Wiring off road lights in 1st Gen

Ok, guys. I'm about to wire up some off road lights in my 1st gen. I hated the switch they came with so I got a CH 4x4 switch. The lights came with a wiring harness and relay. Each bulb is rates 100W.

Here is the included wiring diagram for the lights:


Here is the CH 4x4 switch:


And here is how I plan to wire it:


I have a couple of questions:
1) Why does the power wire with the 2A fuse have to go to the headlights? What if I want the lights to be able to work independently of the headlights (i.e. be able to turn them on when the headlights are off).Can it be spliced into any wire that has constant power?

2) The ground wire coming from the relay towards the switch harness, should I connect the ground wire coming from the switch to that? My understanding was that the switch needed to be grounded independently in order to work properly.

3) Does everything look correct?

 

@mechanicjon ?

 

How many pins on your switch and relay? Do they have numbers on them?

 

That wiring diagram they gave you is pretty eh, relays are a pretty simple concept. If you understand how they work you’ll be able to wire anything on your truck.

There’s a bunch of good YouTube videos out there

 

1. You don't have to wire the wire with the 2A fuse to the high beam headlights, but I believe it is a legal thing.... they don't want you turning on your big bright lights unless you are already running your highs. They don't want you to accidentally turn the off road lights on while you are running low beams on the road and temporarily blind someone.

2. You can connect all your grounds to convenient spot that is close (chassis or OEM ground wires) EXCEPT the high current ground connection that has all your off-road light current (the high current ground connection on your relay). That guy should be a solid connection to the chassis. Your new switch must have back lighting. If not, it would just have two wires and not need to be grounded. Red 2 and Black are there to light up your switch.

Always put your fuse as close as possible to your power source (battery).

Matt

 

The relay came with the lights and looks to have 4, possibly 5, pins (there are 2 wires coming from the ground. The included switch had 3 wires coming from it: a fused power wire, a ground wire, and a white and black wire. I am trashing the included switch and using a CH 4x4 switch, which has 4 wires.

 

Concerning the grounds. There is a ground wire coming from the relay and going to the switch connector. Can I connect the ground wire from the switch to this? This is a switch where the bottom LED is lit when the lights are on (or when the truck is running depending on how you connect the power), and the top LED is lit when the switch is in the “ON” position. I’m just not sure if it needs to be grounded independently for it to work properly.

 

I’m starting to understand relays. The relay was actually included with the lights so I guess my main questions surround wiring a different switch in place of the one included with the lights.

 

So these are the two schematics for a switch and relay I had laying around my shop. I’ll post a longer description/explanation once I get on my computer.

 

I guess I should mention that my relay is pre-wired. It has a plug that fits directly into it. Some wires go to a harness to the lights, some to go a harness for the switch.

 

The pins should be numbered regardless of whether it is prewired or not, and the numbering is the same for all relays so it will match what I posted.

So starting with the relay:
Pin 30 is going to be wired to you battery with a 25A fuse like you indicated in your schematic.
Pin 85 is ground (preferably a strong connection on the engine or frame)
Pin 87 is the positive lead going to your lights
Pin 86 goes to your switch, I like to call this the trigger.

For the switch, since it's 4 pin it's gonna be very similar to the one I posted a schematic of. Your gonna have one pin going to a fuse and power from your fuse panel in the cab. Another pin for ground. Another pin going to the relay (this is the trigger). And lastly a pin for power to the switch backlighting. I'm a mechanical engineer so I like to visualize circuits as water flowing through pipes or something of that sort, and it tends to work really well for simple circuits like this.

For the relay you have you power flowing from battery -> pin 30 then when pin 86 is triggered (has 12V flow across it) the power then flows pin 30 -> accessory -> ground.

The switch operates similarly, a relay is just a type of switch after all. (Going based off my schematic with switch closed) power flows from the fuse tap in the cab -> pin 2 -> pin 3 -> pin 86 on the relay -> ground from the relay. For the dash light function your power flows from your dash tap -> pin 6 -> ground.

I hope that gives you a general overview of how to wire an automotive relay. It'd be hard for me to tell you how to wire each individually colored wire without seeing it all in person, I like to work off of pin numbers. BUT, you should only have one wire running (maybe 2 if you run a ground up there) from the cab to the relay in the engine bay and that should be from pin 3 of the switch to pin 86 (the trigger). You are almost certainly gonna have to hack apart that harness they sent you, I hate using those prewired ones.

To briefly sum up the answers to your questions:
1) Ignore that yellow wire that is tapped into the highbeams, I honestly have no idea what they were even doing with that, because it doesn't go to the relay. You should only have one wire going from the switch to the relay (maybe 2 if you run a ground to the engine bay).
2) Was answered by another member, but the ground for the switch isn't as important as the ground for the lights. Ground for the lights should be a good secure connection to the frame or engine.
3) Based off your hand drawn schematic everything looks okay except get rid of the highbeam switch. I can draw out a new schematic for you if you're still confused.

 

No numbered pins on the relay, but it's honestly pretty dummy proof.




My understanding is that the yellow wire that is supposed to go to the high beams powers the switch.

 

Yeah I think you’re right, I guess they have it wired like that so the switch lights up when your brights are on ???

really strange

 

I did a Similar set up with my light bar. I can turn it on remotely with a key fob. Or it comes on when the high beams are on.

CAUTION! Make sure you aren't back feeding voltage into the high beam circuit when the lights are off. I have bi-xenon headlights and they were coming on when I remotely turned the light bar on. I ended up running two separate relays to prevent both circuits being active at once.