The cigarette lighter to USB project went well but it still left me with a USB cord draped over the steering wheel. There had to be a better way.
4 perfectly good places for a USB charging port directly beneath my phone mount.
Apparently it’s next to impossible to find a USB charging port made to fit any of the openings in a 3rd gen 4Runner.
So I bought an off-brand Dremel and the closest size charging port I could find. Figured I’d give it a shot. What could go wrong?
The first step was to find some power. So I tapped into the 15 amp ACC circuit with a 10 amp Add-a-Fuse
I really wanted it in one of the smaller openings but it was just too small and there was no way of cutting an opening in the smaller knockout while keeping it intact.
So it would have to go in the larger opening. But what orientation? ( and how ’bout that armrest upgrade? )
Vertical would have to work. But what if I royally screw up this cut? I’d be left with a hole in the panel that would drive me crazy. I needed some practice.
I only found one of the two 4Runners Pick n’ Pull claimed to have but I was fortunate enough to find exactly what I was looking for – one large panel knockout. What are the odds?
So I quickly commenced carelessly cutting to see if this would work.
I let the Dremel get away from me a bit but the plan now looked plausible. I’d just have to be more careful on my only remaining knockout.
I taped my last knockout to protect it from the cutting tool, drew some guides, retaped, redrew, retaped… You get the point. Eventually I started carefully carving out an opening.
Aside from being a bit crooked, it actually doesn’t look too bad!
Cigarette Lighter to Dual USB
Wow! Nice work! So I’m just wondering… how much did you have to pay for that panel at pick n pull??
$0.70 after a $2 admission fee to look around.