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TUTORIAL: Wiring accessories to interior fuse box with add-a-fuse tap

dgorsett

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On another thread that discusses all about flat towing (worth the time it takes to read all 25+ pages), someone recommended #29. I tested it and it was hot while the Bronco was off, but I didn't time it to see if it was on a delay. I doubt it is because that post was from weeks ago. I'm completing the install this weekend and will test it on a road trip next week.

The biggest issue about the TOAD braking system I've seen right now is the 6cyl brake booster stays on for about 30 minutes then shuts off. We have a 4 cyl, so it isn't an issue for me.
I've been following the Toad thread. I sticking with my battery hot for now. Even the act of opening the door could 'liven' post 29, so I'm not sure how to do a definitive test, hook a light up to it and view through a window I guess.

I also have a 4 cyl vacuum system. I recently completed a 1600 mile towed trip with no issues. I use the RVI 2 system, totally happy with it.
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I've been following the Toad thread. I sticking with my battery hot for now. Even the act of opening the door could 'liven' post 29, so I'm not sure how to do a definitive test, hook a light up to it and view through a window I guess.

I also have a 4 cyl vacuum system. I recently completed a 1600 mile towed trip with no issues. I use the RVI 2 system, totally happy with it.
I'll be able to tell if 29 loses power next week. I was thinking of connecting a clock or something to it that would lose memory if it went dead, but I'll just ride with it and see how it works. We're towing over 4 hours on Tuesday.

I ordered their big bundle with the RVi 3 brake. Seems like a really great integrated system. My tire pressure monitoring took a dump last year so it was great to find something that works all together in one screen. The wireless break away is nice, too. The fewer holes I drill into my wife's new pride and joy the better my life is!!
 

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I'll be able to tell if 29 loses power next week. I was thinking of connecting a clock or something to it that would lose memory if it went dead, but I'll just ride with it and see how it works. We're towing over 4 hours on Tuesday.

I ordered their big bundle with the RVi 3 brake. Seems like a really great integrated system. My tire pressure monitoring took a dump last year so it was great to find something that works all together in one screen. The wireless break away is nice, too. The fewer holes I drill into my wife's new pride and joy the better my life is!!
I have an older RVI 2 (transferred from my 05 TJ) with wired breakaway and no tire pressure but I love it. Been thinking of adding tire pressure.
 

da_jokker

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I see what you are saying. I was reacting to the statement "fuses have a specific direction" that gave me the impression that a fuse itself acted as a diode which, of course they don't.

I'm also a noob at using these taps. I've usually just ran separate switched or relayed circuits in automotive installations. When I was younger I would add a jumper to the hot side of a fuse once in a while, but that isn't something I do these days. This is the first time I've used a tap like this and that is a good thing to check out. I don't want to draw any more power through that fuse slot that it is originally rated for, so I'll ensure that it is oriented correctly, as you suggest.
Same here. All the years I've done wiring I've never once used a fuse tap until recently when I installed a dash cam in my wifes car. I used a spare fuse slot, so I didn't need that second fuse, and couldn't figure out why the camera wasn't powered up!
 

BroncoBilly22

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SPITmadFIRE,
Thank you for your detailed write up and illustrations.
I ordered a DDPAI Dash cam 4K front camera only and the hard wire kit with fuse connection. It was exhausting watching all of the reviews for these dash cams online. I wanted a small discrete camera that had good image quality (4K) and had a clean minimalistic look. Some of these other cameras were large, had LCD screens and had multiple wires coming from them. This DDPAI has one black C Port power cable exiting from the right side. The Bronco has an OEM box located on the right side of the mirror and I plan to install this dash camera on the left (driver's side) where black dotted area is on the windshield. The Camera Lense is on the left side of the camera body and will be behind the tinted area helping to conceal it. The Camera wire will be protruding towards the mirror and IMO I can conceal it better when running it up to the top of the windshield trim.
My question, during installation should I hook up the power wire and ground first and run then run the wire to the camera or run it from the camera and tuck it enroute to the fuse box? I do not want to have any excess wire left over if I am connecting to the camera last.
If I manage to successfully pull this installation off, I will post photos of the completed project. Hopefully my photos will make sense of how I described my intended installation.




Amazon.com: DDPAI Dash Cam 4K Front 3840x2160, Built in 5G WiFi GPS, 64G Storage Car Dash Camera, No Need Extra SD Card, Sony IMX 415 STARVIS Sensor, Night Vision,G-Sensor, Loop Recording, AR Technology Mini5 : Electronics

Amazon.com: DDPAI Dash Cam Hardwire Kit, Compatible for Mola N3 Pro/ Z50 Dash Cam/Mini 5 Dash Cam/ Z40 Dash Cam Hard Wire Kit Fuse for Dashcam in Type-C Port, Plozoe 12V-24V to 5V Car Dash Camera Charger : Electronics

Bronco Future Dash Cam view.PNG
 
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@BroncoBilly22 your camera placement is pretty much identical to mine! Just make sure you test the camera location and check the recorded video before you hardwire everything up. Once you run the cable to the fuse box itā€™ll be very difficult to add or remove slack from the cable.

