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I was tired of having to plug and unplug so I wired up a few more outlets. I will post some pictured soon if anyone is interested. On the dificulty scale it rates a 3 out of 5.
If you look closely at the drink holders on the console you will see that it is a top half and the base is a few inches off the floor. I figured out that I could put a couple of sockets on the front edge directly across from the one that came from the factory. It took me a while to figue it oout but it was worth the effort.
#1 Use a plastic pry / trim tool to pop the top off ( drink holder area)
#2 Slide the seats forward and then remove the pin that is near the floor. It looks like a washer the size of a dine with a pin in the middle. Use a knife ect to pull the pin out and then the faster will come out. ( The alternative is to break it off and then get 2 more like I did)
#3 You can slide the seats all the way back to get some room then take the bolt out that you see along the front edge.
#4 Use a hole saw to cut a round hole in the front edge, I did two as my personal preference. The trick is to line the hole up with the clear area on either side of the mounting bracket. I cut partway thru the inside of the bracket and then finished it off with a razor knife to give me room for my wire.
#5 You can remove the shift lever console and make it easy ( see the alarm install manual from sparks) or you can use a piece of heavy wire to force it thru the wire chase and out to the firewall. WIth the console removed its easier to just stick your arm under the carpet and putt the wire.
#6 You have several choices for a power source.
A: tap into the factory 12v plug. The wire is very small so you cant run much of a load on the plug must less several plugs.
B: Run the wire thru the firewall using the wire hole behind the glove compartment. Carefully run the wire around to the front of the vehicle and over to the battery. Be sure to use a fuse at the battery. This setup will give you 12v all the time so you have to be carefull and not run the battery down. A cell phone or other device charging wont cause a problem unless you leave it on for months.
NOTE: The wire should be 18 Gauge for an average load and you can go bigger if you want to power something with a higher current draw. I prefer the plastic 12v sockets since the mounts are made to attach to the surface. The old cigarette lighter plugs clamp on eather side of the hole and seem to unscrew and get loose. They are also designed to handle heat. I ended up with some high dollar locking plugs from my parts box. I checked the price and they are $25.00 for the plug and socket at boaters world. You can find others that are alot cheaper.
If you look closely at the drink holders on the console you will see that it is a top half and the base is a few inches off the floor. I figured out that I could put a couple of sockets on the front edge directly across from the one that came from the factory. It took me a while to figue it oout but it was worth the effort.
#1 Use a plastic pry / trim tool to pop the top off ( drink holder area)
#2 Slide the seats forward and then remove the pin that is near the floor. It looks like a washer the size of a dine with a pin in the middle. Use a knife ect to pull the pin out and then the faster will come out. ( The alternative is to break it off and then get 2 more like I did)
#3 You can slide the seats all the way back to get some room then take the bolt out that you see along the front edge.
#4 Use a hole saw to cut a round hole in the front edge, I did two as my personal preference. The trick is to line the hole up with the clear area on either side of the mounting bracket. I cut partway thru the inside of the bracket and then finished it off with a razor knife to give me room for my wire.
#5 You can remove the shift lever console and make it easy ( see the alarm install manual from sparks) or you can use a piece of heavy wire to force it thru the wire chase and out to the firewall. WIth the console removed its easier to just stick your arm under the carpet and putt the wire.
#6 You have several choices for a power source.
A: tap into the factory 12v plug. The wire is very small so you cant run much of a load on the plug must less several plugs.
B: Run the wire thru the firewall using the wire hole behind the glove compartment. Carefully run the wire around to the front of the vehicle and over to the battery. Be sure to use a fuse at the battery. This setup will give you 12v all the time so you have to be carefull and not run the battery down. A cell phone or other device charging wont cause a problem unless you leave it on for months.
NOTE: The wire should be 18 Gauge for an average load and you can go bigger if you want to power something with a higher current draw. I prefer the plastic 12v sockets since the mounts are made to attach to the surface. The old cigarette lighter plugs clamp on eather side of the hole and seem to unscrew and get loose. They are also designed to handle heat. I ended up with some high dollar locking plugs from my parts box. I checked the price and they are $25.00 for the plug and socket at boaters world. You can find others that are alot cheaper.
