DIY: Wiring after-market lights

Sub'd for future reference.

 

@rhoppas , I see that your fuse tap has little "fingers" longer thant the stock fuse. I was wondering if it does fit nice in the fuse box even if it is longer?
Thx!

 

So I tried the fuse tap with the longer "fingers" in the fuse box and it does fit. Didn't knew about it before seeing it on TW, it is a nice thing

 

Sub'd for future. Thank you for the write up.

 

Great thread! Just bought my 42inch curved light bar. Posting pics soon

 

if a switch say a ottraw or oba switch has 4 wires from it 1 positive, 1 negative, 1 accessory, and one for the led light then thats where the fuse tape will connect to correct?

 

Looks like you might be a bit more savvy at electrical. Maybe one of y'all could help me out. So I split off my dimmer switch to attempt to dim some accessory switches and a backlit air pressure gauge for my air bags. The dimmer works but in reverse. The dash lights dim as the switches and gauge get brighter, and the dash lights brighten as the switches and gauge dim. The dimmer switch has 3 wires a negative, constant load source and the dimmed output. I tapped the dimmed output as the load for the switch lights and gauge.

Is there a better place to get power from thats further down the line that won't act this way or is this some other sort of problem?

 

Okay... So a few things pop up in my head... In your last sentence you say;

"The dimmer switch has 3 wires a negative, constant load source and the dimmed output."

"constant load source" is a bit of an oxymoron.

"constant" (in my experience) refers to a constant "hot." (directly connected to the positive terminal of the battery.)

"load" is the component the requires power (current multiplied by voltage)

"source" is the input supplying power.


That being said, I don't know the exact characteristics of the OEM dimmer circuit...

So essentially everything I say from here is based on speculation, so take it with a grain of salt.

I can only assume that it is a rheostat that varies the resistance between the source (12v when ignition is on/acc) and the load (dash lights).

When the resistance is increased, the lights get dimmer, when it's decreased, the lights get brighter.

Somehow you've managed to add an alternate leg.

Electricity takes the path of least resistance. The first thing I can think of is that you possibly have tapped into the source (incoming power) and created 2 paralleled circuits, where, as you increase the resistance of the oem circuit (dimming the OEM dash lights), you increase the resistance of that leg, thus diverting the current through the circuit you added, increasing the brightness.


If parallel, that might be the issue. However, if you add your second circuit in series, you would decrease the operating voltage of the entire circuit.

The only certain solution, with the given info, is to make the additional circuit completely separate, with it's own dimmer. There's probably someone that has a better solution, but I've never tried to add lights to a stock dimmer circuit.

See if you can find an accurate wiring diagram..?

 

Thanks for the constructive criticism. I haven't got it figured out yet but your reply has put me in a better direction.

 

Could you help me identify the 4 wires of my switch? They're from Amazon and did not come with instructions or wiring diagram.
Thanks.

 

Good to know

 

Just gotta say, I love this thread!! Thanks a ton to rhoppas for the time he took to write this. I dont think I could have done it without this thread. I did a couple of minor things differently like wiring the switch ground underneath the dash rather than trying to shove another wire through the firewall. Also, I too had to put a fuse in both slots on my fuse tap before it would turn on. Thanks again rhoppas.

 

Thanks for this!

 

Love the front of your truck. Did you go the eBay route on those headlights?

 

Amazon. They're spec D tuning headlights. 120$ grille and 60$ 34 inch light bar that claims 18000 lumens. 350 total for the setup. Watch out for moisture though. Id recommend sealing everything before installation. No problems so far. EXCEPT for the shitty ass fog lights that came with the leadlights. The housing got melted the second you left them on without the trucl moving. All kinds of bubbles in there... Ugh

 

Thanks for the info! I've read a lot on here about people recommending sealing the aftermarket headlights to prevent fogging up, while most others just say to stay away from them because they're not OEM, but no one says much about how well they perform in the long run. I might just have to give them a go myself to see, because they look sweet. Especially for under $200. Thanks again!

 

As far as pwrformance, the Halos arent as bright as i wanted them to be... Cant really see them durring the day to well. But evening/night time you can. The headlights themselves perform better than oem in my opinion. Overall, i think it was worth it for the money i spent. Wiring is a little tricky but any novice, taking their time, should be able to figure it out. Love the light output on the light bar. Went with the 60 dollar one because when i get a rock chip in it, rather replace a 60 dollar light bar verse a 600 dollar light bar. Ill post headlight and light bar picks if you want.

 

And this one just for fun. Most favorite pic of my baby right now...