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Ultimate Bed Build and Custom Dual Battery System
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<blockquote data-quote="DINOZR" data-source="post: 1629192" data-attributes="member: 41843"><p>So with the battery box done, how did I mount and wire all this?</p><p></p><p>I looked at 1000 ways to mount the box, from simple ratchet straps to drilling the bed. I came up with this: You know the Ford factory option for loading ramps that ride inside the sides of the bed? I had those and never used them. So I ditched them. And during this project I stumbled onto the fact that one of the four brackets used to hold the ramps would make a great way to connect the battery box to the Ford Boxlink system. This also means my mount system is universal to any BoxLink setup. So it's a very rigid mount, quickly removable (about 30 seconds to loosen one 13mm nut), and transferrable to the new generation of F150s that still uses BoxLink.</p><p></p><p>The basic setup is Battery Box (Milwaukee Packout Large Toolbox) --> Milwaukee Packout Mounting Plate--> 12" long by 0.5" thick aluminum spacer, drilled and countersunk to match Packout Mounting Plate--> Ford ramp mounting bracket, drilled to match aluminum spacer</p><p></p><p>This setup has been riding in my bed for almost 2 months now. It doesn't rattle, clunk, or move more than 1/8" in any direction. It's almost completely rigid, and I can remove it in about 30 seconds and install it in about 60 seconds. This has been a great solution.</p><p></p><p>Now to wire it all in.</p><p></p><p>First I tackled the wiring harness local to the bed. This is the harness that connects the battery box with all the bed accessories and the switch panel near the tailgate. I wanted this to look good--even look factory if I could. So I really took my time, planned it, ordered the exact materials I needed, and took it a tiny step at a time. I wanted it all integrated into one cohesive, neat harness--not a bird's nest of wires everywhere in my bed to snag things and look like Fred Sanford's driveway.</p><p></p><p>I started by using 1/2" nylon rope to create a mock-up of the harness. Nylon rope is cheap, easy to work with, and bends with a similar radius to a wiring harness. I used this to figure out my branch points and harness lengths. I routed the rope in the path I wanted, pieced together all the branches with cloth tape, and labeled each end with its terminating connector. Then I removed the mock-up harness to use as my standard during the real harness creation process.</p><p></p><p>Creating the harness was a painstaking process. I used mostly 3/4" and 1" 3:1 heat shrink tubing in 4 ft lengths as the main sheath and sheath for all the branches. Some tips:</p><p>1. Put connectors on last. It seems like work you can do early, but once you can only insert heat shrink tubing from one end, you have made life harder.</p><p>2. Don't heat shrink the main sheath until the very end. Mistakes are easy to correct before you heat shrink, and a giant PITA to correct once you heat shrink.</p><p>3. You need a 110V heat gun for tubing this size.</p><p>4. Liquid soap is a great lubricant for getting tubing over wires</p><p>5. A fish tape or fiberglass fish rod is a necessity</p><p>6. Test fit, check function, check routing, and only then do you heat shrink the final harness.</p><p></p><p>I'm very happy with the final product.</p><p></p><p>With that I routed in the final harness and also mounted some more BuiltRight Accessories.</p><p></p><p>Now the work I have left to do is to route power, ground, and an ignition switched 12V signal to the battery box. I have my materials and my routing figured out. I just need to make time to do it. I'll be using 6 AWG cable for the hot, coming directly from the battery (40A fuse in line about 18" from the battery). Ground will come from the bottom of the frame where a bed bolt penetrates the frame. I'll be sticking a M12 locknut on there and grounding to it (I've confirmed continuity with the battery ground). And then I've got a 12V ignition switched signal coming from the passenger side interior kick panel fuse block. All 3 of these will meet at the grommet I've installed in the plug in the front of the bed, run up and under the bed rug, and attach through the Deutsch HDP20 connector on the battery box. This will complete the function of charging the aux battery whenever the ignition is ON (that's why I need the ignition switched wire, to tell the charger that it's OK to turn on). The box is already functional and I've used it a great deal. It just can only charge from solar, or an external battery charger. So after I top it off I've got limited capacity. But it was plenty enough to power my frig while camping in April, and the bed lights are a great help while working on this project and mounting things to the BuiltRight panels. So stay tuned to see me complete this beast of a project. And please don't ask how much it all cost. I honestly don't know, and I'd really rather not think about it. I didn't do it to save money. I did it because it was a really intriguing challenge.