add additional door trigger to oem alrm

I have a customer who is looking to add a pin switch to his tool box in a 2011 Ford F250 but wants to tie into his factory alarm, i have been looking at relays and door triggers to see if it will work and i think it will, but just seeing if anyone has done anything like this before, if i take a relay, 87 and 30 to ground 85 to - pulse trigger of the vehicle and 86 to the pin switch, that should do what i am looking to do and if the tool box lid is opened it should trigger the alarm......any thoughts?

Thanks

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Mike

i dont see how that relay is going to work at all.

just wire the pin switch right to the door trigger, diode isolate. assuming the factory alarm can be tripped by opening the door.

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Ted
2nd Year Tier 1 Medical School
Still installing as a hobby...pays for groceries
Compustar Expert

You will find that truck does not have normal pin switches for the doors. It has a normally closed door trigger system which rests at ground when the door is closed and breaks the ground when opened. Even the hood pin switch is this way, blue/orange @ BCM, brown 26 pin plug (F), pin 2. I would use this wire and use a relay to break this wire whenever the tool box is opened.

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Mike M2
Tech Manager
CS Dealer Services

hi,
use a magnetic reed switch (normally closed of course)...it has two wires. bring both into the cab area and connect in series with one of the factory door latch wires, or the hood pin switch. so let say it's wired to the right front door, it will give that warning on the driver info screen if it is left open. additional switches are wired in series.
mark

I would go with Ween's method.

If you use a relay, and the owner leaves the tool box open all day (on a jobsite, for example), the relay will also stay on all day.

You'd get away with it if the truck's battery is good and the toolbox is only open for one day.....but when the truck gets older and the battery is not so good, or he forgets the toolbox open for 2-3 days, you'll end up with a dead battery.

What about dome lights staying on while the tool box is open? Would you have to worry about this as well too? Or will those shut down after a predetermined time via the BCM?

Thanks guys for the input, after doing more research and looking over what you all have send over i think i am going to run a wire from the tool box pin switch to the BCM attach to the hood pin, might add a relay because customer inquired about adding a shock sensor as well i guess in case anyone jumpped into the bed of the truck, doing the install tomorrow morning I will post after i am done any problems i had and how it turned out

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Mike

didnt take note of the vehicle, forgot it had NC system. weens method is a great way.

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Ted
2nd Year Tier 1 Medical School
Still installing as a hobby...pays for groceries
Compustar Expert