I know, I’m the total geek with all the electronics that I have in our Toyota FJ Cruiser. To control all these devices in our last FJ I built a switch console using rocker switches that I mounted in the celling. Though this system worked fine it required lots of wires being run to the switches and I was limited to 8 circuits.

This time around I wanted to simplify things and I started looking for other switch console solutions. I found Auto Rod Controls.

ARC builds a system that uses a master console attached to a relay module with a ribbon cable or in our case 2 ribbon cables. The system is available in a 4, 8 or 12 circuit model. The switch console controls the relays act as the actual switches for the devices. The nice thing about this configuration is no additional relays are required for high amp circuits. I chose the 12 circuit model for my installation.

I mounted the control module under the hood using a custom bracket the I built.

The relay module is built using high quality components and water should not cause any problems.

The switch module is mounted to the ceiling using Velcro. The 2 ribbon cables are run through firewall to the relay module.

The system has made it really easy to add additional switched circuits to the FJ. I still have 4 open switches that will be used for expansion. For me the simplification that this system provides makes it worth the expense.

Cost: $262.95

Time: 3.5 hours