So, I'm trying to hook up a set of daytime lights on my truck. I want them to turn on and off
with the ignition. I'm not sure where to hook the relay to make this happen, though. I was thinking of attaching to the field wiring to the alternator, but I'm afraid this would mess up the voltage regulation. Is there an ignition wire in the steering collumn that I can tap into safely? I'm sure there must be a wire in there that always has current in it when the ignition is on.

 

well you could go to the fuel pump power wire...

 

never mind. found a better spot to tap. I found an unused spot on the fusebox that turns on and off with the ignition so I attached a wire to it.

 

^just curious...how did you wire it up and if you used a kit or not...would like to put DRLS on my truck

 

I, too, would like more details on how you wired it into the fusebox.

 

Alright, guys, but it's not as professionally done as it seems. To tap into the fusebox I simply turned the ignition on, then took my voltmeter and started putting the positive probe into each unused fuse slot. the unused ones only have one terminal, the other slot is empty, so I put the ground probe to a bolt in the door socket. I found a spot that turns on and off with the ignition. To hook a wire to it, I just took a random fuse, tightly wrapped the uninsulated end of a wire around one of the prongs, and inserted the fuse into the slot with the wired prong sticking into the empty slot, the un wired sticking into the slot with the contact. The rest of the wire is then run through the little opening to the left of the fusebox, where the wire can run along under the dashboard to your 3 amp fuse, your override switch if you have one (I do), and then out through your firewall to your relay. I found a hole in the firewall to the left of the clutch pedal. And no, I did not use a kit. I visually judged the gauge of the wire I used. Lighter gauge for the low current circuit, heavier gauge for the high current going from the battery to the lights themselves. I used a 30 amp relay, which cost $5. they're really cheap. the lights were already on the front of my truck when I got it, just never had been wired up. The high current circuit to the lights needs a fuse as well (30 amp for most lights unless you have those monster off road lights).

As far as a more professional way of wiring into the fuse box, you can tear apart that side of the dashboard, find the wire that runs to the fuse contact you are using, scrap off some of the unsulation and solder a wire to it, then put the dashboard back together, but I think it's an awful waste of time. unnecessary.