95.5-2004 Tacomas & 96-2002 4Runners 4th gen pickups and 3rd gen 4Runners

Extra driving lights automatically come on with Highbeams

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Old Dec 12, 2004 | 08:03 PM
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Question Extra driving lights automatically come on with Highbeams

i am thinking of getting a pair of driving lights that go on with the highbeams. First of all, what do you recommend as far as driving lights go? I was thinking of mounting them in the grill, or right in front of the grill, which one should I go with? Any suggestions otherwise? I like the look of rectangular or oval lights, not round. For mounting I need some sort of anti theft bolts. I would like these to automatically come on with high beams only, I dont want a switch to control them, have them just come on with high beams. How would I wire them up? I would think hooking them directly to the high beam circuit is too much of a load, something with relays? Also, I dont think there are any blanks in the fuse box, how would I go about adding another fuse box? I need step by step instructions, lol. With all that I just talked about, would it pass VA inspection, I think we can only have 4 front lights on at once. Thanks
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Old Dec 12, 2004 | 08:07 PM
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From: Nor*Cal
you would use a realy and tap into the highbeam wire for the main fused power... however, most toyotas, not sure if yours is like this, uses a ground side switch...
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Old Dec 12, 2004 | 08:19 PM
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but would that circuit provide enough power to supply the high beams and an additional set of lights at the same time?
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Old Dec 12, 2004 | 08:24 PM
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From: Nor*Cal
when using a relay.. it doesnt take power from the highbeams... relays use its own source power wired directly to the battery or some other circuit or fuse box or whatever you are planning on using... all tapping hte highbeam wire will do is make the relay use a very low voltage signal and that will trip the relay and give you light with full power from the power source... does that make sense?
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Old Dec 12, 2004 | 08:33 PM
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Originally Posted by jimabena74
when using a relay.. it doesnt take power from the highbeams... relays use its own source power wired directly to the battery or some other circuit or fuse box or whatever you are planning on using... all tapping hte highbeam wire will do is make the relay use a very low voltage signal and that will trip the relay and give you light with full power from the power source... does that make sense?

yes it does
now all i have to do is figure out how to add an auxilary fuse box, i dont want to add anything to the oem fuseboxes, too much to fool around with there. if you know several ways how to do that, that would be great, ive heard to hook it up to the old fuse box and put a 30amp fuse there, or hook it directly to the battery, but how? What gauge wire should i use everywhere?
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Old Dec 12, 2004 | 08:45 PM
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From: Nor*Cal
wire guage can be determined by how much power you plan on running... for general 2 light setups using regular fog/driving lamp bulbs that are generally rated for around 55-85 watts per light, 14 or 12 would be the most suitable... you could go to a thicker guage (meaning lower number) but it really shouldnt be necessary.... i jsut added aux lights to my truck.. and i wired them directly to the battery... well main power from the battery, but through a relay.... these sites should help out a bit: https://www.yotatech.com/~corey/tech..._box/corey.htm

http://www.powerstream.com/Wire_Size.htm

http://www.4x4wire.com/tech/electric...matic%2011.jpg -- here instead of wiring the switch tapped into the power line befroe the relay @ #30 and into the relay @ terminal 86, you just tap the highbeam wire and connect that to relay terminal 86 directly..... however... do some searching on the toyota ground side switch.. im not exactly sure how that system works....

http://www.bcae1.com/relays.htm
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Old Dec 12, 2004 | 08:59 PM
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well if i could i would add more wattage for bulbs, i still dont know which lights i should get, any suggestions? instead of hooking directly to the battery, i want to add another fuse box, either under the seat, in the back storage thing(passenger side, PITA??) passenger dash, or engine compartment, i read the tutorials, not that clear on adding a fuse box or adding lights, any help would be great
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Old Dec 12, 2004 | 09:14 PM
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From: Nor*Cal
i would put an aux fuse box under the hood... otehrwise you will be running wires all over the place, and thats just a pita.. not only in extra wire costs, but also if you ever need t otrack wdown an electrical gremlin.... the general rule with electrical is keep things short and sweet.... meaning just enough wire to allow the circuit to work... you dont need a bundle of wire laying around or having miles of wires through the firewall
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Old Dec 13, 2004 | 06:05 AM
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Do you need extra fuses for anything other than these lights? If not, couldn't you simply run an inline fuse to the lights?
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Old Dec 13, 2004 | 06:10 AM
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Originally Posted by kpooch75
Do you need extra fuses for anything other than these lights? If not, couldn't you simply run an inline fuse to the lights?
I would suggest this no matter what. It will help prevent a wire fire from spreading into your cab.
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Old Dec 13, 2004 | 08:03 AM
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PM me and I'll send you pictures of exactly what it should look like when you wire them up.

