12 Volt power in the bed

[Swamp Donkey]

I want 50 amp power in the bed for a 12v to 12v charger ( anderson Female Plug ) for an expandable 100 Ah battery box. Also want at least one 10 amp lighter plug for the fridge/ freezer and several mini USB type plugs.
Has anyone set up a system like this? I know about the 2” (?) plastic plug on the right rear of the bed. I just don’t think it’s large enough for what I want.
TIA

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[Bandit’s Lair]

Well there’s a couple questions first:
1) Where is the 50A coming from? Generator?
2) What are you running that needs 240V? Are there lesser V alternatives that will get the job done?

Reason for these questions is that is one heckuva load for a camping setup. You’ll burn through 100Ah very quickly. I use 50A for whole house generator hook up and it runs a LOT of gear.

 

[Limestone]

I want 50 amp power in the bed for a 12v to 12v charger ( anderson Female Plug ) for an expandable 100 Ah battery box. Also want at least one 10 amp lighter plug for the fridge/ freezer and several mini USB type plugs.
Has anyone set up a system like this? I know about the 2” (?) plastic plug on the right rear of the bed. I just don’t think it’s large enough for what I want.
TIA

Here is a good place to search for the components for your project if you don’t find someone who has already set up a similar system. https://powerwerx.com/panel-mount-components-panels

 

[CKayaks]

When you say "50amp" and "anderson" in the same post, I am assuming you mean the 50amp Anderson connector and not that you are actually running 50amps of current.

The TrailerVision setups for the Anderson are worth looking at. Available on Amazon and on the PowerWerx link that Limestone provided. I have mounted these on several trucks. Usually in the bumper: power feed to a trailer, power for a fuel pump, camping frig, etc.

In my 3/4 ton Ram, probably more aligned to what you are looking for. I have an 175amp Anderson in the bed that connects to the truck battery. The connector then feeds to a 12/12 Victron charger and a 100amp lithium battery in a slide-in camper. The 2g wire from the battery comes in through a similar port in the truck bed. The TrailVision connector is mounted vertical on the side of the bed. There is a gap between the exterior body panel and the bed panel that made the wiring easy.

I used a 175 Anderson because that is what I had at the time and needed to do something before the wife took the truck on a trip with her daughter. If I had gone with a 50amp, I think there was enough gap between the panels to have mounted it flush. Not sure that is true on the smaller Gladiator though.

That said, check the dimesons on the TrailerVisions. You might be able to use that port in the bed for a 50. There is also the panel in the right rear of the bed that houses the 110v inverter option that most of rigs do not have. Seems like a natural place for what you are doing. Likely more room back there.

I have also used the 175amp version of these Chinese GZSH ports from Amazon (link below). Quality is not as good as the TrailerVision, but they are more compact, cheaper. I do not use their terminals! Fit and quality is bad.

Amazon - GZSH Anderson Plug

 

[ASU_Greg]

I ran my rear Anderson along the drivers side. Used 4ga, attached to the main battery via a circuit breaker/solenoid. On the pass side I upgraded the Amazon switch/power, mounted in 110v location, with better wire, circuit breaker to the battery.

 

[JTdiRtyD]

Well there’s a couple questions first:
1) Where is the 50A coming from? Generator?
2) What are you running that needs 240V? Are there lesser V alternatives that will get the job done?

Reason for these questions is that is one heckuva load for a camping setup. You’ll burn through 100Ah very quickly. I use 50A for whole house generator hook up and it runs a LOT of gear.

My assumption is they are looking to run a 50A DC-DC charger, that will then charge their 100ah house battery. Not an uncommon setup.

I'm also not sure where you got 240v from?

I want 50 amp power in the bed for a 12v to 12v charger ( anderson Female Plug ) for an expandable 100 Ah battery box. Also want at least one 10 amp lighter plug for the fridge/ freezer and several mini USB type plugs.
Has anyone set up a system like this? I know about the 2” (?) plastic plug on the right rear of the bed. I just don’t think it’s large enough for what I want.
TIA

The plastic plug in the side of the bed can fit an SB120 (Anderson plug for up to 120A). You might be able to find some replacement covers that have an SB120 mount, I ended up 3d printing my own. I'd offer to send you one, but I need to redesign it and it's not strong enough. Once you have an SB120 (recommend the SB120 over the SB50 simply for durability and expandability), the rest is really up to you how you want to do it.

