Adding bed power outlet to 2.5 gen….

Spring is approaching which means camping season is close. I have been wanting to add a bed power outlet for many years and for a lot of reasons I have procrastinated. One main reason is that I don’t trust myself to know enough about electricity and proper installation. I have searched the forum and seen a lot of really slick additions to trucks. Basically what I am looking for is something to be able to run an air mattress pump, our igloo portable cooler and maybe charge some batteries for tools while we are camping.

My problem is that I am a step by step guy. I feel perfectly comfortable tackling wiring, installs, etc if I have instructions / build sheet. So my ask is this - do any of you have a detailed write up / diagram of wiring outlets into your bed? I have a few basic questions:

1. For the practical purposes that I listed, do I need an inverter? I assume anything that has a plug will need to be converted….or. An I get a panel and run straight to the battery?

2. What gauge cable is recommended? I have watched some videos and some are running pretty thin wire….i would prefer not burning my truck down because I overloaded the wires….

3. Is a relay required? Some installs that I have seen have solenoids, switches and relays. I would simply want something that ran while the truck was on.

I believe that I actually ordered a panel yeas ago…..I am going into the garage to search for it. If I can find it I will post a picture and see what you guys think about its functionality.

I have a diamondback hd cover that is relatively water tight but might opt to install the panel in a waterproof box so I only have to run the wire vs drilling multiple large diameter holes in the bed side.

any and all advice is appreciated and if any of you are willing and able to take time out to draw up a diagram of your existing setup and materials I would gladly reimburse you for your time.

 

1) If you want 110 AC voltage then yes you need an inverter. If you are running 12V DC appliances than you do not need an inverter.
2) The wire size depends on how many amps you need for the appliances you intend to use and how long the run of wire is. You must install a fuse as close to the source (battery?) to protect the wire from overheating and possibly burning your truck down. The size of the fuse depends on the wire size and length of the run.
3) You do not need a relay, but if you are running wire directly from the battery to the receptacle than a relay can be used to switch the power on only when the key is switched on. A relay simply acts as a switch. A solenoid is basically the same as a relay but is commonly used for higher amperage applications, so it depends on how much power you need for your appliances.


This is from my time as an industrial electrician many years ago. Others may step in to correct me or add more details specific your needs.

 

I have the Rago mount and Blue Sea panel in mine. I run my IceCo off of it when we are enroute to camping spots.

 

I installed a dometic 12v with a fridge and normal cig outlet. Comes with enough wiring to reach the battery up front to the drivers side rear corner of the bed. It’s worked great.

 

I'd run a fused panel to the rear bed area with heavy gauge cable and then you can run an inverter off that. Oversizing it now can allow for future power expansion in the bed for say camping stuff, air compressors or whatever.

 

another option - just saying.
I considered adding a power bed option for years.
Then I thought why not add a portable power option.
One you can take it with you to any vehicle or even bring it in your house to use during a power outage.
I have a 3000 watt inverter I got for $250 on boxing day. It came with the 0 gauge cables.
For now I am using a trolling motor deep cycle battery with it.

I will be adding a light (20lb) LifeP04 battery. These batteries used to cost 5 times more money.

https://www.wattcycle.com/products/wattcycle-12v-100ah-group-24-lifepo4-battery?ref=aaezwkkc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDkJ7Sq21Qw