Help! wiring off road lights (1 Viewer)

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

Joined
Jan 10, 2007
Threads
44
Messages
293
Location
Venice
i've tried searching and haven't had any luck.

i recently acquired a couple inexpensive off road lights from northern tool with the intention of wiring them up myself.

i have plenty of 12 gauge wire, a fuse holder, a relay, a plethora of connectors and wire taps, a switch and a diagram.... what i don't have is a clue as to which wire to tap for the power to the switch.

i'm an idiot when it comes to electronics. i would like to tap into the power for the headlight switch so i can turn on the lights without the key in the ignition if desired. or if there's a more practical wire to tap i'm open to that as well. can anyone specifically tell me which wire i should tap. and by specifically i mean the location of the wire and the color, etc. my truck is a '94 and i found a location for the switch (a little circular pop out) just below and to the right of the steering column on the lower dash.

i'd really appreciate some help...

thanks
 
You should mount a switch to turn on the lights as opposed to turning them on with your factory light switch. If you only want them to come on when the factory light switch is on in conjunction with the switch you add, that's pretty straightforward too. Decide when and how you want them to turn on/off and we'll design your wiring diagram accordingly. You will need to run a wire to the battery as opposed to tapping it into the factory wires though.
 
If you want them to come on only when your headlights are on, run a tap from your headlight switch (+12V only when your headlights are on) to your underdash (new) switch. That provides "signal" power to your new switch.

Then from there, wire up a relay to run your new lights. Run a power wire from your battery to the relay for actual light power, and use the power wire from your new switch as a signal to the relay.

Wow, that sounds more complicated than it should! It's pretty simple really. There are other ways to do it, you could switch the ground to the relay also.

If you're now in So. Ca. PM me and I'd be glad to lend assistance. I'll likely be in the garage tomorrow.
 
i want to be able to turn them on at any time even if the key is not in the ignition. like the headlights. i don't necessarily want them to come on only when the headlights are on.

i was planning to run a wire from the battery, with an inline fuse close to the battery, to the relay which i planned to screw to the firewall and then run a wire to the lights.

there's lots of wires under the dash.... is there one specific wire to tap under the dash that'll do the job?

i'm gonna pm ya fj80toyman.
 
I'd run 2 wires from the battery, both to the relay, and both could use the same inline fuse. Then the power will go from the relay to the lights, while the "signal" wire will go threw the firewall, to the new switch on the dash, and then to a ground. The dangers to using this method is that you won't be able to run the LED in the switch to know when it's on, and you could drain your battery if the engine isn't running.

To cure this, run the wire (from the battery, or an Auxiliary switched wire from under the dash that is only hot when the accessories are turned on using the key), then back threw the firewall to the relay, and then to ground form the relay. That's what I would do anyway, unless you have a secondary battery that you can drain down all the way and not worry about being able to start the vehicle.
 
Highly :))) detailed schematic:
4-08 (Small).jpg
 
a big thanks to fj80toyman for taking time to help me wire my lights. i now have 100 watt halogen lamps on my bull bar for around $40. awesome. learned a thing or two and met a great guy. :cheers:
 
Leroy, good find on the Northern Tool lights, i have been more than pleased with mine. The only draw back is the lack of wiring harness, unless you plan on a custom installation. Time for some pics to see how they look.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top Bottom