FireRescue707

Well I had some free time this week so I figured that I would do something a little productive. We purchased a new travel trailer a couple years ago and shortly there after I figured that I would put a decent inverter in it so in case we went out camping at the beach or somewhere that there were no hookups we would have a little electricity. Never happened lol. So I figured what the heck lets just put it in the jeep that way if we need electricity for what ever reason on a trip we will have it. So here goes.

Part 1;



Removed top screws on both face plates so that I could see what was inside.



Did not look too tough so removed the bottom two screws holding on face plate that holds the two outlets and the on/off switch. I then cut the wires that connected the outlets and the switches to the inverter.



I figured that I would use the faceplate as a template to cut holes in stock lower dash panel (I assumed wrong ) So I removed the plugs and switch from the face plate.



I went out and took lower dash cover off and went holy *^&%. There is no clearance behind here. So Back to the drawing boards. I started looking around on Quadratech for some ideas and came across the Daystar lower switch panel. I remembered seeing one at 4 Wheel Parts when I bought my upper panel, so I gave them a call to see if they still had it - They did!! So 40 mins later after running up to Santa Rosa I started again.

Using the face plate as a template I marked where I wanted the outlets and on/off switch to be and cut the holes accordingly.



After a little trimming of the face plate with my roto-zip, I installed the switch, outlets and face plate onto the trim panel and installed the panel.



Tomorrow morning I will continue with the install of the inverter itself which I think I will mount under the drivers seat, still deciding on that.

FireRescue707

I will do that tomorrow also when I take it back off to wire everything up.

scouter4life

That's looks great, though I'd be careful placing it under the seat. If you ever go without top or doors and get a rain storm, under the seats is a collection point for water.

FireRescue707

Thought about that also. I think that I will build a mount to keep it up off of floor. Trying to think where else I could install that would have enough airflow for cooling fan to work properly.

RedRockJk4x4

I had the same idea awhile back, here is what I did. Click pictures for larger view.

You might not be able to put yours behind the glovebox like I did since your inverter looks lie it is larger.

FireRescue707

Nope it wont fit there. And just realized that with the seat sensors it will not fit under seat either. So, What I have decided to do is to make it removable. I am going to get a 7 pin connector, like what is used on trailers and wire everything in. Then when I want to put it in I will just connect the plug and off we go. I will do more pics as I do the install though.

scouter4life

This might be a crazy Idea and way off what you want to do, but what about attaching it to the back of the reat seat? There is a metal plate inder the fabric, so some self tapping screws should hold it tight, keeps it off the ground and prety much out of the way, even when the seat is dropped, it's flat, so really wont interfere. Don't know, just a thought

OffTopic

I never even thought about doing a permanent install of my inverter. What a great idea. I think I'm going to do the same with mine now when I wire up my new lights. My CB is already under my glove box, so it may take a little creativity.