Tapping into parking lights

I'm having PuppyPunter Put together a complete plug and play harness that taps my DRLs and parking lights so that the backlight will come on with the DRLs but also stay on at night with the lowbeams on.

 

They don’t feel particularly secure but I electrical taped the fuck out of all of it.

 

The reason I don’t like this type of tap is that they are designed to cut the insulation to get to the wire underneath. That in itself isn’t a terrible thing, but if you look at the description on the taps, they are designed for multiple wire sizes. So if you use one that is designed for a 18-20 gauge wire, it has to be designed to cut down to the 20 gauge diameter, so it usually ends up slicing a few wire strands on the way. After a while, water and corrosion set in, and it can lead to issues down the road. The posi taps mentioned above are a better alternative because they have a sharp spike that punctures the wire insulation as opposed to slicing it. So same hole size regardless of gauge. They have different sized posi-taps because of the cradle that the wire sits in, but it is the same size penetration. I obviously go to ridiculous lengths to avoid taps, but if I have to, posi-taps are what I’d recommend.

 

Good to know. I thought about it while I was putting it on and especially it being my headlights, if they go out at least I’ll know what it was, and put a more permanent fix to it.

 

You’ll most likely be fine. If it ever doe give you an issue, hit me up and I’ll walk you through replacing the connector on the end You’ll be able to tell if the wire starts getting stiff around the tap.

 

Tighten the shit out of them when you twist them. Mine have not come loose in my Wifes audio system or my truck that I wheel or my motorcycle for my GPS power. The best part is its reversible. only a small pinhole is left and you can just tape over the hole.

 

The way I see it - a watertight harness is much safer for my headlights long term and worth the extra cost up front.

 

Installed PuppyPunter’s harness today. Love having my fogs stay on even when the headlights kick on!
https://youtu.be/dVJMjPXiKfE