New Bull bar

^Hey, you need to hit me up when that happens, lol!

 

I have PIAA 520 series Driving lights ...they're 85W.

http://www.piaa.com/Lamps/Lamp-pages/520.html

 

i liek those

 

I have the KC lightbar. Not really a bull bar, but it mounts 4 lights.

The two outer lights are KC 100 Watt driving lights, slimline. I wired them to turn on with the brights. They're switched so if I'm in town, or in an area where I want to avoid any undo attention, I can turn them off so they don't come on with the brights. I have noticed though, that the lights on these Taco's are freaking amazing anyway. Dims with fogs on is very nice, brights are pretty damn bright. Driving lights fill in the dark areas and really reach way out there.

On the rare occasion where speed + deserted back road warrants it, I have long range KC Slimlight pencil beams in the middle. Nothing escapes me. Nothings jumping out in front of me. I wish my motorcycles had lights like these.

I purchased Toyota OEM switches from someone on Ebay. Popped out the plugs and wired them. None of that cheesy Hella stuff, none of that cheesy KC stuff. Original OEM Toyota foglight switches. Do a search.

 

Wow, this thread is helping me out a lot. I'm trying to figure out what lights to get for mine.

 

Im still not sure which ones to get for mine. if i wanted to use it on the road as extra brights what kinda of wattage am i looking for ive seen 1 set that 55watt that was the hella 500s every thing else ive seen be it off-road, driving or fog lights are all 100 watt

 

I'd bet the damn good Taco highbeams would overpower a 55 watt lamp, meaning your brights would be on and you wouldn't be able to notice if your driving lights were on or not. This would be assuming you have them aimed correctly. Point them each 30 degrees outboard and you'd see them turn on and off but then what good are they?

In my experience the brights are good enough for around down. In town you're never going to hit the kind of speeds that make the driving lights helpful. And in town you're more likely to be hassled for having either 55 or 100w lights on with your brights. If you're out in the country, lonely deserted roads and all, the kind of roads that allow a little higher speed without the increased risk of attracting John Law's attention, you'll be glad you went with at least 100w. My brights with the 100w'ers are perfect, there is no way I'm going to overdrive my headlights at near-legal speeds.

And for the rare occasion where I do exceed the speed limit by an even greater amount, I kick in the 130W halogens also. At this point I have six lights burning. For me, 55w are for show or fog lights. My truck already has fog lights.

 

Can you wire the auxiliary lights through the parking lights rather than the high beams? I don't want to trial and error my way through my electrical system!

 

Probably, but why would you want to? You'd probably want to just run them from a regular switch (search for and buy an OEM foglight switch from ebay for that really cool look).

Tapping in to the parking lights would be exactly the same as tapping in to the high beam, you'd have to find the correct wire and use the vampire tap in either situation.

I like having my 100w driving lights wired in the high beam circuit. No effort is required to activate them, just push the bar forward. The switch in the driving light circuit controls how the driving lights behave with the brights on; switch on, high beams and driving lights on. Switch off, high beams on and driving lights off.

I am no electrician, am colorblind, can't see out of one eye and shake like a leaf in a hurricane. I am very averse to destroying brand new expensive vehicles and usually do when I try. However, wiring this circut was pretty easy. I just stayed off the sauce until I was done. You can find the wire to tap in to by looking up the bulb (forget what the number is) on the internet and studying a diagram. I BELIEVE (verify for yourself, I'd hate for you to rely on my failing memory ) it's the inboard wire for the drivers side light.

If you use just a plain ole switch though, you can sell the vampire tap on Ebay.

 

Thanks sidewinder. The reason I asked is cause I want to be able to use the extra lights independently from the headlights, but still want them wired so they'll go off with the key.

 

I don't understand why someone would wire them to any existing lights. I have mine wired straight from the battery but the switch/relay is powered from a spare fuse plug in the interior that automatically powers off when the key is turned off. That gives you the most flexibility when it comes to turning on/off the extra lights, but insures that they go off when you shut off the truck.

 

That is the route I'm going to take........honestly though, f-ing with the fuse block intimidates me.

 

I understand that. However, it's not as scary as it seems. We can help...

 

I guess the reason I like them wired in to the high beam circuit is because I'm lazy. When I hit the high beams I don't want to have to push a switch too. And on the flip side, when the sheriff comes up from over the hill, I want to be able to kill the driving lights by killing the brights. Having to find the switch to turn off the lights takes a little bit more time and effort. I wouldn't have my driving lights any other way.

I did not, however, know the trick of using a spare fuse plug to power the long range lights. That's intriguing. How hard is it going to be for me to rewire my long range lights so they turn off with the key? They don't right now. I'll have to do some serious thinking about whether I want the key in the ignition to use the lights or not. Hmmmmmm.......

 

Please do. Educate me so I may educate others. I'm being serious. I would like to know how to tap in to that fuse block. I appreciate the help.

 

For me - it's because of inspection. PA is very strict - and they've gotta be wired a certain way.

However - you can get *around* it, it just depends on where you go for inspections.

I'd be curious to wire them direct myself and simply unplug them for inspection. My regular inspection guy - mentioned I could simply unplug them and they'd pass inspection. It's all a legality...and hope that some police officer somewhere isn't familiar with the regulations and see you running them when you're not supposed to.

 

OK...so I guess there are reasons for wiring them to your existing lights. It seems the reasons are mostly because you are doing something that is technically illegal. I didn't think of that...my bad.

Hey Toy...I will try to write something up with pics in the next day or 2...

 

I live in PA, so I understand the legal ramifications, but I plan on keeping these covered and have no intention of using them on the street.

Thanks rhoppas, it is much appreciated.

 

Something similar to this? (pict of interior fuse box)

 

I don't really know, since I've never done it. I'd rather tap into the one under the hood (I think).