A lot of thought has gone into the setup and configuration of the electrical system on this truck. Over the many years previously, the constant addition and modification of accessories, lights and such created a huge ‘birds nest’ and a wiring nightmare. Not this time. We have carefully planned from the beginning. From the outset, the goal was to have a setup where the auxiliary battery would be completely isolated from the starting battery but would be able to easily be connected to the circuit if needed. We wanted to be able to power all electrical systems from one battery and leave the starting battery to do just that, start the engine.

#images#

We got our supplies from Stan at WrangerNW Power Products. They have the best stuff around if your serious about wiring and doing it right. Stan outfitted us with a weatherproof 150a circuit breaker for the main aux. circuit and a 200a continuous duty relay for the battery isolation. Now it’s time to get them installed. We began by carefully measuring and locating the mounting location for the relay and breaker. With space at a premium because of the large Douglas Batteries, we had to insure the placement of these accessories would not interfere with the batteries.

Once the location was determined, we drilled a 3/4″ hold for the large red reset button on the circuit breaker. With the hole drilled, we put the breaker in place and drilled the two ź” mounting holes. Using a dremel and a grinding stone, we enlarged the breaker reset hole to ensure the button would have plenty of clearance. Next we located and drilled the mounting holes for the relay. The only trouble here is that the holes are up behind the frame and there is not enough room to squeeze your hand through with which to install the lock washers and nuts. Thank goodness for visegrips. Once the relay and breaker were in place, we were ready to run the main connections. Stay tuned for the next installment to see the final results.