How to put a 12 Volt connection in the bed...

By Christian Dorton (trevelyn1015) and Dave Southern (WVedge2001)

With that said, let the modifying begin!

Step 1. Purchasing Supplys

First you will need to go down to your local auto parts store, Wal-Mart, or marine supply store and purchase a 12volt oulet of your choice. There are many differant styles but they all do the same thing so choose which ever style you prefer. You will also need an inline fuse holder and fuse.

We chose to get one from Wal-Mart, it is for marine, auto, and rv use and claims to be water resistent. It came with about 20 feet of wire(power and ground). Depending on the style you purchase you may also need a lenght of wire and inline splices.

Step 2. Mounting

The way I chose to mount it was under the bed caps of my Ford Ranger Edge. It seemed like an area that would not see much abuse or water. The stock bed already had holes predrilled for other accesories to bolt into, however it will need to enlarged to accept the plug.

We decided to remove the Driver Side Tail Light for easyer access to the mounting location.

Step 3. Fitment

To allow for the outlet to fit into the bedside the hole needs to be enlarged. For this we used a Dremel Tool. You can use what ever tool you feel comfortable with, but we found the Dremal to be good.

Step 4. Wiring

The first step is to run the wires through the hole and under the bed. We then ran the red wire (power) underneath the truck, how you do this is your own personal preference. We decided to run it through the taillight hole, under the bed, inside of the frame, so to be protected. Then we ran it on the safe side of the heat shields, so it will be safe from the heat of my exhaust or the engine.

Next, we ran the wire straight to the Power Distribution Box's power supply.

I figured if somehow, water got into the outlet, I didn't want to risk frying my whole electrical system, so we put in an inline fuse holder, with a fuse(30 amp), we also coated all the electrical contact points with silicone to keep water from damaging it. Also, we wrapped most of the wiring with electrical tape.

Next up is the Ground Wire. I thought it would be best to put it somewhere virtually invisible. So, we did it behind the taillight, we already had removed.

Dave dremeled a hole for our screw to feed into, then we screwed the ground wire in, after crimping it to a spare wire i had from my kc lights(on of those wires with a metal, circular end)

Step 5. Clean Up and Finish

We then replaced the Tail Light, cleaned up the scraps and were ready to test it out.

Finished Product