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Tip of the Week (42) for July 17-23, 2016

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  • Tip of the Week (42) for July 17-23, 2016



    I ran into something useful when doing the AD Wiring Harness Install How-To Article. Using a stock $150 Wiring Harness, it is a fact that it does not provide for very much expandability. The way a stock harness provides Switched and Unswitched power is through the Headlight Switch for Unswitched and through the Ignition Switch for Switched. Sure you can stack one wire on top of the other at the Headlight Switch or Ignition Switch, but they are hard to get to and do not provide for the best management of your Accessories.

    I found what I feel is a very elegant solution to this problem. Rather than having inline fuseholders all over the place, get one of the fuseholders pictured. I like the old style glass fuses for these vintage trucks so that is why the old style. For $10 I feel it is money well spent. The cover is plastic and not very tough, but the base is made of heavy insulated material and is well made. The mounting holes are recessed and make for a very secure method of expansion. This particular unit is available on Ebay and takes about a month to get from Hong Kong. I do not like it anymore than you do, but it works very well.

    The way this unit works is, there is a bar across the top which feeds 12 volt power to each individual fuse holder via a single wire. The bottom terminals are then wired off to your individual accessories. This gives you a one-stop solution and if you label each one, an easy to get at place to manage your accessories. There are a few prime places to put this pretty compact unit. I like the firewall hump area between the Drivers and Passenger side about level with the top of the engine. This enables me to get at the box from either side of the truck. Another prime location would be the Drivers side kick panel near the top.

    What I did with my 8 position box was to cut the "Bar" that is across the top that feeds 12 volts to all accessories in half so 4 of them are separated from the other 4. I then connected 1 14 gauge wire from any of the 3 END terminals on the Stock Headlight Switch (all three feed a constant 12 volts regardless of the position of the Ignition Switch) to one Bank of 4 (any of those 4 terminals where the bar completes the circuit) for Constant unswitched Power. I then connected another 14 gauge wire from the Ignition Switch Accessory terminal to the other Bank of 4. This gives me 4 positions where I can have Switched power.

    Doing that enables me to have 4 accessories, such as Turn Signals with Hazards, Cigarette Lighter for Device Charging, Under-Hood Lighting, etc where it is desirable to have constant unswitched power with fuse protection for each. Then another 4 accessories that work only after the Ignition Switch is turned on such as Heater, Wipers, CIS, etc, with fuse protection for each. If you are into lots of accessories, you can always get a second box and wire it to the first one. The sky is the limit.
    Last edited by Deve; 07-23-2016, 08:25 PM.
    Deve Krehbiel
    devestechnet.com
    forums.devestechnet.com
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