back up light opinion

so is it really worth tying in the aux back up lights to come on with the oe lights or just have a stand alone rocker in the cab? i know i can do both but is it worth it?

 

if its not a problem doing

i would rather have them hooked up to go on with the reverse lights

unless you need them on while not moving.

 

was thinking for night diving they might be nice to gear up

 

its great and easy to just add them going on with the reverse lights as well...
i put my relay inside the tail light wires..

 

Is there a switch that will allow you to do both? I would like to have them come on when I am in reverse, but I would also like a switch to turn them on when I am parked.

 

SPDT or DPDT or in other words on/off/on

 

ive got mine hooked up separate from the oem reverse lights with a rocker in the cab figuring that they would overload the circuit. its a real luxury having the extra lighting back there especially with tinted windows.

 

you have to install the switch......
i put mine the easy way in my lil storage comp in the bed so i didnt have to run a wire into cab.."just cuz im lazy"
then u tap into your power wire for stock reverse lights and put a rectifier diode on it then to the relay and your set...
done the right way

 

I hooked mine up with the oem lights. You put the trucks in reverse and you have lights. Nothing to do extra, nothing to think about.

 

No BU lights on the Taco yet, but had them on my last two trucks. Necessary for backing into those camping spots in the woods at night!

The wife drove the truck one night, and inadvertently left the back-up lights on. She got pulled over, and almost got a ticket. I went to RadioShack and got a small buzzer/beeper speaker and wired it to the switch. A couple of wraps of electrical tape muted the beep to where it was audible but not at all annoying (it was behind the dash). Never had to worry about driving with the rear lights on by accident again! Yes, I had a lighted switch, the the better half didn't know what it was!!

 

^this

wire the switch so that depending on position, your relay is activated by the factory reverse light circuit or the parking light circuit.

I did mine that way, it's totally worth it. I can use the lights as work/loading/setup campsite lights without having the truck on or in gear, I don't forget to switch them off when driving out of a parking lot, and they go off automatically with parking lights in manual mode so I don't run battery down. This is the third truck I have done this on, wouldn't change a thing.

 

Hey brutal where did you get the diode?
Joe if you have your parking lights on to use the aux back up lights, won't it kill your bat. Faster since you have more lights on than you need?

 

I am thinking you can get them at Radio Shack for a few bucks.

I understand hooking the DPDT up to the reverse lights or parking lights. I think this sounds great and would love to have on my truck. I am always afraid of hitting stuff when backing up at night.

Is there a write-up or some photo's of the wiring or wire locations to do this? I am not a big electrical wiring guy, but I think I can pull this off as long as I find the right wires.

 

On with the OE lights was easy! Just pop a tail light out, splice a line from the OE light to a relay, power from battery to relay to lights, lights grounded to frame. Switch in the cab involves running through firewall, fabricating another switch mount (or more expensive OE switch), and remembering to turn them off. Would be nice to have mine on while gearing up or working somewhere, but I can do that with the engine off, key to ON, and in reverse. Just have to make sure they're not on long enough to drain the battery.

 

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/technical-chat/4838-cheap-free-mods-9.html#post62510

 

Could you provide some instruction on wiring the lights this way? I want them on my reverse lights, but would love to have a switch so that i can turn them on any time.

Thanks!

 

Yes, I suppose that the extra lights could kill the battery, but I rarely need them on with the truck off for more than a couple minutes.

The truck is usually running when I have the lights on. If I had them wired to only turn on in reverse, I would have to shut my truck off and leave the trans in reverse with the ignition key on, then I would worry about killing the battery.

I saw a news story recently about a guy who had wired his lights to come on in reverse. He was trying to load his truck at a self storage locker and left the automatic trans in reverse with the parking brake set. The brake failed and he was killed when the truck backed into him. If you would be at all tempted to leave it in reverse with the truck running, then for safety's sake PLEASE wire them to come on manually as well.

 

I use mine all the time. I installed them after I put on the Bestop. It was a bit tough to see at night backing up. Adding these lights really help(while reversing) and it is very handy to be able to use them anytime. Just be sure to hook the circuit to a Ignition wire so you cant leave them on and kill your battery.

 

How hard is the wiring job? I'm thinking of doing this in the future, but Im mr great at electronics/wiring etc

 

Easiest way is to buy a light kit that comes with a relay, follow the instructions and then install a different switch. I started from scratch on my truck. Here's what I did, sorry no pics.

Run a fused wire from the battery, to the "30" terminal of a bosch type relay (very common and should come in most light kits). I used a twelve gauge wire to power my two 55 watt lights, it is probably slightly overkill, but I like overkill. My fuse is a 15amp. Relay is mounted under the hood.

Run another length of twelve gauge wire from the "87" terminal to the rear of the trucks frame and connect to one wire from each of your lights. Ground the remaining wire of each light to the frame.

That took care of the main power to the lights. The next step is the control wiring for the relay.

I used a mini blade type "add a circuit" in the interior fuse block to tap the parking light circuit. You can choose any circuit you wish, but this makes the lights go off automatically if you forget about them. 16 gauge wire is easily sufficient for this. I used a five amp fuse for this wire, but I could have used a three amp if I had one. The relay should not need more than an amp to run it's coil. Run this wire to your switch location.

Next, tap the reverse light circuit. On my 06, it was in the driver's kick panel. If I recall correctly, it's a red wire with a white stripe, I think it's 16 or 14 gauge. I installed an additional 5 amp inline fuse in this wire and ran it to the switch location.

Now wire your switch. A single pole, double throw with center off works fine. They won't be lighted. You can wire a seperate pilot light if you wish. Connect the wire from the parking circuit to one of the outer terminals of the switch. Connect the wire from the reverse circuit to the other outer terminal. The center terminal is where you attach the wire that will be run through to the engine compartment. You could also power a pilot light from this terminal if wanted. Run your wire through the firewall to your relay. The wire needs connected to either the "86" or "85" terminal on the relay to power the relay coil. The remaining "86" or "85" terminal gets connected to a good ground.

If you hooked it all up right, the center position of the switch should be off. Flicking the switch in either direction will result in lights on with factory reverse lights or with parking lights. I leave my switch in the factory light position all the time unless I need manual operation or for some reason want to disable the lights.

Wish I was good at posting pics, or I would have taken some when I did all this.