What did you do TO your Gladiator today? [ADMIN WARNING: NO POLITICS, NO GUN TALK]

[AV8tor]

Truth be told I'm not overly well-versed with electrical terminology. I more or less stick with what I know works, even though it may not be optimal. I ran a similar setup in a previous rig for about 4 years (same inverter with a less efficient fridge, with a single battery/no solar) and never had any issues, and was never left stranded. On several trips, I went days without starting the truck. Maybe I just lucked out. I appreciate the information though, and it never hurts to do a bit more research on my part, so that may be something I need to look in to. Yours is a nice looking setup but, regardless, at this point the bed isn't an option for me because my fridge is too tall to fit beneath a tonneau, and there are no camper shells on the market that fit my needs just yet.

When I was planning it out, the main motivation for the install in the first place was to utilize the pure sine wave inverter for some of my more delicate electronic equipment. Having it right next to the fridge and ready to plug in and run full time was icing on the cake. But again, as far as efficiency that's really not a major concern either way. The fridge draws in the range of .75 - 1.5 amps depending on load. Considering 90% conversion efficiency (per the inverter specs in my manual) I'd likely still be looking at a maximum draw of under 2 amps. With a planned 130 ah of battery, along with solar trickle charging (complete overkill compared to my last rig) I don't anticipate any issues.

It's always a work in progress though. I may find something that ends up both maximizing efficiency, and working even better for my needs!

I should have been more clear, any fridge you would reasonably want to use in the bed of your truck camping, should be primarily a 12v fridge. Many do also accept 110v, but the fridge itself is less efficient, and your also loosing efficiency with the inverter. I highly reccomend running a 12v fridge with some type of 12v connection. It will be better in your entire electrical system, and deals can be had if you don’t already have such a fridge. I picked up my 85qt wynter fridge/freezer for $250 5 years ago. It can go as low as -10 degrees Fahrenheit, or set at any other desired temp. I can run it for 4 days on a single 12v battery without ever running the battery dead, or worrying about needing to start the vehicle. That fridge now sits in my Offroad trailer, but I’ve still wired my gladiator to accept it should I need it in the bed at times. I added these 12 and 5v accessory plugs in the bed for this reason.

I’m nowhere near an electrical guru, I could use a pointer..... I’ve got the same 4 switch setup with USB and 12v accessories and I’ve ran 10 gauge to the battery and 10 gauge ground to the frame. I haven’t hooked it up yet, just the wires ran. I’d imagine I need some sort of fuse for this setup? I didn’t have the power in the bed option so I put that kit where the stock power is in the truck bed. What final steps do I need to get this installed correctly?

Sponsored

 

[Dejay]

Gladiator is happy!

I have the same Max Modular rack, can you tell me what J bars you are using and did you have to drill to install. I’m looking for a Kayak rack to mount on MM rack to hold 3 kayaks. Was thinking of installing on front and rear bars but struggling to find ideas on kayak racks to fit the bed rack. And suggestions would be greatly appreciated. The kayaks are all 10’ 5” long.

I purchased a Malone downloaded folding j bar in hopes when folded down it would fit in the garage, but mounting the j bar would need to be some drilling and it looks like it will hit the garage when folded down.

Thanks

 

[capercrew02]

You’ll want minimum a fuse closest to the battery on the hot lead. Now most of these marine plugs use inline fuses at each plug, you’ll want to have it looped so each outlet runs through the switch. You can have them all individually grounded to the frame, and just loop the 12v positive. The other option is instead of running the fuse off the battery, hook the positive up to the wiring loom for the aux switches if you have that option. Feel free to PM me if you have more questions.

I’m nowhere near an electrical guru, I could use a pointer..... I’ve got the same 4 switch setup with USB and 12v accessories and I’ve ran 10 gauge to the battery and 10 gauge ground to the frame. I haven’t hooked it up yet, just the wires ran. I’d imagine I need some sort of fuse for this setup? I didn’t have the power in the bed option so I put that kit where the stock power is in the truck bed. What final steps do I need to get this installed correctly?

 

[capercrew02]

I understand both likely work, but one is going to be more efficient than the other for most fridges that have a 12v connection. Also, I wouldn’t focus on the amps, anytime your using an inverted or changing voltages you need to focus on WATTS. 2 amps at 120volts is 240 watts per hour, vs 2 amps at 12v is only 24 watts. For simple math, if our factory batteries are rated at 100 amp hours, then you only have a usable 1,200 watts to work with. That’s a potential difference of 5 hours vs 50 hours. Now I know your fridge will pull less amps at 120v compared to 12v, so the above numbers are only for easy demonstration, but there is a big in efficiency when you run a 12v appliance off a 120v inverter, and a 12v battery.

Truth be told I'm not overly well-versed with electrical terminology. I more or less stick with what I know works, even though it may not be optimal. I ran a similar setup in a previous rig for about 4 years (same inverter with a less efficient fridge, with a single battery/no solar) and never had any issues, and was never left stranded. On several trips, I went days without starting the truck. Maybe I just lucked out. I appreciate the information though, and it never hurts to do a bit more research on my part, so that may be something I need to look in to. Yours is a nice looking setup but, regardless, at this point the bed isn't an option for me because my fridge is too tall to fit beneath a tonneau, and there are no camper shells on the market that fit my needs just yet.