</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]167853[/ATTACH][ATTACH=full]167854[/ATTACH][ATTACH=full]167855[/ATTACH][ATTACH=full]167856[/ATTACH][ATTACH=full]167857[/ATTACH]</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="DINOZR, post: 1629192, member: 41843"] So with the battery box done, how did I mount and wire all this? I looked at 1000 ways to mount the box, from simple ratchet straps to drilling the bed. I came up with this: You know the Ford factory option for loading ramps that ride inside the sides of the bed? I had those and never used them. So I ditched them. And during this project I stumbled onto the fact that one of the four brackets used to hold the ramps would make a great way to connect the battery box to the Ford Boxlink system. This also means my mount system is universal to any BoxLink setup. So it's a very rigid mount, quickly removable (about 30 seconds to loosen one 13mm nut), and transferrable to the new generation of F150s that still uses BoxLink. The basic setup is Battery Box (Milwaukee Packout Large Toolbox) --> Milwaukee Packout Mounting Plate--> 12" long by 0.5" thick aluminum spacer, drilled and countersunk to match Packout Mounting Plate--> Ford ramp mounting bracket, drilled to match aluminum spacer This setup has been riding in my bed for almost 2 months now. It doesn't rattle, clunk, or move more than 1/8" in any direction. It's almost completely rigid, and I can remove it in about 30 seconds and install it in about 60 seconds. This has been a great solution. Now to wire it all in. First I tackled the wiring harness local to the bed. This is the harness that connects the battery box with all the bed accessories and the switch panel near the tailgate. I wanted this to look good--even look factory if I could. So I really took my time, planned it, ordered the exact materials I needed, and took it a tiny step at a time. I wanted it all integrated into one cohesive, neat harness--not a bird's nest of wires everywhere in my bed to snag things and look like Fred Sanford's driveway. I started by using 1/2" nylon rope to create a mock-up of the harness. Nylon rope is cheap, easy to work with, and bends with a similar radius to a wiring harness. I used this to figure out my branch points and harness lengths. I routed the rope in the path I wanted, pieced together all the branches with cloth tape, and labeled each end with its terminating connector. Then I removed the mock-up harness to use as my standard during the real harness creation process. Creating the harness was a painstaking process. I used mostly 3/4" and 1" 3:1 heat shrink tubing in 4 ft lengths as the main sheath and sheath for all the branches. Some tips: 1. Put connectors on last. It seems like work you can do early, but once you can only insert heat shrink tubing from one end, you have made life harder. 2. Don't heat shrink the main sheath until the very end. Mistakes are easy to correct before you heat shrink, and a giant PITA to correct once you heat shrink. 3. You need a 110V heat gun for tubing this size. 4. Liquid soap is a great lubricant for getting tubing over wires 5. A fish tape or fiberglass fish rod is a necessity 6. Test fit, check function, check routing, and only then do you heat shrink the final harness. I'm very happy with the final product. With that I routed in the final harness and also mounted some more BuiltRight Accessories. Now the work I have left to do is to route power, ground, and an ignition switched 12V signal to the battery box. I have my materials and my routing figured out. I just need to make time to do it. I'll be using 6 AWG cable for the hot, coming directly from the battery (40A fuse in line about 18" from the battery). Ground will come from the bottom of the frame where a bed bolt penetrates the frame. I'll be sticking a M12 locknut on there and grounding to it (I've confirmed continuity with the battery ground). And then I've got a 12V ignition switched signal coming from the passenger side interior kick panel fuse block. All 3 of these will meet at the grommet I've installed in the plug in the front of the bed, run up and under the bed rug, and attach through the Deutsch HDP20 connector on the battery box. This will complete the function of charging the aux battery whenever the ignition is ON (that's why I need the ignition switched wire, to tell the charger that it's OK to turn on). The box is already functional and I've used it a great deal. It just can only charge from solar, or an external battery charger. So after I top it off I've got limited capacity. But it was plenty enough to power my frig while camping in April, and the bed lights are a great help while working on this project and mounting things to the BuiltRight panels. So stay tuned to see me complete this beast of a project. And please don't ask how much it all cost. I honestly don't know, and I'd really rather not think about it. I didn't do it to save money. I did it because it was a really intriguing challenge. [ATTACH type="full" alt="C9B21CA1-66BB-440E-A55A-FB4F51D9A6D2.jpeg"]167853[/ATTACH][ATTACH type="full" alt="A84AC866-1F32-477D-83EE-502E6E8D8D57.jpeg"]167854[/ATTACH][ATTACH type="full" alt="2596EE08-053C-43D6-BBB7-29CBA1138849.jpeg"]167855[/ATTACH][ATTACH type="full" alt="77A1BD07-8FBA-4ED3-8F23-62F9333605AD.jpeg"]167856[/ATTACH][ATTACH type="full" alt="AD1206FF-AEEE-45A9-8CE7-77C7E2F5FFFB.jpeg"]167857[/ATTACH] [/QUOTE]
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