Rear 12V on a switch not the key modification.

[Colemanfu]

I put my rear 12V on a switch because when I use it, I forget to turn off the key and run down the battery. Sucks I use a little compressor to air up the tires for the motorcycles and bikes. I have left it on about 4 times in the last year. I have always wanted to do it but...........I left the key on last weekend when my wife was out of town. It was time!


This has been a great rig and I use the heck out of it. Drama free. Love it. It's gettin old but not a 5th gen fan. It's huntin season so I have the rear tailgate on.

I bet a rely would be safer but I run my side lights and rear light with out a relay. I do use a relay for the Lightforce lights on the front bumper. I guess it wouldn't be hard to add one?

I had to rip into the back a bit to get to the good stuff. I removed the long strip along the bottom section - lots of crud under there? No rust but tons of beach sand. My old Ford was rusting away when it was this old. That let me pull back the side section that holds the plug. I ran the wires down using that round bung you can see in the picture.

The 12v plug only has 2 wires going to it. Unpluged it and saw that one prong had 12v stamped on it and the other was blank. Easy stuff. I ground the plug and the switch to the same spot up in there. I put the switch on the side of the storage bin. I figured that would tuck it away some. Easy to tell when it's on cause it lights up. It points down for the off position so nothing bumps it if the stuff in the bin shifts or bounces around.

I spent $23 on the roll of wire, switch, 5 20amp fuses, fuse holder. I had the other electrical bits that were used.

 

[Colemanfu]

50 reads and no reply? Guess this was not as popular a mod as I was thinking? Perhaps it's just me that keeps the key on when finished using the rear 12v plug?

Oh well - used it this weekend to air up the front tire of the Vmax. Worked perfect. It was nice that I did not have to hunt down the keys and then have to remember to turn them off when finished. Just pop the cover on the side storage and flip the switch.

 

[r32]

I've wanted to install this as well. I could definitely use a plug in back there for things like a compressor, camera battery recharger, etc.

So the bright light is the switch? How is it hooked up to the battery and was it a pain to run the cabling from engine bay to the back? More details please.

 

[CJ3Flyr]

Looks good! Did you run it directly to the battery?

I like my JBL well enough but I'd almost rather have cool little mirrors and the storage


I've said it before... You're table mod is the coolest! :bigok:

 

[Colemanfu]

Thanks - I dig the table as well. It was great for my trip up to NC this past summer. Helps when using the rig as a base camp. I origionaly built it for the beach. There is a hole where you can put an umbrela. But this time of year is all about the tailgate.

Shocked I am the only one who is leaving the key on when they use the back plug?

 

[Kmvreter]

I put my rear 12V on a switch because when I use it, I forget to turn off the key and run down the battery...

Good work but another option is why not do the power outlet always on mod by removing the relay? Simpler to do. Check the link in my signature.

 

[ccrios]

i did the same thing a while back but i added an outlet. i just havent had a chance to mount it yet.