Ok, I finally got around to doing this. Whenever I park Oscar (aka, the Beast) for any length of time, I have to put on my CTEK ( ) battery charger/tender or it will be D-E-A-D when I need it. Once I left it for about three months and the battery was so dead I had to replace it. That was a PITA. Trying to get access to the battery in the beast with no power is tough. First, just getting in. Then, removing the battery involved removing the passenger seat. Trust me, don't wind up there.




Anyway, I was tired of snaking things thru the hood and trying not to get scalded if I just drove up. I settled it with a Hethelsport magnetic charger (Link). The customer support from those folks is off the rails good. Here's a short video of how it works
Frankenstein'd it with a Lucky8 D-Pillar storage box (Link). I lusted for one since I saw the first Plumb version, but no way was I dropping that kind of coin for that amount of storage. In fact, in real life it is TINY. Maybe a pair of gloves! Anyway, Lucky8 sells just the right side and since I have their ladder on the left, it fit perfectly. Now, whenever I leave the Defender for any amount of time, I open up the storage, slap on the mag charger and walk away. Coming back is a snap.



Here's my steps for the install and any tips. It was pretty straight forward and it took a couple hours because I was piddling around.

1. Rip off the right D-pillar. This thing is made up of two parts and is heat welded together. EVERY time I've taken one off, I have ripped the two parts apart. Happened again this time. Justin with Lucky8 has a quick video here that is also the install video and Simon at PowerfulUK has a longer one here
2. Install rivnuts where the back panel is mounted. In this pic you can see where I set the 6 rivnuts (blue arrows). No way was I going with the rivets. I installed the rivnuts where the yellow trim tabs were located. I threw away the ones that came with the kit and found 10/24 rivnuts worked perfectly and were easier to find replacement hex bots (10/24 x 3/4" long). I didn't have my rivnut tool with me so I upgraded to this one. It worked like a CHAMP. My old one will now be permanently retired for this one. MUCH easier to get the rivnuts set. Here's where I got it ( ).



3. Remove the interior trim. Here's a video from Simon again at PowerfulUk. He spent the entire time going thru the left in detail and just said "same thing for the right" in the video. Arrrgggg! Anyway, watch the video and get an idea how to easily take out the floor and the side trim. I only did about 1/2 the trim. Just enough to pull forward the back side of the panel.

4. There is a very nice access point behind the trim. Unfortunately, up inside the back corner is a horizontal plate separating the inside of that area of the truck. So I looked EVERYwhere for an access point. I eventually settled for this spot. In the picture below, you can see where the wire goes up into the vehicle. Cut a section of stiff wire and bent a curve in it (Technically it was a clothes hanger). Then I went from the orange arrow (picture below) to the orange arrow shown above in #2. I pulled out the grommet and pulled the tube aside. I believe that is the rear wiper fluid hose. After locating the two points with my wire, I duct taped on the electrical line and pulled it thru. A video on Fishing wire basics would do you well here. I'm sure someone can find a better way but I suspect it would have taken the removal of a lot more trim which is a big pita. Unfortunately, this access point (orange arrow below) is where one of the trim clips connects (blue arrow). No worry, I just cut it off and ground it down so that the electrical line could clear it when it was all reattached. If you are worried about every creak & groan in your vehicle I recommend finding another access point. Me, I can't hear very well anyway.



5. From there route it (in my case the green & black wire with casing) down and into the battery / area below the rear boot. Then route it to the other side of the compartment. I used some zipties just to secure the cable. Here's a pic. Over on the left is a connector for the trailer wires. I'm in the US with a trailer receiver, so it was simple to tap into this with the PowerfulUK connector (Link). Maybe in the future, I'll tap into the CAN bus here, but for now I just taped over those two connectors.



Here's Simon again if you want details on the Connector - how to install or more about it:
6. Now make sure you drill holes about where you want the mag charger wires to come thru. I put it relatively high so the entire thing can hang down. I finished up with some rattle can black to cover the sanding/filing to get rid of the burs and then I put a grommet in there as well.





EDIT: In the above photo, you can see the hole where I threaded in the cable. Eventually I made it bigger. In front of that hole, I put on a "Receiver Mounting Pod" from Hethelsport (Link). It was supposed to lift the charger from a flat surface. Unfortunately, the electrical "tails" were too long and still hit. No worries, I just widened the hole into an ugly scar hidden by the slick mounting pod. I highly recommend getting the mounting pod to lift it away from the body as everything is pretty flush against the vehicle.

Done! Now to wash & vacuum the poor thing. I didn't know how grungy it was starting to look until I put on that big new piece of plastic. Here's a final view of the inside.

 

Very cool setup for the charger. Does the cable fit in the little pod? I'm adding a pair of those rear pods this week. I figure I can put a bottle of Coke in one, and a 250ml of rum in the other. Just need to figure out where to keep the ice!

 

The rum might be pushing it....

No, the other end is connected to the CTEK charger. I just leave that in the garage. It's not large, it's just that if I take it with me, I'm sure to lose it.

 

Can you test fit to see if the CTEK charger and its cord will fit in there? Just curious. I'd love to do exactly this and toss it in there when I drive off.

 

Fit like it was made for it! Almost room for a pair of gloves with it...(Apologies for the crappy pics). I don't trust how "waterproof" the box is. If I did that often, I would likely put it inside a small drybag. I've got plenty of them - sea-to-summit makes some lightweight cheapish ones. A 3-liter would probably do it (Link).


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Job well done! While I personally don't go long periods without driving my vehicles, I can fully appreciate the ingenuity behind this, and for those like you who do go long periods of time without driving, its a no brainer. Seriously, well done!

 

Great solution. I use a NOCO Genius 10 10Amp smart battery charger with a safeAMP wire harness compatible with the X connect eyelet (both from Amazon) attached to the engine bay jump start points. Once installed, the cable is a quick connect to the NOCO and the cable lies easily over the bumper and under the hood (bonnet). Very easy to connect (no snaking and no scalding) and works well. Much easier install. I front end the car in the garage so this is easier for me to connect to power.

PS I have already installed the Lucky8 rear storage boxes so that part would be easy. The rest is a chore.

In either case, the easy connect charger is a must for me.

 

That is awesome thanks.
Also good to know the box probably isn't very waterproof.
I drove off a few weeks ago with my battery tender still hooked up on another one of my cars. It yanked out of the wall socket and I dragged it down the driveway. Not amazing. Lucky I didn't cause any paint damage. I like this magnetic solution alot.

 

Very cool mod!
Thanks for the write up.

 

How are people connecting charging leads to the engine bay jumping posts? I have heard this a few times, but no pictures. Thanks