For my truck, my DC-DC and battery are in the cab. I ran cables from the house battery to an SB120 in the bedside plastic plug, and then I made a panel that bolts to the bed side, that panel has my Auxbeam fuse panel mounted to it, and that runs all of my 12v power in my bed. I have two 15A 12v sockets, two 15A SAE connectors, bed cap interior lights, and my air comp all running off my Auxbeam and house battery. I'll be adding some USB outlets to it soon.

Some photos here. It will be changing slightly when I redo the bed setup.
https://www.jeepgladiatorforum.com/...trip-reports-and-bs-thread.89017/post-1585372

 

[Bandit’s Lair]

Yeah Im In the middle of a wind event here. Backup power was on my mind and I went there when I read the post. DC-DC down the DRIVERS side of the vehicle would be best. All your audio runs down the passenger side and you don’t want interference. Drill out a hole and get a good grommet so your wires don’t get eaten. I’ve run 2/0 through the grommets below.

https://a.co/d/dBWanzy

 

[dirtdevil]

I want 50 amp power in the bed for a 12v to 12v charger ( anderson Female Plug ) for an expandable 100 Ah battery box. Also want at least one 10 amp lighter plug for the fridge/ freezer and several mini USB type plugs.
Has anyone set up a system like this? I know about the 2” (?) plastic plug on the right rear of the bed. I just don’t think it’s large enough for what I want.
TIA

I wanted a completely separate circuit path isolated from the JT’s electrical and CAN bus. So I ran 2 6awg cables from my aux battery to under the rear seat of my JT. This was to use a Victron DC-DC 30amp charger for my 100ahr battery which runs my comm gear and a bunch of other accessories. All major connections are using SB50 Andersons. I have a 50amp breaker at the aux battery before the run and another on the output of the DC-DC going into my distribution block. The battery has its own fuse before it also connects to the distribution block. All the working loads then connect to the distribution block.

 

[Swamp Donkey]

I’m going to use double 6ga tinned marine Cu wire with 50A circuit breaker, but I want to go to the bed.
I can use the plastic “Plug” to mount the cigarette plug on a separate 10 Ga marine cable but I need to get the 6Ga in the bed…are there any other factory openings I don’t know about to do that?

 

[dirtdevil]

So food for thought…. Have you added up all the device amps your going to run on this circuit? Keep in mind that this is 12v and not 24v so doing that long of a run using 12v you will have to deal with voltage drop and additional heat generated with that 6awg cable. You need to do your calculations. If remember correctly at the length that I used with a 6awg I was already at the limit IF I hit 50a of current continuous draw on my circuit. I have a buffer built in and I’m not pulling anywhere near 50a. This is where people burn their vehicles down by drawing too much current using the wrong gauge wire. Again food for thought.

I’m going to use double 6ga tinned marine Cu wire with 50A circuit breaker, but I want to go to the bed.
I can use the plastic “Plug” to mount the cigarette plug on a separate 10 Ga marine cable but I need to get the 6Ga in the bed…are there any other factory openings I don’t know about to do that?

 

[Swamp Donkey]

Thanks guys, I’ve more to think about.

 

[JTdiRtyD]

I’m going to use double 6ga tinned marine Cu wire with 50A circuit breaker, but I want to go to the bed.
I can use the plastic “Plug” to mount the cigarette plug on a separate 10 Ga marine cable but I need to get the 6Ga in the bed…are there any other factory openings I don’t know about to do that?

Assuming the 6AWG is coming from the engine bay, for that length you should run at least 4AWG for 50A. See this page for a sizing chart; https://blazeoffroad.com/blogs/elec...xlaOgxR5iDmnc7yvJqgj0xQRwDrJRCYouQklZ9dvE4K34

Running tinned OFC wire is good, don't let prices talk you into CCA wire though. Most times the CCA strand diameter barely meets spec and is a lot of times too small for the advertised gauge.

Not aware of any other already open way to run power into the bed other than the plastic plug without drilling holes.

 

[OldSarge]

I ran my rear Anderson along the drivers side. Used 4ga, attached to the main battery via a circuit breaker/solenoid. On the pass side I upgraded the Amazon switch/power, mounted in 110v location, with better wire, circuit breaker to the battery.

This is what I did as well. Wire is very expensive and I used all copper jumper cables and cut the ends off for wiring. For whatever reason, buying the heavy gauge cable for this by sourcing from jumper cables was much cheaper. Be sure you read the descriptions carefully and get 100% copper cables.

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