[10%More]

Wanted to power CB and amateur radios that I mount on the floor. Need power to a radar detector and portable GPS unit. Added a terminal block behind that side panel just above the emergency brake pedal.

Power wires came off the battery. Sourced a wiring boot on Amazon and drilled out a hole that had some kind of plug already in it in the firewall.Ran power wires and antenna wires through the boot and into the cab.

Neat and sanitary, I have power to spare. Just remember to fuse it in-line.

This is the block.. it is covered by a panel which is off for this picture.


Here's the boot and drill location on both sides of the firewall.


Radio mounts on the floor. It's simple.

 

[LAD_Mvric]

Great stuff, Thanks for the pics. I will need to be doing the same likely. Ham radio for sure (at least 2m FM for voice and APRS) and debating on the CB and or a scanner. I'd like to limit the # of antennas however so we will see.

 

[Panther Dash]

I'm a little nervous about playing around with wiring. Seems pretty simple here though. It's all working properly for you and everything?

 

[10%More]

You are NOT dealing with any of the truck factory wiring. I just added everything to the battery and did a separate fusing for everything.

"Simple" is my middle name. All works well.

 

[Anomaly]

Nice installation, especially the feedthrough!

For equipment that pulls a lot of current, such as transceivers, it is important to size the wire correctly. Here are some examples.

Assuming 50% efficiency and a voltage drop of 3%:

5W CB radio - 0.83A 19AGW wire
25W Ham radio - 4.17A 12AGW wire
50W Ham radio - 8.33A 9AGW wire
100W Ham radio - 16.67A 6AGW wire
200W Ham radio - 33.33A 3AGW wire

From this it's pretty obvious that for large loads, some attention to wire size is necessary. A good practice, but not critical, for transceivers is to run both a hot and ground lead to the equipment and fuse both sides of the line. In fact most Ham transceivers will already have both leads fused. The fuses should always be located as close to the battery as possible.

 

[Haulin]

That is one sweet install.

I have done wiring in the past and have learned to do it right, in the process I have seen horrible and amazing jobs, this is definitely up their.

 

[10%More]

Most I run is a 25 w. 2 meter rig. No issues so far and each line has it's own fuse to the appliance in addition to the main one coming off the battery.

 

[Anomaly]

10%More,

I didn't mean to imply that you didn't do a fine job on your install. I just offered the additional info for those who may not be aware of possible issues.

Keep the innovative installs coming.... just don't forget the pitiful payload that we have to deal with. Too many upgrades and we are at gross.