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Actual pictures coming soon |
July 29, 2004 update: Moving kind of slowly on this one, huh? Today the 70207 just arrived. It cost me about $62 and I bought it from someone in our Jeep club who no longer needs it. It is still new in the box. Yes, I would have bought it somewhere else new for about the same price but I couldn't find any online stores that had the 70207 for sale. First impressions - this thing is worth every bit of $60. Every wire is pre-labeled and it's very obviously well built. It also came with a 30 watt relay and an isolator so it doesn't affect your electrical system. More news later when I put it in. April 2, 2003 update: It appears I have reinvented the wheel here. My fusebox works great but it's a pain to get into and ultimately probably not worth the time and hassle that went into it. I plan on swapping my fusebox out for one from Painless Wiring that is also water resistant. This will enable me to also have some devices tied into the ignition state so I can have some devices turn off when the key is turned off. Cost is around $60. Part number 70207. I'll post an update here when I'm done. It's inevitable that we all want to add new electrical devices to our Jeeps. At first it starts out with one or two devices that come with an inline fuse and pretty soon you end up with inline fuses all over the place, making your accessory electrical system both hard to manage and potentially dangerous. Oh, and I find it difficult as a grown man to crawl underneath the dashboard to try and work with the stock fusebox. So my solution was to install a new fusebox in an easy to spot location in the engine compartment.
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Here were my requirements:
1) It had to be safe (don't
want to burn down our Jeep).
2) It had to be easy to maintain (replace fuses, etc).
3) It had to look good and be durable.
4) It had to be weather resistant.
Parts used (prices are approximate):
Project box - Radio Shack
- $3
4 Gauge battery wire - Pep Boys - $4
Assorted electrical connectors - Auto Zone - $5
Liquid electrical tape - Home Depot - $5
Standard electrical tape - Home Depot - $1
12 gauge wire - Autozone - $4
5 connector fuse block - Pep Boys - $6
Assorted blade fuses - Pep Boys - $4
General use trailer wiring - Pep Boys - $10
Price: $40 or less
Ease of installation: Installation was a breeze but planning and assembly was time consuming. It was a fun project though and arguably much of my time was spent with trial and error testing and sitting around the garage thinking of how best to accomplish my goals. Of course compared to a $100 fuse block preassembled, I think it's still not a bad choice for anyone wanting to add some accessories without a bunch of inline fuses.
Remember, if you're powering offroad lights or even rock lights, you should use a relay (30 watt or so) and run your power through it. Relays are available through auto parts stores or Radio Shack. Check out our rock lights report for more info.
 parts - labelled |
 box closed |
 box open |
