Got the lights from www.trail-gear.com. They are rocklights, but since I don't go rock-crawling in the middle of the night ( ) I made them as some aux reverse lights since my oem lights don't do much 10ft in the air... hah

They didn't come with any wiring, diagrams, relays, switches or anything. Luckily for Yotatech, I figured out everything and did it myself. It was a lot easier than I expected, and they worked first time!

I ended up wiring up an aux fusebox. I will be running all my accessories off of it now. I haven't connected my CB to it yet though.

I have it so they turn on whenever I put my truck in reverse.

Here are a few pictures.

8 port Fusebox: (Looks like that ring connector is not on well, but, its really tight, need to find a connector that fits 8 ga wire and small enough for the bolt)


Relay: (Weird spot, but, I didn't want to run all those wires to the hood) Looks like it will stay clean there since there wasn't any mud there. Hard to see unless you go underneath the vehicle


Light placement: (Had to drill 2 holes for each light through the frame, wasn't too bad with a gnarly corded dewalt power drill!)

 

Looks good.... the only thing I would do is relocate that realy to inside the truck, You should be able to use one of the gromets under the carpet (at there were a bunch on my 95) and put the relay behind the plastic on the side. I think rain will short that one out pretty quick... Did you go to a smaller fuse, I think 30 amp is too much for those wires.....

 

Looks good. I did something very similar to my rear lights...but I used the holes on either side of the spare tire mount. Those lights make a huge difference at night!

 

Hmmph... You think that relay will short out? Crap!!

Seems really protected up there...That was my only concern, was were to put the relay.

Guess I'll buy another fuse for them. I was just told 30amp would be good.

 

well you have two 55watt lights right, thats a 9 amp drap...too close to 10, unless its a slow blow...but I would go 15 ampers..

relays tend to be pickey, espically when exposed to rain....but hey it doesnt rain in cali so you should be ok:-)

 

Yep. 30 amp fuse is too high. It'll work fine, but the fuse must be sized to protect the wire, and your wire must be sized to handle the current from whatever you're running. So if your lights are 55W each for a total of 110W, then like AH64ID said, a 15 amp fuse will suffice, and for the length of wire you're running, 12 guage wire would be large enough (maybe even 14 would be ok if I remember correctly). What size fuse did you install between your battery and your aux fuse box. Remember that it should be no more than the total rating of the aux fuse box.

If I had to give one piece of advice (other than mounting the relay in the truck like was already mentioned) is to buy some split flexible tubing and cover those wires that are under the truck. It'll protect them a bit from branches and stuff.

 

yeah, you might want to rerun those wires into the cabin. also, that fuse rating is too high. use a lower rating to protect those lines.

 

okay okay

The guy at the auto parts store told me to mount the relay wherever I wanted to since they were weatherproof?

Also told me 30 amps were good enough.

Whatever, I'll go buy some other stuff.

 

I think its a great first try! A few things we mentioned are just things you can use to make it even better! We all start somewhere right?

 

Yeah, after reading that I want to be sure you dont think were telling you that you ˟˟˟˟ up... Just trying to point out possible problem areas that we have gone thru....

I want to see pics of the illumination pattern, backup lights are something I need to get done, mostly for camp setup after dark, and idiot tailgators at night..

 

Oh, yeah, I totally understand. I thank you guys for the hints and comments. Thats why I posted this in the first place.

I'll get some pictures of the night shots. They are pretty bright actually. I dig 'em. I have them setup for coming on when I put it in reverse, but I might just hook up a switch so I can use them for camping.

 

Yeah I would switch them for sure! (to use whenever!)

Also, whoever told you to run a 30 amp fuse for two 55 watt lights shouldnt
be giving advise. (55 x 2 = 110 watts / 12 volts = 9.1 amps)
Like others said, a 15 amp fuse should be good.

 

how much did all that cost? i need some back up lights desperately as i can't see anything behind with the stock lights and my window tinting...im so worried about backing into a car at night

 

That's a good spot to put them when your runner is 10ft tall! haha. I was never able to mount backup lights in that location for fear of knocking them off while off roading, but w/ your ride height, you should be fine.

You ought to put them all the way around underneath your truck! How cool would that be at night! (haha j/k).

looks good.

 

I have baiscly the sam aux fuse box thingie. i really like it. but hears a hint. for that "nice professional" look pull the cheezy plastic coating off the end of the crimp connectors and use heat shrink on the connector ends not electrical tape.

 

Since the first post, I have re-done the entire thing!

Relay is now attached against the firewall. Wires are re-routed out of the way and zip tied on top of the frame rails.

I used the black wire guard stuff (with the ribs) to stuff all the wiring into...makes it look much more professional. Yes, and I did end up using heatshrink tubing as well.