Power in the bed

[Richard320]

I have one of those 12V refrigerators and I'd like to be able to plug it in in the bed. I gave thought to running a dedicated line from the fuse block back into the bed and finishing it with a 12V plug or some Anderson powerpoles. But who wants to string heavy wires the length of the truck? So... one of these Tees that go into the backside of the trailer plugin. I found a great price on one here. $27.94! And it's pretty good quality, one plug even says Delphi on it.

Which still leaves the question of how to finish it. Cut holes in the sheet metal? Pigtail with powerpoles, or pigtail with lighter socket? Or leave the 7way on it, so as to have easy access to stop lights should I ever add a shell. Then I saw this. Turns a trailer plug into a 12V socket.

The stuff arrived today, I plugged it all together and it will work. My hesitation comes with cutting a hole in the bed. The obvious spot is right where I normally have my cargo bar. Mounting it higher, so it will be above the stuff sliding around, puts it behind the cargo rail. That won't do. It would be really easy to snip the wires and shove it up through an existing hole and the connect a lighter socket. Or dismantle the plug temporarily, thread the wires through, and mount the 7 way on the cargo bar somehow.

Must ruminate more. But I did want to tip people off to the great price on the wiring harness.

 

[FM45]

here is my install..

https://5thgenrams.com/community/attachments/ram-12-volt-plus-pdf.56456/

-=FM45=-

 

[Richard320]

here is my install..

https://5thgenrams.com/community/attachments/ram-12-volt-plus-pdf.56456/

-=FM45=-

I referred to that earlier in my research. I was going to mount the plug exactly where yours is, but that's also exactly where my cargo bar rides.

 

[AV8OR]

The bonus is you can turn your rig into a Hot Shot delivery service -

https://www.etrailer.com/Custom_Fit_Vehicle_Wiring/CURT/C56070.html

 

[Richard320]

The bonus is you can turn your rig into a Hot Shot delivery service -

https://www.etrailer.com/Custom_Fit_Vehicle_Wiring/CURT/C56070.html

My pigtail is the same, but 3 useless feet longer and 1/3 the price.

 

[Richard320]

It is finished.

When I went to the hardware store to buy the Unistrut nuts, I browsed around and found a Simpson Strongtie plate that would work as a mount. I also bought some paint and some black hardware.
Step one, make the strut nuts fit. It took some grinding, but I got them to fit and rotate into place without removing the rail. I didn't need the spring, but that's what they had in small quantities.




I did some cutting and drilling on the metal plate. I gave it some spatter paint I had to match the bed liner then hit it with flat black.



The hardest part was popping the cap loose enough to drill the holes in the top rail. I glued it with some silicon both to prevent rust and prevent squeaks later, in addition to the pop rivets.



Rather than drill a giant hole, I disassembled the plug to facilitate threading the wires through the existing hole. Ask a crafty woman for a T pin. Paper clips aren't stiff enough, IMHO. I had to weasel it through in two bundles. The clothes hanger wire was used to fish the strings through that I actually taped to the wires.



I didn't take any pictures showing underneath, and I don't feel like wrestling the tools out to drop the spare again to take pictures now. But it's all up out of the way and it's clear of the spare tire mechanism.

And the final result.