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- Joined
- Mar 26, 2018
- Messages
- 606
- Reaction score
- 468
- Points
- 63
- Location
- Brighton, CO
- Vehicle Year
- 2002
- Make / Model
- Ford
- Engine Type
- 3.0 V6
- Engine Size
- 3.0L
- Transmission
- Automatic
- 2WD / 4WD
- 4WD
I really like my window mounted GARMIN GPS but have hated having to plug/unplug the danged thing every time I drive the truck.
I was determined to power the GPS off the radio circuit but feared I'd have to drill a hole through the dash to feed the GPS cable. That's when I found I could route the GPS cable down the left side of the dash and feed it under the dash behind the fuse panel.
My intent was to plug the GPS cable with a male cigarette lighter type connector into a female cigarette lighter type connector with power and ground leads. These large connectors would be secured under the dash.
For the power lead, I inserted an Add-a-Fuse into the radio circuit fuse 20.
Searching around for a convenient ground, I found that the dash mounting bolts are grounded. Hence I added a ring connector under one of these bolts.
Now with the GPS powering on/off via the key switch I discovered that the dash side fuse panel cover would not close properly over the Add-a-Fuse! However, I found that the lid off an Ensure bottle and a 1-3/4" conduit punch would conveniently fix this problem.
The modified and installed fuse box cover:
I suppose I could paint the bottle cover to match but I'll save that for yet another day.
I was determined to power the GPS off the radio circuit but feared I'd have to drill a hole through the dash to feed the GPS cable. That's when I found I could route the GPS cable down the left side of the dash and feed it under the dash behind the fuse panel.
My intent was to plug the GPS cable with a male cigarette lighter type connector into a female cigarette lighter type connector with power and ground leads. These large connectors would be secured under the dash.
For the power lead, I inserted an Add-a-Fuse into the radio circuit fuse 20.
Searching around for a convenient ground, I found that the dash mounting bolts are grounded. Hence I added a ring connector under one of these bolts.
Now with the GPS powering on/off via the key switch I discovered that the dash side fuse panel cover would not close properly over the Add-a-Fuse! However, I found that the lid off an Ensure bottle and a 1-3/4" conduit punch would conveniently fix this problem.
The modified and installed fuse box cover:
I suppose I could paint the bottle cover to match but I'll save that for yet another day.
