How do I use High beams as a trigger for my aux lights? (2 Viewers)

[SR.GRINGO]

My goal is to use a relay to power my aux lights while using my high beams as the "switch".

I wired everything up correctly but using my voltmeter I get 12 volts on my high beam side both when high beam is triggered, and when high beam is off my volt meter still reads 12 volts on the high beam side. This leads to the question why aren't the high beams illuminated while the voltage is present? The problem is the aux lights stay on both high, and low beam. I do not want a switch in the cabin.

I read a ton of threads today and got that the red with yellow stripe is the negative side. I tapped into the red with white which is the positive side.

My wiring is the same as this diagram with my switch being tapped on the high beam side(Red/white wire).

 

[pjskinner]

Buy the Jumper Harness from Slee Offload?

 

[LINUS]

The simple way if you don't want a switch is to just use terminals out front.

You use one T-tap on either hi-beam, then crimp a shielded male spade terminal on for the relay trigger, IDK which color code the "+" hi-beam is, but pull the bulb & it'll be easy to figure out.

If you're using 2 relays just crimp 2 trigger wires into the shielded spade.

T-taps are way better than a old style Scotch-lock BTW. They are decent.



Does that answer what you were asking?

 

[nzeighty]

Could be faulty relay that's just stuck on
I wired mine in so comes on with high beam also used a master on/off switch which is a good idea imho

 

[LINUS]

Now that I look at that pic - how are you triggering your relay?
I don't have my EWD in front of me, is that fuse on the block a devoted hi-beam?

Also, do you have a resistor on the line between the switch & the indicator?
(If switch has a bulb, then disregard, they loop it inside a contained switch)
EDIT - reread post where you say "no in-cabin switch" - but pic is diff, which are you? - EDIT

If you don't & you aren't getting power to trigger the relay, then all your trigger power is taking path of least resistance to ground, being your dash light, esp if a LED.

If so, great - if not, you have your answer to why it isn't an auto-trigger system w/ a master switch / override.

I also only know relays by the symbols on top, not by the terminal #'s - so I could easily be missing something there unless you already 2x'ed that.

Beyond that - start at both sources of power & see where it isn't hot - you stated the fact you don't want a switch in the cabin so for me just taking hot off a T-Tap to my relay(s) would be my solution & what Slee sells.

Are you normally good with wires, or are you more a "moviing parts" guy?

 

[96Cruiser]

this is the easy way:

 

[ToyotaDon]

So, it looks like no one is really reading what the OP is asking.

The reason you have 12 volts on the high beam side is that the high beams are "ground side controlled". This is not a big deal; all you have to do is provide power to pin 85 of your relay, and connect pin 86 to the ground side of the high beam bulbs.

 

[2fpower]

beat me to it. @ToyotaDon

 

[SR.GRINGO]

So, it looks like no one is really reading what the OP is asking.

The reason you have 12 volts on the high beam side is that the high beams are "ground side controlled". This is not a big deal; all you have to do is provide power to pin 85 of your relay, and connect pin 86 to the ground side of the high beam bulbs.

Thank you sir!

I havery leads soldered too both sides of the High beam lights. Looking forward to getting this worked out tonight .

Thanks again

 

[sunrk]

Headlights in Toyota-land (at least in landcruisers) are negative-switched, meaning there is always +12v present, and the other side of the filaments gets switched between either having +12v or ground.

If an aftermarket headlight wiring harness (like the Aussie-made Piranha ones) is fitted, the only way to have the high beam indicator on the dash working is with a 'circuit completer' which is basically a 'resistor' (or a small filament lamp in a holder). Otherwise hi/lo beam switching will still work, but the high beam dash light won't since the factory outer headlight connectors no longer get used for lights. The circuit completer plugs into one of those now-unused outer headlight connectors as the high-beam indicator light depends on a low-current feed through the low-beam filament(s) when the high-beam filaments are on.

I know the wiring changes a bit depending on the market to meet different legislative requirements, so 80's (ie. LX450's) sold in the USA could have headlight circuit wiring different to our Australian market 80's.

I'm trying to work out how to wire up extra driving lights that switch on/off with the high-beams. It's illegal (here in Oz at least) to have driving lights (including LED light bars, etc.) that switch independently of hi beam, and illegal to have any more than two lo-beam headlights.

