External / Outside Access to 30A Truck Bed Receptacle

[kraxner]

I'm looking to see if anyone has attempted or successfully added a 30A receptacle to the underside or in the bumper of the Lightning. I've not inspected the underside of the truck bed to see if anything is accessible but I'm planning to see what the LOE is for such a thing.

Background: I live full-time in a 25ft Airstream travel trailer and I'd like an easier way to power the trailer. Ideally, I'd like to connect a 30A power cable to the secondary power input on my trailer's electrical system (Victron Energy) and plug it into the truck like you would the 7-pin connection. Currently I have to be stopped and run the trailer's heavy 50A power cable to the back of the trailer and have to leave the truck topper window open or cracked when I want to charge the trailer battery if the solar panels can't keep up or run the A/C. The other use case I have is to allow me to turn on the Pro Power while driving and allow the A/C to run just before I stop for the day.

If anyone has any experience or insight to this, please let me know. I'll update this thread with my findings for others asking the same some day.

Thanks all!

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[Heliian]

You'll have to double check but there may be limited propower available while driving.

I think your easiest route is a lead going from the plug to the bumper.

 

[kraxner]

You'll have to double check but there may be limited propower available while driving.

I think your easiest route is a lead going from the plug to the bumper.

Ah yeah that could be interesting to see. Thanks for the heads up.

 

[hturnerfamily]

I've done something similar, for towing our 20' single-axle camper, over 20,000 miles, but simpler:

I use one of the bed's 20amp outlets, which actually provide each a 30amp 120v Output... PLENTY for anything while towing, and, actually, PLENTY even when camping... we even power the roof air conditioner WHILE TOWING, if needed...

so... here's what I did to make it the easiest and simplest method for providing 'while towing' power to the trailer/camper, etc...

A) I used a simple 20amp 10' 'construction grade' extension cord, plugged into one of the bed's outlets.(shown below)
B) I snaked the extension cord down thru the tailgate edge, to underneath the tailgate, into the bumper area, around and thru some bumper mounting hardware, and...(shown below)
C) cut off the other end of that same extension cord and wired it into a 'thru wall' 20amp OUTLET(shown below)... which is mounted thru the 'tag plate' area just under the spare tire access cover. It matches perfectly.

Now, you have CONSTANT power to anything you want to 'plug in' to your 'bumper...

D) for us, the object of providing power while towing becomes a question of 'slack' in the connection between the truck, the extension cord, and the trailer/camper... this is accomplished by using ANOTHER similar extension cord, which plugs into the new bumper outlet of the truck bumper, and then snakes back over the hitch, and into whatever 'method' you want to use to get power to the trailer:
E) since our small camper has a 30amp 120v shore cord, but one that exits out the driver side, near the rear, we used the 'extension' cord from the truck, snaked under and thru the trailer's framing(which had nice large holes almost perfect for this application), and up to the shore cord, where an adapter was used to connect the two.

Works great.

now, if you are asking about my previous comment that these outlets provide 30amp output, it is true: Ford uses a 240v Inverter for this whole 'box' of outlets, including, of course, the 240v 30amp twist-lock outlet. These 4) '20amp' household type outlets get power from that SAME inverter, and therefore are actually tested and confirmed to have up to 30amps of 120v output, each, although 30amps, at 240v, in TOTAL for all output(that's actually 60amps at 120v).

Now, does this mean you will ever NEED 30amps from this type of outlet? Probably not, but you certainly can see that if you have a trailer/camper plugged in, either while traveling, or even while OFF-GRID camping, you can actually be comfortable with running a roof air conditioner, if needed.
Having said that, power management is a thing that all CAMPER owners should, and probably do, know, but, of course, how many 'things' you can power at the same time is up to the owner's discretion... and the size of your extension cord, etc.

If you have a 50amp 240v trailer/camper and you are trying to use the 240v power from the truck, well, you are asking for more than you'll probably really need, for camping, and you'll probably be in for a much larger project...though not inconceivable.

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[kraxner]

Thanks William, this is fantastic. I'll have to try the 120V first to see what I need. The only issue I have is when the receptacle door is open the truck doesn't let you put it in drive until you acknowledge the warning. Do you have that issue too?

 

[hturnerfamily]

I wouldn't call that an 'issue', it's just a Ford feature to alert you to something just in case you are about to drive off with something plugged into your outlet, and STILL plugged in to something else.... but, yes, while a bit annoying, you'll see that everytime.

 

[chl]

now, if you are asking about my previous comment that these outlets provide 30amp output, it is true: Ford uses a 240v Inverter for this whole 'box' of outlets, including, of course, the 240v 30amp twist-lock outlet. These 4) '20amp' household type outlets get power from that SAME inverter, and therefore are actually tested and confirmed to have up to 30amps of 120v output, each, although 30amps, at 240v, in TOTAL for all output(that's actually 60amps at 120v).

Now, does this mean you will ever NEED 30amps from this type of outlet? Probably not, but you certainly can see that if you have a trailer/camper plugged in, either while traveling, or even while OFF-GRID camping, you can actually be comfortable with running a roof air conditioner, if needed.

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I'd be cautious about pulling 30A on '20amp' household type outlets" which could be damaged by doing that. I wonder if the 20A circuits are using heavy enough wire for 30A as well.

I am surprised that, from what you seem to be saying, the 120v outlets are not on a separate 20A circuit breaker that would trip if over-current (30A) is detected.

I haven't seen any detailed wiring schematic of the ProPower system, but I assume that the 7.2kW inverter runs all the bed outlets, and the 120v are wired from the two halves of a 240v split phase inverter output (as in the image).

If that is the case, I can see how they could theoretically be capable of 30A, which is the current rating of the 240v inverter output, but I would have thought there would be a separate circuit breaker for the 120v outlets.

Is there a source link for the wiring of the ProPower 7.2kW system, I'd be interested in seeing how that works?

It would seem prudent to use the 80% rule and not pull more that 16A from a 20A circuit or 24A from a 30A circuit for continuous loads.

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