Lightforce Switch Fascia and Wiring Thru Firewall

[tehschkott]

I put my relay box in the same spot, but ran the wires through the passenger side grommet. MUCH easier to get to. 2-3 bolts moves the coolant bottle out of the way and it's wide-open.

Where is the passenger side grommet?

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[tivct]

Where is the passenger side grommet?

Pretty much directly behind the coolant bottle. Sold the truck otherwise I'd take a picture for you.

 

[tehschkott]

Pretty much directly behind the coolant bottle. Sold the truck otherwise I'd take a picture for you.

Found it. Thanks!

 

[RangerRaptor]

Found it. Thanks!

I think the two options have their pros/cons.

The drivers side grommet is very easy to access from the cab side, doesn't require removing anything, and dumps you right by the fuse box. It is a little hard to reach from the engine bay.

The passenger side is easy to access once you remove the coolant tank, I'm not sure about the cab side, and you have to run the wiring back through the center console (under dash) to the drivers side fuse block.

In reality, I used both sides on my Ford Raptor, but that was a significantly more complex project. I had full 12 volts of power coming inside the cab on both sides, marine fuse blocks, and relays under the dash. I had a total of 19 aux switches in the cab - supporting 21 off-road lights.

 

[Glocker]

I think the two options have their pros/cons.

The drivers side grommet is very easy to access from the cab side, doesn't require removing anything, and dumps you right by the fuse box. It is a little hard to reach from the engine bay.

The passenger side is easy to access once you remove the coolant tank, I'm not sure about the cab side, and you have to run the wiring back through the center console (under dash) to the drivers side fuse block.

In reality, I used both sides on my Ford Raptor, but that was a significantly more complex project. I had full 12 volts of power coming inside the cab on both sides, marine fuse blocks, and relays under the dash. I had a total of 19 aux switches in the cab - supporting 21 off-road lights.

Just a heads up, I found the passenger side grommet easy to access without moving the reservoir. However, I was able to stand on my front bumper to access the engine bay.

 

[OFC Ranger]

Is there a particular reason you don't want to use the available grommet under the driver floorboard? It pushes the wire right up to where the pedals are and the fuse box.

I guess the downside is just running a longer wire, but that is how I supply my switch box with its juice. It is a completely unused 1" grommet.

All my rear lights use the grommet behind the driver backseat. and I run (tucked) them along the driver side body edge and plastic interior trim to get them to under the dash.

 

[Glocker]

Is there a particular reason you don't want to use the available grommet under the driver floorboard? It pushes the wire right up to where the pedals are and the fuse box.

I guess the downside is just running a longer wire, but that is how I supply my switch box with its juice. It is a completely unused 1" grommet.

All my rear lights use the grommet behind the driver backseat. and I run (tucked) them along the driver side body edge and plastic interior trim to get them to under the dash.

I've done a handful of water crossings and I guess I just feel more comfortable with the grommet up on the firewall.

 

[RangerRaptor]

Is there a particular reason you don't want to use the available grommet under the driver floorboard? It pushes the wire right up to where the pedals are and the fuse box.

I guess the downside is just running a longer wire, but that is how I supply my switch box with its juice. It is a completely unused 1" grommet.

All my rear lights use the grommet behind the driver backseat. and I run (tucked) them along the driver side body edge and plastic interior trim to get them to under the dash.

What Glocker said. I do a lot of river crossings and even the grommet in the firewall can leak water into the cab if not above the waterline, or sealed properly. It happened once in my Raptor and I had to remove my floormat and use fans to dry out the carpet. It's easy to not even realize water has entered the cab, and then it sits and gets moldy - which is bad news.

 

[tehschkott]

Two questions.

1. How do I use one of my unused fuses in the fuse box, without resorting to one of those cheap taps?

2 Is there a single generic ignition-power terminal I can leach off of somewhere?

• Pos terminal
• Pos terminal, ignition
• Neg terminal

 

[RangerRaptor]

Two questions.

1. How do I use one of my unused fuses in the fuse box, without resorting to one of those cheap taps?

2 Is there a single generic ignition-power terminal I can leach off of somewhere?

• Pos terminal
• Pos terminal, ignition
• Neg terminal

You can splice into the wires that lead to the fuse box, but fuse taps are widely used. The taps can be a pain, but they work well. There is no single terminal to leach off of for ignition, the battery is the only positive terminal, and ground can be taken off of almost any metal grounded to the frame.

 

[tehschkott]

There's really no formal way to access those unused fuse lines? No panel to unscrew to reveal a screw block or somesuch? They ran power for 30 fused lines from the battery, and built a loom for 20 of them and that was that?

I do appreciate the feedback, about the taps and the splicing, and the rest. And I do understand why they may have in fact ran 30 lines but built a loom for only a part of them. It's just... I gotta think there's a better way than this adhoc thing. Call it my OCD but this sort of thing drives me batty.

Thank you again, in any case.

 

[RangerRaptor]

There's really no formal way to access those unused fuse lines? No panel to unscrew to reveal a screw block or somesuch? They ran power for 30 fused lines from the battery, and built a loom for 20 of them and that was that?

I do appreciate the feedback, about the taps and the splicing, and the rest. And I do understand why they may have in fact ran 30 lines but built a loom for only a part of them. It's just... I gotta think there's a better way than this adhoc thing. Call it my OCD but this sort of thing drives me batty.

Thank you again, in any case.

Sadly, Ford has no intention on making this easy. On my 2012 Ford Raptor, they included 4 aux lighting switches in the cab - however, they ran wires to behind the glove box from the switches and they ran wires thru the firewall to the engine bay, but they did not connect the wires.

The switches came from the factory as non-functional. You had to dig into the dash, pull out the wires, and then splice the correct wires together. They also left no slack in the wires, so you literally had to splice them under the dash.

Almost all products that require ignition-on power instruct you to tap into the dash lights. Usually that's all the instructions you get. You're on your own to figure out where and which wire.

 

[dmeyer302]

There's really no formal way to access those unused fuse lines? No panel to unscrew to reveal a screw block or somesuch? They ran power for 30 fused lines from the battery, and built a loom for 20 of them and that was that?

I do appreciate the feedback, about the taps and the splicing, and the rest. And I do understand why they may have in fact ran 30 lines but built a loom for only a part of them. It's just... I gotta think there's a better way than this adhoc thing. Call it my OCD but this sort of thing drives me batty.

Thank you again, in any case.

I'm with you, but this style of tap looks better, especially when paired with a nicely made harness.

 

[tehschkott]

Sadly, Ford has no intention on making this easy. On my 2012 Ford Raptor, they included 4 aux lighting switches in the cab - however, they ran wires to behind the glove box from the switches and they ran wires thru the firewall to the engine bay, but they did not connect the wires.

The switches came from the factory as non-functional. You had to dig into the dash, pull out the wires, and then splice the correct wires together. They also left no slack in the wires, so you literally had to splice them under the dash.

Almost all products that require ignition-on power instruct you to tap into the dash lights. Usually that's all the instructions you get. You're on your own to figure out where and which wire.

Fair enough. Thanks for the detail.

 

[tehschkott]

I'm with you, but this style of tap looks better, especially when paired with a nicely made harness.

That does look super clean, for what it is, you're right. Nicely done.

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