As of yesterday, I have a set of PIAA 520s running 55W Hella HIP fog bulbs that come on with the low beams. Then, I have a set of PIAA 60XTs running 130W Hella bulbs wired to come on with the high beams. In about a month or so, I'll have a set of PIAA DENO1 or DENO3 LED lamps wired into the parking lamps and strategically mounted.
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Old Dec 13, 2004 | 08:11 AM
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From: Nor*Cal
just like the picture... + to a fuse then to the relay
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Old Dec 13, 2004 | 03:13 PM
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You should use a relay in your circuit. You should not try to run the lights off of the stock light circuit. It is not able to flow
enough current without burning something out. Even the stock system uses a relay to run the headlights.

Decide what you want the lights to activate with. If you are connecting driving lights they should be connected to the
highbeams because that is what they are. It is against the law to use "driving lights" unless you are allowed to use your
highbeam headlights. If you are connecting fog lights they should be connected to the low beam, but most people tend to connected them
to the parking lights.

Remove the lower panel from below the steering wheel. Use a circuit tester to find the wire that is 12+ when the highbeam lights
are on. Tap into that wire and run it to your switch as the power in. Run a wire from the switch power out into the engine
compartment to your relay and connect the wire to the terminal on the relay that will cause the relay to trip.

Connect the relay ground terminal to ground. This completes the relay circuit and with the switch on and with the highbeams on it will
cause the relay to click. If it does not start your troubleshooting now.

Next, run a fused wire from the positive battery terminal to the relay power in. Run a wire from the relay power out to the lights.
Ground the other wire on the lights to ground.

You now have auxiliary highbeam lights (ie. Driving lights) that will activate when your highbeam lights are switched on.
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Old Dec 13, 2004 | 04:42 PM
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Originally Posted by dibble9012
now all i have to do is figure out how to add an auxilary fuse box...
From the Tech section, I have two write-ups on installing an aux. box, and how to wire up lights.

You do want to use a relay, and the schematic I have scanned in is how Hella tells you how to do it, via your high beams.

You do not have to do it that way, I like total control of my lights, thus my write-up.

Aux, fuse box

Wiring up lights
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Old Jan 7, 2005 | 09:29 PM
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I have another question about lights, lol. I am adding fog lights in the OEM positions, and using the OEM wiring/light stalk switch. How does Toyota make these come on? Are they with the low beams or the corner lights? Is there an easy way to make the OEM lights/wiring work with the corner lights too? Is this legal? I read in a friends autotech book that fog lights can only be on low beams and driving lights can only be on with high beams.What I would want to do if it is illegal to have the lights come on other than above, is to put some little little extra switches hidden somewhere that lets me turn fogs on with corner lights/low beams, and driving lights on with low beams and high beams. Thanks!
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Old Jan 8, 2005 | 07:58 AM
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Originally Posted by jimabena74
when using a relay.. it doesnt take power from the highbeams... relays use its own source power wired directly to the battery or some other circuit or fuse box or whatever you are planning on using... all tapping hte highbeam wire will do is make the relay use a very low voltage signal and that will trip the relay and give you light with full power from the power source... does that make sense?
This is how I did it, too. People often misunderstand this concept thinking that the power from the headlights is being used to run the aftermarket lights. The aftermarket lights have their own power source (like you said) and the wire from the high beam headlight to the relay is for switching the relay only. I have a 2A fuse from the headlight high beam power to the relay and I've never burned it (after I got everything else wired up properly, that is.....).

The wire coming off of your relay that would normally go to your aftermarket light on/off switch in the cab is the one that you tap into the headlight high beam power. I did this right behind the actual headlight by using a mulitmeter to find which wire had 12V when the high beams were on. I think there are three wires going into the headlight: high beam power, low beam power, and ground. Do not keep the interior switched hooked up as this was a source of much fuse blowing and frustration for me.

Last edited by ewarnerusa; Jan 8, 2005 at 08:26 AM.
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