Need wiring/electrical advice.

Really appreciate the info guys. When I’ll get home from work I’ll look into it some more.

I do think switch in cab would be the best. I also am planning to install winch this summer, so I will need to plan ahead for that as well.

 

One possibility you might consider, the DSIM rock light kit. Comes with relay and mostly plug and play, just might need to extend the wire a bit to reach your spot. Pretty simple and pretty clean, if you're willing to treat these as aux cargo lighting. Assuming the rack blocks the OEM cargo light, having it on together with these shouldn't be a major bummer. If it doesn't block then all the better, more lights all pointed the same way.

 

$14 Nilight 10016W DT Wiring Harness Kit for LED Light Bars - 12V On/Off Switch, Power Relay, Blade Fuse - 2 Leads

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B076C4MXR1?ie=UTF8

I just picked up one of these harnesses for an LED grill I'll be installing soon and it would work for yours as well since it's dual leg for 2 lights. Comes with relay and switch, and the switch could easily be cut off and spliced to a factory style switch mounted in your dash. Only issue you might run into with the location of your lights is the need to splice in a few longer wires. Make sure to use environmental splices and/or shrink wrap to prevent shorting, especially on any splices outside the cab.

 

I totally get the desire for an OEM style switch, but you may consider getting an On-Off-(ON) rocker switch. I bought one for the lightbar on my Mazda3 before it got wrapped around a Nissan. The (ON) side is momentary but you can wire both sides together for the same device. The result is the ability to blink or flash the lights for a moment without clicking them fully on. While illegal to do, would be handy idiots driving around at night with just DRLs that didn't get the hint when you were behind them turning your lights on and off, or as a less dick move option than brake-checking a tailgater. I'm trying to find an OEM style rocker that will do that but I think I'm going to have to order something custom or modify something.

 

Hmm there are a lot of stupid tailgaters here, might not be such a bad idea after all, haha.

Decisions, decisions…

 

Hopefully this weekend I’ll come up with a plan. Thanks for all the helpful replies.

 

This is possible.
You need two relays. One needs to be DPDT to act as an intermediary to cut out the back up lights (if you care) when you run the manual override. Even so this can lead to accidentally cutouts if you leave the manual on.

I have a similar setup but used the cab bed light circuit instead. I can operate the pods as On-Door-Off. Very convenient. Write up in my build thread.

I have separate low profile pods for backup as well integrated into the backup circuit but point to the ground side to keep them street legal. Also in my threads.

I’ll post some below.

 

• Scene lights (Meso ScenePods):
  • I mounted rock lights and grooveTEKs after painting (red matches other parts). Very easy, cut out the cut outs in the Armor, set and drill a 9/32nds screw hole for the provided pan head screws and gently but firmly push screw in the grooveTEK in essence self tapping the Armor. I choose to pre-mount the rock-light in the housing but it makes no difference.
    
    For wiring, I wanted to be able to activate these scene lights [the Rock-lights in the GrooveTEKs] from the cargo lamp switch/door switches, so I tapped into the cargo light cable. You do not need to do the whole headliner removal, just the rear to need to gain access to the Cargo-Lamp cable.
    1. With a small panel removal tool or carefully with a small flat head, pop off the hanger hook lower cap, then pinch off the hook clip and remove the rear hanger hooks. This gives you enough headliner slack to access and locate the split tube conduit leading to the cargo light.
    2. Carefully trim the two tape mounts and release to expose.
    3. Tap the: Green (+)-Cargo-Lamp) and White/Purple (-), - ignore the Purple (+Brake) to drive your relay. I fished my lines down the driver's C-Pillar to my wiring junction (relay/power) connections that lead to the power side of the scene lights. More on that elsewhere in my build.
    

 

• Rear backup lights: (KC C3s) under the rear bumper switched with reverse. The bracket came with the C3s, the frame mount hole either existed or I used the stock bolt, I don't recall, but I did not have to drill or fab anything. To wire, I popped out one of the reverse light bulbs (as if changing the bulb), put a meter on the socket to find the (+) lead and then tapped it for the relay. After testing it all out I taped and tucked all the wires with tie-wraps/splice tape and split coil. These things take a beating behind the rear wheels so I went with high quality everything and mounted them closer to center. As "rear facing low angle headlights" they make backwards driving child's play in any conditions and I wipe them off every time I wipe off the backup camera.

 

Awesome write up man, thank you. I’ll definitely give it a thorough read when I get home.

 

Easy install, I've got my backup light on a CH4x4 switch up on the inside, using an addafuse for the source.
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/vicalis-2017-trd-sport-silver.543231/#post-20911181

Those look like regular 19w pods so you might be pushing the 3w limit of the switch, adding a relay is easy and gives you more room in your circuit to further expand.