Ok so myself and pat, 01dangerranger, are finally putting up lights.

At this point I believe we are both going the 55W route and two lights up top all together.

1. I need to know what size relay to run. Ive heard 40V but that sounded extreme.
2. What size fuse to use. package says 15 but is that too low and I wont get the full power out of the lights? could I run a 20? or 25?
3. what gauge wire do yall suggest? im guessing 10 or under....but then again Ive never ran wire to a brand new, self-made, system so im newb here.
4. And lastly, what switch would handle this power the best? im guessing the stock crap in the package wont (they havent before on me) so should I run to a junk yard and pull a fog switch out of a bezel or a ranjuh/expo?

Thanks yall, I know how to run the wires and how to hook it all up. But the math stumps me. Frankly I dont know how to do it. Thanks for any input here.

 

30 amp relay
15 amp fuse
14 gauge wire.could get by with 16
Fuses do not regulate power to a load,they are a safety device to prevent fires and damage.

 

perfect!

one last question. Do distances this small matter? I mean the location of the relay along the line or fuse location matter when the distance is less than 10 feet?

 

Running 100 feet would matter some if you were powering a motor ,but for lights 10-20 is no problem.

 

^^^^He Got it, Make sure to run a GOOD ground for the lights as well. if you need a wiring diagram let us know, the stock switch is fine because all the switch does does is activate and close the relay, so only a small amount of current is running through the switch. The power for the lights comes from the battery through the fuse to the relay then out the relay to the lights. also make sure the fuse is relatively close to the battery so you have as little un-fused wire as possible.

 

but every wire diagram ive ever seen has a power supply to the switch. thats why i asked if the little plastic crappy switch could handle the power of a hot hook up to the battery

but thanks for the fuse info. I was wondering exactly how far to place it from the battery, I didnt know it should be pretty close. now i do. as for grounds I plan on scratching away a little bit of paint off the roof down to metal and screwing a shallow fat daddy screw and wrapping wire around it.

 

The switch is connected to 12v but it is not drawing very much current. here is a decent diagram that may help you.



you will notice there are 2 fused 12 leads one with a 20 amp fuse one with a 3 amp fuse. the lights draw much more current, then the switch does. the switch only needs some power to activate and close the relay.

as for the ground, I wouldn't mess with taking paint off your roof,(it may cause a leak or start rusting out) just run some wire back to one of the factory grounds in the cab.

 

that is so funny. I just posted this exact picture on pats facebook wall as our guide haha. I see now. could i run a 5 amp fuse to the switch? 3 seems hard to find

 

The magic of google lol, 5 amp should be fine for the switch lead.

you have a few choices for where you get the power for the switch.

1. pull power strait from the Battery - allows lights to be on any time when ever the switch is on

2. pull power from a 12v "hot in run ignition wire" - lights on when truck is in run and switch is on

3. pull power from high beam wire - lights on with high beams when switch is on.

each have their benifits

 

How did this work put ?

 

went AWESOME! really came out better than I thought. I set it up with crap lights right now but its easy to swap out as I dump more money into it. I set the system up with a little step up in all wire sizes and fuses etc so I can wire 4 (four) 100W lights up top max. ill stick to 4 (four) 50W though.

CAUTION PIC WHORING BELOW:

WIRE LIKE A BOSS (its mega cleaned up now no worries)


BUILDING IT (ran wires in cross member, through end cap, into track, into door jam, down to engine bay, SO clean)


INSTALL


SWITCH LOCATION (all wires ran through little rubber tube between door and cab)



HEADLIGHTS AND 'ROOFIES'


COIL SPACERS ALSO INSTALLED


FRONT ON (valence off, bumper lifted up, coil spacers fresh in)


ALL LIGHTS (low beams, Auxs, roofies)

 

looks good. nice location for the switch, wish it matched a little better though.

 

TOTALLY agree. im 50/50 on it. the dremel tool made a few extra cuts and you can kinda see them.

 

Is that a coil of yellow wire living near the fuse box?

That need to go.

 

yeah that was before install, thats why its first on the pic list. that was power wire that is now run to lights. everything is E-taped and ziptied cleanly