Ok, so just today I got a Snugtop Snuglid SL tonneau cover installed. I would like to mount a 12v light to the inside of the cover. Where would be the best place to run the wires to the cab, and where should I tap into power at? Any help would be greatly appreciated. TIA.

 

at the batt run the wire 10ga under the truck to the back
so u can turn it on when your back there plus put a 12v
plug as well i have one to run a fridge 12ga wire is only
good for 12 to 15 ft fuse it always. theres a rubber plug
on the fire wall make a small hole in that for in the cab
hope that helps

 

Yes it did help, thank you... So if I understand you correctly, I run a 10ga wire from the battery into the cab, through the firewall, right? Where do I go from there; how do I route it to the tonneau cover? Also, what size fuse should I use?

 

Um a few suggestions.
Don't bother with 12volt light. buy a cheap Wal-mart stick on light.
Don't bother with 10 gauge wire, unless you are going to power something much heavier than a simple light. 14 is overkill, and readily available in longer runs.
Don't bother running through the firewall into the cab. If you do, the best plug is the black one near and below the master cylinder. See my posts on adding power door locks for detailed instructions.
If you run out of the cab, use either door sill, the cover snaps off, and there is ample room in the channel to add your wires to the factory ones. See my post on adding tailgate electric lock for details. There is a plug under there to pop out and run your wire through.
If you run a wire into the bed, do it at the cab end of the bed, there are rubber plugs low down on the bed you can pop out and hole to lace your wires through. See my post on adding a power un-locker to the tonneau.

Be sure to cover your wires under the hood, under the truck, with some black corregated wire sleeve. Cheapest at builder supply places.
Hope this helps,
Chris

 

If you run straight from the battery, use a fuse/circuit breaker close to the battery in case of shorts later. Use the new type plug in fuses. The old glass round fuses, do not transmit high loads well.

 

Newt nailed it on the fuse. I forgot to mention that, especially the part about mounting it up near the battery. That's not just the correct place for safety, it also makes in a darn sight easier to check the fuse.

Oh, and for a single light, a 5-10 amp is way heavy. The fuse holder or fuse pack will tell you what size you want.

Remember;
If your fuse is too heavy, you could lose your truck.
If it's too light, you could lose your fuse...
Chris

 

Could you explain that a little more? What "could" happen if I used, say a 20amp fuse instead of a 10 amp? Obviously, I'm no electrician... Thanks for all your help.

 

you should use a fuse rated very slightly higher than the maximum draw of the device. If the light draws 1 amp, use a 1.5 amp fuse. If you use a 20 amp fuse on this hypothetical lamp, if it shorts, 20 amps will flow through the wiring before the fuse blows. The wiring, etc. of such a device, while more than adequate for the 1 amp the lamp draws, could very easily catch fire if a short draws 20 amps through it. Fires are bad, unless a cat is involved...

Could also cause fry many electronic components in your truck if a fuse doesn't blow quick enough...

a $0.20 fuse is better to lose than a $30,000 truck.

 

What Inbred said is completely correct.
Just to restate;
A fuse is only there as a safety valve. It blows if something fails, i.e. a short circuit when a wire touches ground.
If this happens, the fuse burns through, as it is the weakest part of the circuit. So when the fuse blows, you investigate the circuit, find the problem. If the fuse is too highly rated, it doesn't blow, the 'short' where you touch metal, burns. Burning is bad, even if it just means the wire chars. Worst case, it starts a fire, consuming your rig.

Not trying to scare you, but that is the way it works.

Always use wire at least as heavy as recommended.

Always use the correct type of wire.

Always fuse with an appropriate fuse.

Always use a grommet or protection from chafing when you pass through something.

Always put something around the wire to protect it, if it's in a bad location, for example near the manifolds, pipes or underneath where water can hit it.

Chris

 

ok heres the deal i said use 10ga incase u
need it later.with 12ga wire u can run up to
15amps, a max of 11 ft but with 10ga u
can run up to 17ft at 15amp or 180 watts
by the time u make all the bends from the
batt to the switch then to the back of your
truck the feet of wire start to add up be safe
dont be cheap on wire like the man said u drive
a $30000 truck. and like i said allways use a fuse
hope this helps

 

True, if you even think you are going to add something else, use a big wire. 10 gauge is right for that. I was assuming you were not going to add anything beyond a couple of lights.
Chris

 

I wired mine in this weekend and all I did was to run the wires into the tail light assembly and wired it in so that I could use my remote to turn it on. You have I just have a switch on the light so that it wont be on with the tail ights and it works out nice. I just open the cover up flip the switch.

 

Thanks for all your help... Here's what I ended up doing. I ran 12ga wire directly from the battery (fused 6 inches from battery), through the firewall into the cab, out at the left/rear door sill (through rubber gromet), then up the front side of the bed. I drilled a very small hole through the bed wall near the tonneau hinge for the power wire. From there it was very easy, the Sunglid SL comes pre-wired for power locks, so I just used that set of wires. I wrapped virtually all of the outside wiring in 3/8" split loom for protection. There are no noticable wire that can be seen. Everything looks and works great!

Thanks again for your help.

 

good deal!