I am Installing Garmin Live scope on my 1995 Ranger 372V. I have things setup where I think I want them but I have run into a snag. I want to put the Black box in the rod locker in front of the driver console.
However I cant seem to get the wiring from the access panel in the bow through the gunnel to that locker. Any suggestions? I will have to recess the trolling motor pedal to have room on the bow for the 126sv. Any suggestions or lessons learned you want to share?

I have a 1988 Ranger 374V and I put the black box at the very front of my boat behind the panel where the trim switch is for the main motor. I'm not sure if the front of our boats are the same but that's where I put mine. I made a "Short" for my upgrades on youtube and I'll post the link so you can see the black panel where the trim switch is on mine. I have a dedicate lithium for all my electronics that goes from the storage compartment in the back with 8G wire to my console and all the way up to the bow for my garmins and the black box.

Bow of my boat

That is what one marine electronics installer told me. I see no way to secure it in there. I was concerned about it bouncing around and having issues. How long have you had it installed? Have you had any problems with it? I will check out you video but I believe they are very similar bow designs.

if you recess the pedal just mount the box on the bottom of the tray, easy to get to if needed and out of the way and no bouncing, win win.

did mine that way

I've had it there for a couple months, I used velcro on the entire bottom of the black box and it hasn't moved at all. I used velcro instead of glue in case I ever have to pull it out. I just got in there yesterday after I got back and checked too because it was pretty rough.

Installing it under the recessed tray sounds genius but if your Ranger is like mine then it may have a ton of foam fiber glass under the deck. The longest part of the tray install for me was removing all that foam to lay my tray down. Took me like 2 hours of just removing it to fit my tray and to clean up. So if yours is like mine then then you'd have to cut through all the foam to clear paths for your wiring also. Out of convenience or laziness I'd velcro that sucker at the front. I've had no issues with velcro so far.

mine is a 95 champion 202 and same with the foam (it was cheap back then lol). I just used a long sawzall blade for metal (fine teeth, 14 pi) and it cuts it fast with little mess. used a comfortroll tray.

On my 2003 I punched through the bottom left rod tube in the driver rod locker. I used a metal pole and popped the end off. I then ran the wires thru that tube into the rod locker.

Man I wish I had a Sawzall but I wasn't going to buy one just to install the tray. I used a jigsaw and it worked fine. However, I used a prybar to scrape the foam [censored] out. It worked fine, it wasn't difficult but it made a heck of an itchy mess and took a long time to vacuum it out. I also bought a Comfortroll tray and really like the quality.

This is all great and gives me even more to think about. When you recess the pedal are there any concerns of water saturating the exposed foam? I know my tray has a drain hole and I can run the tube into my front live well. Did you seal the exposed decking? I maybe overthinking all of this but I'm trying to avoid issues later on.

Heck no, the foam is designed to repel water or its water resistant or whatever. Water is not gonna hurt this foam. That's why its used in boats and docks etc...

Everything under my front deck is foam so what was recommended to me was to make a hole in the foam all the way down to the hull. I used a long screw driver to push through the foam, don't go through the hull! lol. I made the hole in the foam where the tube from the tray would sit so the tube ran straight down and the water that collected in the tray would go straight down to the bottom of the hull. Any water that collects under that foam runs to the back and can be bilged out like any other water that would get on the inside of the boat. You know those drains on the floor of your boat? That's the same area as where the water from the tray would drain into.

Now my deck has some fiberglass, then like 3/4's inch of wood then the foam. It would be a good idea to treat that wood with some water proof sealer so the wood won't rot.

Awesome thank you.