sPOD

Early on in my build, I knew that I would be running a lot of extra LED lights on the exterior of the FJ. I had an idea that some of my adventures might take me to remote, dark areas and I wanted enough light to navigate safely.

​Another benefit to having additional lighting is the ability to spot wildlife on the side of the road way. That's not always possible because of other vehicles, but on dark country or mountain roads where there isn't much traffic, running with extra lights (front and sides) can be a hug benefit.
​It can give you the extra time needed to spot large ​animals before they surprise you. Depending on your set up and the terrain, you might be able to see large animals (or their eyes) waiting on the side of the road 100-300 meters out. That give you enough time to act accordingly and increases the chances of you arriving to your destination without a new hood ornament. 

LED lights do not suck up as much power as HID lights or incandescent lights do. Having said that, its important that you have a good power source and control source to run them safely and efficiently.

The down side to my last statement is, I don't know too much about electrical other than it can hurt and it can burn if done wrong. 

Because of this, I took a journey down the interweb and began researching ways to properly wire auxiliary lighting and other auxiliary components.

​I saw that switches, relays, fuses, magic, and circuits were recommended. I looked at wire diagrams and watched videos and then realized, I didn't understand any of that. 
Eventually I stumbled upon the sPOD. This unit had everything built into it and included a switch panel. It was everything the interwebs said I needed, but someone smarter than me already figured everything out for me and built a all in one unit. The price can be a turn off, but to me, it was worth spending the money on a quality product like this. In the long run, I knew it would save me time and easier to work with on future installs.  

​The switch box that comes with the kit is intended to mount in the open space below the air vent on the driver side.

I pulled the vent panel and started measuring and marking out where the switch box would mount. My friend Kennedy insisted on cutting out the mounting space. I kind of trust him so I decided to let him give it a whirl. 
Once he finished, we mounted the switch box and ran the wire down the inside the vent panel. Just to clarify, no air blows through that part of the vent panel.  ​

The sPOD unit is intended to mount against the firewall on the passenger side. There are two threaded studs that protrude from the firewall. The sPOD uses those studs to mount.

Not that it needed it, but I also used double sided tape to help secure it against the firewall. Once the sPOD was in place, I used the included nuts to secure the unit to the studs.
When I was mounting the sPOD, I left the cover on to help protect it and make it easier to handle. Also, that allowed me to make sure it was positioned properly.  ​
After getting the switch box and the sPOD unit mounted, it was time to run the included wire harness through the firewall. I decided to go through the rubber boot on the driver side. Because it's a tight fit, I used a wire coat hanger to fish the wire harness through the boot. 

​I connected the switch wire harness to the sPOD unit and ran the included positive/negative power cables from the sPOD to the battery. I then ran my auxiliary light wires to the sPOD unit and did a test of the system. 

I am very happy with the sPOD system. It is very well made and their customer service it top notch. Now installation of auxiliary lighting or other auxiliary components will be much simpler. Since all the switches are mounted on the drivers side vent panel, all I need to do is run my future LED wiring to the sPOD unit and connect them to the appropriate opening.  
-To learn more about or purchase the sPOD, please click on the link below-