400w 110v bed outlet added

[potatosalad]

Yes we do. Here is a picture of it under the armrest middle console in my hybrid xlt.

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[sanpablo]

Each to their own. If you chased the AMPlifier on the radio they could say that caused the head to blow out. I had a friend that was having trouble with his radio. Turns out he replaced the antenna cause he didn’t like the look of it. When they tracked it back to the antenna they charged him $200.00 foe their diagnostic time even though the system was under warranty. I think this is just a matter of personal preference i always keep the truck basically stock when under warranty.

I agree, I don't do any mods until warranty is finished. I added fog lights to my 2016 Honda HRV when warranty ended. Very simple wiring with a separate connection to an unused fuse in the fuse block but still didn't want to take any chances. I did add mud flaps though

 

[wyouger]

Yes we do. Here is a picture of it under the armrest middle console in my hybrid xlt.

The long awaited Inverter picture and location conformation. Great job. Thanks.

 

[russschultz]

I added a 12v and 110v outlet in my Maverick XL. I used a Ram 1500 400w inverter with Nissan Titan bed outlet. I didn't want to use a aftermarket inverter as they can be loud compared to oem inverters. Unfortunately my truck did not have the factory inverter harness so I ended up making my own. I mounted the inverter behind the rear seat. The 12v outlet is wired to the harness that's already in the bed.

Parts used
Ram Truck inverter 400w
Bed outlet harness 253A0-7S200
110v power outlet 253A47S200
12v outlet

Is this a setup for the hybrid or gas? Does it matter?

 

[Hardening2753]

You will not know if it voids the warranty until something goes wrong and it is evaluated by Ford.

Easy to uninstall before you take it to the dealership and then they would never know

 

[MakinDoForNow]

Easy to uninstall before you take it to the dealership and then they would never know

Yes you can remove it. Then they will have unexplainable reported current draws from uploaded information that happens periodically when your truck was running. (What was that 60 amp load when your truck was parked for 5 hours in the parking lot of the cowboys game?)

 

[Jacques_rock]

I've been reading through this page eagerly planning my upgrade, for part selection though I'm deciding to make my own outlet and save a few bucks on the harness that was initially suggested.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07RZZHG6...&colid=6K1GFYWGRHH2&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it&th=1

for anyone else interested these are $11 for 2 (in my area). It requires some handiwork to make the connections but nothing a little TLC can't solve.

 

[Jacques_rock]

I began installing my inverter behind the second row for anyone still on this tread. I'm currently using a 500-watt system and doing some custom wiring to run outlets to where the old 12V barrel plug is in the back seat and one to the bed near the pigtail connector. I'll do a full write-up and add some pictures when I finish. That being said I'm a weekend warrior so It's going to be about a week till I get that all done. Hope you guys who are still planning a build get some help out of it.

 

[Wilbur]

So as I understand you, the wiring distance from the battery to the inverter will be relatively short (2 feet or less or wiring), while the wiring distance from the inverter to the plug in the bed will be relatively longer (10 feet or so).

Is this correct?

I will be interested to see how you wire the inverter to the bed plug, specifically the route from under the back seat in the cab, out of the cab and into the bed wall.

 

[JsnMrd]

Can you charge an ev through that? lol

 

[Jacques_rock]

So as I understand you, the wiring distance from the battery to the inverter will be relatively short (2 feet or less or wiring), while the wiring distance from the inverter to the plug in the bed will be relatively longer (10 feet or so).

Is this correct?

I will be interested to see how you wire the inverter to the bed plug, specifically the route from under the back seat in the cab, out of the cab and into the bed wall.

So The inverter is actually equidistant from the bed and the battery. The inverter is behind the back of the passenger side rear seat. I'm running the cable to the battery through the door panels with about a 20-ish ft 8AWG wire.

The wire to the bed is actually super easy as there are already grommets to the bed from where I'm mounting it. I'm just running a plane jane 15ft NEMA 5-15 socket power cable to the bed and using tie-downs on the underside of the frame. Ill post everything soon and you can ask more questions then.

 

[Jacques_rock]

Can you charge an ev through that? lol

No, defiantly not. This inverter is 500 Watts using 110v AC power. A decent EV charger is going to draw 2kWatts so it's not even close. If you want you could easily install a larger inverter but then it becomes a practicality issue. Why not just buy a generator at that point? I just wanted this so I can charge my laptop or any other devices while I'm in the truck.

Realistically the battery in my 2.0L EcoBoost, I can only draw 70A at 12V so assuming no other losses or any issues best case I can draw 840Watts from the battery, and slightly more with the alternator running. I wouldn't put it over 1kWatts best case.

 

[Edogg1]

I began installing my inverter behind the second row for anyone still on this tread. I'm currently using a 500-watt system and doing some custom wiring to run outlets to where the old 12V barrel plug is in the back seat and one to the bed near the pigtail connector. I'll do a full write-up and add some pictures when I finish. That being said I'm a weekend warrior so It's going to be about a week till I get that all done. Hope you guys who are still planning a build get some help out of it.

