Hey All - So, I've wandered the boards quite a bit, but couldn't find anything on what might turn out to be a bad idea. This past summer, I purchased a used 2013 Ford F150 Super Crew, primarily intended as a tow vehicle for a small (17 ft) travel trailer. As such, I'm starting to make plans to customize the vehicle, primarily around interior and exterior LED lighting and power (mounting an inverter in the bed, an additional 12v plug in the back seat, cab and bed LED light strips, etc). However, I am VERY concerned about tapping directly into the truck's existing fuse box, or worse directly to the battery. So, I *think* I want to have an additional fuse block installed, that I will tie all this additional stuff into. Also, I ONLY want that thing powered when the ignition is on, so that's a bit trickier than just running a fat, low gauge wire to the battery. From there, I can tie in all these lightbars, plugs and stuff, and know it's not going to kill my battery if I'm sitting camping for a week. 1) does this seem reasonable, 2) has anyone done this, and 3) do you have suggestions in terms of parts and process? Thanks so much, in advance!

 

I can't remember which one I used, but here is a website that has fuse blocks. https://www.bluesea.com/products/cat...16/Fuse_Blocks

 

Adding an additional fuse box is a great option for adding accessories to a vehicle! For having the fuse box only have power when the ignition switch is on is actually pretty simple to do as well, You can use a battery cut-off relay such as this one NVX BIR500, These are primarily used for adding a second battery to a vehicle that has either a large audio system, or adding a second battery to a vehicle, The two large terminals would be for the positive wire, One side to the battery, and the other to the aftermarket fuse block, The two small terminals are for the trigger, One small post goes to ground, and one goes to a 12v accessory wire which can be found in the factory fuse box. Adding this relay would only allow power over to the fuse box when the ignition source is turned on. Ive attached a Wiring Diagram below, Just replace the "Second Battery" with your fuse box. It does sound a bit complicated but it is extremely easy to install.