Truck Bed Power

[Bowtied13]

I have a 2006 Silverado 1500 and am looking to add some power into the bed and am trying to find the best option and also budget friendly. I didn’t have any luck finding existing threads. The truck has a camper shell. I am planning on adding lighting in the shell on a switch, a charging port (USB), possibly a 110 outlet for running tools etc.

Just looking for some ideas on where tap into power. For example I could tap into the existing trailer wiring connector, or I could run new wire from the engine bay. Let me know what you’ve done. TIA

 

[madcratebuilder]

I added a 3rd brake light, interior lights to my soft topper, aso 2 USB and a 12V plug outlet. These are wired off the OEM 7 pin trailer harness. If you want to run a inverter you should run a heavier ga wire from the battery. I used 4 ga wire for a 600 watt PSW inverter.

 

[smritte]

I agree with @madcratebuilder. The battery charging feed is a 12 gauge (?. Been a while). If you need more power, run a new feed.

 

[M Rose]

I have a 2006 Silverado 1500 and am looking to add some power into the bed and am trying to find the best option and also budget friendly. I didn’t have any luck finding existing threads. The truck has a camper shell. I am planning on adding lighting in the shell on a switch, a charging port (USB), possibly a 110 outlet for running tools etc.

Just looking for some ideas on where tap into power. For example I could tap into the existing trailer wiring connector, or I could run new wire from the engine bay. Let me know what you’ve done. TIA

When I had my 2000 Ram 2500, I did two things… first I tapped into the 7 pin trailer harness to pull both battery power and switched power. Battery power went to one LED light at the cab side of my topper to shine towards the tailgate. The Switched feed activated a solenoid for charging my house battery. I then ran a dedicated 00 battery cable from the alternator to the hot side of the solenoid, and a 00 cable from the cold side of solenoid to house battery. The house battery then supplied power to my inverter, water pump, water heater, and interior/exterior lights, as well as other miscellaneous electrical systems.