I am looking to grab some power somewhere on my truck that is only on when the ignition is. i want to run several things off of one power strip, so pleae do not suggest "add-a-fuses" and tapping into circuits that already power something else....

I have a plow light, reverse lights, front and rear plow controls, air horns, a 12 volt compressor, and other misc. stuff that I want to operate. I want to run them all to one powered block, and then install inline fuses and switches for each item. I don't know what they call what im looking for, but the best I can describe it as is like a ground strap, I want to put power to the one end of it and then just screw each wire into that distrubution block for power. I am guessing RadioShack would have something like that. Any ideas?

For power I was talking to the local truck accessory place and they were telling me that I can get powered relay's to plug into my circuit board? They install them, but cannot sell them over the counter...(WTF??) Anyone know what I am talking about?

Last but not least, if I got with the relay deal, how much power can I run off of those, amps, watts, etc??

Please advise.

was going to update my sig but for some reason can't right now. Truck is '04.5 gmc reg cab duramax.....

Well, they make 12 volt relays in various amp ratings, so it all depends on what you plan on using it on :cool:


A standard BOSCH type relay (about $2 bucks at VatoZone) will handle a 30Amp load, so if you have multiple accessories that pull up to 30Amps, then you'll need one relay for each circuit....



On my rig, I have a $h!tload of relays for my accessories :o:


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A relay for each set of foglights, air compressor, train horn solenoid, cooling fans, etc. etc. all powered by a main distribution block :cool:

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The main block is fed by a live 2Ga. welding wire and all of the relays (with exception of the train horn solenoid relay) are triggered by an ignition based switched source (foglights, compressor and fans will only activate with the key in the accessory or run position)


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For what you want to do, you still need to tap into an ignition based circuit to trigger the relay only when the key is turned...

The trigger line won't draw much current at all (only a few amps), so don't worry about frying your truck's fuse panel lol

If you go to gmupfitter.com you can find the wiring diagram for these trucks. I bought a trailer brake controller harness from my auto store. If you modify it with a knife you can fit in the upfitter slot on the midbec (power box by your e brake) You can get whatever type of fused power there. You can buy the harness from gm but in the long run it is easier to just modify one of these trailer brake harnesses and rewire it that way you can pickup ground etc all in the same CLEAN spot. I also bought a fuse block and relay block from here http://www.rallylights.com/hella/Relay_Boxes_and_Fuse_Boxes.asp and mounted it under the dash. I brought power in from the midbec and split it off into a bus system. Everything that I ran off it has its own fuse and if a relay was necessary I ran it into the relay block. You can also order the police upfitter kit that includes a relay block and fuse block combined and uses the small fuses/relays. I have one of these also that I haven't used yet.

You can look in my garage at the midbec. I believe I picked up power, ignition power, vehicle speed, dimmer power,ground all from the 2 modified plugs on the top. I believe the top 3 (brown plugs) are the ones I added in.

Power wise you have to buy the proper relay. Amps = Watts / volts: Watts = Amps x volts You can figure it based on that. Make sure you size your wire right.

See my garage. There is a picture of the fuse block. It shows a 12 volt keyed ignition source for 99 and up trucks. One tab is hot at all times, One is hot in Acc, and another in Run. Found this on the Boss Plow site. ( bossplow.com) Look in service area. Hope it helps. Linework.

Nice lookin work Snake Eater.

thats a wealth of info, thanks for the help...

linework, where in the service area was that? I can't blow it up enough from your photo to tell what I am looking at....

Click on service center, than tec info, and than Recommended Ignition Source . Or here's the link. http://service.bossplow.com/Documents/recommended_ignition_source.pdf