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I recently installed a Kenwood under-seat sub in my RT and had a pain finding a secure grounding point--the seat bolts are huge (compared to my sub's wiring connector), and I didn't want to tinker too much with the seat (due to the srs system).
If you remove the door sill trim, there are two 10mm bolts holding the mounting bracket for the gas cap lever in place. If you look a few inches to the right, you'll see where there's a slit in the carpet to allow some of the factory wiring to go under the seat (there's a hole in the carpet under the seat where the wiring runs). I ran my ground line there, zip tied it to the factory bundle under the door trim, and attached it to one of those bolts. Super easy.
Also, I used a wireless transmitter for my backup camera so I wouldn't have to run a line to the front of the cab. Getting power for the camera was easy enough--I tapped into the reverse lights. But, being a tinkerer and a nerd, I wanted to be able to have the camera on any time and not just while in reverse. So, I also tapped into the running/parking lights. This means if I turn those on, I get power whether I'm in reverse or not.
Of course, this could also mean that when in reverse, my running lights would come on, and when my running lights were on, my reverse light would come on. Enter the 1n400x diode. The voltage drop is minimal, so I used two of those--one coming from running lights and the other from the reverse light.
I get (almost) constant power to my backup camera, auto power in reverse, and I didn't have to remove any seats to install or ground any of it.
Thought this might help someone else taking on one of these installs!
If you remove the door sill trim, there are two 10mm bolts holding the mounting bracket for the gas cap lever in place. If you look a few inches to the right, you'll see where there's a slit in the carpet to allow some of the factory wiring to go under the seat (there's a hole in the carpet under the seat where the wiring runs). I ran my ground line there, zip tied it to the factory bundle under the door trim, and attached it to one of those bolts. Super easy.
Also, I used a wireless transmitter for my backup camera so I wouldn't have to run a line to the front of the cab. Getting power for the camera was easy enough--I tapped into the reverse lights. But, being a tinkerer and a nerd, I wanted to be able to have the camera on any time and not just while in reverse. So, I also tapped into the running/parking lights. This means if I turn those on, I get power whether I'm in reverse or not.
Of course, this could also mean that when in reverse, my running lights would come on, and when my running lights were on, my reverse light would come on. Enter the 1n400x diode. The voltage drop is minimal, so I used two of those--one coming from running lights and the other from the reverse light.
I get (almost) constant power to my backup camera, auto power in reverse, and I didn't have to remove any seats to install or ground any of it.
Thought this might help someone else taking on one of these installs!
