Hi all Starting this weekend to wire My leisure battery, speekers etc. the leisure battery is located on the left side battery tray and I need to get cables to underneath the r&r bed. What is the best way of doing this? I've got a spare wheel housing that's not being used for a spare wheel and I intend to put ply over the back cargo area so could the cables go through a grommet and run down to the bed that way? Or any other suggestion? Any tips or solutions greatfull.
I didn't have the option of the spare wheel tub. If you go out the engine bay below the firewall you have to run them under the bus to get past the fuel tank, but this brings you out under the RnR bed. I put mine in a flexi conduit.
That's how most do it, and how I've done it. Conveniently close to the leisure battery and easy to run down to under the r&r bed without the worry of sending the cables outside into the elements. Plus VW left a convenient hole in the wheel well, almost like they meant for you to do it this way. Just remember the grommet...
I had the same challenge, @LL Sax but didn't want wires running up through the spare wheel well and down behind the R&R bed so, following some good advice from a fellow TLB'r (@theBusmonkey ), I drilled a hole in the engine bay to the left of the firewall and between the wheel tub and spare wheel well (see photo below). I then drilled a corresponding hole in the cargo area, just above the wheel arch beneath the R&R bed (see photo below).. I then pushed some conduit through to connect the holes and make it easier to get wires through. The conduit was trimmed so it doesn't stick out as much as the photo above, so it's now a nice, neat job.
Thanks @MK-Bay Like the look of this, was it easy enough to line the holes up? What did you use to seal the conduit up, as wouldn't smells from the engine bay travel through. Think I may try this
This is where my leisure battery wire goes out under the firewall. I don't know it this is original but if you run the cable back from here along the chassis it can come back up through a ready made hole just in front of the wheel arch. I don't know what they are for, but there are two holes each with a rubber plug in on each side of the bus. I fitted a grommet and ran the cable up under the side of the seat which is where my fusebox is.
Actually I'd popped the hole through on the other side of the wheel well & got the arrow slightly wrong when I sent the pic to @MK-Bay They both work ok, and I suppose it's just about what is going on the interior side of the van that will determine where you position the hole saw.(20mm I think but it was whatever matched the big grommets and conduit) You can get up to drill the hole in the engine bay side to the left of the wheel well which doesn't have to be too accurate just mind the breather pipe. It's easier if you remove the rear light cluster as you can see better. Then from the inside, just guess approximately. You'll be surprised that they will line up. I put large grommets either side which were a tight fit around flexible cable conduit like this: Ours is a Westy Campmobile with the daft little shelf over the wheel arch inside the fridge cabinet. We've just put all the woodwork back in but this is what it looks like inside the bus. In the engine bay. The top red wire and the top brown on the LHS of the bus bars are the two feed cables which run through the conduit to the fuse box. It's not strictly good practise but I've also run the cable that supplies 230v to the ctek through the same conduit. Fuse boxes inside the R&R bed.. Hope this helps in some way. It's not everyones idea & may be a bit OTT for most but it's safe and was worth spending the time planning for us.
The holes lined up easily enough, but it was guesswork rather than science! I used intumescent sealant both ends of the conduit to reduce the risk of fire and fumes spreading via the wiring conduit. BusMonkey's given another excellent update, so you should be able to do the same without too much difficulty.
