The ultimate foglight upgrade H11 (not LED or HID)

Do you know if ray has contacted anyone waiting to buy this harness. ?

 

12 gauge isn't that heavy... I've been contemplating rewiring my trailer connector for 30 amps and thinking I'll need to use 8 or maybe even 6 gauge. the stock trailer connector isn't delivering enough voltage to keep the trailer battery charged when the refrigerator is in DC mode and drawing 15A. I will, of course, also need to put a 30A(or better) relay in the circuit.

 

What's the big deal with the wire size? A 100 watt bulb draws 8 amps it does not matter what the bulb is it can be gold plated but a 100 watts is still 8 amps@ 12 volts. I ran 100 watt H4's for 10 years with stock Tacoma wiring no bigger than #14 the lighting all ready has a relay because the little wires on the switch will not handle very much current nothing caught fire. Yes there is voltage drop in any length of the wire but it is highly doubtful that the loss could be detected it's not like 75' from the relay.

 

If you have a trailer package the B+ wire is a #8 it is protected with a 30 amp fuse and driven by a keyed relay. It is pretty much standard on campers all so to use a #8. Yes your fridge on 12 volts will draw 50% of you rated current so depending on the state of charge in the camper battery your are pushing the limits of a #8 wire with 20' of truck wiring and XX feet of camper. I am surprised your fridge will cool on 12 volts they were generally reserved for motor homes only that made there own power. Most modern camper fridges need 12 volts to run the controls but they only draw maybe 2 amps max. and only work on propane or 120 volts. Some modern RV fridges had a door heater to keep them from freezing the door shut but they had a small switch to turn them off on the inside edge of the door when you were running on battery and not plugged in. I run mine on propane never had it blow out just keeps on cooling does not draw a lick of power.

 

incandescent/halogen brightness is proportional to the cube of the voltage. at your fully charged battery, with the engine running, you have like 14.2V, by the time you get to the light terminals, if thats dropped to 13.0V, that is 76% of the light you would have gotten at 14.2V.

even 10 feet of 14 gauge (don't forget the ground return path), at 8 amps thats an 0.4V drop, so I come up with a 7% brightness loss.

I looked at the back of my trailer connector, the BATT CHG wire sure didn't look like 8 gauge, the ground was maybe 10 gauge, and the power wire maybe 12 (I didn't actually strip them and measure them). with a 15A load in the trailer, I was seeing 14.15V at the tacoma battery, 13.0V at the trailer connector, and the brand new fully charged Interstate trailer battery was discharging, a few hours drive ran it down to 12.1V. my trailer has a 3-way fridge, propane, ac, dc, and I was hoping to use DC while traveling.

 

Last I talked to him, I gave him the updated measurements for corrections on the prototype harness, which he requested to fill orders. I pinged him end of last week and haven't heard back. Last I've heard of him contacting people was last week waiting to get finalized measurements. I don't think he has filled any orders yet. I'll ping him again.

LeftCostNerd gave you the highlights. But check out this article from Daniel Stern:
http://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech/relays/relays.html

 

It would be exceptionally challenging to get an even heavier gauge into the ceramic H11 connectors.

 

I was contacted by ray at rally lights today and the h11 wire harness's are ready to go. Ray said that his boss has decided not to stock the h11 connectors. Crashnburn80 had extra h11 connectors drop shipped to ray at Rally lights the first 3 orders for the h11 fog lights will get these connectors the rest will have to install their own connector to the harness. I was the lucky first one to order the harness from Ray very pleasant fellow to work with. The cost for the harness was $ 63.84 plus $9.00 shipping. you can order the harness by calling Ray at Rally Lights at (610)944-3233 ask for Ray and tell him you would like the HL282H11 Wire harness. Thank you Crashnburn80 for a well written light mod and sharing it with all of us and cheers to supplying ray with a few extra h11 connectors.

 

I was just about to post that same update as he emailed me back as well.

 

+1 to ALL of this. FWIW, Ray said I got the last of the available h11 connectors when I ordered earlier today.

 

Package arrived today from Susquehanna MotorSports. Haven't had time to open it, but I think I know what's inside. Now, I need to order a set of Flösser 90w H11 bulbs...

 

Got mine Saturday !!!!!! Almost ready to install. Just have to find the time. Had bulbs for a couple weeks already

I'll let you know how much I love this Crash once i stop being lazy......

 

Very nice work!

I am impressed...

 

Install is a breeze! Easier than the headlight mod.

 

Finally installed mine today. Biggest challenge was neatening- and tying-up the wires. No night-time driving yet, but I look forward to that...

Thanks, @crashnburn80!

 

Just ordered the lamps, harness and the H11 male connector to complete the trigger side. A little solder and some heat-shrink and it'll be good to go. Did the headlight upgrade 6 months ago and couldn't be happier with that. Thanks!

 

Finally got off my arse and put this in. I likey !!!!! Real nice and a fun easy job. One thing that would make this mod perfect though!!!! A lighted switch to tell us when the fogs are on. I HATE how it's not already in these trucks. When I went to test these new ones i found out I've been driving with my fogs on for who know how long.


Anyone know a lighted fog switch mod???????

 

The stock fog light switch is pretty bad. In the daytime you have to feel if it is pressed in, it isn't even in an easy spot to see.

 

Thought has crossed my mind, too.

 

That is some good info! I may have to do this to my truck.