When I was planning it out, the main motivation for the install in the first place was to utilize the pure sine wave inverter for some of my more delicate electronic equipment. Having it right next to the fridge and ready to plug in and run full time was icing on the cake. But again, as far as efficiency that's really not a major concern either way. The fridge draws in the range of .75 - 1.5 amps depending on load. Considering 90% conversion efficiency (per the inverter specs in my manual) I'd likely still be looking at a maximum draw of under 2 amps. With a planned 130 ah of battery, along with solar trickle charging (complete overkill compared to my last rig) I don't anticipate any issues.

It's always a work in progress though. I may find something that ends up both maximizing efficiency, and working even better for my needs!

 

[TheHops]

I’m nowhere near an electrical guru, I could use a pointer..... I’ve got the same 4 switch setup with USB and 12v accessories and I’ve ran 10 gauge to the battery and 10 gauge ground to the frame. I haven’t hooked it up yet, just the wires ran. I’d imagine I need some sort of fuse for this setup? I didn’t have the power in the bed option so I put that kit where the stock power is in the truck bed. What final steps do I need to get this installed correctly?

I'm no electrical guru myself, but I know that what capercrew02 said above is spot on. Though, I'm personally a bigger fan of circuit breakers. I don't like having to carry around extra fuses. If the circuit blows, just go to the engine bay and reset it. Easy peasy.

I'd recommend adding up what your sockets draw/are rated for, and then grabbing a comparable fuse or circuit breaker. For example, I have a 50a circuit breaker on the positive wire of my inverter. It's a 600W. Divide your wattage by your voltage (12 volts) to figure out the amperage. Like he mentioned above, try to get the fuse/breaker as close to the battery as is feasible

 

[TheHops]

I understand both likely work, but one is going to be more efficient than the other for most fridges that have a 12v connection. Also, I wouldn’t focus on the amps, anytime your using an inverted or changing voltages you need to focus on WATTS. 2 amps at 120volts is 240 watts per hour, vs 2 amps at 12v is only 24 watts. For simple math, if our factory batteries are rated at 100 amp hours, then you only have a usable 1,200 watts to work with. That’s a potential difference of 5 hours vs 50 hours. Now I know your fridge will pull less amps at 120v compared to 12v, so the above numbers are only for easy demonstration, but there is a big in efficiency when you run a 12v appliance off a 120v inverter, and a 12v battery.

Thanks for all of the info. That helped to put it in to perspective a bit more. Again, considering the overkill that I have planned for power, efficiency isn't a major concern on something with such a low draw but, if simply running a 12v power port back behind the rear seat next to the inverter will make that big of a difference, then I may have another small project to tackle here soon.

 

[Bacstar]

Picked up and installed my Bestop Sunrider this afternoon. Pretty easy install. I hope this is the last of the upgrades for now. It's still a tad chillty, but how could i not go for a little drive with the top flipped back. I'm ready for summer.

 

[flyingmunk]

Did the Mopar grill swap and wanted to be able to easily switch out between satin black and firecracker when I feel like changing up the look.
Ordered side and center trim pieces along with the foam insulators that fit up on either side of the weatherstrip. This allows me to have 2 complete grills without having to remove and reinstall the trim pieces each time.
Thought about shooting the trim pieces in firecracker but after a test fit up I kind of like the completely blacked out grill look.

Did you price out just painting the grill? Looking to do the same but wondering if painting is a less expensive route??

 

[Soedog]

Did you price out just painting the grill? Looking to do the same but wondering if painting is a less expensive route??

No actually wanted 2 grills, body color and black so I can switch them out when I get bored. My body colored grill is also wrapped in PPF.

 

[Incommando]

Installed the Pedal Commander. Works as advertised. Some of the settings...wow...

 

[Jdyowa]

Installed the Pedal Commander. Works as advertised. Some of the settings...wow...

yes, all the way up will make you run into something

 

[Bestop]

Picked up and installed my Bestop Sunrider this afternoon. Pretty easy install. I hope this is the last of the upgrades for now. It's still a tad chillty, but how could i not go for a little drive with the top flipped back. I'm ready for summer.

Thanks for posing up a photo of your installation. We appreciate the business!

As for hoping the upgrades will be over for a bit....well...it is a Jeep so good luck with trying to hold back

- the Bestop team
www.bestop.com

 

[Tufelhundin]

installed my hot heads headliner yesterday. They look fantastic...I'll find out if they do anything functional when I go out later today.

I did mine the same day, same color. I really like them, sure seems to be a lot less echo. Plus side is that I took off the whole top to apply the headliners on a bright sunny day and what a great excuse to take a little trip topless.

 

[Gregbj33]

Tires are on! Kanati Trail Hog AT4 37x12.5x18.
Didn’t clean it today.

 

[Incommando]

yes, all the way up will make you run into something

My bracket racer ran the quarter in the 9’s at 13x MPH. I got this.

Sponsored