nriver

Due to some interest in another thread I thought I would start a thread about my latest wiring project.

I think we all know how it goes. We add a accessories and just kinda wire it up. That and we have little projects that just sit around till you get time to do it. The time never comes. Well as crazy as it seems, I had time to do both. Get some wiring cleaned up, install parts that needed to get done.

Some of my efforts:
In cab winch control
Painless Wiring fuse block
Relays
Electric tailgate lock
Switches to control stuff


In Cab Winch control: We all know why, convince. How? If you are familiar with Warn winches you will notice they run on a 6 prong plug, others just use 3. So this makes it a bit difficult to remote the control. It can be done, but I was not thrilled with some of the techniques. Things like drilling into the controller and no thermal feedback were the main two.

What I did: Well I just took the stock control apart, disconnect the wires from the switch and re mounted them in the dash.

When looking at parts costs to buy all the parts it was about the same as buying a additional warn controller. Now I just need to plug in what ever controller I want to work. Ok, I ahve not bought another controller yet, but it is on the list.



Painless Fuse block, relays:
I started this project after finishing one in the jeep. I have more things in the jeep to control than the truck and had extra parts after I was dont with it. Jeep pics just for fun.



So I took some marine grade polymer and made a relay panel. Mounted relays, the Painless, and terminal blocks to it. Then made a wiring harness to run into the cab. I also have a wiring harness that goes the the rear of the truck. You can see both harnesses in the pic. Yes one relay is not hooked up. Not sure what to use it on yet.



The electric tailgate lock just needed to be hooked up. In stead of hooking it to the doors, I installed a hidden switch. No pics, but it is nice to not worry about tailgate theft. Not a big deal like it was a few years back, but a nice feature any way. No pics of it or the switch.

The Switches and what they control: I put 3 switches in the center console. One controls the Reverse Lights, one the Fog lights, the other is open. The wiring harness goes across the firewall, into the cab, and under the console. All nice and hidden. Here are the switches and yes I should of cleaned out the tray before the picture. Oh well.



For those of you who have seen the truck before you will notice I have 2 sets of lights on the front. The Driving lights are connected to the driving lights. I could swap the switches around, but it works for me. The whole issue with the driving lights not working with high beams does not matter to me. The driving lights are 120W Pencil beams. The high beams are not needed when they are on.

I also have room for growth, the extra switch and extra wires in and out of the cab to the relay panel. Not sure what I will add next. This was actually quite a bit of work and it did nickel and dime me with connectors and wire being more expensive than I remember. But I have enough stuff to do quite a few more vehicles. Not sure I should of said that, lol.

1qckdodge

You give me inspiration, wow thats a lot of very very nice work.

DaveB.inVa

Thats some very nice wiring. Nothing like good neat bundles. I have the painless wiring bus and really like it. I think its one of the best things you can do to these trucks. The electrical system just isn't strong enough to handle all the loads some folks add to the under dash wiring.



Do you happen to work in the electrical field?

When I first started out to become an electrician I did a decent job of wiring up a panel in school. I thought it was pretty good for my real first time but my teacher came up and said "Son, you shoulda been a cook because that looks like spaghetti". Of course a couple other guys got the "Who 'crapped' in this box" speech. At least I didn't get a drop form stapled to my first test when he handed them back like some of the guys.

ptgarcia

I need to do something similar. My wiring jobs are pretty pathetic.

nriver

Not really. I had a job over a summer wiring up electrical control panels. It was before going to school. I guess that is where the "skill" came from. I really dont use it any more. Now I sit at a desk and well, think. LOL. Working on the truck and jeep would be m stress relief. I try and do most of the work myself. Makes me forget about the day to day office stress.

thanks for the complements.

Festus

This is my remote control system under the hood. I have no wires running into the cab.

[IMG][/IMG]

Six channels are control by this:

[IMG][/IMG]

nriver

Looks cool, any more details on it? What do the cab controls look like?....

Festus

Look back...just finished getting the pics all in.

Remote control system is DEI. It sends a negative trip to the relays, so I had to wire the relays to negative trip with positive output. That's why all the extra wires on each relay. It also looks very congested because all + wire to the relays is 12 ga. and output to each accessory is 14 ga. The white wire off to the left and up not attached to any relay is my on/off for my PacBrake which requires neg trip anyway.

nriver

looks very cool. did you do all the mounting in the pelican box? Or did you buy it that way.

The pelican box is a great idea, waterproof and all.

Festus

I did all the mounting. The box came empty. This was a project starting from scratch...mostly my head until I figured out how I was going to do it. It has worked flawlessly. Now anyone that rides with me can't play with any switches (kids/women) because there aren't any. Power to the box is from an ignition tripped solenoid, so if I happen to leave anything on, it's shut off when I shut down the engine.

nriver

looks great. I like the box idea. I may need to do something like that if I have a problem with water.