Itā€™s definitely easier to start at the camera and run the cable back to the fuse box, just to get the length of cable and amount of slack right. I didnā€™t bother trimming my cable at the fuse box end, as thereā€™s plenty of space to just spoil it up neatly and cable tie it out of the way down there.
 

BroncoBilly22

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@BroncoBilly22 your camera placement is pretty much identical to mine! Just make sure you test the camera location and check the recorded video before you hardwire everything up. Once you run the cable to the fuse box itā€™ll be very difficult to add or remove slack from the cable.

Itā€™s definitely easier to start at the camera and run the cable back to the fuse box, just to get the length of cable and amount of slack right. I didnā€™t bother trimming my cable at the fuse box end, as thereā€™s plenty of space to just spoil it up neatly and cable tie it out of the way down there.
Ok got it and thanks for your quick response. I really wish there was a factory camera system that could connect directly to the screen and or Apple car play. It would be nice if this thing was already prewired for a camera so we could play back video footage on the entertainment system. It's great that there are multiple toggle switches over the mirror for lights ana accessories but nothing for a dash camera that you would literally use every time you drive the car.
 

soupcansam

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Howdy! Didn't find a tutorial here before I started wiring up my dashcam in the usual way last week, figured I'd add some photos showing the process and what not. Few things to keep in mind compared to most cars I've worked on in the past:
  • The interior fuse box is not behind the glovebox on the passenger side. It's behind the steering column trim panel that houses the headlight switch.
  • I originally tried using fuse #3 because I figured the side mirror controls were on switched power -- they are not switched. I instead used fuse #2 despite there being a 10A fuse there. Typically you want to add-a-fuse to a matching or close to matching slot already in use, so up to you all where you feel best adding your accessories.
Let's get started! Here's a dash cam installed and working on my Badlands 2.3L 7MT, soft top, Lux:
Ford Bronco TUTORIAL: Wiring accessories to interior fuse box with add-a-fuse tap Bronco Future Dash Cam view.PNG


  1. Start by locating the interior fuse box -- it's behind the steering column trim panel. Grab the panel like so, making sure you don't also grab the metal support structure right behind it. If you pull down on that metal support structure, you'll have a bad day šŸ˜… Pull down where my hand is with decent force, sharply, being careful to not break the replaceable blue clips holding the panel in place
    Ford Bronco TUTORIAL: Wiring accessories to interior fuse box with add-a-fuse tap Bronco Future Dash Cam view.PNG
  2. Once you've pulled the panel down, you'll see the fuse panel back and to the left. Here's a photo with some annotations of how I wired up my dash cam: the red circle shows my add-a-fuse tap in fuse slot #2 for reasons mentioned beforehand, the blue circle shows where I chose to ground this accessory (the black bolt above it did not provide a reliable ground connection, YMMV), and the yellow arrow shows where I routed the cable that goes to my accessory.
    Ford Bronco TUTORIAL: Wiring accessories to interior fuse box with add-a-fuse tap Bronco Future Dash Cam view.PNG
  3. The reason I chose to route the accessory's cable the direction that yellow arrow is pointing is because there's an access hole in the metal support structure between the steering column trim panel and the side trim panel. Feeding the wire through this access hole allows you to cleanly route the power cable without crimping it between any of these trim panels when you close them back up. Gently pry off the side trim panel shown below so you can access the power cable while you route it through the hole from the fuse box.
    Ford Bronco TUTORIAL: Wiring accessories to interior fuse box with add-a-fuse tap Bronco Future Dash Cam view.PNG
    Ford Bronco TUTORIAL: Wiring accessories to interior fuse box with add-a-fuse tap Bronco Future Dash Cam view.PNG
    Ford Bronco TUTORIAL: Wiring accessories to interior fuse box with add-a-fuse tap Bronco Future Dash Cam view.PNG
  4. The hardest part is complete! The rest is simply pressing gently on the various trim panels and headliner so you can wedge the power cable behind them and cleanly hide them from view. If your power cable is too thin to be wedged cleanly behind the trim panels (especially the headliner which has a lot of play), use some electrical tape to wrap around parts of the cable to thicken it a bit. This will make it easier to wedge into place. Follow the blue arrows below for an easy route up to your destination.
    Ford Bronco TUTORIAL: Wiring accessories to interior fuse box with add-a-fuse tap Bronco Future Dash Cam view.PNG
  5. All that's left is cleaning up your work! Make sure you secure all of the wires you added in the fuse box area -- I chose to use zipties to secure the new cables to the pre-existing headlight switch cables so they don't come loose and get tangled up behind the trim panel. Please take care when doing this, because your steering column is not very far away from the fusebox itself. Don't leave any loose cables laying around!
Feel free to sound off with any questions you may have!
I'm installing my dash cam rn and am having trouble specifically with this portion of hiding the wire:

