Hella wired to factory lamps?

So I just purchased a new set of Hella 500 Driving lights. I have a 91 XJ Limited that came with factory fog lights that have since been removed however the wiring is still in place.

Has anyone/Do you know if its possible to wire the new hella using the factory fog light harness?? That way I can use the factory switch.

Thanks!

I ran my rocklights off of the factory harness and fog light switch because they are smaller and cheaper (harbor freight) and used the Hella harness for the Hellas and ran them directly to the battery.

Dirty Wop said:

So I just purchased a new set of Hella 500 Driving lights. I have a 91 XJ Limited that came with factory fog lights that have since been removed however the wiring is still in place.

Has anyone/Do you know if its possible to wire the new hella using the factory fog light harness?? That way I can use the factory switch.

Thanks!

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how much wattage do the hellas pull? if they pull too much, it can fry the stock wiring. your stock foglights were 55watt.

you can re-use the stock switch to work anything you wish. i bought some 200Watt KC lights and they came with a relay and everything. all you need to do is pull the switch out of the dash and hook up the new wires to the old switch. now, when i turn on my KCs, the little light in the switch lights up and everything, but i have the KC wiring and relay to keep it safe.

if you use high wattage lights on the stock wiring you will have problems. the insulation on the wires will melt and you will have a fire on your hands.

-tim

i had a friend put hellas on his exploder and they had to have a dedicated ground for the relays to work. he asked me why and i didn't have any idea, but after searching online i saw that some are set up that way. you'd think ground is ground, ultimately ending at batt -? check yer destructions for any info like that and compare to factory. as above, if the amperage is too high, the factory wiring won't like it. i'd invest in some heavier gauge wire than factory anyway.

If I remember correctly, Hell amakes two different wattages for the Hella 500's... a 50 watt and a 100 watt (illegal for road use).

About a year ago I picked up the Hella 500 50 watts and wired them into the factory harness. Never had a problem with it.

Hope this helps.

Yes I did it on both my 90 and 92.

I have a '89 Limited that came with the factory fog ligths, I install the hella's 500's rigth on the bumper were the OEM fog ligth use to be, the bumper guards help to protect the ligths. The OEM hook up is design to work only when the low beam are on. what I did was cut the wire that comes from the main ligth switch and give it power from another source, (Did install it with a fuse) this way I can run the ligths with the low/high beams on separatly, and still use the OEM switch on the dash for the hella's. The new power source is only "live" when the ingnition is on, this way you don't kill you battery if you leave them on accidentally. Everething else stays the same. Install them 2 years ago, never blown a fuse..

Rick...

If you want to be street legal, driving lights are to be on only with the high beams and fogs only with the low beams.

x2 what Langer1 wrote.

You did say your new lights are "driving" lights, correct? By law, driving lights can only be used with the high beams, and they must go off when you dip to low beams.

Fog lights are exactly the opposite. They are wired to operate only when the low beams are on, and they go off when you flip on the high beams. You can use your factory switch, but you're going to have to revise the circuit.

Yes they are the "driving" lights. I actually got them wired up the other night and everything seems to be working fine. I am not worried about having them turn on/off automatically. I just wanted to use the factory switch and not have to run all the new harness. In fact the way they are set up I can turn them on even with the low beams on.

Dirty Wop said:

Yes they are the "driving" lights. I actually got them wired up the other night and everything seems to be working fine. I am not worried about having them turn on/off automatically. I just wanted to use the factory switch and not have to run all the new harness. In fact the way they are set up I can turn them on even with the low beams on.

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Which is illegal -- which was just my point. Also, unless you modified the factory harness, they also WON'T come on when you're running your high beams ... which is when you should be using driving lights.

Eagle said:

x2 what Langer1 wrote.

You did say your new lights are "driving" lights, correct? By law, driving lights can only be used with the high beams, and they must go off when you dip to low beams.

Fog lights are exactly the opposite. They are wired to operate only when the low beams are on, and they go off when you flip on the high beams. You can use your factory swit
ch, but you're going to have to revise the circuit.

Click to expand...

I've done the exact same thing--Hella 500's on a 91Ltd. Any easy suggestions of how to revise the stock circuit so they come on with the High beams?