[theophile]

I got sick of nopt being able to see and I went out and got some driving lights at Autozone.

I'm very happy. They look good and best of all, now I can see at night!

But I have a question. It has this stupid keychain remote control for turning them off and on. This is pretty much useless to me because the only time I'll want them on is when the headlights are on. The same goes for turning them off.

I was thinking of tapping into the headights harness AT the headlight and connecting the +12V wire there. But I have a couple questions:

1) Is there a +12V line at the headlights?
2) Is it this simple or would I have to tap into the headlight ground as well?
3) Will cutting the power (turning off the headlights) mean that even when the power is restored I will have to hit the remote ON button again?

Is there anything else I'm missing here?

Thanks guys!

 

[sask_cruiser]

i am not saying this is the best way or anything, or is the way you do it, buti think you can just hook the positive wire up to the harness or whatever for the headlights and the negative, you could ground to the body or frame or sumthing closer to the driving lights. i think you could do it this way

 

[theophile]

Is there a +12V wire in the harness that is hot when the headlight switch is on ion either brings or low beams? I just thought of this.

I don't want to end up wiring it so that they only come on when the brights or the low beams are on, but rather whenever the switch is on.

 

[tiny1877]

wire the relay trigger into an accessory +12v wire. Then they'll come on anytime the car is started. To do the headlight thing...there is no common +12v to the headlights. Each filament has its own +12v, so you could only have them on with the high or low beams, not both. You could use a couple diodes and do it, but that's more of a pain than it's worth. Don't they come with a normal switch for inside?

EDIT: You could use the marker light as your trigger....duh....It took me a while to think of that...

 

[ridgerunner]

wire the relay trigger into an accessory +12v wire. Then they'll come on anytime the car is started.

Driving lights actually ought to be wired into the high beams, since they're bright enough to blind someone. It'd be rude and unsafe to leave them on all the time.

 

[theophile]

Well mine are pointed at the road since the area right in front of me is the area I need to light up. I don't think they'd blind someone.

Besides, their output is lower than my low beams.

 

[sask_cruiser]

doesn't matter, they are hard on the eyes no matter what, even if they are pointing at the road, the lights are still bright and they are still hard on the eyes. when sumone is drivin around they get a taste or my highbeams and my wishshield washer jets with the lil blue lights on the bumper very hard on the eyes... and soon i'll have fogs lights to help the lil blue lights :guns:

 

[theophile]

Back to the point, do the markers run off 12V or is it stepped down by that point?

 

[ericksaint]

I saw similar remote controlled driving lights at a walmart but I think they also had a switch for them. Do the lights plug into the remote module and then the remote module is what you wire to power? If thats the case I don't see why you can't just bypass the remote module this way you wouldnt have to even worry about it.

If you can figure out your way around the remote module the parking lights will always have 12 volts if your headlights are on, low or high beams should not matter.

I think with normal driving lights they are just wired from the lights to a relay and the relay is wired to the switch inside the car. I have not wired a set of driving lights for about 5 years so I can't remember for sure. Find out how to bypass the remote module and you will have your answer. If it is all plug and play the relays may be internal the the remote module.

 

[theophile]

Yeah, that's how they're set up.

I'll probably be okay figuring out how to wire that up, though I want to look at one thing first. Ideally, I would like to not have my driving lights flashing on and off with the hazard lights, but if that's the only way to go, so be it.

Any other tips are appreciated! Thanks!

 

[ericksaint]

The parking lights don't flash with the hazards or directionals do they? Guess I never really paid attention to it. Also of that is the case you can always just bypass the remote module and put in a switch like a standard set of driving lights would have. No need to have flashing driving lights.

I can't remember if the front parking light is a dual filiment bulb, similar to a tail light. If it is you will have 2 sets of wires to it. One is for the parking light which will be on all the time and will not blink. The other set is to the second filiment which is the one that blink when you use your directionals or your hazards. Find out which one is which and tap your power wire into the one that doesn't flash.

 

[theophile]

This was a lot easier than I thought. In fact, this was much easier than what I originally did.

I removed the harnesses and the remote received and the fuse box and about 10' of wiring. I used double-sided mounting tape to attach the lught mounting brackets to the metal bumper and then directly wired each driving light to the parking light above it.

There are 3 wires going to each of the front parking lights, a black, a blue, and brown. The black is ground, the blue is hot when turn signals and flashers are on, the brown is hot when the headlight are on. I simply wired the driving lights to black and brown.

Looks and works awesome!

 

[ericksaint]

Glad it worked out for you. When I do mine I was going to tap the parking lights as well, but also wire a switch so I can kill them if I wanted to.

 

[theophile]

Well, now I have adifferent problem. My 15A fuse keeps blowing and I lose my parking lights and turn signals in the front and rear. Since these driving lights are a big power draw and since they're always on, doesn't that mean I can safely use a higher rated fuse, or is the wiring too thin?

I need to know if I can safely use a 25 or 30A fuse with the wiring in the car. Thanks!

 

[ericksaint]

I'm Not sure about just putting in a higher rated fuse. Like I said above I think most driving light sets come with either one relay or one relay per light, I can't remember which it is. In your set the relays may have been in the control box. What I would suggest it using a relay. Wire battery positive to one side of the coil, wire the lights to the other side of the coil, then use the same wire you have tapped now to energize the coil. The relay will have numbers on the terminals but I cant tell you off hand which number goes to which connection.

Look at this link:
<LINK_TEXT text="http://www.offroaders.com/info/tech-cor ... wiring.htm">http://www.offroaders.com/info/tech-corner/reading/automotive-wiring.htm</LINK_TEXT>

He has a diagram there of wiring lights with a relay. Maybe somebody that know which terminal go where can tell you to make it super easy.

-Added-
I just found this hope it helps. This is assuming you use a standard Bosch style relay.

Pin 85 - Ground
Pin 86 - Wire from parking lights (the one you have tapped for power now)
Pin 87 - A fused constant 12 volt source (batt.)
Pin 30 - Wired to the power lead of your driving lights

 

[moonwell]

If you aren't using relays, you are going to fry or melt something... If you wire it up to your parking or headlights without the proper relay, you will eventually melt the headlight switch on the steering column.

My lights are wired up with a switch, getting power from an accessory wire (can't remember what I actually tapped into, since they have been installed for 4 years). So, I can turn them on and off with the switch, but they will automatically shut off with the car so I can't forget and leave them on, but they don't have to be on all the time.

 

[theophile]

I have a couple of relays, but they have an 87A position in addition to the 4 previously mentioned. Does this make a difference?

Thanks in advance!

 

[theophile]

Nevermind, I just looked it up:

Note the SPDT can run one accessory when the switch is off (87A) and another (87) when the switch is on.

Anyone have a suggestion for something I could hook up to 87A that would get 12V when the headlights are off?

 

[ericksaint]

I would just use the relay for your lights and be done with it. If using a plug in harness for the relay tape off the wire to 87a, if not using a harness just put a terminal connector over the lug with some tape to insulate the terminal.

Just cuz the terminal is there doesnt mean it has to be used, I'm not really sure what you could or would want to run from that terminal.

 

[theophile]

One more question. I think it looks dumb to have a ton of wires connected directly to the + terminal of the battery. Where's the best place to get constant +12V under the hood?