Exposed Fog Light Wires

[vandyfan]

Installed fog lights into the modular bumper. What do people do on the back side? Is there a way to protect the wires and make it look a bit more finished? Or did I just do a bad job on my install?

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[4x4TruckLEDs.com]

What's with all the crazyness of wiring back there? That's a bit... crazy with wires. Not sure if you made your own harness or what, but maybe check out our harnesses on our site. They plug directly into the back of the light and then go to the upfitter. No added wiring plugs/adapters/etc...

Why did you add so many adapters in there out of curiosity? Why not just plug your harness right into the light or put the right connector on the end of your harness for the light you are using?

 

[vandyfan]

Ha! No, didn't make my own harness but for the y-connectors (two feed off one upfitter), markers, and to have the 3rd light run off the fog light switch it did take a few different connections (plus a few plugs from the harness I didn't use but didn't want to cut off). It prob looks worse because I zipped them all up together.

But even if it was straight from the fogs to the upfitters you'd still have the exposed back of the foglight. So same problem of whether there's a trim piece or something to hide/protect the back of the fog lights?

 

[SPVPARTS]

Ha! No, didn't make my own harness but for the y-connectors (two feed off one upfitter), markers, and to have the 3rd light run off the fog light switch it did take a few different connections (plus a few plugs from the harness I didn't use but didn't want to cut off). It prob looks worse because I zipped them all up together.

But even if it was straight from the fogs to the upfitters you'd still have the exposed back of the foglight. So same problem of whether there's a trim piece or something to hide/protect the back of the fog lights?

So first, you didn't do a bad install. There are a few things to this that you need to look at in installing lights, or those lights in general.

First, Diode doesn't have cords coming out of them. So they have the sockets which put the plugs right there vs a finished cord like this for example.

Thats not a big deal. Its just cosmetic. It just wanted to point that out.

So the main question is, are there safety issues.
Based on what you have there, no. They are weather proof connectors both in the lights and on the harnesses.

So then comes the question of appearance.

I don't know what is going on with this plug? But it doesn't look like it is plugged in?
Its sideways next to the other? Did it get pulled out by chance?

So on appearance. It comes down to how picky you want to be. Obviously, loose wires are not good. They can get pulled or caught on things. So securing everything so it isn't loose is the most important.

From there, you can clean things up a little more if you saved your zip ties for last.

Doing that, you could have all 3 plugs plugged into the lights and then into the main harness. take your 2 hands and bundle the 3 side by side like you would say strands of long hair. You could then take some black electrical tape and wrap around them into a single bundle. Basically a spiral all the way down to your 3 main connectors.

Then, last, zip tie the ONE bundle securely.

Hopefully that makes sense.

That gets a much cleaner look.

As far as the harness goes. That looks like an SPV Harness system harness which uses the highest grade materials. Its a teflon type coating on the wires. They are temperature rated at almost 400 degrees. They are also a harder coating and more difficult to damage.
The wires and their insulation are more heat (200 deg C / Almost 400 F) and chemical resistant than any coatings put on them. However, depending on where you have them or what you can see. You can cover them like I was saying with black wrapping electrical tape for the cosmetics.

The harness system is future proof. Meaning you won't need to buy another one if you change lights or vehicles. You can simply swap the ends. Including with lights that have cords that would come off of them further.

So to recap, for safety. You are fine. For appearance. You can clean them up a little like how I explained there Or with any wrap really.

As far as quality. I don't know of any other vendor or light company that spends the money on the high temp, high strength industrial grade wiring like those harnesses. The wire in those meets or exceeds all the high grade wire in your truck. Unlike general automotive wiring which is rated at 105 deg C (200 F) and a softer, rubberier feel which is more easily braised.

Watch this video-



Regardless of what anyone else says as far as criticizing your work. You did the main thing, which is secure everything. And from there, you can clean the appearance to your liking with those tips.

They don't really make a plastic trim panel for that, but maybe we can put that on our list to look into.

Let us know if you have any questions, thoughts or concerns.

John

 

[Brian_B]

I'll start by saying - I don't think that's terrible. It works, that's always the first big hurdle!

On mine, the crash bar is removed and I zip tied mine up where the bolts for the crash bar go. (that's those 2 bolts you can see in your photo just underneath and a bit to the right of where your harnesses are all zip tied together)

Another way that may look a bit cleaner - the slots the lights bolt into on the top. You could take each connector individually and ziptie them up on those slots to get them up and out of the way. It wouldn't be a big ball of connector, but would make it a bigger pain in the butt if you needed to undo them to pull the bumper or pull a light out. Looks like you have one zip tie going through there now to hold the ball-'o-connectors up out of the way.

The best way would be to have longer pigtails and get those connectors up under the hood somewhere - but that requires either splicing or new pigtails. I should do this with my rig, but ... I keep fidgeting with it too much...

 

[vandyfan]

I don't know what is going on with this plug? But it doesn't look like it is plugged in?
Its sideways next to the other? Did it get pulled out by chance?

John,

Yeah, that's your harness. Works great.

The sideways plug was extra. I'd have to look but I believe it's because I use one upliffter for two fogs so I combined them with a y-connector and then had an extra plug which I just left.

I thought about wrapping them but then if I wanted to change anything I'd have to unwrap it all again. I could try again with the zip ties and see if I could get it a bit snugger.

It doesn't bother me, but my mechanic asked me why it looked that way. So I was wondering if anyone did anything to make it look better.

Thanks.

 

[vandyfan]

I'll start by saying - I don't think that's terrible. It works, that's always the first big hurdle!

Thanks for the feedback. Of the two sides, this is the one which looks the most messy. I might try and clean it up a bit. I also have a long list of other things I'll prob do first.

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