Fuse box placement?

[CJ5 Convert]

All of you folks that have done a universal wiring kit. Where did you put the new one. I bought one of the American Autowire Highway 22 Kits and the fuse block is huge. I'm adding a bulkhead disconnect so that will go in the old hole where the 2 harnesses met. I'm thinking about putting it right below that but was wondering if yall had ever had problems with the waater off your boots or anything else splashing up in ther. I thought about making a nice cover but I know it needs venting too. Especially out her in New Mexico. Thanks for the time any thoughts on this would be awesome. -CJ

[Luba]

I am not sure on placement, but does that harness have a screw in terminal block for the wires? That would be nice if you had to replace a whole wire, easier than the solder on conection or butt-splice.

[CJ5 Convert]

Originally Posted by Luba

I am not sure on placement, but does that harness have a screw in terminal block for the wires? That would be nice if you had to replace a whole wire, easier than the solder on conection or butt-splice.

Luba here you go. This thing is pretty awesome. The only difference I see is that it came with the straight style connector for the column. Instead of the half moon connector I have now. It did come with a new straight male one that I can use to build an adapter or cut of the old one and replace it. Here is some pics tell me what you think.




These last 2 are the new bulkhead connector I bought upon test fitting it though it may be right in the way as I kind of need the panel up as far as possible and the only place it will go with out cutting the firewall is the old hole twhere the 2 fuse blocks screwed together. The seal pictured beside them is the gasket between the old style fuse blocks. It would be nice to have that easy disconnect. But that would make me dropt this whole panel several inches anyone that wants to weigh in on this is welcome. Thanks -CJ

[CJ5 Convert]

Allright here is some pics on what I'm trying to do if anyone has some opinions please let me know. May be I should just forget the disconect. It'd let the fuse box go a little higher.

[jfortner]

Couple of thoughts?

Do you really need a bulkhead connector? I have not figured out the real purpose of needing one and figure it is just one more point of failure? I don't plan on using one.

Second that is a nice looking block. Since you can use any wire you want have you thought about putting the fuse block behind the drivers seat on the side panel? Had I seen what you got before I bought I would have done that. Install it where it would be hidden behind the side panel in the back; under the railing? It will mean you have to use more wire but would be a nice dry out of the way place and allow you some room to make a clean installation and not have all that extra stuff under the dash and around your feet? I still may but since my kit was prewired it would be much more difficult for me.

John

[CJ5 Convert]

J,

I actually though about under the rail on the drivers side. Then I might need to lengthen the wires as they come preassembled. With just one raw end. Plus I guess I would have to drop through the floor plate on the edge of the bed as we have real way of routing it to the cab. I really like that idea though. I guess I could just run some flex or emt right infront of the doorjamb to get the wires to the back. You're right though when I got the connector I thought it would be a good idea but I've been having second thoughts and yes the single point of failure has run through my mind several times.

Serriously though that would be slick I'm going to put custom panels in there anyways after the tub is rhino lined. So it would be out of the wasy and slick I just don't know if I have enough wire. Plus that's just running a lot of extra wire for everything that is in the dash. Does anyone know if punching through the floorplate right be hind the driver under the rail would be a structural problem.

I definitely think putting it under the dash will be the simplest. just carve out a little of the insulation. around the old bulkhead hole.

Thanks again J, -CJ

[Luba]

That wire kit looks awesome. How much did that run you? On the 2nd pic are those screws holding the wire to the fuse block? That would be great if one had to replace a wire. I think I will buy one too.

[CJ5 Convert]

Luba,

Those 3 wires that are attached go to the ignition with a nice quick disconect connector and they are attached from the factory . All of the secondary hookups all the way down the side are screw down connectors it even comes with a nice controls size screwdriver which is awesome. Because even though I have a few of these around the house they can be a pain to find.

The kit was $399 from Mike at Musclerodz. I've dealt with him on a couple of things now and have had nothing but good experiences. -CJ


I had to edit this cause I'm stupid and wrote something that was totally incorrect.

[Musclerodz]

I would mount it vertically as shown in the second pic with spacers if need be over the bulkhead connector. I would make sure to seal any open area around the connector so no water can get in the cab through that area and cause electrical issues. The problem with moving it too far from stock is the length of the wires are designed for a close to stock location install. There is a trunk mount kit available but it is another $169 for a whole other set of wires that are 15 feet longer but that creates all kinds of other problems I don't recommend getting into. Nice kit aren't they?

[CJ5 Convert]

All right here is what I did. I mounted my fuse panel on a sheet of steel that is hinged off of the bulkhead by a quarter inch sheet of rubber (its a peice of tailgate liner). It will allow me to move my speedo cable up to the blanked hole above where it usually goes and use all of the other original holes. Plus it gives me some vibration isolation. But the most important part is my big feet have nothing to kick except for a flat plate. It also should allow me to get almost every wire up out of the way to clean up the whole thing. I've gotta redo the front brackets but that can wait till I start on the body. The best part is I only have to remove the 2 nuts to drop it down. In the final version I will have wing nuts. Well yall let me know what you think. Give me a little slack I don't have any of my equipment any more and I sure don't have a welder to make up the brackets. Thanks

[TonyJohnson]

That's a great idea. To be able to easily swing it down to work on it. The trick now will be to keep your wires long enough to swing with it without the chance of binding on anything. I'd anchor the wire bundle to the flat plate so the connections wouldn't torque from the swing. (Does that make sense...?) lol.

[BUDDY]

Very good idea!! I like it a lot. I got one of these a few years ago, (still haven't finished all the wiring, just lost momentum on it), & I LOVE the quality of it! I did something similar to what you have here, except on the passenger side under the glovebox. On some big rig tractors, they have the fuse panel mounted on this hinged swing-down tray. I saw one when I was looking through a truck JY, & thought that it was way too cool to pass up, so I got it for like 20.00 for the whole tray & the HUGE fuse block out of that truck. I had to cut through a 2" thick bundle of wires coming off of it to get it off, & it was like 18" long. Anyways, I took it home, got my AAW fuse block out & started trying to figure out a place to put it. I wound up hacking it to pieces to get it small enough to fit under the dash & still clear the fuse block & glovebox, but it fits great & is super trick, I think. I'll probably re-work the tray, amongst other things, but I really like it. Oh, & I used 6-way trailer plugs for my firewall disconnects. Makes the wiring modular, front harness, rear harness.

Maybe I'll get some pictures for you guys.

Later,
Buddy

[CJ5 Convert]

Tony and Buddy Thnxs, I wanted to make sure I wasn't crazy. I'm still contemplating using big strap hinges instead but I kinda like the rubber strap as it will let it kinda fall around anything coming through the firewall when lowered and it's several less hard edges to rub throught the wires. I've still gotta find a better strap solution for the front. I even thought about swapping out this protype peice of steel for a nice peice of aluminium diamond plate. Just to class it up a bit. . anyone else with ideas let me know I'm gonna start test fitting all the wires today. to see if i can have this thing running by Sunday. -Jason

Buddy I'd like to see pics of that setup of yours.