 

[LukasJ]

I just wired my light bar to my high beams, kinda a pain to figure out but I figured it out and it's actually quite easy to do. You'll need a relay to switch the power on and off to the lights you want to power and you will take the positive of the trigger and tap the positive of the LOW BEAM and splice it together then you take the negative side of the trigger (ground) and spice it into the ground of the HIGH BEAM then obviously send the switched power to the lights and ground the lights and positive terminal of the battery to the relay. I will post a diagram.

 

[LukasJ]

Aftermarket lights triggered by high beam

• LukasJ
• Dec 17, 2016

 

[DanMedeiros]

I am pretty confused about how to do this. I have the OEM light harness and have fog lights wired up with a SLEE aux harness that are tied to the low beams. I bought another SLEE aux harness to add a light bar. Can I still use the slee jumper harness? How do I make this work so that the high beams can trigger the light bar?

 

[LC4LIFE]

I use this as a reference - installation guide - Ironman 4x4www.ironman4x4.com/system/resources/.../driving_lights_im.pdf
The portion on negative switching spells it out pretty clearly.

 

[Ofcrtj]

is my chicken scratch diagram correct if I want to run auxiliary lights with my high beams? I want to be able to turn them on independently, with the high beams, and off totally. And if this is correct will a standard on/off/on switch work?
Thanks,

 

[ToyotaDon]

is my chicken scratch diagram correct if I want to run auxiliary lights with my high beams? I want to be able to turn them on independently, with the high beams, and off totally. And if this is correct will a standard on/off/on switch work?
Thanks,
View attachment 2233512

I probably would not even bother with connecting them to the high beams. If you want them on, just turn them on in whatever state the lights are in.

But no, your diagram will not work correctly.

 

[Ofcrtj]

I probably would not even bother with connecting them to the high beams. If you want them on, just turn them on in whatever state the lights are in.

But no, your diagram will not work correctly.

What do I need to correct to make it work? I’m starting to lean towards just being totally independent

 

[ToyotaDon]

What do I need to correct to make it work? I’m starting to lean towards just being totally independent

Firstly, if you read the posts above, you will find that the ground wire to the high beam bulbs is what turns them on. Knowing this, it would also make sense to put your switch on the ground side of the relay coil. To do this, you would connect Terminal 86 to the same power source as Terminal 30 (with a fuse of course) and use your switch to provide ground to terminal 85. You could also connect the switched ground from the high beam switch to Terminal 85, allowing the auxiliaries to come on with the high beams, but would need to have a switch in that circuit for the times you don't want the auxiliaries to turn on.

To make it all work as you originally said you want it to, I would have to draw it out and possibly mock up the circuit to verify operation. Hope you can make sense of what was said.

 

[KliersLC]

Hi all,

I'll try to help here, but two issues.

1. My art sucks
2. My explaining sucks

I have my lights set up with a three way switch (re-purposed rear heater switch) that operates the way you guys want it to. It has been a few years (more like 10) but I'll do my best.

In my case, the switch operates as follows
-center position, aux lights off.
-left position, aux lights on (independent of any other lights)
-right position, aux lights on, only when high beams are on.

A relay needs two sources of power, feed and signal. Get two relays and run power to them directly from the battery(with fuse of course!). Then run ignition switched power to the first one for independent use. (you could make this constant power, or acc switched power, if you didn't want the ignition to have to be on, YMMV) Your relay output then goes to your lights, and your relay ground goes to the toyota switch (one quick note, this only has to be done this way to make the LEDs work in the switch--any other switch could be wired on the positive side.)

Wire the second relay the same, but your signal power comes from tapping into your high beam circuit. I don't remember where I tapped in, and I have a slee headlight harness, so it may not be relevant, but I'll check. (edit, I tapped into the high beam relay from the slee harness)

So, now you have the two relay grounds coming into the cab. Attach to the appropriate wires Rear heater switch pin out and then ground the appropriate wires behind the dash somewhere. (also, full disclaimer, I used that thread to figure mine out!)

I tapped into an adjacent switch to power the internal bulb, and then somehow figured out the dimmer circuit piece--can't remember exactly, but I *think* that the dimmer circuit is ground switched also, so the switch had to ground there--I might have just tapped into the ground side of the adjacent switch. Can't remember.

Pics!

 

[KliersLC]

Also, for @ToyotaDon I find this very useful as I can run aux lights and high beams out in the country, and can shut things down to normal low beams with a standard flick of the wrist, vs shutting off high beams and fumbling for the aux switch all while stuffed into a corner on a mountain road.....

Cheers!

Dan

Actually, I learned that concept from driving my old mercury comet with a floor switch---hard to dim the lights mid shift!