mattadams
Moderator Emeritus
- Joined
- September 17, 1999
- Messages
- 8,161
- Reaction score
- 10
- City, State
- Longmont, CO
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 2017 Explorer Sport
Here's what I've been up to! 
.
The before (way the lights were hooked up before) Had relays everywhere. the relays for the lights on the roof were mounted behind the cab, the relays for the lights ont he brushguard were mounted to the body near the headlights, other relays were mounted in various spots throughout the engine compartment. The battery had several wires hooked up (enough so that I could hook up no more devices to the battery!). What this was leading to was a)too many devices hooked up to the battery b)relays in spots where they were getting corroded and rusted and lights were failing c) I had wires exposed all over the place, wires ziptied to the frame, running through the firewall at a few different spots, had a big cluster of wires behind the firewall where a bunch of wires were located... all that stuff was zip-tied out of the way but still bothered me... the switches were mounted to the piece of trim surround the steering wheel which was ok but not as cool as it should be.. so I've spent the last few weeks organizing everything when I've had time!.
I took out all the carpet and insulated the interior with b-quiet. I did this for two reasons, sound insulation and spark insulation. If metal from a wire touches the body it can spart, potentially starting a fire. With b-quiet it is insulated so you can touch a raw wire to it and it will not spark. With the back seats out, it left this (the picture was taken before I insulated the back wall and the floor):
After insulating the interior, I took out all the trim and mounted a fuse block in the center of the back wall. I ran a 2-guage wire from the start solenoid (got it off the battery, heh heh) along the frame, up through a grommet, through the channel pointed out in the arrows above, and down to the fuse block. I mounted 4 relays to the channel (the same channel pointed at in arrows in the picture above) and ran allt eh other wiring through that same channel. There will soon be more relays mounted to this wall depending on how many lights I'm left with after installing my fabtech prerunner bumper. What I had left was this (this was taken before I cleaned up the wires a bit)
This gives a little better idea of what I'm talking about:
All the lights for the roof were running to relays mounted back here, as well as the 520's mounted in the outside of the airdam. If the fabtech prerunner bumper allows, I will be mounting two more relays in this spot (one for the 510's in the center of the airdam and one for the lights mounted on the brushguard).
I mounted the switches in the overhead console so they are completely hidden from view. you will only see them if you open the door for the garage door opener holder and even then they are camoflauged in so you won't see them unless you are looking for them. For the wiring to these switches I ran a bundle of four different colored wires up along the frame of the interior, along the frame to the front of the cab, along the frame of the interior to a hole that comes out near the console, and back to the switches. The ceiling is also insulated to prevent any sparking/fire. This allows me to change some of the wiring behind the back seat if necessary for different switch arrangements rather then remove the headliner and fiddle with the switches again. I've drawn myself diagrams about what color wire goes to what switch so Ic an change it later if need be.
The wires for the lights int he rollbar come down through the rollbar, come out underneath the bed, travel under the cab and come up through a grommet in the floor, they are then run behind the interior frame tot he fuse block. The wires for the 520's in teh airdam are run through a grommet in the floor, through the frame (instead of just near it) up to the front. This is also where I will run the wire to the lights that will be mounted on the brushguard.
While doing this project, I've also brought in the cb antenna wire and the gps antenna wire through a grommet (the same one the third brake light goes through) , through the interior frame. The gps antenna goes through the interior frame along the roof to the front of the cab where it disappears under the dash and up to the GPS which is mounted above the steering wheel. The CB antenna runs through the interior frame only to the back door where it runs down along the back pillar (also through the interior frame) and disappears under the carpet up to teh center console where the CB is mounted.
Hopefully within the next week or two I'll get the ceiling headliner back in, be able to begin reinstalling the trim pieces, and reinstall the back seats which have been out for over two months now while this project has been going on.
hopefully I"ll have pictures of where I mounted the switches and where I ran a lot of the wiring soon.
.The before (way the lights were hooked up before) Had relays everywhere. the relays for the lights on the roof were mounted behind the cab, the relays for the lights ont he brushguard were mounted to the body near the headlights, other relays were mounted in various spots throughout the engine compartment. The battery had several wires hooked up (enough so that I could hook up no more devices to the battery!). What this was leading to was a)too many devices hooked up to the battery b)relays in spots where they were getting corroded and rusted and lights were failing c) I had wires exposed all over the place, wires ziptied to the frame, running through the firewall at a few different spots, had a big cluster of wires behind the firewall where a bunch of wires were located... all that stuff was zip-tied out of the way but still bothered me... the switches were mounted to the piece of trim surround the steering wheel which was ok but not as cool as it should be.. so I've spent the last few weeks organizing everything when I've had time!
.I took out all the carpet and insulated the interior with b-quiet. I did this for two reasons, sound insulation and spark insulation. If metal from a wire touches the body it can spart, potentially starting a fire. With b-quiet it is insulated so you can touch a raw wire to it and it will not spark. With the back seats out, it left this (the picture was taken before I insulated the back wall and the floor):
After insulating the interior, I took out all the trim and mounted a fuse block in the center of the back wall. I ran a 2-guage wire from the start solenoid (got it off the battery, heh heh) along the frame, up through a grommet, through the channel pointed out in the arrows above, and down to the fuse block. I mounted 4 relays to the channel (the same channel pointed at in arrows in the picture above) and ran allt eh other wiring through that same channel. There will soon be more relays mounted to this wall depending on how many lights I'm left with after installing my fabtech prerunner bumper. What I had left was this (this was taken before I cleaned up the wires a bit)
This gives a little better idea of what I'm talking about:
All the lights for the roof were running to relays mounted back here, as well as the 520's mounted in the outside of the airdam. If the fabtech prerunner bumper allows, I will be mounting two more relays in this spot (one for the 510's in the center of the airdam and one for the lights mounted on the brushguard).
I mounted the switches in the overhead console so they are completely hidden from view. you will only see them if you open the door for the garage door opener holder and even then they are camoflauged in so you won't see them unless you are looking for them. For the wiring to these switches I ran a bundle of four different colored wires up along the frame of the interior, along the frame to the front of the cab, along the frame of the interior to a hole that comes out near the console, and back to the switches. The ceiling is also insulated to prevent any sparking/fire. This allows me to change some of the wiring behind the back seat if necessary for different switch arrangements rather then remove the headliner and fiddle with the switches again. I've drawn myself diagrams about what color wire goes to what switch so Ic an change it later if need be.
The wires for the lights int he rollbar come down through the rollbar, come out underneath the bed, travel under the cab and come up through a grommet in the floor, they are then run behind the interior frame tot he fuse block. The wires for the 520's in teh airdam are run through a grommet in the floor, through the frame (instead of just near it) up to the front. This is also where I will run the wire to the lights that will be mounted on the brushguard.
While doing this project, I've also brought in the cb antenna wire and the gps antenna wire through a grommet (the same one the third brake light goes through) , through the interior frame. The gps antenna goes through the interior frame along the roof to the front of the cab where it disappears under the dash and up to the GPS which is mounted above the steering wheel. The CB antenna runs through the interior frame only to the back door where it runs down along the back pillar (also through the interior frame) and disappears under the carpet up to teh center console where the CB is mounted.
Hopefully within the next week or two I'll get the ceiling headliner back in, be able to begin reinstalling the trim pieces, and reinstall the back seats which have been out for over two months now while this project has been going on.
hopefully I"ll have pictures of where I mounted the switches and where I ran a lot of the wiring soon.
