I would like to have a dedicated power inverter in the back of my 4runner. Im sure people that have stereo systems have run the 12v power to the rear for their amps. My question is what/where is the best way to hide the wires. Should I put them through the firewall and route them along the side, or should I run them under the truck etc etc.

 

run them through the firewall into ur cabin. i dont think i ran mine through the firewall, but through the fender into drivers kick panel.

 

Are you yours hidden when you look around? I don't know what the kick panel is. Did you run them where plastic meets carpet along the edge of the truck? thanks

 

the kick pannel is just the side of the foot area basically. I would probably run them through the firewall (rubber gromet of course) and under the carpet along the side right by the trim. that way its easy to get installed and easy to get to if you ever need to redo it.

 

When you drive, kick the panel to the left of your left foot with your left foot

That would be your driver's side kickpanel.

As far as the wiring, I'd run it through the firewall, then behind the kickpanel and under the door panel thingy where the carpet meets the edge of the truck in the front and rear and then out to the trunk.

I did my satellite radio wires this way and you don't see it AT ALL until it peeks out from under the rubber molding onto the roof.

Once you start, you'll get the hang of it, it's really not that hard to find the solution. Trust me, I like "very very very clean" installs too, and I have done my fair share.

Just make sure you get the electricals right (fuse etc.)...you don't wanna burn your truck down

 

spaugh,

i have a good writeup on this very topic in the tech section. look in the electrical forum. i used a distribution box, but you don't have to.

in short, run it with an appropriately sized fuse 12" from the battery and then the cable through the firewall and to the inverter. run it along the trim panel and then under the carpet if need be. removing the seats are EASY. 14mm bolts and youre done. also, take a look at my sound deadening article to see how easy it is to remove stuff

bob

 

great, I will check it out now. My power inverter is 800W so, 800W/110V =
7.3 amps. Now 800W/12V = 67amps. This thing has a peak wattage of 1600Watts. That means that it can spike up to about 135 amps. So will I need to put a 140Amp fuse in series with the wires under the hood? Should I put it in line with the positive wire? What about a 12volt breaker, do they exist? thanks

 

did some searching online and found that many of the breakers are as expensive as the inverter itself, this is very discouraging.

 

do a 80 or 100 amp fuse on a 4ga wire and you will be fine... it can only spike up to 1600 if you try to run that much, my 400 max 800 cant do jack the ratings are overated many a times anyway... also the 400/800max on a 15amp cig circuit fuse didnt blow trying to start a power sander that maxed it out when in theory it would spike 66 amps... not true

 

ive seen 1500w continuous w/ 12guage 5ft w/ 40A. id say if youre runnin it to the back, then 10ft w/ 8guage w/ 100A fuse will do some justice.

breakers will run about 40-50bucks.

 

yeah true 'profuse' even 8ga will suffice... although a 100amp fuse is not recommended at all with 8ga, the point of the fuse it to protect the car and the wire, with 100amp, it will blow if there is a quick short, but in overloading the wire will overheat before the fuse = bad.

Does the inverter happen to come with a wire to plug into the cig lighter socket???

 

The thing doesn't come with cigarett lighter. It came with battery clamps on 8AWG wire. Im thinking I iwll order one of these high amp manual reset type 120A from

http://www.wiringproducts.com/?target=dept_11.html

and order 10 feet of 4 AWG wire. What do you guys think?
thks

 

if it came with 8ga it should be ok... but for more than a few feet the 4ga will have less drop, the breaker would work but you could also find a fuse holder with fuse for about $10 and a pack of 5 fuses for another $5 max... i cant believe that it will be blowing frequently... maybe ....

also ... if buying wire and fuse holder... go to a local store of some sort like wal-mart (here i would also suggest Meijer, but friends from Cali never heard of the place) and get a kit with 4ga from stereo install.... you should get all the connections, wire, and stuff you will need, and if the fuse blows (will prolly be 60-80amp) get a pack of 100-120s or the breaker online, either way the kit from walmart just for wire should only run you around $20 and will come with free speaker wire, rca cables, wire loom, wire ties and such

 

I will prabably never blow a fuse, and I hadn't planed on installing one, but better safe than sorry I guess. I will look at stereo fuses as oposed to breaker I much rather save the $. Thanks for the feedback, I think Im set.

 

ps "hadnt planned on installing one" either breaker or fuse, but one is mandatory!!! it should be close to the battery so like 5-10 inches from it or so... that way if for some reason the wire is scraped bad and shorts out somewhere, it doesnt catch fire... main goal, protect the wire (and the vehicle), thats mostly what a fuse is there for...

 

I run a 400/800 inverter on 12ga wire with an ignition activated relay and 40A fuse under the hood. Has worked great for the laptop and the air mattress pump when we camp.

I had the same setup in my Camry in the trunk and it worked just fine.

 

appologize for the confusion. 100A max for the 8guage protection. there should be a fuse(or built-in) and wiring that also comes w. the inverter.

 

You are absolutly right, I just hadn't thought of that, that is the beauty of yotatech.

 

One last question, Can I just ground the inverter to the metal in the back of the truck and run only the positive wire from the battery to the inverter? thks

 

yes, grounding should be close to the equipment. be sure to grab a good grouding point