A little tip,There is a wire that is 12 volt all the time(with or without key "on" if you have power seats and don't want to tap the battery.Its the seat power wire(soild blue,atleast for mine),located under both fron seats.Its a nice place to tap if you are running accesories,that are not going to pull tons of amps.Its protected by the "30 amp power" fuse.

If you want to run a wire to battery,go through the main boot..just follow the hood release cable,there is plenty of room for several wires to run through....use one of these if you want to be neat,if not some mechanics wire,coat hanger will work as well.

http://www.amazon.com/Thexton-436-Wi.../dp/B000P9IGCA

 

Ummm, he would still have to run a power wire from the battery using this method. Those wires for the seats are not big enough to handle 15+amps plus the saet. They will fry.

You could do it like i have my off-road lights done. I have a fues box under the hood mounted to the firewall (just because i could not find a place inside the cabin for it. I then have all my power wires going to behind the stock fuse box and have my relays tucked up there. This way they can't short out as easy.

Then from the relays run the wires to the seats and wire in some switches on the dash. There are some toyota offical drop in switches you can get for about $6 that will fit perfect into the pop-out slots on the lower dash by the drivers left knee. I have 3 of them and they work great. They can supposedly handle 20 amps by themselves but i went ahead and put both a fues and relay in.

But then you might also want to save those pop in switches for something else later.

 

i already tapped the battery. and i dont have the power seats unfortunately. shes a base 4 cyl, poor baby.. but i did wire each seat up already, just wanna attach a relay so theres no way it will run while im not in there. i think the hood is the best place to attach em, right after the in line fuse, i just dont know what to connect as the trigger for the relay... pics would be helpful..

 

if your not sure how to wire up the relays this will give u idea
http://www.4runners.org/image/hella5...auxfusebox.jpg

 

Ok, i see what you are saying, i did this exact same thing with my extra cooling fans.

In my case i tapped the power wire to the cig lighter (the one that only works with the key). I ran it to a relay and that relay then powers a fuse block that then powers a few things.

In you case just use it to power the relays, or you could do it like mine and have room for later.

 

thanks texas, I was hoping to wire the relays from inside the hood though instead of the car. i figure its much easier this way, more room etc. I just dont know which wire to use as the relay activation wire (86). can anyone let me know? picture? also how do i connect it exactly? just like a T-junction is what im imagining, and just tape up the exposed wires?
sk

 

Here's a good link on relay basics:
http://www.bcae1.com/relays.htm

 

Wiring the relays is quite easy.

First where you put it is not a big deal, i put it in the car due to that way when i wash my engine they won't get wet. And it is easy to wire it in the car, you just have to get down in the floor board of the drivers side lol. But either way will work.

Now for how to wire it up. Read those links. I used the cigeret lighter wire as the ingnition switched power source. Tap that wire and then run it to the relays. Ground the other side of the cold side.

Then on the hot side connect the 12v+ to one and the wire to the heaters to the other. Those links will explain where the wires go.

As for your question, i would just use the cigeret lighter and the igntion wire switch. Works perfect for me.

 

wired it to the cigarette lighter from under the hood. i just kinda wrapped it around the positive lead from the back of the right 12v jack. its a bit sketchy i gotta admit.. but i didnt wanna F&*(^ anything up. i figure it can only start a fire while im in the car.. and i like those odds.

sk

thanks again for the help fellas

 

You would really be better tapping the wire proper. You can soulder it or just use a crimp. Either way that would be worth the few mins to do it right.

 

Hello, I am running a wire from my sub/amp to my battery (have a 98 T4R) and was wondering how you accessed this firewall hole from inside the cabin. Thanks a ton!!!!

 

Not that hard, just got to get down into the footwell on the drivers side and look way up in there. You should see all the wires that are already going through there, might be a a flap of insulation covering it just move it out of the way.

 

Thanks Texas Ace---I do know where the gromet is on the left drivers side (facing the front of the truck--it is packed full of wires) but this gromet that Elton posted a pic of is on the right side (again facing the front of the truck) and has nothing through it (YET)
Thanks again...CHEERS

 

Oh, i didn't notice which one that was, not sure how to get to that, might also not be factory on all trucks.

 

Thanks again TA, Elton any info would be greatly appreciated

 

I found it...I will take some pics and post them soon for anyone else who may be looking to use this "open" firewall passthrough. Thanks to all!