WattTruckMatt's El Cap Granite R1T Journey & Build Journal

[WattTruckMatt]

Going to put these pics here so they'll be easy to find for those curious about adding a 12V plug to their frunk.

At some point, around the 12xxx VIN number for R1Ts, the 12V plug disappeared from the frunk but the wiring was still there taped to the LED light wiring. Mine indeed had it so I dug it out, did some searching and found something close to Rivian OEM.

I ended up choosing a Ford Explorer 12V outlet and a pigtail from a Chevy that worked. I don't have specific links because my items are of course gone from eBay.

I'm also including a Chevy outlet to show what the connector looks like. You'd have to find a Chevy pigtail that would work for this type of outlet.

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[Oldsmobile_Mike]

Dumb question but any secret to popping out that frunk interior light bulb? Or just wedge something flat in the crack and pry at it?

At some point I'm going to try removing the entire frunk "tub" to see what I can see. But in the meantime I've only been daring enough to pull off the cowl cover to see if I had one 12v battery or two on a 19xxx VIN (it was two).

 

[WattTruckMatt]

Dumb question but any secret to popping out that frunk interior light bulb? Or just wedge something flat in the crack and pry at it?

At some point I'm going to try removing the entire frunk "tub" to see what I can see. But in the meantime I've only been daring enough to pull off the cowl cover to see if I had one 12v battery or two on a 19xxx VIN (it was two).

Just use a plastic pry tool on one of the sides of the light. Pops right out. If you don't have a plastic tool, maybe a flat-head screwdriver with some tape on it to protect from scratching. It doesn't take much force to pop it out.

 

[WattTruckMatt]

I recently got a WeBoost system in preparation for upcoming Colorado and West TX roadtrips. In doing so, I decided to redo my original Midland MXT575 install and run power from the 12V battery through the firewall to a space behind the rear seats. I was able to run the WeBoost antenna cable the same way I did for the GMRS antenna.

Not many have done the firewall passthrough so don't hesitate if you have any questions. I ran power to my Garmin Powerswitch in the frunk that I was using for my ditch lights. Idea was to have a "Comms" toggle that turns on both the MXT575 and WeBoost.

 

[sac602]

Looks nice! Did you ground the Garmin ProSwitch directly to the 12v battery or to a chassis somewhere? So the power goes from 12v through the Garmin (app controlled) then one of those controlled circuits goes behind the back seat to the CB and powered antennea (connected with a busbar / circuit fuseblock)? Im eventually going to do some wireing but have not seen many specifics and have heard mixed opinions on grounding directly to the battery.

 

[WattTruckMatt]

Looks nice! Did you ground the Garmin ProSwitch directly to the 12v battery or to a chassis somewhere? So the power goes from 12v through the Garmin (app controlled) then one of those controlled circuits goes behind the back seat to the CB and powered antennea (connected with a busbar / circuit fuseblock)? Im eventually going to do some wireing but have not seen many specifics and have heard mixed opinions on grounding directly to the battery.

I grounded the Garmin PowerSwitch to the 12V battery. I did install a grounding bus bar in the frunk for the ditch lights. That's grounded to a chassis bolt.

Overall you've got the setup right. Seems to work great so far and leaves me room to add stuff on down the line.

 

[seanocono]

This is awesome! Thanks for sharing.

 

[Blueassassin]

Great job I've been thinking about adding a GMRS to mine. I wonder if there is enough space behind that plastic tube under the seats then you wouldn't even see it.

 

[WattTruckMatt]

Great job I've been thinking about adding a GMRS to mine. I wonder if there is enough space behind that plastic tube under the seats then you wouldn't even see it.

I'm sure you could find some space if you really start tearing the truck apart. You might even have room to mount the Midland MXT575 headunit behind the rear seats but you'd need to run power somewhere and a long mic extension to front seats.

 

[Blueassassin]

I remember seeing this pic and how much extra space was there behind the tube.

 

[WattTruckMatt]

I remember seeing this pic and how much extra space was there behind the tube.

That's super interesting. Wasn't courageous enough to tear the tub out but might need to look into that...

 

[WattTruckMatt]

Ditch lights installed! Went for Morimoto 4 Banger HXBs. They are mounted on s00nish brackets but I'm not super happy with the amount of wobble while driving around town, although currently mitigated by a rubber pad. I'm going to try the brackets from 1EV as soon as they're back in stock.

The lights are also wired up to the Garmin Powerswitch.

 

[Sojhinn]

Ditch lights installed! Went for Morimoto 4 Banger HXBs. They are mounted on s00nish brackets but I'm not super happy with the amount of wobble while driving around town, although currently mitigated by a rubber pad. I'm going to try the brackets from 1EV as soon as they're back in stock.

The lights are also wired up to the Garmin Powerswitch.

Hey Matt if you want to chat about solutions let me know! Don't want to leave you not happy with the product.

 

[WattTruckMatt]

Hey Matt if you want to chat about solutions let me know! Don't want to leave you not happy with the product.

I'll shoot you a message. I've tried a few solutions to see what works and what doesn't.

 

[Leonbmx]

Ditch lights installed! Went for Morimoto 4 Banger HXBs. They are mounted on s00nish brackets but I'm not super happy with the amount of wobble while driving around town, although currently mitigated by a rubber pad. I'm going to try the brackets from 1EV as soon as they're back in stock.

The lights are also wired up to the Garmin Powerswitch.

For what its worth, my DCE brackets also wobble.

I had ditch lights on my Grand Cherokee and they were rock solid and the design was very similar, so maybe the hood/ hinges on the Rivian are not as stout as on other vehicles?

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