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15K views 23 replies 13 participants last post by  Double_DD-s 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
Home built power distribution panel and Air horn

By: fernjack

Pictures are large for detail... If you want to see the whole pic without scrolling simply click on it.

Hi guys this is what I did to power up my aux. lighting and other items . First off I would like to say thanks to the forum for a lot of the ideas I got , changed and implemented . I decided to put my switches above the left speaker ....out of the way but easy to access . The route throught the fire wall is behind the left OR right dash side panle which just pops out with the help of a small knife or s/driver . I have 6 - 14ga. wires in a continously taped over 3/8" split wire loom ...... 4 for my aux. lighting switches , 1 for the illumination of my blue LED duck bill switches & 1 for my future CB hook-up . These all go through the one hole you will see behind the panel . Open your hood and look up towards your dash outside your engine compartment but inside the hood and that is where your wires will come out ( you will see in the pics what I mean ) . I uesd a metal coat hanger to open that hole from inside the cab then push a fish tape through from the engine side ...hooked up the tape to my wireloom bundle and slowly pulled it through untill I had about 3' into the engine compartment . I then used a level & tape measure to mark out my switches leaving enough room to add 2 more for my E/diff. locker bypass switches (future) . Mounted and wired the switches .
I then built my panel using two heavy kitchen cutting boards ( one for working on and one to paint and mount for final install ) . I layed out the relays , wire junctions and fuse box until it was compact but workable and started marking , drilling and mounting the various components . I used stainless hardware throughout w/nylock nuts & stainless fl.washers . All bolts and machine screws were trimed to be flush with the nuts . The nylon wire clips were screwed to the board with #10 X 1/2" SS pan head sheet metal screws (I used #2 robertson screw heads but my US Jeeper pals could use Philips ) . All wires were soldered or tinned and heat shrink was used throughout even over the female spade ends to be isolated and more water resistant . Everything was pumped full of dielectric grease ( not inside the relays ) untill the grease came out even the female ends were filled ( Permatex dielectric tune-up grease ) making it pretty much water impervious . I used 40 amp relays throughout fused down to whatever the max working load/circuit required . All my wiring is either 14ga or 12ga . except the power and ground to the panel thats #4 welding cable . I over killed with wire gauge and loom/tape cuz I never want to have to do over anything . The relay on the back of my panel is a 30amp for my air horns which I trigger with the factory horn hot lead .
The panel is mounted in the Valley between the brakes & the computer haet sink on the drivers side engine compartment with stainless steel brakets and hardware .
This has been in for just about a year now through a whole range of conditions (+38C to -50C , rain,water , snow & ice and many pressure washes ) and if I pull a fuse or relay to have a look the terminal ends come out clean and still covered with dielectric grease .
Hope someone finds this helpful lots of typing for a pipefitter LOL !! P.S. this is a stand alone system completely independant of your JK factory wiring .....



 
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#2 ·
Home built electrical distribution panel .

A big thanks to MilitaryJK4455 for compiling all the photos . It almost took as long to type and load as it did to do this LOL !! One thing I would add is that everything is separately fused in and out making it easy to find a problem and only affecting one circuit at a time should it go down . Pm me if there are further questions ........ Rick :cheers::wave:
 
#4 ·
Jeeps are a love thing LOL ! I'll help out anyone who wants to give it a go ....... no charge . I'll eventually try and put an actual material list together if I ever get time ..... but you can pretty much see everything you need in the photos . :cheers::wave:
 
#5 ·
On an issue of personal pride I would like to say the red & purple wire just wound around stuff you see there was done by the stealership .... thier idea of a nice install . Those wires are for the remote start they installed . It stopped working once and they had the gall to say it was my aftermarket light wiring that caused it !!! Thier fricken wire came out of the terminal do to a crappy crimping job . My stuff is all soldered .
I kinda lost it on them ....don't go there anymore ......LOL !!
I will at some point re-do the wires they installed ...... :teehee:
 
#7 ·
Very nice job man! You will love those locker switches, makes life soo much easier then relying on the computer. Make sure and wire in some indicator lights also for the locker sensors.
I cant quite see how you hooked it up to the battery, I would recommend a nice big fuse right after the battery connection so if the engine burns/damages the primary wire it will hopefully blow the fuse and wont ground out your battery (discharge).
If you have already done this then I apologise.
GJ, very clean and professional.
 
#14 ·
Thanks man :highfive: I was thinking of doing the master fuse thing but I don't think I'll need to do that . My primary wires are all double wrapped in loom and each layer is electrical taped (about 4 layers ) continously . If I have any fire issue in the engine compartment everything else would go before that mulit wrapped welding cable and there is no chance of a short or rub through .
I have 3 auto resettable circuit breakers (50amp ea.) in series on my winch primary taking it to about 80% of max for the winch as well .
I think I'll be fine but that is a good idea though . All my circuits are fused in and out individually so as to never have everything down at once ........:cheers::wave:
 
#9 ·
Sweetest DIY panel ever! I inspired mine from yours and it's not finished yet because I don't have enough time but I'll post pics as soon as I'm done. It's not as complete and clean as that tho.



:thumbsup:
 
#13 ·
LOL ! Ya it's pretty tenatious stuff . I used mostly Permatex but an electrical tech. buddy of mine said to try the "Grote" brand just as good and more for the money ....... The permatex is a clear silicon base .... Grote kinda amber ....:cheers::nono:
 
#15 ·
^^^^ right on, if you ever change your mind amplifier fuses are water tight, super easy to wire in and can easily be found in the current you need. With that much protection I wouldnt think you will have a issue though :D
 
#18 ·
Subscribed.
I did similar with 10 circuits but it's not that clean (relays standing alone around the battery and such... :( )
I need to re-do it now that I know what went wrong... (relays should be near the fuses, all wiring needs to be cleaned up, etc)

 
#20 ·
:(
donno where his went, heres mine Im working on





Auto Zone has the relay blocks, 6 terminals, each good for 30 amps.
The relays are from amazon, each for $0.77 cents:D good for 40 amps...whatever you do dont buy the relays from the auto shop chains, they charge WAY too much for them. Buy some extras as well, they dont like vibrations and go bad every once in a while.

GL
 
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