FJ Cruiser Technical ArticlesThe articles contained in this section have gone through the staging area below and have been approved to reach the "Technical Article" stage.
To propose a new Technical Article, please do so in the "Living Posts/Staging Area" section.
First off, bigbill25 figured this out. I performed the mod and took pics this past weekend.
Before I begin, My initial plan was to use an "Add-A-Circuit" and wire this into the Fuse Panel, to my suprise a 10A Type A Fuse from Japan is half the size of the ones Sold at an Auto Parts Store. Needless to say I have $20 worth of 18 awg wire and fuses sitting unused.
If you need bigger pics, go to my photo gallery
I took my time doing this, spent about 1.5hrs. I'm sure those of you more car-mod friendly will do this much quicker.
Parts
Step 1 - Remove the Shift nob for 4wd, unscrews to left. Engage emergency break, pop out panel underneath. Put shifter into Neutral.
Step 2 - The entire panel that encompases the cup holders just pops off. Put both front seats all the way back, slide a panel remover in between the seam and pop it off, little pressure needed.
Step 3 - Remove bolt next to shifter and E-Brake, The use the very long extension to remove the bolts on the bottom of the big storage bin/tray, you need to pull out the organizer to see the bolts. Once the 4 Bolts are removed, slide the panel towards the rear and lift it and out via the end near the stereo. You'll need to bend the piece near the E-brake Around the e-Brake while lifting it out. Now that you have the panel free, time to take it to the work shop for Drilling.
Step 4 - Slowly drill a hole for the 12V socket, make sure it is straight and round, any mis-drilling could cause the socket not to lock in place. Run the wires though the hole and push the socket into place.
Step 5 - Now you need to remove the switch plate to tie in the ground and postive wires. IMPORTANT!!!!!Screw the shift knob back onto the metal threads, becareful to put it on straight, plastic threads in the shift nob. This will protect the soft plastic from getting scratched-up on the switch plate panel. (I forgot this step and scrapped the crap out of one of the blank switch covers, luckily it is getting removed for the A-Trac switch)On each side of the plate there is a clip, push in the center with a screw driver and it will unlock, remove the clips. Remove the 2 bolts. Find the ground point.
Attach the ground to the ground point. I losen the bolt (hard to get to) then attached a U-connector to the end of the ground wire, If you don't have one, then snip the end of the ring and bend to make a U then slide it under the bolt and tighten the bolt
Step 6 - Find the 2 wires coming out the of 12V Socket, White w/ Black strip is Negative, the brown w/red strip is postive. Take the wire tap from the 12v kit. Place the factory positive wire into the slot that goes through the wire tap, place the end of the postive wire from the new 12V socket into slot that has a stop in it, Make sure Both wires are centered in the wire tap. Use pliers and squeeze the metal tab into the wire tap, then fold over the plastic clip.
Step 7 - Now that the new 12V socket wiring is attached, Test the outlet to make sure it works. Re-attached the switch plate pannel, then remount the panel with the new 12v socket installed. Now to make sure the new wires do not get in the way of the E-Brake or shifter. Run the wiries along the side and zip-tie them loosly (you want slack so the panels can be moved).
Re-attached the last 2 pannels and you are finished.
FYI - Used the search and found some info on power outlets!
Wanted to add one myself and found very useful information here.
However, did not like (2) details:
1) tapping into the existing outlet gives you (2) outlets that don't work
when the key is off!
2) I did not want to sacrifice the little cubby hole for an outlet
with a plug sticking in it
Chose the console area for the new outlet and ran the wire to the fuse block.
Had to add about 10-12" onto the Radio Shack outlet to get there.
Included dimensions of outlet location in the pictures. Made sure I missed
molded ribs on the back side and missed the shifter. Left extra wire
under the console to make sure it did not catch the shifter. Used a meter
to find live tap points when key was off. Also used a 1 1/8" bit because
the recommended 1 3/32" is an odd size and I had a 1 1/8"! You will
need to file a small keyway for the anti-rotation rib on the outlet.
Drill your hole 3 5/8" from the front edge and .97" up from the bottom.
Note: The .97" dimension is important for (2) reasons:
Drill too high and you're into the radius on the console, drill too low
and you're into the overhang of the lower console piece.
Note: The top side of the first (3) open fuse ports on the bottom row are
hot when the key is off. I marked them with a red sharpie.
Aren't "sticky pads" cool!
Last piece of info:
I disconnected the battery for the project. By doing so you will need
to re-calibrate your compass when you are finished. I find that to calibrate
the compass, you need to drive in a "generous" circle, not a tight circle!
12V POWER OUTLET: Adding another
Linear Mode
