From the Rear to the Front

[AbnRgr]

A few days ago, I posted a list with photos of what I had done in my truck bed and the rear view of my Maverick. Although I’m not finished, LED strips in the bed, a tailgate light bar to tie into the taillights, and a pair of 3” LED pods facing rearward hung below the bumper remain to be accomplished, I am inpatient to start on the front of the truck. My plan calls for:

- A 60” LED strip with a startup sequence mounted just under the lip of the hood
- A series of three Raptor-like LEDs mounted at the top of the grill
- Two short LED strips on the underside of the hood controlled by a plunger-type automatic switch to illuminate the engine bay
- An amber 12” LED combination flood and spot light bar mounted to the lower bumper
- Two 3” white light LED po mounted above the light bar
- Possibly mounting a set of 3” LED pods as ditch lights

I began these projects today by installing a six-gang switch panel and associated control box in the Maverick’s cabin and engine compartment. The switch panel itself I located centered on the overhead console below the sunglass holder. The unit is hard wired with its wires passing through the firewall at the driver’s footwell. The control box is mounted just on the other side, but higher up. As I complete the individual projects above, each will be wired into the control box. I can’t wait to get started!

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[rallyshark]

I'm more impressed that you have enough Amazon rewards visa points to get the switch panel for free Joking aside, is there a particular reason for all of the lighting or do you just like to have a lot of lights? I don't think it would matter functionally, but the dealer might get grumpy seeing that extra power wire zip tied to the high voltage wire. I probably would have wired it to the battery and mounted it under or behind the rear seat myself, but I do see the benefit of it being under the hood as well. Just make sure you keep the truck on when running all that extra lighting, since the 12v battery is such a turd in these hybrids. That switch panel looks pretty neat, and I could see many uses for that!

 

[CurtisB]

A few days ago, I posted a list with photos of what I had done in my truck bed and the rear view of my Maverick. Although I’m not finished, LED strips in the bed, a tailgate light bar to tie into the taillights, and a pair of 3” LED pods facing rearward hung below the bumper remain to be accomplished, I am inpatient to start on the front of the truck. My plan calls for:

- A 60” LED strip with a startup sequence mounted just under the lip of the hood
- A series of three Raptor-like LEDs mounted at the top of the grill
- Two short LED strips on the underside of the hood controlled by a plunger-type automatic switch to illuminate the engine bay
- An amber 12” LED combination flood and spot light bar mounted to the lower bumper
- Two 3” white light LED po mounted above the light bar
- Possibly mounting a set of 3” LED pods as ditch lights

I began these projects today by installing a six-gang switch panel and associated control box in the Maverick’s cabin and engine compartment. The switch panel itself I located centered on the overhead console below the sunglass holder. The unit is hard wired with its wires passing through the firewall at the driver’s footwell. The control box is mounted just on the other side, but higher up. As I complete the individual projects above, each will be wired into the control box. I can’t wait to get started!

I like your set up. Similar to what I did to my 72 Datsun 510 and 69 VW bug back in the day. Not sure how the BCM will understand the new circuitry it sees. Maybe nothing will happen. Certainly a dealership will have a fit seeing it and trying to do the dreaded recalls. But I like your setup!!

 

[Montana]

Is... Is your passenger side sun strip lower than your drivers side?

 

[AbnRgr]

Is... Is your passenger side sun strip lower than your drivers side?

Yes. My wife is short (5’1”) and the standard legal limit of windshield tinting doesn’t work well for her. When I had this tint applied, I had them extend it below the legal mark. I found that for me it placed the demarkation line at my forward direct line of sight. I found that distracting, so I cut the tinting back on the driver’s side. What my wife finds really useful is the dropdown tinted sun visor attached to the OEM visor. Depending on how you adjust the two, she can cover almost the full windshield in front of the passenger seat.

 

[AbnRgr]

I'm more impressed that you have enough Amazon rewards visa points to get the switch panel for free Joking aside, is there a particular reason for all of the lighting or do you just like to have a lot of lights? I don't think it would matter functionally, but the dealer might get grumpy seeing that extra power wire zip tied to the high voltage wire. I probably would have wired it to the battery and mounted it under or behind the rear seat myself, but I do see the benefit of it being under the hood as well. Just make sure you keep the truck on when running all that extra lighting, since the 12v battery is such a turd in these hybrids. That switch panel looks pretty neat, and I could see many uses for that!

