Wiring Off Road Lights

[Detonate]

I'm even more pathetic.

I was an electritian for 1 1/2 years when I got out of the Marine Corps.

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North Texas Hummer Team Member

2003 Red H2 equipped with Tough Country Heavy Duty Armor Series Front End with Winch, Rear Bumper, Brush Guard, and Roof Rack.

[PARAGON]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Detonate:
I'm even more pathetic.

I was an electritian for 1 1/2 years when I got out of the Marine Corps.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>Adapt and overcome

[Navigator]

Just had 6 lights wired yesterday by a local alarm shop, they thought it would take a half a day to wire them (the Gobi rack was already prewired) It ended up taking 1 man 9 hours but he did a great job, everything soldered pulled tucked and in harnesses etc. I went with PIAA's and the relays were included and Sandra sent me some switches that match the one for the dealer installed brush guard lights. If you want I could probably get you the unused PIAA switches, I left them with the installer but could get them back and you could have them if you need them.
It would have taken me forever to do this myself & from what I saw $375 seems abought right.

Rich

04 H2 Adventure Series

[Detonate]

Thanks for the offer, but I already got some switches from Radio shack. It's the relays that I don't have.

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North Texas Hummer Team Member

2003 Red H2 equipped with Tough Country Heavy Duty Armor Series Front End with Winch, Rear Bumper, Brush Guard, and Roof Rack.

[Hummer Man]

Navigator, You are 100% correct $350 to $400 is a bargain. When I did my GOBI STEALH rack with lights it took two men half a day!

[Navigator]

Pick your self up a pair of these adapters at NAPA part # 728221 $2.69 each.
They worked great and allow you to hook the leads from the relays right to the battery.


Rich

04 H2 Adventure Series

[Hummer Man]

Rich, Great suggestion!!

[PARAGON]

OR if you buy an Optima battery you get 2 sets of terminals.

[Navigator]

But that would have cost me more than five bucks!

[cinci]

If you pull the plastic cover off of the fuse box under the front hood, you will also have to remove the rear hood snubber block support, there are several accessory wiring posts that are hot and fused to attach accessories to. This makes a cleaner install than attaching everything to the battery.

[Cranky Steve]

Yo D, something like this for each pair of lights.



A great source of parts for Automotive electrical is http://www.waytekwire.com

Relay:
http://order.waytekwire.com/CGI-BIN/LANSAWEB?WEBEVENT+L078C10366E83A11683C8722+M37+ENG



Relay Connector:
http://order.waytekwire.com/CGI-BIN/LANSAWEB?WEBEVENT+L078C11396D53717E1258922+M37+ENG



Loose Conectors:
http://order.waytekwire.com/CGI-BIN/LANSAWEB?WEBEVENT+L078C11396D53717E1258922+M37+ENG

[cinci]

Det,

I finished wiring the lights for my front bumper yesterday and found a couple of things at the Auto Zone that made life very easy. These were jumpers to create an extra circuit from any fuse in your fuse box. They plug into an existing fuse socket and you plug that fuse into them. They then have a socket for another fuse and a wire with a crimp connector for another circuit. This is the easiest way I have found to attach to switched power from the inside fuse box.

In the pictures below the first picture is of the entire fuse box with two of these devices installed. Look for the red wire in the upper right hand corner and the lower right hand corner. This is what they look like when they are installed. They provide for a neat solution and fuse protection for your circuit.

[cinci]

This second picture is a close up of the device where you can see the two fuses and the wire for the second circuit. I used one for the trigger to my fog lights in the bumper as well as the lights on the Gobi rack. This circuit is switched so when I turn the ignition off it turns off the lights. Thus preventing me from accidentally leaving them on.

[Cranky Steve]

David, Is the add in fuse from Autozone you used for powering a relay or is that the power directly to the lights through a switch(s)?

[cinci]

Steve,

I used this for the power to the relay, which then pulled power from the battery for the lights.

[Cranky Steve]

Nice, that's the way to go for sure. Did you also use a fuse between the battery abd the relay contact for the power to the lights?

I always fuse both the power to the relay and to whatever device the relay is controlling.

Since my truck is so old, I added a separate 40 amp fuse block for auxilery items under the hood, simular to the set up on late model cars and trucks. Makes it easy to add lights and what not.

[PARAGON]

Steve, I agree to be as safe as possible in wiring but I think the 2 fuses are redundant. The only time the fuse to the lights will be hot is if the fuse from the battery is hot. If there is a short anywhere the fuse to the battery will fail as it should.

Not arguing with your wiring, its just to me it doesn't seem necessary to add the second fuse in the circuit.

[Cranky Steve]

Trust me when I tell you not to do it any other way. Without a fuse on each device, a short will likely result in a fire. You do the math .....

$.25 fuse, 50k H2 .....

[cinci]

Steve,

I went Paragons way and only used a fuse between the battery and the relay. The current has to come through that fuse to reach a shorted wire to the lights. But I may be wrong .

[Cranky Steve]

Your fine, to clarify, I like to use 2 fuses, one for the power that turns thr relay on and off, maybe a 2 amp or less fuse. And one on the load that he relay controls, IE lights or whatever, with a fuse rated to match the load + a taste.

My aux fuse block comes off the battery and is fed via a Fusable link with a 40 amp fuse to an 8ga wire to the block. I only use those fuses for the lights or whatever. The relays are fused from the main fues panel auxillerys, either on all the time or just when the key is on, depending on the device.

I also like to use a lot of the plastic like corregated wire cover on everything.

Here is some great shots of Crash's work, he does it right! He swapped a Chevy 4.3 v6 into his 83 Toyota truck, and had to to build a custom wiring harness for it.