mmccurdy

Custom Switch Panel Writeup



Background
Since I was adding lights and air lockers, I had the need for some auxiliary switches in my rig. I'm sure the astute reader will notice some similarities to other options out on the market, but I found the cost of those options to be prohibitively expensive. Also, I don't think the flat rocker-style switches really suit the look of the JK, and I really like the little hoop style switch guards that you see in cockpits and industrial applications, so I wanted to see if I could work those in somewhere.

Not sure whether this writeup is clear enough to be followed to the letter, but hopefully it will provide some ideas for folks considering similar projects. Also I'm sorry it's so long, but I always like seeing lots of detail, so here goes....

Parts List
Housing

• 2 1/4" x 8 1/2" x 1 5/8" Aluminum "chassis" (Fry's, about $8 I think) UPDATE: these are available for order online at the following URL: http://www.lmbheeger.com/products.asp?catid=7 (thanks to phillips_kl for tracking these down)
• Seven 1 3/8" U-bolts (Lowes, <$1 ea)
• Four threaded rod connectors (match to U-bolts) (Lowes, about $2)
• Four bolts, same diameter and thread pitch as U-bolts (Lowes, about $1)
• Fourteen extra nuts, same diameter and thread pitch as U-bolts (Lowes, about $2)
• 5 oz. can of Jeep Green spray paint for the U-bolts (cyberjeep.com, $10, optional)
• 5 oz. can of Dupli-Color clear coat (Kragen, $5, optional)
• Custom printed lexan sheet white on black labels ($50 for six, same price as one, PM me if you'd like one)
• Black finish for the box (I got it powder coated for $25, rattle can would also work)
• Adhesive trim strips like the kind everyone uses on their chopped fenders (Kragen, $7)

Electrical

• Toggle switch with flip-down cover for winch power (Kragen, $13)
• DPDT momentary toggle switch for winch control (Radio Shack, $5)
• Four LED toggle switches (green, red, red, blue) (Kragen, $9 ea.)
• Three 30' spools of 12-gauge hookup wire (Kragen)
• About a dozen "flag" style crimp-on connectors for switch spade terminals (Radio Shack, $5ish)
• About a half-dozen "right angle" style crimp-on connectors (Radio Shack, $5ish)

Misc.

• Small pack of misc rubber grommets
• Zip ties
• Wire loom

TOTAL COST: About $90 for parts, $90 for finishing (paint + decal + powder coat, the latter two would of course be optional)




Procedure
The centerpiece of the project is the aluminum box. If you don't have a Fry's near you, these aluminum chassis are sometimes called project boxes or enclosures, and are widely available by googling these terms online. They're pretty cheap and you can get them in just about any size you can imagine. Make sure you leave enough depth for the switches and wiring -- the whole setup deeper than I expected.

I started by marking, punching, and drilling for the switches and the U-bolt guards:


Shot from the behind:


Checking the clearance against the windshield header trim panel:


All of the switches mounted (note that the left two will eventually be replaced with the winch power and remote):


A view of all six switches from the back -- it's gonna be tight...


Next, I used a contour gauge to mark and trim (Dremel) the sides of the box to fit flush:


Transcribing the contour (you can eyeball this or use paper + trial & error if you don't have a countour gauge):


Side pieces cut -- not too bad:


Mitred and applied the trim strips to cover my not-so-perfect Dremel job:

mmccurdy

Okay, time for the wiring.


I threaded the four rod connectors down onto the outer corner studs of the U-bolts with some thread adhesive. This allows the four additional bolts to come through from behind the header trim piece so there's no visible mounting hardware outside the box:


Holes drilled in the header trim, bolts inserted, rubber grommet to guide wire bundle up through the center hole:


Final fit test from the front:


NOTE: I actually mounted the panel and the box in my rig at this point to complete the wiring.

My chosen switch ordering and my rationale:

• Winch Power (all the way right because the big red switch looks best there, IMO)
• Winch In/Out (next to power, close enough to driver to easily reach from seat)
• Lights (no real reason to have them next, except to separate winch and locker groups)
• Front Locker, Rear Locker (close together, still reachable from drivers seat)
• Compressor (hardest switch to reach, not flipped that frequently or in time-critical situations)

I pulled all the wiring through everyone's favorite hole in the firewall (passenger side) and made sure everything was properly fused, etc.

Please excuse my dirty engine bay... I'm so ashamed...

Here's where the wiring bundle comes through the firewall:


In order to get power to the switch bank, I used an "add-a-circuit" for mini fuses. For some reason Kragen didn't carry these, but Pep Boys did:


Everything wired up:


For the in-cab winch remote, I wired a two switch system. The leftmost switch (with the safety flip cover) powers the winch, and I mounted the DPDT momentary toggle switch in the second hole to winch in and out. I have a Warn M8000 winch and the clearest writeup I found on how to wire the remote switch was from a Toyota forum at the following URL (paste into browser):

yotatech.com/f131/cab-control-warn-m8000-winch-151571/

I omitted the "armed" lamp in the above-linked diagram since I thought it might be a bit much for my application...

My light switch goes to a relay and out to my light hoop as described in this thread.

The ARB locker solenoid switches and the compressor switch were super easy to wire using the harness included with the compressor. My compressor mounting location (inspired by forum user STUPIDFACE) can be seen in this post.

mmccurdy

I sent the box off to be prepped and powder coated -- since it was so small they threw it in with another batch and just charged me $25.

While the box was away, I painted up the rings (two coats of primer, two coats of Jeep Green, and two coats of clear):


I also created a set of custom labels for the top of the box. I originally wanted to get them cut from vinyl, but the shapes were too small. The estimate for silkscreening was north of $150 by the time they printed the screen and mounted up a jig to hold the box while it was applied. I settled on a process of printing on the back of a thin, textured Lexan material that would match the powder coat very nicely. Here's the artwork that I prepared (PM me if you'd like an Illustrator file or PDF):


... and here are the labels on the self-adhesive Lexan when I picked them up:


Very happy with the powder coat. Here is the box after I got it back:


... and here it is with the label mounted up. It's virtually seamless -- the flash in the pic actually makes the seam look a lot more noticeable than it really is:


The finished product!

MBATF

Super nice...


Did you ever changed out that ultra blinding blue led???

wildandwillin

Looks great and turned out real nice

fish

that's a great job

junk

Wow, that's one hell of a nice piece. I'd be inspired, if I thought I could do something even half as nice. Excellent job!

Little Fella

Very well planned out and nicely executed. Looks store bought.

AND

It looks like you're on the same wavelength as the engineers at MINI!!!

SuperJK

Nice job... very clean..

mmccurdy

I have to admit, I think I was influenced by the Mini switch layout for sure, however I'm partial to the earlier version (they must have redesigned it at some point -- looks a little too pod-like for my taste in the image you linked):