Looking forward to seeing your progress. This is probably my project when the weather gets warmer

 

[Jacques_rock]

Alright, guys so I finally finished my 500Watt inverter install. I made a quick video walking through the setup and how I ran my wires. Sorry for turning the camera all over the place, I'm far from a professional YouTuber . That said, I'll also give you guys a written rundown of the installation along with links to all the parts I used.



Parts List:
40A Breaker
2 Nema 5-15r Sockets
500 Watt Inverter
15ft Nema 5-15p Exstentions
Battery/Inverter DC Terminal ends
DC Power Cables (Side note, for safety reasons you should probably step this up to a 6 gauge wire to protect more than 40A over the cable run. I realized this after the fact so take that into consideration when making your purchase)
6 Gauge Wire thanks to @Ranch
Body Trim Tools
Optional Grommets

For mounting screws, I went to Homedepot and just grabbed a flat-top screw + nut combo set from the fastener section I can't remember what size I got. I'd suggest taking the outlet receptacle with you and checking to see what size screw fits best. I also got the switch and female spade connectors from Home depot.


Written Install:
Starting from the Inverter I just used some 1/4" nuts, bolts, and a few washers to mount it on one of the unused brackets behind the rear seat (see video). I ran the ground to the factory ground used near my installation location since it was close and easy.

For the AC cable, DC positive, and the optional switch I ran the wires across the back behind the middle seat belt and into the rear driver-side door panels. I did my best to route the cables smoothly without sharp bends (harsh bends are bad for high amperage wires) then I tried using the ford cable routing channels but they were impossible to get into without snapping some clips. Once I got into them it was super easy to run wires since there was plenty of space, but I don't think it was worth the effort.

Continuing I went to the driver seat belt holder body pannel and about halfway through I split off the AC cable and switch cables. These ran under the driver's seat and into a custom hole in the center console. I showed in the video how you can actually drill the hole pretty far from the Great of the console since there is an opening that has some free space (This is where the factory inverter is installed if I'm not mistaken). I then mounted the AC receptacle where the old barrel plug used to be. replacing the barrel plug took some massaging since the hole needed to be opened up but a file or Dremel could easily accomplish this. For the wiring, I just cut off the female end and cut away the sheathing to get access to the 3 cables I needed. I used the space connectors (seen in the video) to make the final connection from the wire to the plug terminals.

On the inner panel of the center console, I drilled a hole and opened it up for the switch that I wanted. This is totally optional but I found that the extra effort made my life a little easier if I ever needed to use the interior plug and didn't want to go into the back seat to turn it on.

Back to the driver door panel, I continued the DC power cable up to where the hood handle is. When you pull the cable all the way through there's an opening by the footrest (I pointed this out in the video as well). In the firewall, there is an unused grommet that I drilled a small hole in and ran my cable through.

Now that we've made it to the engine bay it's a little cramped to be able to grab the wire, I ended up using an old metal coat hanger as a wire puller and this worked fairly well. I pulled the cable up and put it through the 40A circuit breaker to protect the circuit. Definitely make sure to use a fuse or breaker to keep things safe. Too much power through too thin of cable is always bad news. After the fuse, I ran a short cable to the battery post and made sure to tighten the nut back to where it was marked.

After this, the system was installed and I just needed to run my final cable run to the bed. This was a shorter run and honestly easier than the inside run. I found an easy-to-access grommet that ford uses for their bed cables and tapped into that again. I pushed the wire down using the coat hanger and was able to pull it through from under the bed. Then I used some zip ties to keep the cable secure (if you tie a zip tie to another zip tie in a sort of figure 8 pattern you can avoid future wire rub). I made sure to keep a good distance from the exhaust since that gets pretty hot. Then I just opened up the back panel in the bed and installed the socket just like how I mounted the interior one. Drill a small hole, open it up to fit the socket, mount it with nuts and screws then use the space connectors to connect the wires to the plug terminals.


Conclusion:
Overall this took me about 2-3 hours on 4 separate occasions so I'd say ita an 8-10 hour project that you could easily finish in 1 day if you know what you're doing. I made sure to take my time and be safe with all the wires and installed things as neatly as I could. Honestly, anyone with time and patience could do this project and save a bunch of money rather than letting some pro do it. Good luck to anyone trying it and please feel free to ask me questions.

 

[JG307]

Thanks to everyone doing all the research! I'm curious how long I can pull 400W from the outlet. I have to admit I'm a bit lost amidst all the technical jargon.

I have a Hybrid, so the 400W inverter pulls from the 12V battery, which in turn pulls from the traction battery, which in turn gets topped up by the ICE. Do I have that correct?

If I've got it all straight in my head, I should be able to pull 400W for about an hour (the RC of the Hybrid battery) before tapping the traction battery, and after that, assuming the traction battery had a good charge to start, another three hours before the ICE needs to spin up?

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