Can OEM fog harness power 2 18x pods and a 20 inch single row?

Any lighting gurus or electrical folks opinions are greatly appreciated. I dont want to run another switch or add wiring if I dont have to, im looking to install a 20 inch single row. I havent chosen one yet but need to since my bumper should arrive in a week or so.

I currently have cali raised fog pods, i think they are 18w each, can the factory wiring harness handle the draw of the two pods and a 20 inch single row all on the one oem switch/relay?

 

It all depends on what current (amps) the lights you choose draw and what the wiring and relay are rated for. The first thing I would do is determine the total power draw (divide that by 12 to get current) of your fogs and light bar. Without knowing that you won't get an accurate answer.

 

I dont know much about electrical, power draw is amps, volts or watts?

The bar im looking at is 60 watts, the pods are 18 watts each for 96 watts. I think the oem fogs in 12+ is 55watts each for 110 watts.

Not sure on volts or amps

 

Car electrical generally runs somewhere around 12.6Vdc to 13.2Vdc but to keep things simple we'll use 12Vdc for the calculations. If the OEM fog lights draw 55 watts each (110 watts total) then the current draw for those will be 110W/12V = 9.16 amps.

The formula is Current (amps) = Power (watts) / Voltage (volts).

The fuse on the fog lights is rated at 15 amps. Generally the wiring and any associated relay must be able to handle that current (the fuse must be the weak link and be first thing to burn/open in an overload condition) so the wiring and relay should be rated higher than 15 amps. It makes sense that Toyota built in about 50% operating margin (comparing 9.16 amps calculated to 15 amps fuse rating) since it's poor practice to draw the maximum rated current through wiring. When that happens electrical fires start.

The light bar plus fog light combination you're planning to install is rated at 96W which means it draws 8 amps (96W/12V = 8A). This is below the current draw of the OEM fog light setup so this is good.

I think you will be okay but to be on the safe side I'd verify that the wiring thickness to each of the individual fog lights (I'm assuming you haven't changed the OEM wiring to the fog lights) is the same thickness as the main wire coming from the fog light relay/main harness before it branches off to the individual fog lights. I'd check this because I'm guessing you'll want to tap into the wiring at one of the fog lights to power your light bar. This means one side of that wiring will bear the brunt of the 5 amps drawn by the light bar plus the 1.5A drawn by one fog light.

When you connect the light bar wiring to the fog light wiring make sure you use good crimps (ideally something waterproof since that area will get wet).

 

thank you for the clarification and explanation! I plan to run the two pods off one side, 36 watts, 3 amps. and the bar off the otherside, 60 watts, 5 amps. Being that one side was designed for 55 watts, ill be increasing the load by 5 watts, .416 amps.. right?

 

Yep, 5W difference means 0.416 additional amps. That shouldn't cause any electrical problems the way you're doing it.

I was just thinking though that since your light bar will be on at the same time as the fog lights that it might not be street legal depending on where you live.

 

fog pods arent DOT either, i wont be using these on road. mostly at the mall. Thanks again

 

If you decide to wire up a separate switch, let me know, I've got some spare relays and such around, the wiring would easily handle at least one of those sets / bars of led's no problem. I'm preparing to wire in a 6 switch panel into my overhead with lights and winch control so adding one or two circuits to your setup should be no sweat.

 

I've got 4 pods and 20" light bar on factory fog light wiring harness, no problems at all. Wouldn't add any more then that

 

Try it and find out, worst case scenario, youll just blow the fuse.

Thats how i figured out i could add a 30inch to my 3rd gen high beam without an issue.