driving light writeup and pics?

does anyone have a write up about how to wire and mount driving lights to their front bumper? is there some kind of relay box you can buy to have all the lights go to, with fuses, then from that box to a convienent switch or two? i plan on putting 4 or 5 on the front bumper, or 6 if i could fit it... and i would want to use 2,4, or all at a time, preferably 3 seperate switches... any help or pics would be great

OMG :wierd:
are you serious
what the hell ya gonna do with all them lights :scared:

Why would you need that many lights? Put 2 properly aimed lights on the bumper and then put a couple rock lights under the Jeep so you can see at night when your wheeling!!

I have NEVER had a need for more then just my headlights and 2 100watt lights on the bumper!!

dang fellahs, if he wants 100 lights, let him have 'em. i've got 2 on my bumper and 4 on my roofrack. why? cause i want 'em. no need to beat a dead horse over wanting lights.

http://www.rallylights.com/

There's a lot of good info here, check under the Usefull info/Links button.

Buy PIAA stuff. Your wiring is done for you. Switch and relays are already wired so all you have to do is run the wires, plug into power, mount the lights, relay, and switch, and turn them on. Best wiring I've seen yet.

IPF is like that too.

FitchVA said:

dang fellahs, if he wants 100 lights, let him have 'em. i've got 2 on my bumper and 4 on my roofrack. why? cause i want 'em. no need to beat a dead horse over wanting lights.

Click to expand...

I agree,in the process of putting 6 lights on my Surco 4 forward and 2 rearward and 2 on my bumper my wheelin buds say i have a light fetish LOL

lights are badass, plain and simple

Why does everyone make such a big deal? I wired up a aux. back up light, on my rear tire carrier. I found a light in my shed, got some wire, a fuse holder, a switch, mounted it. It didn't take very long, i'll tell you that. It looks pretty clean too, at least to me. What's the purpose of relays anyways? If I were going to mount more than 2 lights, i'd just do separate fuse holders and wires. Plan out your attack, my friend.

Light
Fuse Holder - Fuse
Switch
Wire
Crimps
Pliers
Wire Cutter/Stripper


http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/sandladder/album?.dir=/231b

edit : IMHO back up lights are more important than front mounted lights. If you don't agree with me, you will the day you back up into something. I.E. Tree, Rock, etc.

looks clean guys, thanks alot!!

uvaldetxj said:

What's the purpose of relays anyways?

Click to expand...

one major advantage of them is that they keep the main circuit of power outside of the switch, which in many cases is not up to the task of handling the load of accessories. which keeps the switch from melting and burning the xj to the ground

uvaldetxj said:

What's the purpose of relays anyways?

Click to expand...

You might want to check the laws down there. Reverse lights are only supposed to come on when the vehicle is in reverse. Sounds like you could turn yours on while driving down the street.

Here's a link to Dan Stern's site. http://www.danielsternlighting.com/home.html He has a ton of info in his tech section that would explain relays and why they're important.

Sorry about that Fitch. Didn't mean to double up.

uvaldetxj said:

Light
Fuse Holder - Fuse
Switch
Wire
Crimps
Pliers
Wire Cutter/Stripper

Click to expand...

Just don't forget--if you're using high-wattage lights--to include relays, like in FitchVA's setup. Without'em you could end up in a heap of trouble, especially if you're gonna run a lot of hi-wattage lamps. Most common switches are not designed to handle the amperage that'll go through such a system.

Heat-->Melt-->Short-->Fire

You might find yourself in the middle of Bumfock Nowhere and no lights, maybe no electrics at all.

Use relays. better safe than sorry.

Just my 2 cents.

DJ

============

"In the beginning there was nothing and God said 'Let there be light', and there was still nothing but everybody could see it." Dave Thomas

Grizzley said:

Sorry about that Fitch. Didn't mean to double up.

Click to expand...

no worries

LMAO.....aight fellas, i'll look into relays. I haven't had any problems though.

Hella lights come with everything wired up for you basically. It comes with a diagram that allows you to have the lights turn on with your headlights, which I thought was pretty nifty. I set them up seperately so I could turn them on when I need. I just love lights.... especially when you can see the beams going through the dust clowds I'm personally adding two more to the 4 lights I've already got on my bumper (2 rock lights, 2 Hella 500s)

Relays for anything that wants more than 5A are always a good idea - but I set my threshhold a little lower, at 2A (I'm paranoid.)

Relays are cheap enough - Parts Express has Bosch relays for two bucks eash (p/q330-070, 12VDC @ 30A, $1.00 1-9, $1.89 10+; www.partsexpress.com) - which reminds me, it's time to stock up.

Relays also have the advantage (especially with lights!) of allowing you to run a much shorter power path to the power user. You can use a nice long lead from the switch to the relay - the "make" current on a Bosch relay is something like a few milliamps (I'd have to look it up.) You can then run nice, short power leads to your lights or whatever - the length then becomes controlled by the location of the lights and the battery. The shorter you can make the main power lead, the more power your lights can get, and the brighter they will be. Using a relay also takes load off the switch, and making the power leads shorter allows them to run cooler.

You can also order your relay sockets - prewired with pigtails - from Parts Express - single, p/n330-075 ($1.50 1-9, $1.29 10+) and double, p/n330-078 ($1.90 1-9, $1.75 10+) Ask them to send you their catalogue while you're about it - they've got a lot of neat stuff (they're mainly an audio house, and there's lots of good hardware in audio houses...)

Anything else we can do for you?

5-90

i just noticed today, my front bumper is really shallow, there wont even be enough room to mounta kc daylighter or similar light will there? 97xj folks, messed up...