Fuse holder for a manual trans 2023 Tacoma

Hi all,

Adding a 5 channel amp soon. And working out a fuse holder location.

The manual trans fender on the driver's side has a clutch reservoir attached to it. So those two bolts are taken. I looked around for a suitable location and could not come up with something workable on the side of the fender.

So I mocked up (cardboard) platform that uses the battery hold-down and two open holes on the front upper radiator support(?). I will use spacers just under the radiator support to level the platform. Is this a viable location? Any potential hazards to be aware of in this location? My worry is that it's more accessible to wind and rain even though the fuse holder has a cover.

I will make the final piece out of 1/4" ABS.

 

seems rather large for a fuse holder. i would consider a mini anl fuse for the smaller holder

 

Yeah, it is large and mostly driven by the need to reach the two available bolt holes on the radiator support. The fuse holder hasn't arrived and the product description didn't give me dimensions. I will trim the dimensions to fit the fuse holder. Hopefully it's not one of those giant ones. If so, I'll send it back for a mini ANL holder.

 

I just bolted inline fuse holder to the fuse box lid.

 

...I was worried that water could get into the fusebox through the bolt holes. I suppose a little silicone sealant could help, but I wanted a solution that I could remove and leave the truck stock.

 

I made the ABS version and test fitted it in the engine bay. It is solid as a rock. When the fuse holder arrives, I will trim the shelf to fit. The different sized spacers keep the ABS shelf perfectly level. The aluminum one is a heavy duty crimp for steel cable and is about 3/4" h and the 1" h nylon spacer is something I found in my bin of assorted spacers.

 

I may end up trimming it quite a bit

 

BTW, the blue industrial carpet is a mock up of how I may secure the amp under the driver seat. I'm planning on attaching 4 black grommets into the carpet and using countersunk fasteners under the carpet that thread into tapped holes in a 3/8" thick ABS plate on top of the carpet. The amp would mount to the ABS plate. It relies on the carpet to hold down the amp when going over speed bumps, so I'm planning on using some industrial/super velcro to attach the carpet to the truck floor in that area. I'm thinking that and the driver seat mounting bolts will keep the amp from launching during big road hits.

I think it will work...lol.

 

Does your truck not have the 2 bolt holes right on the inside fender to the right behind the fuse box? I’m working on making me a fuse holder out of this stuff called flexi glass and gonna mount it to inner fender that I mentioned.

 

That's exactly what I was planning to do but the manual transmission has the hydraulic clutch reservoir where the 2 bolts are located. I didn't want to mess with that.

 

Makes sense, mines the auto.

 

just watch out for the rear seat venting if you've got the 4-door. the vents are under the seat, which requires a slightly raised platform for the amp to mount onto.

but the acrylic idea will work!

the amp in my current car and a previous car were mounted almost exactly the same method. i electrical taped 6-32 t-nuts to poke through acrylic(cut to a size slightly larger than the amp) and carpet, so the amp is fastened essentially straight to the carpet, which is more than rigid enough for side-to-side movement, the acrylic just adds some extra up/down rigidity--increasing it's size to within 1" of the seat base bolts will further stiffen it up, but it's really not needed.

i just followed up with putting a single layer of an old towel underneath the acrylic so that the metal t-nuts didn't rattle, or otherwise wear through the metal floor.

my current car was even theft-tested a number of years ago. they got the radio and sub box, but this method kept my amp in place through the ordeal, despite scratch marks indicating they found the amp, but couldn't get it to move. carpet is surprisingly strong!

 

@soundman98

That’s good to know that it’s a decent theft deterrent! I plan to have a rubber sheet under the carpet to keep the fastener heads quiet. Their countersunk heads nestle flush to the 3/8” grommets. Then the ABS plate rests on the carpet. I will tap threads into the ABS to get a nice tight connection. The amp will attached to the ABS with a different set of fasteners with small standoffs to have some airflow go under it. Not ideal but probably workable. The idea is if I ever change amps, I would just key the new plate to the existing grommets.

 

Had a little time this morning to mock up that piece for a fuse holder and this is what I came up with

 

As an extra precaution, I'm thinking of zip-tying the power cable at both ends of the fuse holder...just in case something comes loose and touches ground. I think it will also help stabilize the connections at both ends with all the vibration and heating/cooling cycles.

 

i think that would be a little unnecessary. thread-locking the set screws, and/or running the wires up through the mounting plate would be a more secure and professional option than zipties. though i haven't seen any really come loose that were properly tightened to begin with--plenty that weren't torqued properly though...

 

I like the idea of coming up through the plate! And I’ve got some Threadlock…thanks for the input!

 

This is the finished fuse platform. I had to add 2 washers under the longer nylon spacer to get it plumb with the battery. It is probably overbuilt to a degree but it's not going anywhere. The ABS platform is drilled and tapped for 4 fasteners to secure the JL fuse holder.

 

This JL fuse holder was worth the expense because it has the ability to rotate both terminal ports 90 degrees. This allowed me to have a shorter path directly over the battery.

Question:
Is this safe to do? Please let me know otherwise.

 

That’s where I have my fuse holder at until I get a little more time to finish mine up that’s going on the wall.