Added a couple 12v outlets
09-30-2009, 03:07 AM
#1
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Added a couple 12v outlets
Hey guys, just wanted to share with you my latest additions to my box. I added a couple 12v outlets since the xb only comes with 1. It's driven me nuts that a vehicle in this day and age can only have one 12v outlet so I added a couple more. I'll probably add another one in the back once I get around to it. In addition to this I also have my radar detector hardwired and I installed an aftermarket auto-dimming mirror. Next on the list is finding a good but discreet spot to mount my garmin nuvi, and hardwire that in as well haha. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. Hope this will help someone else out.
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Last edited by afterlifespecialist; 09-30-2009 at 04:56 PM.
10-01-2009, 05:17 AM
#5
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*Disclaimer*
This is just a guide stating what I did and the tools i used. I am no way responsible for anything that happens to your car as a result of this guide.
Here's the DIY for this.
First I bought a few of these outlets off amazon, pretty good quality outlets. http://www.amazon.com/OUTLET-NACHMAN...370158&sr=1-36
Then I went to the auto parts store and bought 18Ga wire, in both black and red, and also some butt connectors that will fit the 18Ga wire and some ring terminals for 18Ga wire. I also purchased a few ATM Add-a-circuits to wire things into the fuse box. (note: these add-a-circuits will fit just fine in the fuse slots, but the fusebox cover won't fit afterwards. This didn't matter to me, but it may to you.)
I then removed the dash parts to get the silver panel on the drivers side completely off, just be careful to disconnect the wires to the switches, they all come unplugged very easy. Once I had the silver panel removed, I turned it over, and used a 1 and 1/8" drill bit to drill the hole for the outlet. Just be careful to line it up so it will fit in the area behind the silver panel that's already open for switches. Now you can slide your outlet into the hole to see if it fits ok, it should, and you can leave it like this, or I put a small bead of super glue around the lip of the outlet. This will help ensure that with pulling things out of the plug, you won't pull the outlet out of the dash over time. Now you can take the red 18Ga wire and a butt connector and connect the red wire from the outlet to the desired length of red wire you'll need to make it to the fuse box. Just crimp down on both ends of the butt connector good, I also wrapped every connection with electrical tape to be safe. Now do the same thing with the black wire. Now take the end of the red wire farthest from the outlet, and attach the add-a-circuit with the butt connector provided. Goto the same end of the black wire, and attach a ring terminal to this for the grounding screw located below the fuse box. Now just find an empty fuse slot that is powered when the car turns on and powered off when the car is not on. (Or you could find an always powered one if you wanted, not sure if this would work though as it's not what I did).
For the outlet on the passenger side, I removed the glove box to get access to the area behind the cubby, and I also pushed from the back to pop the airbag sensor lights out. Just be sure to unplug the wires from the sensor before you strain them too much. I then just took the 1 and 1/8 drill bit and drilled on the side of the cubby but towards the back, as to not block the airbag sensor from being put back in correctly. At this point I used a wire coat hanger and some electrical tape to "fish" the wires from the drivers side floor area of the dash up through the dash towards the hole I just drilled. I just set the entire spools of wire (red and black) I had on the drivers side floor. Once I fished the wires through the hole i'd drilled, I pulled a good 3 feet of each out the hole so it didn't pop back through the hole on me. Then I just wired up the outlet, red to red and black to black, and again with the butt connectors and attaching the ring terminal to the black wire for the ground screw. I then went to the drivers feet well and slowly pulled the excess wire back over, then when I had it down to a minimum I again glued the outlet into the dash to ensure a good fitting. Now you can either use another add-a-circuit or splice into the other add-a-circuit that was used for the other outlet. (this is what I did, but it's up to you) Once you get everything wired up, just make sure everything works like it should and then put everything back together how it was before.
I hope I covered everything, this is my first tutorial, but any questions ask away. It's really pretty easy to do.
This is just a guide stating what I did and the tools i used. I am no way responsible for anything that happens to your car as a result of this guide.
Here's the DIY for this.
First I bought a few of these outlets off amazon, pretty good quality outlets. http://www.amazon.com/OUTLET-NACHMAN...370158&sr=1-36
Then I went to the auto parts store and bought 18Ga wire, in both black and red, and also some butt connectors that will fit the 18Ga wire and some ring terminals for 18Ga wire. I also purchased a few ATM Add-a-circuits to wire things into the fuse box. (note: these add-a-circuits will fit just fine in the fuse slots, but the fusebox cover won't fit afterwards. This didn't matter to me, but it may to you.)
I then removed the dash parts to get the silver panel on the drivers side completely off, just be careful to disconnect the wires to the switches, they all come unplugged very easy. Once I had the silver panel removed, I turned it over, and used a 1 and 1/8" drill bit to drill the hole for the outlet. Just be careful to line it up so it will fit in the area behind the silver panel that's already open for switches. Now you can slide your outlet into the hole to see if it fits ok, it should, and you can leave it like this, or I put a small bead of super glue around the lip of the outlet. This will help ensure that with pulling things out of the plug, you won't pull the outlet out of the dash over time. Now you can take the red 18Ga wire and a butt connector and connect the red wire from the outlet to the desired length of red wire you'll need to make it to the fuse box. Just crimp down on both ends of the butt connector good, I also wrapped every connection with electrical tape to be safe. Now do the same thing with the black wire. Now take the end of the red wire farthest from the outlet, and attach the add-a-circuit with the butt connector provided. Goto the same end of the black wire, and attach a ring terminal to this for the grounding screw located below the fuse box. Now just find an empty fuse slot that is powered when the car turns on and powered off when the car is not on. (Or you could find an always powered one if you wanted, not sure if this would work though as it's not what I did).
