12v Socket - A Deck Tub

[lpatsis450]

Hi Guys,

Been searching through allllllll of the internet trying to find a 12v socket that will fit under the inside lip of an A deck tub. i am running an xtra cab and want to mount my waeco in the rear tub, instead of it sitting in the back seat.... also keen on having the socket there for rear lighting, shower pump.... etc

I am looking to run wiring from my second battery in the engine bay, under the car and up into the rear tail light (thanks to all the tutorials on how to do this) then poke out into the tray and have a hidden 12v socket under the lip in the rear corner of the tray.

The reason i want to do this is because i tend to be rough with the ute tub and if i have a socket sitting proud i will most likely smash it off.

Has anyone got something that could work in this location and be neatly fixed in place? or any other ideas i could think of?

CHEEEEERS GUYS!

[ScubaDooba]

How about something like this ? -
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/like/321145461133?limghlpsr=true&hlpv=2&ops=true&viphx=1&hlpht=true&lpid=107&chn=ps

[lpatsis450]

Thanks ScoobaDooba,

we think alike, however, i bought one of these to fit to the lip so it was flush with the socket part inside the lip(if that makes since) but it is too deep and wont fit. plus i am not 100% sure how 'waterproof' the rear of these are.... i would say they are more 'weatherproof'.

idealy this would be perfect, but unfortunatley doesnt fit without having to space it out about 20mm to cover the room for the connectors etc.....

[Glenn k]

Anderson plug

[lpatsis450]

thanks Glenn k... not sure why i didnt think of this first...

onyl problem is that all my camping accessories are wired up to 12v ciggy socket connectors... is it easy to change these over to anderson??????

LP

[Glenn k]

Yes it is, but you could just wire a plug up with an anderson plug on one end then a cigarette lighter plug on the other, only has to be short, then just remove it when not required

[bob14hilux]

lpatsis450,

I put a twin cig socket in mine, not exactly hidden, but it is tucked in out of the way, and unlikely to get damaged.

[NZMarkb]

I got mine from a marine chandlery
Good waterproof cover

[lpatsis450]

Hi bob14hilux,

looks alot neater than i thought it would - how did you run the wiring behind the socket & skin of the tub?

Cheers

lpatsis450,

I put a twin cig socket in mine, not exactly hidden, but it is tucked in out of the way, and unlikely to get damaged.

[bob14hilux]

[quote="lpatsis450"]Hi bob14hilux,

looks alot neater than i thought it would - how did you run the wiring behind the socket & skin of the tub?

Cheers

It was installed by Opposite lock, I assume they took the insides of the wheel arch out to access, and put the wires through there.

[taresk]

There'd probably be enough access room just removing the taillight to do this (can't say for sure without doing it though)

[davbar65]

You can usually just reach straight up under the rear corner of the tub...no need to remove wheel liners or taillights.

[gold member]

Or just hard wire a cable in from switch in cab to the fridge, less to chance of the socket breaking etc... unless you want to run other accessories from your tray? Then you could just install a single point. I have always just wired in a lead straight from the switch to my fridge, reckon the ciggy lighter plugs are susceptable to getting broken and failure, but in saying that my fridge lives in my car and I dont run any other accessories, everything I run from tray is hard wired and Permenant. I keep a spare standard cable in my ute incase I ever need to use it in someone else's car or use my 240v inverter to run it.

[Qwerty]

I've got mine mounted like this and never had a problem. THe fridge is usually mounted there in any case as a protection.

heavy duty wiring directly to my auxillary battery (also doubles as the input location for my MPPT solar controller).

You might be over thinking the damage concern? end of day it's just a plastic thingy with a couple of screws, not hard to fix.

[gold member]

Yeah I know they are not hard to install/ fix etc I just dont like em, and in my case dont have the need for them, just another option really. Like hard wired to switch in cab I can then turn fridge on and off via a switch and the light on the switch will tell me if I was ever to lose power.

[bob14hilux]

lpatsis450,

I got under and had a look today, plenty of room to reach up and pass the cable through the gap under there. My cables are going straight down beside the tail light and then along the top of the chasis.

[lpatsis450]

bob14hilux,

Brilliant stuff mate! I did the same over the weekend, but was more consumed by trying to figure out a better way to mount my awning... sheared the brackets over the weekend on some whooped out terrain... so looking to do that first then back to the rear 12v socket... with a run of wiring so long, any chance of voltage drop??? what guage wire should i use?

[bob14hilux]

bob14hilux,

Brilliant stuff mate! I did the same over the weekend, but was more consumed by trying to figure out a better way to mount my awning... sheared the brackets over the weekend on some whooped out terrain... so looking to do that first then back to the rear 12v socket... with a run of wiring so long, any chance of voltage drop??? what guage wire should i use?

Like I said, Opposite Lock did the install, so I cant confirm what size the wires are, but I told them I didnt want any voltage drop and they said they would do it properly for me. When I had my landcruiser I did wire the dual battery setup myself and I used 6mm wires over a similar distance with no problems. In the lux each of the sockets in the twin socket outlet are wired up seperately to the second battery, so there are 2 sets of wires running, with an inline fuse in each. I am sure if you did a search you would find better info than I can give because it is all electrickery to me.

When I bought my awning I didnt like the skinny little brackets that came with it and made my own out of 40mm x 8mm stainless steel, solid as a rock. I dont have roof racks on the hilux yet though.