Hard-Wiring a Front 3-Way Power Outlet

[djeaux]

About a month ago, I grabbed a 3-outlet power extender at WalMart & plugged it in before a trip. (We had 3 cell phones, a Garmin & a PalmPilot charger to run.) It worked fine, but I really wanted to free both OEM outlets & frankly, the extension looked tacky with a wire running up over the Not An Ashtray.



I had bookmarked djdj's how-to for hard-wiring a 3-outlet extension to the back outlet, so I decided to adapt his method. (I have the rear power hack & wanted the extender to be switched, which is how I left the front OEM outlets.)

First, I made two patch wires, red for positive & black for negative. I cut approximately 10" of 14-guage in each color, crimped a male 1/4" spade lug connector on one end & a female 1/4" spade lug connector on the other, and stripped about 3/4" in the middle. Then, I bent the wires in the center to make a "V". (This is the main difference in this & djdj's method: he used two wires, one to the male connector & one to the female connector, wiring them to the extender to make a "Y".)



Taking the lower console apart is very easy. On the driver's side is a small panel that has a tab that sticks into a slot on the firewall & 3 clips. On the passenger side, the panel is smaller & has a tab & 2 clips. With the panels popped off, there's a phillips head screw on each side. There's a third screw behind the N.A.A. After the screws are out, there are three clips & 6 pins that don't clip at the top (above the OEM power outlets) & two clips at the bottom. After popping the clips loose, all you have to do is unplug the connectors to the power outlets. (I don't have heated seats, so on the RTL there would be connectors for those.) Here's a disassembled view showing the two harnesses for the power outlets.



With the lower console out of the truck, I used an electrical continuity tester to verify that the vertical connection on the back of each outlet was positive & the horizontal connection was negative.

I drilled a small (3/16") hole in the center top of the pocket under the N.A.A. to route the power outlet wire -- in the curve between the very top of the pocket & the back wall. Again, I used my electrical continuity tester to verify which wire from the extender was positive & negative. (You want positive to be the pin at the bottom & negative to be the side walls of the outlet .) I used 3-M exterior grade double-sided tape (the gray stuff with the red backing) to mount the 3-outlet extension.

Now the console goes back into the truck. The picture below shows all the connections before I snapped in the clips & replaced the screws & side panels. "1" shows where the male spade lugs plug (very snugly) into the OEM harness. "2" is where the female spade lugs plug onto the back of the OEM outlet. "3" is the wire from the extender & "4" is where the extender wires connect into the little harnesses I made. (I put electrical tape over the wire nuts after verifying the everything worked as expected.) And of course "5" is where the passenger side OEM harness hooks back up in its original configuration.



One last note. I did find that I needed to mount the extender as far back into the top of the pocket as I could. With it mounted to the front (as in my original installation), it interfered with the forward-most position for the center console when things were plugged into it.

[xridgelinex]

Thanks for the detailed post... I have a few wires that would be nice to get out of the way. This will do the trick... I might run an extension outlet to the little cubby for my VR3 Camera.

[X-Brawn]

WOW! Thank you for the write up! I've been wanting to do something like this recently as I do have additional items that could be plugged in.

[wb1dby]

Something else to think about is a West Mountain Radio Rig Runner (West Mountain Radio - RIGrunner Description). I have installed power poles on all my radios, devices etc. or made cig plug to power pole adapters.
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That way each item is fused. It's fed by a 30a 12v run from the battery. I'll take some pics and post later when I have more time. But click the link above.
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Cig plugs can handle very little current, so if you're just using cell chargers or similar that's fine. But anything that draws an amp or more, should have more protection.

[ChrisM]

Great looking mod. I think that you just passed me up in the modification count department.