Auxiliary fuse box install (skygear box) -pictures!-

I have planned a bunch of goodies for my 4runner. So I decided to jump on board and get a separate fuse box to wire all my accessories to. Therefore I bought @skygear relay/fusebox on tacomaworld and a @Yotamac panel to house the fuse box.



Everyone and their momma tends to slap the auxiliary fuse boxes on the driver's side of the engine compartment for the tacomas. Well...no can do for the 2001 4runner. Too much junk.



Driver's side looks clear!



Upon laying out the @Yotamac panel, I realized some stuff HAD to move. This secondary fuse box and that wire harness/plug device thingamachiger right next to it (I don't know what it is).



I unbolted both of them:



I move the fuse box towards the front, luckily I had enough wiring to allow me to move it to an existing threaded hole that was the exact measurement as the previous location (you can see the outline of its original location on the second hole to the right).



Looks like I will have to drill a hole for the fuse box leg.



Picked up some bolts, washers and nuts:



Marked and drilled a hole to set the fuse box leg:



You can see the nut and bottom of bolt from the fender side:



I did the same for the thingamachiger, just making sure it is away from the proposed location of my auxiliary fuse box:



This windshield wiper hose needs to move. I removed it from here and plan to run it under the new auxiliary fuse box:



That brass looking bracket needs to move also. See the grommet at the corner? That's where the wiring is going to penetrate to get into the cab.



I relocated the bracket and its wiring to this location, not too far from its original spot. Yes, I know, the bracket is on its side



After I relocated everything I used the available threaded holes to do a hole layout on the @Yotamac plate:



Drill and set the @skygear box:





Tada!





Wired my ground:



At this time, I did not wire to the battery since I do not have any switches or accessories.

So now to run the wiring into the cabin.

I taped a straightened out hanger to the end of the wiring to poke through the grommet and help me guide the wiring into the cabin



Removed the plastic bottom door trim and side kick panel on the passenger side:





Removed glove compartment (picture from one of my other mods) by pressing in on the sides:

 

I then remove the top trim of the glove compartment by removing three bolts, one on each side, and one in the center (not shown):





I then poke the wire through the engine compartment grommet and locate it near the bottom kick panel area:



I pull the wiring through (don't ask about the glove compartment):



The tricky part now is to fish the wiring back neatly towards the radio/switch panel area. I did this by slowly feeding the wiring back up towards the airbag housing.

On the right of the glove compartment, there is this hole:



I stuffed my hand to receive the end of the wire and pull it towards the airbag housing.



Feeding the wire behind the airbag housing/module:



I removed the radio (see my other mods on instructions to remove radio) and fed the wiring thru:



Finally!





Time to solder the switchbacks! Good thing @skygear color coded all the wires for easy fool proof connections.



A few soldered connections later...



And now I feed the wiring back to the radio location:



Reinstall radio, kick panels, trim, yada yada, etc

For those that don't know what I am doing, I provided the wiring for future switched accessories.

The newly installed switchbacks are housed behind the switch blanks, ready to install new switches

 

Looks great!

 

Thanks bud!

 

Did you run a wire to an "ignition on" fuse in the truck?

 

No i didnt, I probably will have this fuse box hot at all times, if that's what youre asking.

 

That is what I'm asking. Thanks.

Also, are you hooking it up to a dimmer switch/circuit somehow so that the switches dim with the rest of the interior lights?

 

Yes, The switch backs that I ordered came with dimmer wires: one positive and one negative.

I am planning to get rid of the ashtray to put a small cb radio in there. When that happens, I plan to cut off the bulb socket for the ash tray illumination and solder into that.

I wouldve done it then, but I dont have a meter to determine whats ground and what's power.

 

Nice write up!

 

@skygear

On the third to last picture. You see a picture of the switchbacks.

The red switchback has a red wire coming out of it, obviously it doesn't connect to the harness coming from the fuse box since there's only five relays.

I would like a better understanding in regards to this last switchback.

Does it need an inline fuse?

I traced the wire and it seems that it is on fuse one.

I am confused, does this circuit power the last switch back AND the power to switch the relays on?

@tacodane and I were trying to figure this one out a few weeks ago.

 

I have a Fuse box from @skygear. I do not have the switch backs however, but I still am pretty sure I know the answer to your question as I had a similar question for him.

If I follow you correctly you have a red wire that traces back to the fused one location. If you look you should have 4 more fused wires coming out that you can use, and 5 wires to relays. The one from number one Skygear has decided to send into the cab so you can have a fused power source that you can use to trigger the relays via your switches. This is how I am getting power to my switches to trigger the relays. If you do not want to use it you do not have to and you can find a way to tap your ignition so that you can only turn on the relays when the Ignition AND the switch are on. One gets turned off and the whole thing loses power.

I hope this answers your question. BTW I have a silver '01 4Runner SR5. I am guessing that is the same year but a limited?

 

I figured that's what it was. I just wanted to make sure.

Three questions now:

Now, since the switches are on fused circuit "one", if I ever blow fuse one, then all my switches will go dead. Correct?

Now, that last red wire we are talking about, I want to go ahead and use to power an accesory. I don't have to fuse that other accesorry correct?

That being said, I have to make sure the fuse on circuit "one" is of enough amperage to power the triggering of all relays + the accesory I plan to use...correct?

 

@97SlowRunner yes, i have a limited.

 

1. Yes! If you choose to use fuse one as your power source and it blows all power to the switches and subsequently the relays will be lost.

2. No you do not there is a fuse on at the source of the power. HOWEVER depending on the accessory and how important or expen$$$ive it is you may want to add another to protect it. Yes its redundant but again if its expensive or a crucial item do a little do diligence and protect it.

3. Yes! make sure that it is rated as close to the peak or just over the peak power the can use combined. You can look up how much a relay uses online easily and find a spec sheet on your accessory to see that one. Make sure its peak and not operating #'s you look at. That way if it spikes it will blow but it won't blow when its running normally or has to use a little more power.

MY TWO CENTS; why add this on to that circuit and run the risk of losing power to the relays and what they are powering or to this accessory? Why not use one of the other 4 you have left to make sure there is no chance of the switches causing the circuit to overload and pop the fuse or vise versa? Also it helps track wiring demons down when if things don't work when circuits are simplified.

 

thanks!

itll be something small.. like and LED whip or something. ill make sure not to put heavy draw on it.

 

You have 30 amps per circuit people. The 6th switchback is for a fused circuit, the other 5 are relayed.

 

Yes, but can you verify our discussions between posts 10 and 14 are accurate @skygear ?

 

One sec. Replying to an email, then I will read it.

 

also, the circuits are 30 amps each...

but how many amps is it to TRIGGER each relay? i want to make sure i size fuse on circuit one large enough to trigger all relays at the same time plus an accesories at the last non relayed switch

 

Ah, yes. The whole circuit is on 1 fuse. It powers the relays, and a fused accessory. It is all one circuit. More to the point, it is powering the trigger to the relay, not actually powering the relay. They are on their own respective circuit/ fuse.

You can up the fuse amperage in there for whatever accessory you need. The reals only draw a minuscule amount of power to actuate/ trigger. Way less than an amp. miliamps.