Off Road Lights On with High Beams w/ Toggle Switch

First, if your here to lecture anyone on why not to do this, there is another thread for that here. Go there and decide if you want to do this or not. Ok! Now that you have decided if you want to wire in your off road lights with your high beams, here is how I did it.

This works as such:
High Beams On, Switch On, Off Road Lights On.
High Beams Off, Switch On, Off Road Lights Off.
High Beams On, Switch Off, Off Road Lights Off.

This is so I can toggle the off road lights to be on at the same time as high beams. Reducing the number of switches I need to flip in order to turn off high beams and off road lights at the same time. I never use my off road lights without my high beams on too, so it works for me.

Parts:
Standard electrical tools (solder, wire, crimpers, etc)
Switch (Perfect fit into the empty slot left of the steering column)
Splitter Harness

$20 Absolute USA 2 In-line ATC Fuse Holder, 2 Relay RLS125 12 VCD Automotive Relay SPDT 30/40A and 2 SRS105 12 VDC 5-Pin Relay Socket

Relay (Any will do as long as you have the wiring diagram.

I made a wire diagram so I wouldn't get lost (amateur, I know):

The only exception to the above is I didn't use the battery. I used a fuse panel that I installed. I made a thread for that too.

Time to start working.

I didn't want to splice into the existing high beam wires, so I bought this splitter harness:
http://www.vleds.com/h11-resistor-adapter.html

It's not an exact fit, but with minor pocket knife modification it fits like a glove. I had to cut out the center piece on the plug that will go into the high beams. In the picture below I have two splitter harnesses, one modified and one not modified:


I only needed the positive wire from the other end to run to the relay. These connectors fit both ways on the high beams, so I hooked it up first, turned on the high beams and checked the other end of it to see which wire will be the positive wire (you can check with a pen light). I labelled mine so I could put it back the same way later.

I added about 6' of red wire to the other connector to run back to the relay:


Next, I ran that relay wire and the wire I will use for the off road lights through the firewall:


Next I put the relay together and wired it up:


And here it is with all the wires hooked up to my fuse panel (I will clean the wires up later):


I ran the switch wire up to the empty slot left of the steering column. And hooked up the switch according to it's diagram. For the switch light and ground, I used the cargo light wires (green=pos, tan=neg:




The switch is a tad bit deeper of a blue than stock, but not terribly out of line (it also dims with the dimmer switch like the OEM switches):


Next I hooked up the switch to the relay and the off road lights power wire. I'm still waiting on my lights to get here from @CaliRaisedLed. So that wire is taped off and zip tied out of the way in the engine compartment for now. I'll finish up that part of the install later. But you should be able to get a glimpse of what to do from here for your own lights.

 

I have my light bar wired solely to come on with high beams. Your install is much cleaner tho

 

Thanks!

I used to have the lights wired to a separate switch in my 2nd gen. But thought I should go this route because it was annoying to have two switches to bother with.

 

It is. I used to have mine on a separate switch and I use the bar on roads when no one is around. Then I figured out how to get it to come on with the high beams and it's so much easier.

 

So this is specific to the @CaliRaisedLed Ditch Lights, but I decided to run the wire for the passenger side light on the underside of the hood, ziptied to the clamps that also hold the washer fluid line. That way I only have cables dropping in from the hood on the drivers side. Overall, I think that will work well. I need to clean up the wiring on the drivers side. Ran out of wire loom.

 

Frogsauce, I'm going to wire my Cali Raised bar very similarly, only using a SPDT switch so that mine will work -
Switch Off - Off road lights off irrespective of hi beam/lo beam position.
Switch On - Off road lights on irrespective of headlights off/on.
Switch Auto - Off road lights come on when hi beams activated.
I just need to source a SPDT switch that fits nicely into the same slot.

 

That is also a very good idea. That gives you the full range. I'm not sure if http://www.ch4x4.com/ has a SPDT switch available on the site, but it might be worth asking since those match the factory pretty close.

 

Awesome write up, thank you for taking the time to post this up.

 

I've been wanting to wire up a light bar like the original post talked about but that's only because I didn't know this was an option! For us electronically challenged folks what does SPDT stand for? If only ch4x4 made the switch that's so pretty

 

Single Pole, Dual Throw. It refers to the number of positions and connectors the switch has:

https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/switch-basics/poles-and-throws-open-and-closed

 

May also be referred to as an On-Off-On switch. And trust me, I'm electronically challenged, too. I'm relying on an engineer buddy who's a wizard with all things electronic. I sent him Frogsauce' post and asked if it made sense to him and if we could modify it to work like I wanted. He said sure, just use a SPDT, and of course my first question was what does that stand for. I have not found a switch from ch4x4 that'll work, but I've found a couple on Amazon that may do the trick. Once I get confirmation from my expert I'll post up.

