Does anyone have wiring diagrams for for hooking up the power cables on a ranger. I have a uniden and just wanted to know the right place to connect up the cables without shorting out the whole truck.

 

just pull the stock radio shroud out of the truck. then all you have to do is splice into the wires on the back of the second 12v socket. this is what i did in my 2001 edge. it works great, has no extra road noise, and is easily removeable if you dont want it anymore. ifyou run more than stock pwoer through it you may want to go straight to the battery.

 

Do not do what the previous guy told you. When transmitting it could cause you to blow fuses. I install 2 -way radios at work. The best thing to do is: Go to the battery, follow the +(red cable) to side of the engine compartment where it hooks up to a relay. Attach it on to the bolt that has 12V with the truck off. Be careful not to short the 2 hookups out, if you do, the engine will turn over. Then find a gromet to run your wire through, and make everything neat and tidy. Hope this helps

 

I guess that just because it has worked for me on 5 different vehicles without so much as a blown fuse doesnt mean anything. Go ahead and take the advice of this other guy. When your either replacing the radio, the wiring harhess, or the onboard computer, then you can take my advice. btw you want a fuse in between your radio and your power source so that the $.15 fuse doesnt cost you a $100 radio. plus when you go straight to the battery or solinoid you get power spikes and alternator noise.

 

Well, you're both correct. Save for the lack of fuse when going straight from the battery....

I have hooked up numerous audio equipment and accessories for several years. Yes, you can run your CB from the power on your cig. lighter, but you have to take into consideration your power requirements. My guess is the guy who said you will blow fuses was trying to hook up more equipment than power was available. On the back of any electronic equipment is a power rating, usually stating operating voltage and operating current. If you know how much current you will be drawing, and you know what size fuse you have running that equipment, then you can probably figure out if the equipment will work. But remember, you have to consider all other devices running from that same fuse, not just your CB or whatever.

Or, you can run a power wire straight from the battery (BTW, this is still my favorite means of getting extra power to the cab of the vehicle.) One VERY IMPORTANT THING TO CONSIDER ABOUT THIS IS... ALWAYS INSTALL AN INLINE FUSE AS CLOSE TO THE BATTERY AS POSSIBLE! I haven't had to learn from experience on this one, but have heard stories. Think of it like this. Your are running a wire, from the + terminal of the battery, and every other piece of metal on that truck is a ground. So anything you touch with that wire will spark, and continual contact will overheat the wire, melt the insulation resulting in more contact, more sparks, battery starts to emit a lot of hydrogen gas at this point, sparks are flying, the carpet has just caught on fire, BOOOOM! Well, you get the point.

About the alternator noise when running from the battery... wrong. Every thing that in your vehicle that gets power, gets it from the battery. The noise is almost always a result of a bad ground, or cheap electronics.

If you know that there isn't anyting else running on the same fuse as your cig. lighter (usually, there is not,) and that you aren't requiring more power than the fuse rating, then to save yourself time and headaches, just run from the cig. lighter. But if you want to add extra items to your truck later, or require more power, then I would run a wire from the battery.


Matt
2K Ranger SC 4x4 Off-Road
4.0L KKM True-Rev Intake, Borla Cat-back Dual Exhaust
285/75R16 Pathfinder ATR, 3" Body Lift
Backcountry Stainless Step-bars

 

Running off the cig. lighter uses the same amount of power as plugging in one of those three way splitters. with 1 of those you could probably run a cellphone, radar det, and stock cb from the same socket with no problem. i like doing it behind the dash for less mess and tangle. I have seen other ppl run them straight to the battery and they always seem to have more noise than i do. they may not have had a good ground, like he said.

 

All of these sound like good ideas. My local cb shop had a little pin that slips in beside one side of a fuse blade and the other end is sized for a female spade connector. All I had to do is find a good ground and a fuse that turns on and off with the truck. I've been running it like this for 2 years with no problems and it's not a stock radio.

stumpjumper

 

 

Hey everyone, new to the forums. I just bought a 2000 Ranger XLT 5 speed last weekend. I came to this forum for just this reason. I'm looking to run some neons inside the cab of my truck. I tried running power to the fuse box like i have in previous trucks with no luck this time. I will try running a line from the battery, but I have a few questions about that, please bare with me.

Should i splice the wire into the wire right at the post? Connect it directly to the post? Not sure. Also, regarding an inline fuse, i have a 30 amp fuse that came w/ an amplifier i bought a while back. Will this work? It has two ends to accept wire and a housing for the fuse. Is 30 amp too big to run for a small power draw? Also, anyone know of a good place to ground in the cab, w/out ripping out the stereo. In previous vehicles i've found good grounds at various screws in the chassis in the cab. Or can i just run another wire from the negative post of the battery, again, w/ an inline fuse. Sorry to be so long winded in my first post, i'm just eager to be "lighted" back up.

Thanks in advance for any help.

 

I have lots of equipment in my truck. I have a Kenwood Ham radio that kicks out 50 watts of transmit power. For it, I ran a wire straight to the battery.

But for a CB, you do NOT have to run to the battery. My CB (11 meter band) radio is powered off the fuse box. The fuse box is on the drivers side. You'll have to open the door to get to it. Just pull the cover off, and find a vacant receptical. I forget which one I'm using for mine. That way you can do all your wiring INSIDE the cab and it's easier.

Most CB radios are 4 watts from the factory. This will not blow any fuses. If you have a radio that has been "turned up", you may want to run power straight off the battery.

I just used a bolt near the steering shaft inside the cab against the firewall for ground.

Also, if you have the Ranger without the extra cupholders in the console, like I do, you can just mount your radios in the floor in that open console space. (This is a huge reason why I chose a Ranger over other brands). Galls.com has lots of mounting brackets for radios of all sorts.

 

I'm facing the same problem - I've got to run power wires for a ham radio straight to the battery. I've got a '99 XLT. Any recommendations where I can find a pass-thru point on the firewall?

 

I already have wire ran through the firewall, also for a ham radio. I just connected wires straight to the battery. Put round terminals on the end of the wires, saudered them, connected them to the battery with an inline fuse on the hot side (soon to fuse negative too), slipped it in some wireloom and ran it along the side, under the hood channel. I drilled a hole in the firewall behind the pedals, I think it was near the steering linkage. Put a grommet in, ran the the wires and my coax through the grommet. I have a firestik 2 meter antenna mounted in the hood channel so my coax comes in right with the power. I don't have a mobile radio yet (just a 2m handheld), so my power cables are coiled up under the dash with the ends taped for now. If you'd like, I can take a couple of pictures so you can see where I drilled. If you're not into drilling, you'll have to look around a little. I was hoping not to drill at first, but didn't find anything right away, so just drilled myself a nice hole . I'm kind of curious now how many hams are on the forum, what kind of radio's and antenna's they have.... hmm....

Brian J Wilson