Got some new toys, and got a problem.

One power outlet for....

-Garmin GPS
-Sirius radio
-cell phone charger
-cooler/heater for road trips (baby formula
-R/C airplane battery charger

-yes, one outlet...man im jealous of those with more now~

I do have a 3 way splitter, but im a little reluctant to mount that up and stare at the mess of wires that will be present. Im also concerned with the ammount of power i can draw off that one power outlet. Any advice???

 

Wire up more outlets..

 

welcome back.

 

Did 97's only have one outlet? My 99 has 2 powerpoints and a cigarette outlet, and one more in the rear of the truck. You might think about changing the front valance around the radio to a later model with more outlets, if that would work...

 

You should have one in the back too.

I would say wire in some more outlets on the side of the console or something.

I was looking at my uncles 01 since I had been thinking about switching center consoles and the radio/HVAC surround but it looks like it would be more of a pain than it's worth. The clock and defrost and flashers and all that moved and have a different button now, so I don't know if 98 plugs would hook up to the switches.

 

This may not apply to your applications, but maybe just a helpful thought. I was at a reputable local audio installer to get a Peripheral radio harness for my Sirius radio. Even they do this for installs: I bought an $8 cigarette lighter outlet from Radio Shack and used the crimp-on splicers to add it to the front lighter circuit, and plugged the Sirius power adapter right in to it. In my '03 there is plenty of room under the center console trim so I just secured the whole assembly in there with a chunk of double-sided mounting tape. The Sirius only draws 5v, and I bet the cell charger the same or less, so those could be on one circuit, and maybe you just run one extra circuit from the fuse box to run the others. Not to state the obvious or insult anyone's intelligence, but just to clarify: plug the adapter provided with the electronic device into the added lighter socket, do not try to hardwire it without the adapter that steps down the voltage.

 

This should help take away the need for one of the plugs, this is what I use and it works great. http://www.toysrus.com/product/index...ductId=2401841

 

actually everything is going to run on 12V as you'll have a 12V socket. it may step it down to 5 or 6V, but that's immaterial. what matters is how much current your devices draw (in amperes) and whether or not that will exceed the fuse present in the circuit.

i highly doubt things like stereo accessories (except for obvious things like amps) and small chargers will draw enough to pop the fuse protecting the cigarette lighter circuit. my XM radio only draws about 800mA and IIRC the smoke lighter is on a 15A circuit, so you've got plenty of wiggle room.

wire the whole shebang to the current wiring and if you start having trouble with fuses, wire it all to its own separately fused circuit straight to the battery.

 

Nope, not on a 97


As long as you dont use the charger and heater/cooler at the same time you should be fine. (good idea for the formula. I heat mine by sitting the bottle on the cup holder and crank up the heat, or sit it on the floor with the rear seat heater)


If you want to do it right, run a separate, fused power wire to the battery, and wire up a multiple outlet cig lighter receptacle (they have them at Radio$hack)

 

One big option that no one mentioned yet is to do the Auxillary fuse panel install mod in your engine compartment. You will have plenty of power and if you wire it correctly you can then route two circuits from the aux fuse panel inside the cab and wire in a couple more outlets. Several on here have installed extra outlets and its not really that difficult then you will have plenty of power to spare without worry about blowing fuses. Just MHO, but it gives you much more options for other modes needing power such as fog, driving aux lights, CB, or other lighting, power for amps etc.