I have to say I am happy to be back. Those mean old editors were making noises about not inviting me back again to cut back on costs. Since they pay me only in pretzels, I really don't see much of a problem. I mean, how expensive is a 6-pound bag of pretzels anyway? I have to thank those of you who wrote in these last few months with electrical tech questions, cause I now have a few more months to be around.
This month, I have to thank Marco Novy from New York who wrote in to ask how to neatly and efficiently wire up some off-road lights. Now Marco isn't the first one to write in about it, but Hazel sent his email over to me and I have a bunch of ways rattling around in my head. There are many wrong ways, and some right ways to do it, depending on what you want to do. Do you want them to come on with the high beams (might be illegal in some states)? How about only come on if the parking lights or headlights are on (great for ease of on/off)? Then there is the always popular "just-turn-the-darn-things-on-already" method, too.
These HID608 from Eagle Eye...
These HID608 from Eagle Eye have a few really cool design features. They are available in black paint and stainless steel, with your choice of spot, driving, or fog lenses. This light requires only 1-inch of mounting depth, so it fits hard-to-fit areas like Cherokee front bumpers. Also, the wires come out of the light through the mounting stud for a clean installation, so there are no problems with water getting into the exposed grommet.
I am only going to deal with higher-draw lights here, which most driving and fog lights are. I always found it funny that you guys call them driving lights. I mean, what else are you going to do with them on the Jeep? Park it in the driveway and light up your house?
I've talked about relays before and how they keep the high current out of the Jeep. They can extend the life of the actual switch too. I put relays on just about everything, but I would definitely suggest that any light or lamp over 15-watts gets installed with a relay.
For this article I needed some lights, and Eagle Eye just came out with what are possibly the most affordable 50-watt HID lights on the market, so I grabbed a set of them along with one of the company's wiring harnesses for this article.
I figured out the wiring diagram...
I figured out the wiring diagram for the Eagle Eye wiring harness (PN 320D), which includes an illuminated switch and a relay all with pre-terminated ends. This diagram is the most common method for hooking up auxiliary lights. You can substitute a constant positive at the switch if you want to use the lights with the Jeep off.
Here is another way to do...
Here is another way to do it, and this is one of my preferred methods. It keeps all the positive wires outside the passenger compartment. If something goes wrong with the switch or wiring to the switch, you can always just ground the relay and get it working again. This is with a regular 4- or 5-pole Bosch-style relay and any old on-off switch.
If you must have it all, this...
If you must have it all, this slightly more complicated way can provide illumination either with the switch you add or with your stock high beam switch. I also added optional indicator lights in this drawing, just in case you wanted more bling in your circuit. The switch is a dual-pole dual-throw (DPDT) center off, and again the relay is a normal 5-pole Bosch-style relay (4-pole relays can be used as well).