 

Thanks letting me know. Definitely post up when you get it all figured out. I'll let you do all the leg work and just steal your idea when I have the money for a light bar

 

Be careful... SPDT does not mean a 3 position, i.e., on-off-on switch! Read on...

Single pole double throw refers to a dual position switch. Single pole means it switches a single circuit, double pole can switch two. Double throw means that in position 1, the power goes to one output lead, and in position 2, the power goes to a different output lead. It will have 3 leads for switching purposes.

An SPST switch, single pole single throw will have 2 leads. One input lead and one output lead. In position 1, there is no connection so no power flows to the output lead. In position 2, power flows to the output lead.

What is being talked about here is a on-off-on switch. A single pole version will still have 3 leads. The middle lead is typically input, and two output leads. In position 1, power flows to one output lead. In position 3, power flows to the other output lead. In position 2, the middle position, no power flows to either lead.

http://www.littelfuse.com/technical...ehicle-technical-center/poles-and-throws.aspx has some awesome pictures.

 

jkcashin, I'm not following what you're saying. Not trying to argue with you (I'm far too ignorant on this topic), but this is from the site you posted the link for -


SP and DP refer to single pole and double pole, ST and DT refer to single throw and double throw.

Pole refers to the number of circuits controlled by the switch: SP switches control only one electrical circuit. DP switches control two independent circuits (and act like two identical switches that are mechanically linked). Do not confuse ‘pole’ with ‘terminal’. The DPST switch, for example, has four terminals, but it is a DP, not a 4P switch.

Throw refers to the extreme position of the actuator: ST switches close a circuit at only one position. The other position of the handle is Off. DT switches close a circuit in the Up position, as well as the Down position (On-On). A DT switch can also have a center position (frequently On-Off-On).

I do know that my light bar works as I wanted and the switch that I used was advertised as a SPDT On-Off-On switch. This is the one I used -

$11 X-Haibei Waterproof Rocker Switch 12V 24V Spdt On-Off-ON 3 Position 4 Pin LED Light for Boat Car RV Trailer ATV (Blue)

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00P5R1CE6/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s02?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

Yep.. you can have a SPDT or DPDT with 2 positions, or 3. A 3 position one is often called an on-off-on.... and the two on positions are identical in an *PDT 2 position, or 3 position. The extra middle position does not make any contact at all.. hence, the "off" on "on-off-on".

 

Frogsauce, thanks for the detailed instructions on wiring up off road lights to run with the high beams and a switch. This is exactly what I wanted to do but was a little unsure about how to proceed electrically until I came across your thread. I followed your process and wiring diagram almost exactly except I used the Baja Designs Squadron Sport driving/combo lights with the Tacoma-specific mounting hardware and bezels to put them in the oem fog light location. I like the idea of keeping things looking stock but with the added performance/utility of an aftermarket light. I used a rocker switch from CH4x4 installed to the left of the steering wheel (required minimal modification of the surround). I installed them last night and promptly took it for a spin to test them out. What a difference in light output from the OEM fogs! Thanks for the writeup.

 

I'm pretty new to the forum, I'm adding to this old thread because I found a lot of useful information in it for my project. For my wiring of accessories on my 17 tacoma I bought the "waterproof fuse relay box" if you search that you can find it on facebook. these are hand made and I was impressed with the quality of it. It provided a good start point for a clean wiring job. you can get it with different lengths of wire leads, I ordered the longest wire option.

I mounted it behind the air box, I drilled one hole towards the side of the bracket that the relay box comes on and used the same bolt that attaches the air box on that one, On the other side I used the existing stud that is on the wheel well.

This box will give you 5 circuits with fuses and relays and 5 circuits that are fused but no relay for lower amp stuff.

I ran all the wires inside of split loom and labeled many of the leads. This is not finished so some of the leads are still loose and the loom has not been secured in this photo. I coiled up the wires I will need for a light bar and back lights that I will put on a Prinsu rack when I get that. I pulled the fuses on those circuits until I get them hooked up.

Here is the diagram that is on the facebook page where I bought the relay box, I added to it to show what I did. I used CH4x4 switches so switch wiring chart is illustrated for that. My ditch lights and bumper light bar are wired so I can toggle them on and off with the brights on the truck. I used the same VLEDS splitter off the high beams the the OP used, thanks for that. I also illustrated which accessories I took some of the wires to.

Here are the switches, lower left of the steering column, still waiting on a couple then I will finish that.

I ran the switch wires from the relay box through the fire wall near the steering column right below where the hood latch cable goes through a rubber boot. this was a pain but i got it in and was able to get the wire loom through also. I also ran an additional wire from the brights, a ground wire, and another power with a separate fuse from the battery.

This thread and forum has provided a lot of help to me, hopefully this can help someone else.

 

Any idea where I can find the splitter referenced in the OP? The link is dead and I want to be sure I get a good product. Thanks!