Ford Bronco TUTORIAL: Wiring accessories to interior fuse box with add-a-fuse tap 1673564528213


I find it pretty hard to push my wire into there. When I do get it kind of pushed in, there is a noticeable (at least to me) gap between the dash and the A pillar trim panel and you can see the wire.

I tried looking into that area by removing the grab handle and it looks like there is not a lot of room to work with.

Did you run into this issue? My wire may be thicker than yours, so I don't know, but I'd appreciate any advice.
 
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SPITmadFIRE

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I'm installing my dash cam rn and am having trouble specifically with this portion of hiding the wire:

1673564528213.png


I find it pretty hard to push my wire into there. When I do get it kind of pushed in, there is a noticeable (at least to me) gap between the dash and the A pillar trim panel and you can see the wire.

I tried looking into that area by removing the grab handle and it looks like there is not a lot of room to work with.

Did you run into this issue? My wire may be thicker than yours, so I don't know, but I'd appreciate any advice.
My dashcam wire is definitely not very thick -- I used a plastic pry tool to kind of wedge the wire behind that corner, and also pry the trim piece very gently towards me to get the wire fully behind it. I can't notice any bulge or wire poking out of this area after doing it.

An alternative method may involve running the wire down the door's weather stripping area, but that seemed a bit too likely to cause issues with the door/window assembly.
 

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Yeah, I think the ones listed "spare" are just that -- extra, spare fuses that aren't switched.

Also, I'm hesitant to trust this section of the manual given the very clearly wrong fuse box location specified on page 318. I spent 30 minutes trying to find the fuse box that was apparently behind the glovebox last week to no avail šŸ„²
Stickerfab has the fuse label decal for this box behind the steering column...as well as the engine bay.
 

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My dashcam wire is definitely not very thick -- I used a plastic pry tool to kind of wedge the wire behind that corner, and also pry the trim piece very gently towards me to get the wire fully behind it. I can't notice any bulge or wire poking out of this area after doing it.

An alternative method may involve running the wire down the door's weather stripping area, but that seemed a bit too likely to cause issues with the door/window assembly.
Thanks for the response. I finished the install and got my dash cam working today.

Hereā€™s what I meant by the gap (pls ignore the scratches on the plastic lol):
Ford Bronco TUTORIAL: Wiring accessories to interior fuse box with add-a-fuse tap FB901363-623F-4732-96D2-EED78AA62107


Itā€™s not too noticeable unless youā€™re looking down onto the dash.

I think the issue sits on the LHS since the rest of the wire sinks below pretty well; thereā€™s a strut or something that pushes my wire up. I think thatā€™s whatā€™s causing the gap.
 
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SPITmadFIRE

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Thanks for the response. I finished the install and got my dash cam working today.

Hereā€™s what I meant by the gap (pls ignore the scratches on the plastic lol):
Ford Bronco TUTORIAL: Wiring accessories to interior fuse box with add-a-fuse tap FB901363-623F-4732-96D2-EED78AA62107


Itā€™s not too noticeable unless youā€™re looking down onto the dash.

I think the issue sits on the LHS since the rest of the wire sinks below pretty well; thereā€™s a strut or something that pushes my wire up. I think thatā€™s whatā€™s causing the gap.
Is this between the A-pillar trim and the top of the dashboard? I canā€™t tell from the photo where Iā€™m looking
 
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SPITmadFIRE

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Yes it is. Sorry about that. The POV is looking down onto the dash where it meets the A-pillar.
Ahh, yeah I believe I tucked that part of the wire in under the dashboard panel instead of the A-pillar panel, using a trim tool. I definitely don't see any of my cable sticking out there, though. The panels are much sturdier than they seem, but also don't go jabbing around too much with a trim panel tool to prevent setting off any airbags and what not šŸ˜…
 

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Ahh, yeah I believe I tucked that part of the wire in under the dashboard panel instead of the A-pillar panel, using a trim tool. I definitely don't see any of my cable sticking out there, though. The panels are much sturdier than they seem, but also don't go jabbing around too much with a trim panel tool to prevent setting off any airbags and what not šŸ˜…
Hmm ok. Ill try to move the wires under the dash and away from the A-pillar and see if that helps the gap. Thanks!
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