume they're basically the same. I used some flat stock steel to use as mounting straps that tie into the inner sheetmetal horiziontally, attached with self tappers. This allowed me to elevate the inverter and still take adavantage of the cargo space below.

My biggest mistake is that I used 14/2 house wire. Way overkill and hard to manipulate. I should have used some regular extension cord wire....or ran the line, load, and ground as seperate wires altogether. These wires went through the side cavity and out under the p/s rear carpet and hugged the body contours. The wires came through the carpet where is has the factory cut for the rear console mount. The box I used to mount the outlet is a legit galvanized electrical box. It is the smallest one that I found in my local electrical and plumbing supply store. It is needed to attach the outlet properly. At this point you'll have your ashtray out and you'll need to start filing the plastic to fit the box. I filed the top of the opening till the top of the box had mininal clearance. In my case the box was a press fit in the rear so I didn't attach it any further. The other option would be to get those screw clips found in the 1st gen lower radio mount and use those through the plate to hold the whole works together as one. If using a dual outlet inverter be sure to clip the circuit connection tabs on the side of the outlet.


The faceplate is s/steel that I painted black as they had no plastic ones in stock. They make oversized plates also when sheetrockers (or me) can't cut the outlet holes proper...that might look good too. I opened the case of the inverter and ran the on/off switch as well as the status indicator LED to the dash using 18g speaker wire as they are only for signals. Radio Shack sells LED mounts that can be used in plastic or metal. The switch was the spring tab type that mounted itself. I piggybacked the inverter power wire off my amp so I wouldn't have to run a new line to the battery. This probably wouldn't be proper if they were both running at the same time, but I can't see that ever happening.


I'd check the clearaces and the types of boxes you can get at your store before modding anything as it might be different through gens. But you can mount a box like this amost anywhere in your rig where you have adequate rear clearance. Good luck and toss a pic up when you're done...D

77RogueRunner

You'll need:

1 or 2 Male replacement cord ends to plug into your inverter

Appropriate amount of wire to go the distance...use an extention cord or single 16 gauge house wire for each line to run

Outlet

Box

Signal Wire

LED mount

Faceplate

Make sure you match the wires (green/gnd, black/hot, white/return) from the inverter to the outlet. Gold is black, silver is white when attaching the wires to the outlet screws.

If using a single outlet inverter, don't clip the circuit connection tabs and wire it to a single gold and silver in the same bank...this will give you two outlets.

Anything else let me know...

Crimson Yota

Thanks alot, that was really helpful. I'll try to get a buddy of mine to help me out a bit because some of that went over my head but I think he'll get it haha. Thanks, I'll definitely post some pics once I finish.