For the outlet on the passenger side, I removed the glove box to get access to the area behind the cubby, and I also pushed from the back to pop the airbag sensor lights out. Just be sure to unplug the wires from the sensor before you strain them too much. I then just took the 1 and 1/8 drill bit and drilled on the side of the cubby but towards the back, as to not block the airbag sensor from being put back in correctly. At this point I used a wire coat hanger and some electrical tape to "fish" the wires from the drivers side floor area of the dash up through the dash towards the hole I just drilled. I just set the entire spools of wire (red and black) I had on the drivers side floor. Once I fished the wires through the hole i'd drilled, I pulled a good 3 feet of each out the hole so it didn't pop back through the hole on me. Then I just wired up the outlet, red to red and black to black, and again with the butt connectors and attaching the ring terminal to the black wire for the ground screw. I then went to the drivers feet well and slowly pulled the excess wire back over, then when I had it down to a minimum I again glued the outlet into the dash to ensure a good fitting. Now you can either use another add-a-circuit or splice into the other add-a-circuit that was used for the other outlet. (this is what I did, but it's up to you) Once you get everything wired up, just make sure everything works like it should and then put everything back together how it was before.
I hope I covered everything, this is my first tutorial, but any questions ask away. It's really pretty easy to do.
10-03-2009, 01:53 AM
#6
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Join Date: Apr 2009
Posts: 31
Great job & great idea!
I would like to add one to mine, but I don't know if I will. A good spot would be on the back side of the center piece between the front seats so the back seat people could have one. Would be good for my son when he is with me so he has one to charge his ds if needed.
I would like to add one to mine, but I don't know if I will. A good spot would be on the back side of the center piece between the front seats so the back seat people could have one. Would be good for my son when he is with me so he has one to charge his ds if needed.
10-06-2009, 01:14 AM
#9
Nice idea, and thanks for telling us about it 
!
I'm just wondering what you think of the autodimming mirror. I see there's a Scion one available, but you apparently prefered the aftermarket product. Any thoughts?
!I'm just wondering what you think of the autodimming mirror. I see there's a Scion one available, but you apparently prefered the aftermarket product. Any thoughts?
10-06-2009, 03:59 AM
#10
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TrevorS, actually the only reason I have the aftermarket mirror is because i have a 2010 box and got antsy waiting for it to arrive. The dealer told me it would take 2-3 weeks for it to come, and it took about 5, so I started ordering stuff for the car not knowing really what it had already and what it didn't. So, to make a long story short, the only reason I purchased the mirror I did was because it comes with map lights built in. If I could do it again, I'd def not get the mirror with the map lights as they are totally not needed. As far as the mirror's performance at knocking down headlights, it works great, and the compass is nice too.
10-10-2013, 05:21 PM
#12
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Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: Take her out to Wasco and Shafter.
Posts: 23
Thread resuscitation lol
Thanks for the write up. seems pretty simple. about how much time did you spend doing those two outlets?
Also, did you run anything to the back seat?
Do you think I could run a 8-10 ga wire from the battery with an inline fuse to a power distribution block, and run multiple ones off the block, finding ground on the frame or body near the outlets?
Thanks for the write up. seems pretty simple. about how much time did you spend doing those two outlets?
Also, did you run anything to the back seat?
Do you think I could run a 8-10 ga wire from the battery with an inline fuse to a power distribution block, and run multiple ones off the block, finding ground on the frame or body near the outlets?
11-11-2013, 03:47 AM
#13
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Join Date: Oct 2009
Posts: 390
This has to be a setup! Nothing in the dash cubby???? Not in my car!
Yeah, car makers have not increased the amount of 12v ports to keep up with all the stuff we want to plug in. Let's see: GPS, tablet, phone, the mind boggles. What we need are more USB ports! All these devices use 5vdc power. Using the USB power gets rid of the power supply bulking up the cord, and USB ports are small enough to go nearly anywhere without looking bad, unlike 12v ports that are bulky.
Yeah, car makers have not increased the amount of 12v ports to keep up with all the stuff we want to plug in. Let's see: GPS, tablet, phone, the mind boggles. What we need are more USB ports! All these devices use 5vdc power. Using the USB power gets rid of the power supply bulking up the cord, and USB ports are small enough to go nearly anywhere without looking bad, unlike 12v ports that are bulky.
11-16-2013, 11:09 PM
#14
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Sorry in the delay Learnem, uhm, I think I spent a few hours, which most time was spent figuring out where to mount the outlets. It's really a pretty easy task.
To answer your question, I did mount one in the back as well, that is at the bottom of the center console. It rarely gets used, but it's there if it's needed. I believe there's a thread floating around someplace that tells you how to take the console apart and I just followed that and ran some wire from the dash under the carpet, into the back of the console.
KaneoheKoa, I think usb might be the way to go now. I did this a few years ago when usb charging wasn't quite as big as it is now. It would look a lot cleaner to mount a usb block behind the dash and dremel out some slots to access just the usb ports. If I could do it all over again, that's probably the path I'd take, it just makes more sense.
To answer your question, I did mount one in the back as well, that is at the bottom of the center console. It rarely gets used, but it's there if it's needed. I believe there's a thread floating around someplace that tells you how to take the console apart and I just followed that and ran some wire from the dash under the carpet, into the back of the console.
KaneoheKoa, I think usb might be the way to go now. I did this a few years ago when usb charging wasn't quite as big as it is now. It would look a lot cleaner to mount a usb block behind the dash and dremel out some slots to access just the usb ports. If I could do it all over again, that's probably the path I'd take, it just makes more sense.
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