Pickup Box Power Utility Center

An easy-access portable energy source serves multiple functions.

- By Cory Hall

“It gets frustrating to constantly open the hood of my truck to jump vehicles, power bulk fuel tanks, and more,” said Jack Abbott, of New Paris, Indiana.

“I decided to make a remote power center mounted in the box of my truck.”

On the driver side, Abbott mounted a lockable, waterproof box on the inside sidewall. He ran a 2-gauge wire from the truck battery's positive post under the hood to the power center. A second 2-gauge wire connects the box to the frame, for grounding.

Inside the waterproof box, Abbott mounted the hot lead to one side of a continuous-duty solenoid relay, and connected the ground to a grounding terminal block.