The lights I’ll be installing cost me very little, I have them and want to see what I can do with them. I have yet to hook the controller box up to power or to any of the intended projects. I’m intending to use the positive stud under the red cover used for jumping a hybrid as my power source. I have to admit I approach this with some trepidation. I don’t understand all the complexities of the hybrid Maverick’s electrical system. I have asked multiple times on MTC whether this source can be tapped for 12Vs without throwing everything out of kilter. I have never received an answer that gives me confidence that I won’t blow something up. Why do you think? I hadn’t even thought to use the battery under the rear seat. I thought tapping that battery had its own limitations impacting the electrical system. As much as I like my Maverick, I wish it was as simple to work on as my first car, a 65 Mustang!

 

[rallyshark]

The lights I’ll be installing cost me very little, I have them and want to see what I can do with them. I have yet to hook the controller box up to power or to any of the intended projects. I’m intending to use the positive stud under the red cover used for jumping a hybrid as my power source. I have to admit I approach this with some trepidation. I don’t understand all the complexities of the hybrid Maverick’s electrical system. I have asked multiple times on MTC whether this source can be tapped for 12Vs without throwing everything out of kilter. I have never received an answer that gives me confidence that I won’t blow something up. Why do you think? I hadn’t even thought to use the battery under the rear seat. I thought tapping that battery had its own limitations impacting the electrical system. As much as I like my Maverick, I wish it was as simple to work on as my first car a 65 Mustang!

I'm honestly not sure about using the jump post under the hood for the power source either. I can say with 100% certainty that it is okay to tap the positive post on the 12v battery, and that would be preferable for high drain applications. Of course tapping the fuse box can work just fine too, as long as the current requirement isn't too much. The one thing you don't want to do is connect anything to the negative battery post, since the computer uses that for the battery monitoring. Basically, the high voltage battery uses a DC to DC converter(instead of an alternator) to charge the 12v battery and it can put out some very good amperage for the battery. The battery is tiny and not suited to powering things very well when the truck is off, so that is why I said don't run things with the truck off for too long. If the truck is on, that DC to DC converter will provide all the juice you need, and the truck will crank up to top the HV battery off if needed. I think it could handle your lighting no problem. Just make sure it is all fused and only hot when it is supposed to be, and you'll be fine. While not as simple as your '65 mustang, its still all 12v stuff and works the same way for the most part

 

[AbnRgr]

Wouldn’t be great if mother Ford, or an independent dealership tech would engage on such discussions and assist owners in separating the wheat from the chaff?

 

[Sticks]

I get all my aux power from the post under the black cover, which feeds the fuse box.

The overhead-mounted switch panel looks nice. I was planning to put mine below the headlight switch, but I might do that instead.

 

[AbnRgr]

I get all my aux power from the post under the black cover, which feeds the fuse box.

The overhead-mounted switch panel looks nice. I was planning to put mine below the headlight switch, but I might do that instead.

We‘re told to avoid the black connection under the black cover when jumping the vehicle. Hence, my hesitation to use it. Two questions - Did you try using the red covered connection? What are you powering off of the black connection?

 

[Sticks]

We‘re told to avoid the black connection under the black cover when jumping the vehicle. Hence, my hesitation to use it. Two questions - Did you try using the red covered connection? What are you powering off of the black connection?

I did not try connecting to the red post. It seems logical that the red post would be a direct link to the 12V battery if it's intended for jump-starting only.

I'm currently running Diode Dynamics ditch lights and fog lights off the black connection. I think it's around 1A per lamp. Since the black connection feeds the fusebox, I don't think it would be any different than using add-a-circuit fuse-taps to an always-on fuse. I imagine the warning against jumping at the black connection is to protect sensitive electronics from excessive inflow of current, but I'd expect outflow wouldn't be a problem (within reason). However, I'm not an electrical engineer, so healthy skepticism is always encouraged.

 

[AbnRgr]

I did not try connecting to the red post. It seems logical that the red post would be a direct link to the 12V battery if it's intended for jump-starting only.

I'm currently running Diode Dynamics ditch lights and fog lights off the black connection. I think it's around 1A per lamp. Since the black connection feeds the fusebox, I don't think it would be any different than using add-a-circuit fuse-taps to an always-on fuse. I imagine the warning against jumping at the black connection is to protect sensitive electronics from excessive inflow of current, but I'd expect outflow wouldn't be a problem (within reason). However, I'm not an electrical engineer, so healthy skepticism is always encouraged.

Sticks. — Thank you for your assistance. Black is the way I’m going to go. —. Jim

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