New Tacoma Owner

I just bought a 2020 Access Cab, 2wd, V6, SR-5 and already want to make some modifications. I think I'm in the right place for that.

 

Welcome to TacomaWorld

 

Welcome to TW!

 

Welcome! Be careful, once you start modding, it'll never be enough!

 

Welcome to TW. Plenty of mods to choose from....

 

The modding & mobbing never stops! Welcome to the club.

 

You came to the right place!

Welcome aboard

 

Welcome!

 

Took delivery from Carvana


Didn't waste any time getting it dirty.


Decided to take off the crappy hub caps

You can see the trucks biggest fan in the foreground.

 

I recently added an A.R.E camper top that I picked up used.

 

Welcome to TW!

 

Last week I changed the wheels with some stock alloy wheels I picked up off Marketplace for $300

I think the wheels really make a huge difference. They actually had some worn tires on them that were exactly the same as I had on the steel wheels, so I just had them switched over.

 

I added a bed mat this week. I bought the 1/4" rubber from Tractor Supply. It is 49" wide and you buy it for $ 7.99/ foot. I have a 6' bed so $ 48.00 total.

 

I did a rear seat delete today. I swapped the parts with another TW member.
With seats

No seats

 

Welcome aboard!

 

Just to keep this thread up to date, I added a rear shelf for the dog and for storage. You can see more details here: Access cab dog platform | Page 5 | Tacoma World post #89.

 

I've been enjoying my Taco a lot without further modifications, but with the addition of the camper top, I've found lighting in the bed to be an issue. Since my truck is an SR5, it doesn't have the cargo light, cargo light relay, or switch, so adding the bed lights would run me about $205 plus tax and shipping from Toyota Parts. I also enjoy hanging out with my buddies at the hunting lease and the campground and wish I had more exterior lighting around the bed of the truck. Therefore, I have been looking into another option that would include some exterior lights as well as USB plugs to charge speaker, phone, etc.
I'm not an electrical guy so I would like some input from you more knowledgeable folks about the setup I'm thinking about doing. I don't want to drain my starter battery, so an auxiliary battery is the way I'm leaning.

These are the lights I'm looking at:

$14 Shangyuan Interior Marine Strip Lights, 6 LED Utility Courtesy Light, White 12V Boat Lights, 6PCS

Amazon.com : Shangyuan Interior Marine Strip Lights, 6 Led Utility Marine Led Strip, White Led Courtesy Light, 12v Led Marine Interior Lights, Boat Interior Led Lights, 6PCS : Sports & Outdoors . I'm thinking two in the camper top, one on each side of the camper top, and two at the back. That way I have basic lights all around the back of the truck and in the bed under the topper.
- The are 120 lumens each, so for six of them I'm calculating about 3 amps max.

This is the switch panel I looking at:

$21 Upgrade Blue 5 Gang Marine Boat Rocker Switch Panel Circuit Breakers, Waterproof Switch Panel with 15A Inline Fuse for Truck RV, Digital Voltmeter USB Charger Port DC 12 Volt Power Outlet Socket

Amazon.com: Upgrade Blue 5 Gang Marine Boat Rocker Switch Panel Circuit Breakers, Waterproof Switch Panel with 15A Inline Fuse for Truck RV, Digital Voltmeter USB Charger Port DC 12 Volt Power Outlet Socket : Sports & Outdoors . It has two 2.1 amp USB ports and 5 switches, rated at 15 amps each. I would use the USB chargers for phones, bluetooth speakers, or flashlights. I was going to wire the lights in pairs to three of the switches and have two spare switches (I can't find a fused 3 switch panel with USB ports)

Here is where I need the help! 3 amps for the lights and 5 amps for the USB ports, so a maximum total of 8 amps. I doubt I will ever have all 6 lights on and have devices charging in both USB ports, but it's a possibility. I expect that I would have 4 lights on maximum with one device charging; so about 4 amps. If I understand correctly, that would drain my auxiliary battery at either 8 Ah max, or 4 Ah if I'm right about my usage.

Based on the above Ah calculation, I'm thinking about using this battery:

$43 UPLUS 12V 20Ah Deep Cycle AGM Battery, LP12-20 Rechargeable SLA Batteries, Replace for EXP12200, HR22-12, BP20-12, F19-12B, UB12200, FM12200, 6fm20, ML22-12, ML18-12, EXP12180, DJW12-20Z

Amazon.com: UPLUS LP12-20 12 Volt 20Ah Deep Cycle AGM Battery, DJW12-20Z SLA Battery Rechargeable Batteries, Replace for EXP12200, HR22-12, BP20-12, F19-12B, UB12200, FM12200, 6fm20, ML22-12, ML18-12, EXP12180 : Health & Household which a 20 Ah battery. I'm thinking that should give me about 2.5 hours of runtime with my average load of 4 Ah.
PLEASE give some input as to whether or not I'm about right on this.

I looked up the specs of the battery at the manufacturer's website and it states the max. charging current at 0.3C. Some googling tells me that the charging current is C x Ah, so my battery would pull about 6 amps while charging (0.3 x 20 = 6). Based on this, my plan is to mount the battery in my windoor tool box and run 10 awg wire to it from my battery isolator which I plan to mount under the hood, near the starter battery.
- Battery Isolator:

TEENO 12V 50Amp ATV UTV Smart Dual Battery Isolator,Voltage Sensitive Relay for RV Boat Watercraft, Snowmobile Cruiser/Touring

Amazon.com: TEENO 12V 50Amp ATV UTV Smart Dual Battery Isolator,Voltage Sensitive Relay for RV Boat Watercraft, Snowmobile Cruiser/Touring : Automotive
- Wire:

$32 10 Gauge Marine Wire 10 AWG Duplex Marine Grade Wire,20ft Tinned Copper Electrical Cable for Boat/Automotive/RV/Camper/Trailer Outdoor Use

Amazon.com: 10 Gauge Marine Wire,20ft 10 AWG Duplex Marine Grade Wire Tinned Copper Boat Cable,Marine Electrical Wire for Boat/Marine/Automotive etc Outdoors Wiring : Sports & Outdoors
- I was also going to fuse the wire going from the starter battery to the isolator and the wire going from the isolator to the auxiliary battery with 50 amp fuses.

I don't want to burn up my truck so I want to make sure I'm sizing everything correctly. Please let me know if you think I'm on the right track.
Total cost for this project would be about $ 160.00.

This is where I plan to mount the auxiliary battery.



This is where I plan to mount the switch panel.


Any input would be appreciated.