12 replies to this topic

[Syonyk]

I'm planning to add some extra lights to the front of my GL, and I was wondering how people tend to wire them in. I'm planning to run mine through some switched relays & the high beam circuit - if the enabler switch is on, and the high beams are on, the extra lights are on. This would allow me to rapidly shut them off if there were oncoming traffic or such (just switch back to low beams), and if I have the extra lights on I'll be traveling in an area where I'll have the high beams on anyway. I might make an exception for a low-aimed set of lights that hit the side of the road, but probably not.

How does everyone else wire their lights up?

-=Russ=-

[Snowman]

Mine are all on relays, but without the high-beam function you mentioned. Instead, I've got a master switch not far from my reach that can turn all of them off at once for oncoming traffic.

[samo]

Likewise, mine are all on relays, but there's five switches underneath the radio that control them. The rear facing ones have a 3-way switch, On, Off, and Auto (on with reverse lights.

[chef_tim]

I've got mine on a relay as well. Three switches to run what I have so far. I like your high beam idea, very convenient. I also have an XT6 alternator for the extra juice. Later, Tim

[Roundeye]

Use relays! I have seen switches melt from running high-powered lights.

I do not use them with my high beams. That is asking alot from your alternator. Think about worst case: Raining at night in hot weather. Wipers on high, stereo jamming, air conditioner on with fan on high, aux. fan running on radiator, running lights, headlights, dash lights, engine ignition, fuel pump, hitting the power window while pushing in the cig. lighter...........think of how hard the alternator is working.......then add off-road light to THAT. It only takes an instant to fry an alternator.

Just my 1 1/2 cents.

[Syonyk]

I'm definitely planning to use relays... I've personally made some interesting art out of switches. Glowing switches are bad, m'kay?

The problem with using just switches is that I (sadly) do mostly on-road stuff. It's late at night, and I'm usually the only car on the road, but occasionally I do run across oncoming traffic. I hate people with blinding lights (fog lamps too), so I don't want to have to fumble for a bunch of switches to turn things off.

The other thing I'm thinking of is modifying one of the blank covers on the left of the dashboard (where the rear defrost control lives) to be another switch, and use that as a master switch for the lights, with separate switches to control each of the various photon emitters.

-=Russ=-

[bajavwnsoobnut]

Key thing (an my friends are learning this with his hella 600's) is don't use the wiring and relays that come with most kits and also those glowing switches like you mention, I usualy go with 12 guage wire for the lights and wire them in 2's with a relay for each set and also a switch for each set also and when turning them on don't turn them on at the same time but turn them on in 1-2 second intervals so you don't bog down the alt.

[VaporTrail]

Russ, if you ever get down to DSM, let me know, andyou can stop by and check out my relay bank

[RavenTBK]

The thought of several massive diving lights on the front of a Subi is foreign to me. Unless its a rally car, I just dont understand the logic of wanting to put 15 lights on the front bumper. :-\

IMHO, I'd recommend a headlight upgrade before I'd recommend the addition of more lights. Myself, I popped in 4 Autopal E-Code housings, with some high power bulbs, powered by a custom relay harness. All in all, gave me much more light than I've ever seen any number of driving lights produce. (except for a few 8" 150watt hellas) Right now, I've got 490 watts of power flowing out of my stock headlamp locations on high beam. The upgrades have taken a back seat to the strange tranny noises I've been having, but once I redo the wiring to handle the even greater amount of power I'm gonna force through them, I'll have 700 watts of lighting power, without a single extra light on the bumper other than the four lamps that Subaru designed into the grille.

I love the lines the designers drew into the Subaru. I also love the look on peoples faces when they get sunburned from standing in front of my highbeams.

[MorganM]

The thought of several massive diving lights on the front of a Subi is foreign to me. Unless its a rally car, I just dont understand the logic of wanting to put 15 lights on the front bumper. :-\

I'm not really into offroading at night. That's usually when someone gets stuck, breaks down, and you get lost trying to get back to camp 4 hours later than you expected. Much rather spend the evening around the camp fire talking about that day's sessions

[MilesFox]

lighting should be designed around your driving environments

i have a lighting system i prefer:
fog light for fog, inclement weather. they work good on a full moon and parking lights only. makes for stealth mode run with no headlights use fogs when you need to see, use the parking brake no flash brake lights

bumper mounted lights, 100 watts. for long distance light, straight down the road late night county road baja'n. mine is on a pushbutton swithch but a floor swithc like older fords would be ideal for these

roof mounted (2), 55 watts, to shine immediately in front of the car, as if tying up a tow strap or if you are in grass or weeds that cover the headlights. not good in rain or snow, mount them far enough back(b pillar) so thay dont glare on the windshield

alley lights to shine down the side ov the car, for baja'n down atv trails or any other use immediately around the car

anus lihgts. for reversing or tow straps, in the woods, bright lights behind you... mine are on a switch, the car is 2wd at to 4wd 5spd conversion, no reverse light. but if the reverse was hooked up it would be like samo has his

you can have a master swithc that would be between the battery and the lights' circuits. so you can turn them all off at once or to disable them. you can put an ammeter in line to measure the amp draw on the alternator for the klighting circuit(s)

[kevinsUBARU]

RallyLights.com

[Numbchux]

it's been said, but I'll say it again...relays...gotta have relays

just wired up some combo fog/driving lights on my bumper, used some radioshack spst toggle switches instead of the included spdt switch so I can turn them on independent of each other. I love offroading at night, for some reason I find it much more enjoyable than during the daytime.