The SAE J581 Aux High Beam Thread

So maybe use the DD harness black as ground for the switch?

 

Up to you. Sourcing ground is pretty easy. I would not bother shoving it through the firewall. But fused power perhaps. Or just add a fuse from in cab.

 

I bought the switch from anytime backup camera that you have. It came with a small wiring harness that has 6 wires, 4 in a row on one side, two on the opposite side. Can you confirm for me.



I'm guessing:

Blue - power in from high beam fuse under the hood ----- Red - ground

Orange - out to relay
linked with a jumper wire
Green - out to relay

Purple - power in from USB charger circuit fuse in cab fuse box ---- Black - ground

The orange and green have a jumper connecting them with something on it (diode? resister?)

I have a wiring harness from another set of lights I no longer use that has 2 DT connectors for lights, connections to battery, a a relay and a single throw switch. There are 3 wires coming into the cab for the switch. I assume ground, power out to relay, power in from high beam fuse.

Do I:
- connect red and black ground to ground on the one the wiring harness

- connect orange and green to the wire going to the relay

- power in from high beam fuse to Blue wire

- then I just need an add a fuse to the ACC in cab fuse box to the Purple wire.

 

Assuming that the layout is the same as it was nearly two years ago (maybe purple is the new gray?):

Green is a tap off of a high beam fuse
Orange is a tap off of a +12V accessory fuse
Red is out to the relay trigger
Black is ground
Blue is +12V illumination circuit
Gray/purple? is illumination ground.
The resistor/jumper is snipped

A few notes:

1. You're basically using the switch "backwards" from its intended layout. Instead of a single +12V source turning on two sets of lights (LOW and HIGH) or (LOW and LOW/HIGH with jumper), you are instead using two different +12V sources to trigger a single relay.
2. Because of this, the orange indicator lights will not work as desired. The LOW indicator will be lit full time, as it has a hot leg going into it whenever the key is in. The HIGH indicator will light whenever the high beams are triggered, regardless if you have the switch engaged or not (for the same reason). I haven't really cared about it enough to bother "fixing" this.
3. In my 4Runner, I elected to skip doing an adjustable illumination circuit. Here's why: the easiest method for it is to use vampire taps on a nearby switch harness, and I just don't care to do that (I don't like vampire taps cutting into my harness). Also, not sure how it is in the Tacoma, but the 4Runner dims the dash by supplying a back-voltage on the ground. So blue is constant +12V, while gray is varying the amount of voltage on the ground leg (0V for full brightness, +11V for very dim). This is what the rheostat dial is doing when you adjust it. If you care to do adjustable illumination, make sure you know how your truck is set up from the factory. For the reasons I mentioned, I decided to just hook the illumination circuit to the same +12V and ground as the rest. This way, the switches are illuminated brightly whenever the key is in. It doesn't bother me too much, as the switches are out of my line of sight while driving.

I would double check with Brian at ABC to make sure of the wiring functions. I'm surprised it's not outlined on the site like the other installs, or included as a printout with the switch. I ordered another one as well, to use on ditch lights...

 

@mynameistory, thanks, much appreciated, looking again at the website, I do see a wiring diagram for the switch in their camera harness diagram.

Purple could well be grey, it is awfully pale.

I may run the orange to the low beam fuse in the engine bay instead of off 12v acc in the cab, still trying to decide.

I'm not concerned about dimmable backlight, in which case it is blue to 12v acc and grey to ground?

 

Are you sure it's voltage that performs the dash dimming? I would imagine all new vehicles are PWM dimmed meaning a cycle of ON to OFF at high frequency. The longer the ratio of ON to OFF, the brighter the lights "appear". Just like 24 fps motion pictures which are really just still images but appear to the eye/brain as video. Perhaps you were just explaining this in simpler terms? I don't believe the dimmer floats ground up to +11v but maybe it does in the 4Runner or maybe I simply mis-understand all this?

 

I may be either paraphrasing or simplifying what was related to me, it's possible that the 4Runner uses PWM instead of voltage regulation. But I do know that dimming is achieved with varying the ground circuit, not the positive circuit. It's also possible that it's totally unrelated to how the 2nd and 3rd gen Tacomas do things. You'll have to remember that the current 5th gen 4Runner has been on sale, largely unchanged, since the end of 2009.

 

Yes, on the Tacoma the PWM dimming is on the ground, much easier to do it there so the "ON" vs "OFF" property of the light itself can be from any source, ECU, controller, etc.

I suspect it's the same story on the 4Runner. My gf's 1999 4Runner was in many ways identical to my 2000 Tacoma. Toyota likes to share parts.

LED's don't respond to voltage regulation as nicely as halogen bulbs and I suspect most vehicles use LED's for dash/display lights. My 2002 Tundra was exclusively halogen before I started messing with it. I believe most of the swap to LED dash lights was in the 2006-2010 range for Toyota. I do wonder how well the LED bulbs will respond to the dimmer in the Tundra, I'll have to see once I get to the radio bezel.

Of course I'm entirely not an expert here, just sharing my general expectations. If I were in your shoes, I'd be a silly dork about wanting PWM ground and a parking light + because I get irked about those things so I admire your ability to see past that as not important.

 

Just thinking out loud.....well thinking 2 things actually. 1st, this forum is really expensive. 2nd, if one is good two might be even better.


Hmm, clear pro fog for extra width or max spots to go next the max driving????

 

Just to give you more ideas on how to spend money..i have 4 ss3 pro 4000k driving lamps. 2 aimed straight and two aimed out for that ditch light effect. Both sets on seperate switches triggered with the high beams. I feel like they reach out far enough, i just wanted more width for twisty mountain rounds with animal life.

 

Just curious, why do you have the angled out lights inside of the straight one?

 

This is exactly what I'm doing with my second set of pro combos. Just have to redesign the brackets that will make it work. My single lights work, but they're a little shaky off-road. I think it's because they have too much weight hanging back off the grill support, and that twists a bit when I'm going fast over gravel.

 

This will allow the most light through the cutouts in my grill. This is an old pic with yellow lenses on the inside pods.

 

Yea everything has to be sturdy AF or the pods will vibrate. Mine stay steady most of the time, unless im going over real bad washboard roads.

 

with that bracket design i would go a bit thicker in material.

 

Agreed, though the majority of the flex is actually from the grill support bar itself (it twists with the weight when pushing the light with a finger). Next design will tie into both pins up front, and a strut to the center grill support in the rear.

 

A couple things stand out to me looking at these pictures. One, how poorly this phone camera captures what my eye really sees. 2nd, how little the factory LED high beams add to the distance of the light. They shine higher but not much further. 2 sets of low, then high and finally adding in the driving.

 

@crashnburn80

Looking at the pics above and this one of just the driving lights, would you leave them as is or angle them out a smidgen? I do have access to a certified SAE smidgen adjuster.


That is with the pod housings vertically level.

 

If you want my 2 cents, vertically you're perfect. I'd open them up just a bit, but not so far as to have a gap in the center.

 

Always appreciate your input.