Calling all Virginians (Tidewater area)

Just an update for the ones that interested, I spoke with the guy on the phone and he said that they can also do smittybuilt, mile marker and superwinch in addition to warn since they manage several websites. Please look into it if you are interested.

 

Yea you just have to tap into the wires

 

I have done that, soldered the wires, but the fuses keep blowing. Could I have a bad light?

 

Maybe wires are backwards

 

Or have them backwords

 

Is it fused in between the PIAAs and the foglights or do you just keep blowing the fogs fuse?

 

So the front diff is now in, could not have done this without Barry and Ryan's help! Thanks doods! Tomorrow all I have to do is hook up the compressor and this will be complete and ready for Shoe Creek

 

that is awesome!!! They do do good work...too bad you won't NEED it for Shoe Creek though but will work great at Uwharrie...

 

I will be gone by then, up in Great Lakes. The nice thing about Great Lakes is there are many more places to go off roading than down here

 

fa q

 

What kind of amperage are you putting through the fuse? Blown fuses tend to be pretty self-explanatory.

You've got 12v power. I don't know the wattage rating on the stock fogs. My PIAA 520s are 85w each, I run 3 of 'em on a 30A fuse with 12ga wire. No problems thus far.

I want to say you've spliced everything correctly but the fuse just isn't capable of handling the increased amperage.

 

I am pretty sure everything is wired correctly. I am using the stock fog light wiring. I hooked the stock lights back up and they function properly. Should I put in a larger rated fuse and try that? The stock fuse is a 15. What damage could I do by doing this and how high should I go? I could use the wiring harness that came with the PIAA lights, but I'd rather not.

 

I have my ARB fogs wires up to my OEM fog lights with no problem. I still say use a multimeter and double check the wiring...

 

sounds like you need a lesson in wirring....
if what u did is use the stock wiring for the stock fogs and the piaa's your truck will

 

Not sure what you mean. I am not using the stock wiring for the stock fogs and the PIAA's, just the PIAA's.

 

oh withdrawn then.....
then you have it wired wrong....if the fuse keeps blowing out as soon as you turn then on you have a dead short or your pulling to much amps through it

 

use your factory switch and just hook it it with a relay and some 12 gauge wiring

 

You need to do some math. I have 3 PIAA 520s, they pull 85w each, on 12v power, that means 21.25 amps max draw if I run all 3 on the same wiring. Which I do. The wiring is 14awg off each light, with those three ends spliced into a common 10awg pos and neg line running back to the relay/fuse block. Relays are good to 40A each, fuse is good to 30A. FWIW, 14awg wire is good to about 20-25A depending on insulation/ambient temp, 10awg good for 30 to 40A

You need to get some numbers, so you can determine what gauge wire, what type of relay and fuse you're going to need to put in place to keep the system from melting down. That will let you determine if the stock components are sufficient to power your new lights.

 

Got the lights to work, i'm an idiot. Crossed 2 wires, rechecked everything, fixed my stupid mistake and everything is good. Thanks for the help. Maybe I do need a lesson in wiring.