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Dual USB & volt meter

7K views 24 replies 9 participants last post by  jan 
#1 · (Edited)
SO, I have a base CC frontier short bed 6spd. As we all know, USB ports are charging everything these days. I took it upon myself to add a dual port charger in my truck. This is for the guys with a blank above their charging port/cigarette lighter. The gray circle blank pops out,seen below.

I opened my glove box all the way, slid my hand behind that blank and it poped right out.

The white wire is +positive from the cig lighter, which I connect to the red wire from the USB charger. The black is -negative, which I connect to the black wire of the USB charger. Simple to wire up and gets you a slick addition. The link below is where I got the USB charger. I found it was what I wanted and not expensive $9. What I did was just remove the USB from the plate, which is held on by a simple nut.

12V 24V Car Motorcycle LED Dual USB Charger Cigarette Lighter Socket Voltmeter | eBay
I slipped the wires through the hole first, then connected them to the existing cig lighter port. Pushed this USB/Volt meter in, and its so tight it doesnt move. Then I just put the cig lighter back in. Here is a pic of the USB/Volt meter unit


You can see the holes in the rear of the picture where this will fit. It is a direct fit, and is tight.

Finished and slipped in.


Looking at this, I realize its a very brief writeup, so If there are questions feel free to ask. The blank is where the aux input goes with trucks that have the higher line head units. This for me worked out better than I had hoped. With more than 1 person in my car often, this makes charging easy for us all. I may do one in the rear seat further down the road.
 
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#2 ·
Very clever and a very clean installation! Nice work. It's interesting to note the changes that have been made over the years - My '06 SE CC 6-Speed has two 12V Outlets there, one keyed to the ignition and one always on.
 
#6 ·
just need to wait for these to come out with quick charge 3.0 =D!

Nice write up!
 
#17 ·
Yeah. The black wrapped wires are the lower power unit.


Did you splice into the wires or how did you get the power tapped?

Are you able to use both power ports at the same time without blowing a fuse?
 
#18 ·
I stripped back the insulation on both wires, one at a time, and wrapped the volt meter wires around them then taped them up. You can use a 3m wire tap also if you like. Some will say to solder the wires, which I may do at some point. I have used both at the same time with out issues.
 
#22 ·
I drove it this morning into work at 430am. Its not overly bright and it sits far enough away that I dont notice it at all. Plus I have two USB items plugged into it so the Volt meter is kinda hard to see.


I'm not very good at wiring and stuff so a coworker helped me with it. The wires to the factory socket are kinda short so you might want longer jumpers. And I'm pretty sure the power draw while using both wont be an issue.

And it looks good and kinda OEM.
 
#24 ·
I have a 2012 Pro-4X CC and there was no factory USB port so I have removed the AUX port (never had a need for it and I have replaced the receiver anyways) and replaced it with a USB fast charger (2x2.4A with a Voltmeter), which is connected to Blue Sea fuse box installed in the dash (see this thread).

The issue with mounting the USB charger instead of the AUX port is that the panel is slanted and therefore the plastic nut does not hold the USB body along its entire circumference and everything is loose. So I have cut a piece of 1" PVC, heated it with a heat gun and stretched it slightly until I could create a sleeve for the charger like this:
306892


I have eyeballed the cut angle but it worked perfectly, the PVC sleeve pushes against the back of the dash panel and the USB holding nut sits evenly against the PVC as you can see here:
306893


Oh, I have used a blue thread locker on the nut when it got loose several weeks after the initial installation. Since than, almost a year later, the USB charger/voltmeter holds solid in the dash and works perfectly.
 
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