Off-road Lighting

Etnomaiab · June 13, 2007

I've been wanting to put some off-road lights on the front of my truck but I don't really want to take the dash apart to make the installation look clean if I don't have to. I took the factory fog lights off when I put in a Ranch Hand front end replacement, so I was wondering if I could just hook a relay up to the wires going to the (removed) fog lights and use the fog light switch on the dash to turn my new lights on and off. Does this make sense?

In other words, I want to hook a relay up to the power source that the fog lights used, and use that to control some off-road lighting. The off-road lights will be wired to the battery and use this relay to turn on and off. (I'm guessing that the fog light wiring isn't large enough to run some 100+ watt lights.) If this works then I wont have to cut up the dash to put a switch in -- I will just use the factory fog light switch. Any comments/suggestions? Will this work?

Also, do the fog lights turn on in park? Will they blink when I unlock/lock my truck?

Finally, does anyone have recommendations for lights? I want something bright with a lot of distance that won't break the bank.

Thanks for your help!

-Nick

2001 1500HD 4x4

RCman · June 13, 2007

I've been wanting to put some off-road lights on the front of my truck but I don't really want to take the dash apart to make the installation look clean if I don't have to. I took the factory fog lights off when I put in a Ranch Hand front end replacement, so I was wondering if I could just hook a relay up to the wires going to the (removed) fog lights and use the fog light switch on the dash to turn my new lights on and off. Does this make sense?

In other words, I want to hook a relay up to the power source that the fog lights used, and use that to control some off-road lighting. The off-road lights will be wired to the battery and use this relay to turn on and off. (I'm guessing that the fog light wiring isn't large enough to run some 100+ watt lights.) If this works then I wont have to cut up the dash to put a switch in -- I will just use the factory fog light switch. Any comments/suggestions? Will this work?

Also, do the fog lights turn on in park? Will they blink when I unlock/lock my truck?

Finally, does anyone have recommendations for lights? I want something bright with a lot of distance that won't break the bank.

Thanks for your help!

-Nick

2001 1500HD 4x4

Well I can't help you with the blinking questions as I've got an '03 and I don't know if they changed.

However, I can say I don't see a problem in your method as long as you use a relay. Yet, I personally wouldn't do it that way. I'd take the dash apart and install a nice clean switch (not a 'el cheapo fugly).

As for lights, I've have excellent results with KC HiLites. I'd recommend the Slimlite series, low profile and excellent light output. I've got a set of the 130W Titanium Driving Lights and they are buy far the best light I've owned for the money. Plus you can't beat the 23-year warranty.

http://www.kchilites.com/store/6-Titanium-...em-P274C90.aspx

http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.a...mp;autoview=sku

DJinCO · June 13, 2007

Nick,

I have the Ranch Hand Bull Nose bumper. I put Lightforce lights on it. 350,000 candlepower each on 100W bulbs. Hard core bullet resistant lenses. Ajustable from spot to wide.

I don't use the stock fog light switch - way under powered plus the wires are very thin. I have a 30a switch and a 30a relay.

I really am impressed with lightforce - I have the 170 Strikers - and have a set of amber lenses in addition to the stock clear lenses. You can see infor at www.lightforce.com

Etnomaiab · June 13, 2007

RCman - I figured that the fog light switch would keep it clean and stock looking. That is why I want to use it, and as a plus, all of the wiring would be under the hood. I hate taking the dash apart. I always feel that its not going to go back together right with all of that plastic.

Doug - nice bumper! I have the same one on my truck. Very good looking Tahoe! Those lights seem to fit very well in there.

Thanks for the help guys.

-Nick

DJinCO · June 13, 2007

Nick,

The trim piece on the dash pops right off and is very easy.

Housefull · June 19, 2007

You don't need a heavy duty switch if you're swiching a lighting relay. All the switch is doing is switching the coil current in the relay so the wiring to the switch can be light duty. Make sure you fuse the wire coming from the battery as close to the battery as possible so a frayed wire won't cause a smoky problem.

This means there's no problem using the fog light circuit to run the relay. One thing to note though is that the Fogs will almost certainly be turned off automatically when you go to High Beam. If you want to use the auxilary lights at the same time as High Beam (pretty likely) then using the Fog Light circuit isn't going to work for you.

One thing you can do when wiring is tap into a park light circuit for one side of the relay coil. Connect a switch to ground on the other side. This does a couple of handy things:

1. It's likely easier to find a park light wire to tap into under the hood where the relay should be installed.

2. To activate the lights you're switching to ground and it's a whole bunch easier to make a ground connection under the dash.

3. The lights will can only come on when the parking / marker lights are on, meaning that if you forget to turn them off on the switch you add, they'll get turned of anyway.

Problem is though if you leave the switch turned on, the auxilary lights will flash when the parking lights flash. If you remember to turn the switch off they won't. It will on the other hand make it far less likely to accidentally leave the lights on.