Hey there. This will be a long post, so bear with me. I've come here because I was never failed by this community in my LC days (sadly gone, for now).
I recently purchased the Rocky Road Outfitters Adventure rack for my 13 4runner trail. Some of the accessories I bought for the rack was the 3 light bar and two IPF 868cs lights. They mount like this, just behind the sunroof.
The harness that came with the lights is way too short to use. So I've taken some measurements and I'll need to run about 9 feet of ground and power from the farthest light (passenger). The lights came with 55w and 100w bulbs so since I have to re bulid the harness I wanna build it to support the 100w bulbs efficiently and then I know I'll be good for the 55w too.
I'm so lost in this project.
I thought at first I'd just build new power and grounds and hook them up to the kits relay and use the rest of the existing harness (relay, battery power, fuses, switch, grounds and signal wire). I settled on 12AWG for the new wiring. I then discovered that the light housings themselves were wired in 18AWG. So I re wired the housings power and ground in 12 to match.
18AWG
12AWG
I used silicone coated fiberglass sleeve to cover the wiring. It's rated at 270F and keeps things neat too.
I hit candlepowerforums (lighting and electricity nerds, like us Toyota nerds) to get some advice and was told across the board to trash the whole IPF harness and relay and start from scratch.
I was also pointed to this https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0002MA2MM/ref=ox_sc_sfl_title_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A9C3XVKHZ6G15
Not sure if that'd be long enough. I started to have doubts about my plan to re use most of the harness. It was also pointed out that Toyota uses a ground switch for the headlights, so it changes the way things are wired. I got so confused. I feel overwhelmed really. I know hardly anything about lights and wiring and ground switches.
Now I'm torn between doing a complete new harness and reusing what I've got. I don't mind doing it all new because I'll learn a lot from it. But I don't fully know how to build it and wire it. I want to use the best components I can so I can have high efficiency and longevity. If I reuse what I've got, I still need to wire it. The instructions are terrible and I don't know how to accommodate for the ground switch issue.
The IPF harness has a 14AWG power from battery with an inline 25A fuse. It's got the worst mouse style switch. It's clicks are weak and it catches sometimes. It's stick on as well. It's built for me but I could do better with the proper guidance.
Well, If anyone has any advice, pointers or custom made wiring diagrams for my situation (haha), or if there's anyone in the Tucson, AZ area who wants to get together and help let me know! I'm really wanting to learn and get this project done!
Thank you in advance, Dylan
I recently purchased the Rocky Road Outfitters Adventure rack for my 13 4runner trail. Some of the accessories I bought for the rack was the 3 light bar and two IPF 868cs lights. They mount like this, just behind the sunroof.
The harness that came with the lights is way too short to use. So I've taken some measurements and I'll need to run about 9 feet of ground and power from the farthest light (passenger). The lights came with 55w and 100w bulbs so since I have to re bulid the harness I wanna build it to support the 100w bulbs efficiently and then I know I'll be good for the 55w too.
I'm so lost in this project.
I thought at first I'd just build new power and grounds and hook them up to the kits relay and use the rest of the existing harness (relay, battery power, fuses, switch, grounds and signal wire). I settled on 12AWG for the new wiring. I then discovered that the light housings themselves were wired in 18AWG. So I re wired the housings power and ground in 12 to match.
18AWG
12AWG
I used silicone coated fiberglass sleeve to cover the wiring. It's rated at 270F and keeps things neat too.
I hit candlepowerforums (lighting and electricity nerds, like us Toyota nerds) to get some advice and was told across the board to trash the whole IPF harness and relay and start from scratch.
I was also pointed to this https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0002MA2MM/ref=ox_sc_sfl_title_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A9C3XVKHZ6G15
Not sure if that'd be long enough. I started to have doubts about my plan to re use most of the harness. It was also pointed out that Toyota uses a ground switch for the headlights, so it changes the way things are wired. I got so confused. I feel overwhelmed really. I know hardly anything about lights and wiring and ground switches.
Now I'm torn between doing a complete new harness and reusing what I've got. I don't mind doing it all new because I'll learn a lot from it. But I don't fully know how to build it and wire it. I want to use the best components I can so I can have high efficiency and longevity. If I reuse what I've got, I still need to wire it. The instructions are terrible and I don't know how to accommodate for the ground switch issue.
The IPF harness has a 14AWG power from battery with an inline 25A fuse. It's got the worst mouse style switch. It's clicks are weak and it catches sometimes. It's stick on as well. It's built for me but I could do better with the proper guidance.
Well, If anyone has any advice, pointers or custom made wiring diagrams for my situation (haha), or if there's anyone in the Tucson, AZ area who wants to get together and help let me know! I'm really wanting to learn and get this project done!
Thank you in advance, Dylan