S-pod switching

[Salty4Life]

One of the items on my list as I build my truck is accessory switching. I plan the run an onboard air compressor, lockers, winch, and lights. Now I know I can’t drop that kind of cash all at once so I’ll start at the switches and move up from there.

The S-Pod system looks very attractive from what I could see on the YouTubes, but it’s all coming from mostly Jeep guys. I would be using it on a 2018 ram 2500

A few questions I have, are there any competitors in that space I should pay attention to? Electricity might as well be magic to me, but I can follow instructions and properly crimp and heat shirk wires. Do I need a professional installer? Lastly, since most of the devices I want to run come with a switch, do I really need the S-Pod at all.

 

[Boort]

@Salty4Life

I would be using it on a 2018 ram 2500

A few questions I have, are there any competitors in that space I should pay attention to? Electricity might as well be magic to me, but I can follow instructions and properly crimp and heat shirk wires. Do I need a professional installer? Lastly, since most of the devices I want to run come with a switch, do I really need the S-Pod at all.

Last question first, No you don't NEED an S-POD. for many of the accessories you list you DO need a properly sized fuse, relay, and wires large enough to carry the load. Think of electricity like water, you need a bigger pipe to carry more juice for power hungry devices like a Winch, Air compressor, than you do for lights. Components need to be sized correctly.

There are a number of other players in the power distribution space.
Look at:

• Switch Pros Switch-Pros
• ARB LINX Accessory Interface - ARB USA
• Team Tech S-Tech https://stechswitchsystems.com/universal-system
• Rough country MLC-6 Multiple Light Controller (Universal)
• "No-Name" and "Re-branded" are all over Amazon and eBay
  IE:
  amazon.com - B0749D7G8B
  amazon.com - B07LBD57ZM
  amazon.com - B07BLV634K
  AUXBEAM 8 Gang Car On-Off Control Switch Panel For Jeep Toyota Dodge Universal | eBay
  Switch Panel 8 Gang Relay On-Off Control LED Light Bar Car Boat Marine Off Road | eBay
• There are also lots of tutorials on how to DIY a relay box over a weekend. You might search these out to get more comfortable with how these systems work if you choose to do the install yourself.

The Jeep (or other make) specific kits are usually just an easy mounting option for the relay box under the hood and switch plate in the cab. Not sure if there are any kits specific for RAM trucks but the Universal kits should fit the bill you'll just need to figure out where and how to mount the system. Here is a video showing one person's way of mounting an S-POD in their RAM2500
Getting it installed professionally is really up to you and your comfort level.

Boort

 

[Cort]

While there are other competitors I went with and Spod. I’ve owned two units, one was their original and the newer one is their blue tooth enabled unit with touch screen. I love both and the really important part is the top notch customer service I have received from them after the sale.

Is it needed? No. Is it a great switching system? Absolutely.

 

[mylilpwny]

I went with the switch pro 9100. I absolutely love the thing. The blue tooth makes changing settings very easy. I originally had it on our 2016 ram 1500 and loved the set up and location for the mount i made. I have yet to transfer it to the new rig but will be doing so in the near future. The part that I really like about it and similar to the spod is that it makes the addition of new items very easy and you are only really wiring one with and a ground. As stated so you need it no, but it is very nice to have and imo makes the install of that many switched and relays extremely clean.