Forum Discussion

ACZL's avatar
ACZL
Explorer
Apr 07, 2015

Mounting plug under box rail

Has anyone mounted a plug/receptacle under the box rail be left wheel well? That's where it was or where dealer put it on my '03. Seems that everything I see now is a hole is drilled into box wall between tailgate and left wheel well and plug mounted there. Factory has a hole in left stake pocket to run harness thru from rear end and just have to attach w/ short self tappers a couple harness clamps and the "L" bracket for the plug. Did not locate on either You Tube or Google where anyone did this. Nice thing about this setup is that the plug is out of the way of things. Just have to manually insert wires into end of plug.

If one has done it this way, what size tappers did you use? Is the box rail double wall? Distance between the inside/outside?

4 Replies

  • ACZL's avatar
    ACZL
    Explorer
    Apr 07, 2015
    johntank wrote:
    If you are just wanting to mount a L bracket for the plug on the bedside wall, I would use either a #10 or #12 by 3/4" self tapping screw(s}, these will be around a good 1" in length. The distance between inside and outside can be any were from 3+" close to the bottom to 1/2" or less at the top.

    Hope this helps some.


    This is fairly close to what I want to do. The L bracket would mount underneath the boxrail and plug would go into it. Don't know how much of a gap there is between top of rail to bottom, but I'd think there should be at least 1/2". HOWEVER, the L bracket could've been mounted sideways below the boxrail and plug mounted like a normal plug in it on my '03. Sad as this may sound, I never once looked at it closely as it just plain worked and never had a problem.
  • sdetweil's avatar
    sdetweil
    Explorer
    Apr 07, 2015
    get the Bargman 7pin extension like this from Amazon. I just installed one on my 2012 F350. comes with the screws and a spacer if the back space is too tight.

    I had a little trouble getting the harness connector to seat, but Cequent (makes Bargman) suggested that the gasket in the ford harness was dry, and a little dielectric grease or vaseline on the inside of their connector would help.. It did.

    install was easy, cut the hole, slide the connectors and harness thru the hole, position the new 7pin connector, install the provided screws, unclip the 7 pin connector at the bumper, plug one side into the ford harness, one side into the connector.. wire tie the spare length up out of the way.. , push the ford 7pin back into the bumper bracket, done.
  • johntank's avatar
    johntank
    Explorer
    Apr 07, 2015
    If you are just wanting to mount a L bracket for the plug on the bedside wall, I would use either a #10 or #12 by 3/4" self tapping screw(s}, these will be around a good 1" in length. The distance between inside and outside can be any were from 3+" close to the bottom to 1/2" or less at the top.

    Hope this helps some.
  • remdog_1's avatar
    remdog_1
    Explorer
    Apr 07, 2015
    I have a 2010 F250. There are 3 ribs between wheel well and tailgate. I used middle one. 2" hole. I purchased harness from E-Trailer. It snapped right into factory harness. You have to remove harness from back of plug by hitch, the new harness just plugs in to that and the new one. You will have about 4" of space between bed wall and exterior fender. The self tappers come with plug (4)

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