Lighting Upgrade for the FJ Cruiser with the 4×4 sPOD Bantam

Overland vehicle projects are always fun. In fact, they may be as fun as actual Overland travel. I’ve been tinkering with my 2017 Tundra for the past few years, dialing it in to suit our needs through repeated use. And just when we think we’re done, I go out and do something stupid. Or genius? The Gear Bunker acquired a 2011 FJ Cruiser with the intent of it becoming a 100 percent dedicated Overland vehicle. No more swapping of tents, awnings and fridges out of my work truck every weekend. This is how I incorporated the sPOD Bantam into this new vehicle.

4×4 sPOD Video:

“Godzila” the FJ

The FJ came pretty well equipped in the lighting department. With a 50″ Baja Designs OnX6+ LED light bar mounted above the windshield, this beast is the primary off road light source. A pair of amber Baja Designs Squadron fog lights in the front bumper. An additional pair of white BD Squadrons on the cowls serving as ditch lights. And yet another pair of Squadrons in the rear bumper. Unfortunately, none of them were wired when I took delivery. With so many different lights for various uses on the same vehicle, how do you safely control all of them without creating a birds-nest of wires, switches, relays and fuses? The answer came to me while watching an episode of Expedition Overland a few years ago. The 4×4 sPOD Bantam.

4×4 sPOD

When building my Tundra, I came across an episode of Expedition Overland that discussed one of their builds. And they used a 4×4 sPOD to control an array of lighting and accessories. Once I looked up their website and did a little research, I knew I needed to get one of these source pods. This made installing auxiliary lights, compressor and outlets a snap. So I went back to the same company when it came time to finish this FJ. What I realized is that 4×4 sPOD had continued to improve and now offers a more compact solid state version of their original source pod called the sPOD Bantam w/ Touch screen. With a tiny footprint in the engine compartment, I felt this was the correct solution for the smaller FJ Cruiser.

“The Bantam™ will save hours of wiring & installation time! It is a small, 8-circuit (expandable) control system that provides a clean (one ethernet cable into the cab!) and safe way to power and control 12/24VDC accessories. Due to the Bantam™’s small footprint, the placement options are endless! No cutting, fishing wires into the cab or tapping into the vehicle‘s electrical system. It’s the perfect over-all solution for all your aftermarket electrical accessories with options unmatched by anyone.” -4x4spod.com

Bantam Touchscreen

The beauty of the sPOD is how it simplifies my job of running wires and switches. One single wiring harness runs from the sPOD in the engine bay to the interior of the vehicle. I opted for the 8 channel touchscreen for this build. First I located a good spot on the dash left of the steering wheel and mounted the touchscreen in the cab. I then mounted the sPOD on top of the FJ’s relay/fuse box near the battery. Routing the cable through an existing grommet in the firewall and connecting the two units.

Finally, the sPOD simply connects to the positive and negative terminals of the vehicle battery. At this point, you now have an eight channel 12v/24v distribution panel in the engine compartment. For each auxiliary light, outlet or accessory you install, simply run the positive and negative wires to the corresponding terminals on the sPOD Bantam. And voila, it’s now switched inside the vehicle on the touchscreen.

FJ Cruiser sPOD Bantam 8 Channel Layout:

1. Squadron LED Fog Lights (Amber) from Baja Designs
2. Squadron LED Ditch Lights from Baja Designs
3. OnX6+ 50″ LED Light Bar from Baja Designs
4. S2 LED Work Lights x6 from Baja Designs
5. Squadron LED Rear Lights from Baja Designs
6. Dedicated 12 volt Outlet for Fridge
7. ARB Dual Air Compressor
8. ARB Front Locker

Electrical

I’m no electrician but the sPOD Bantam makes me feel like a pro. It’s a simple solution that makes adding electrical accessories very easy. But use some caution and common sense along the way. Adding a large electrical demand on your vehicles electrical system may require some infrastructure upgrades as well. Wether that’s an alternator with more output, a dual battery set-up or both, you need to be cognizant of the increased load you’re creating by adding various accessories.

I’m planning a dual battery set-up from Genisis Off-Road similar to one I have in the Tundra. Which isolates the vehicle starter battery from the “house battery” running the accessories. I’m no longer worried about a constantly running fridge leaving me stranded in the desert. Additionally, the dual battery set-up utilizes a pair of improved Odyssey AGM (Absorbed Glass Mat) batteries which have a much higher capacity than the OEM Lead Acid batteries found in most common vehicles.

Bluetooth Feature

Another cool feature of the Bantam sPOD is Bluetooth connectivity with your smart phone. This feature allows the user to control connected accessories from their phone. Additionally, button customization, color changes and switches can be programmed to flash, strobe or dim. Finally, multiple Bantam modules can link together creating up to 32 switches.

4×4 sPOD Bantam w/ Touchscreen Features:

• High current capabilities (30 amps per circuit) with a maximum 100 amp capacity.
• Operates on 12VDC or 24VDC.
• Small footprint: 4.0”W x 4.0”L x 1.125”T (See side by side comparison to our Original 8-circuit system).
• Programmable functions for Dimming, Strobe, Flash & Momentary.
• Switch linking (create a master switch to control other switches within the same panel).
• Flexibility to add multiple controller types such as Touchscreen, HD smart controller, hard rocker switches and wirelessly using the Bantam™ app on a smartphone, tablet or any Bluetooth LE enabled device.
• Expandable up to 32 circuits that can be controlled with a single touchscreen, or an infinite number of circuits with use of additional controllers, limited only by the supplied power source.
• Ethernet cable interconnect with a 25’ foot distance limitation.
• Fully programmable via free Bantam™ app.
• Current monitoring (via touchscreen and app).
• Protection against: Over current, overheat, short, reverse polarity protection, and field collapse.
• Low voltage detection circuit that will monitor battery voltage and shut system, and all accessories attached to it, off when battery voltage drops below 11.2VDC.
• Ignition control for two circuits (switches 1 and 2).
• Safety lock-out for two circuits (switches 1 and 2).
• 16-position terminal block for end-user connections (both ground and power).
• Removable dust cover with spots for legends and port identifications.
• Universal mount.
• 8-position input terminal block for controlling outputs (3.3VDC – 24VDC inputs).
• MSRP $845

Family Owned

“sPOD is a family-owned company dedicated to creating precision power distribution systems for off-road vehicles, agricultural equipment, utility vehicles, race rigs, 12/24-volt equipment… in short, for anything with a battery. We provide power and control on demand for all your accessory and power distribution needs. Our system is trail rated and race proven!” – 4x4spod.com

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