AUX SWITCH WIRING QUESTION

[bigblackbronco]

In fact, I did not say that.
I'm saying you should connect each set of lights to its own uplifter switch

Thanks for clarifying

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[bigblackbronco]

I have no clue what's legal in CA. I'm in PA. No one has bothered me with mine for over a year.
But you can get what's called a fuse tap, which is essentially a replacement fuse with a wire running out of it & make your connection to that for the amber DRL.

If you replace fuse #24 with that, your Amber DRL will run anytime your vehicle is turned on.

Appreciate the clarity so my simpleton brain can understand what you mean ! Something to consider for sure , just wondering about the legality for CA roads like Brian B mentioned

 

[bigblackbronco]

There is a difference between an
Amber backlight, and the main LED light

Backlighting is very low power. It won’t light up the road. Also fine to run it at the same time as the main LED, you can’t see it as the main LED will be thousands of times brighter, but it won’t hurt anything either.

Some lamps may have two main LED lights - I’ve not seen one though.

With regard to legality - CA does allow backlighting but they must meet some standards on installation height and color. They are considered a Running Light (like DRLs). For most installations they are perfectly fine

So would the Amber DRL ditch mount be legal or would it be a grey area / illegal ?

 

[Brian_B]

Appreciate the clarity so my simpleton brain can understand what you mean ! Something to consider for sure , just wondering about the legality for CA roads like Brian B mentioned

I'm no lawyer, but I've been running my backlights in CA for years now. I do have mine on a switch, but I never turn it off (although I guess I'm suppose to). I run them with my lit Bronco grill letters - which i'm sure has some other law that applies, but given that a lot of cars are coming with that Factory I think it's no problem.

If you want to read the law yourself
https://www.law.cornell.edu/regulations/california/13-CCR-694

 

[Brian_B]

So would the Amber DRL ditch mount be legal or would it be a grey area / illegal ?

Good question, not sure. I think they are ok during day, but if you have your headlights on, the DRL/backlights are supposed to be shut off.

If you are running them on the A-pillar, technically they should be covered. There's a whole 'nother section about driving lights, fog lights, high beams, and auxiliary lights.

Light bars, Baja Lights, Ditch Lights, etc. are all "auxillary", and have specific heights they have to be mounted, are supposed to be covered when not in use, and are for off-road use only.

I had the statute for that bookmarked somewhere too but can't find it right now.

I think the integrated ditch lights in the side mirrors get called "driving lights" or something and are allowed to go uncovered - it's a bunch of legal junk. Basically as long as you aren't being an idiot and running them going down the highway blinding other drivers, I don't think anyone will do anything to you.

 

[bigblackbronco]

Good question, not sure. I think they are ok during day, but if you have your headlights on, the DRL/backlights are supposed to be shut off.

If you are running them on the A-pillar, technically they should be covered. There's a whole 'nother section about driving lights, fog lights, high beams, and auxiliary lights.

Light bars, Baja Lights, Ditch Lights, etc. are all "auxillary", and have specific heights they have to be mounted, are supposed to be covered when not in use, and are for off-road use only.

I had the statute for that bookmarked somewhere too but can't find it right now.

I think the integrated ditch lights in the side mirrors get called "driving lights" or something and are allowed to go uncovered - it's a bunch of legal junk. Basically as long as you aren't being an idiot and running them going down the highway blinding other drivers, I don't think anyone will do anything to you.

On my Toyota I had lights in 6 directions, a roof mounted light bar facing the front and the rear, side pods right above the driver and passenger front door mounted to the rack, and two ditch lights and never encountered problems, although I didn’t have amber DRL feature then. Even though they were cheap lights installed hastily, I could light up the night and they never went out on me. I had light covers for all the lights , but someone stole my trasharoo off the back of my truck while I was parked overnight on a cross country road trip outside of Sacramento. The trasharoo had my light covers in them, and I never bought more. Must’ve been a homeless guy who cut the straps and really wanted the heavy duty canvas bag. I will admit I did flash the rear mounted led bar once or twice when an Ahole was riding my ass. That was a younger me

 

[RedTailHawk]

pardon my hijacking this thread, but I have a SAT level amperage question. I have the AuxBeam Ray-L Series 7" round off-road lights. There are 2 lights in the set. The package says it is 240W and volt is 9-36V.

First question, how can it be 36V in a 12Volt system?

Second, if amperage is watts/voltage, then 240W/36V = 6.67amps. Is that correct? So if I have 4 of these lights, is that 13.33amps? if so, then I can safely put these four lights on the 15a Aux. If not, and I should be dividing by 12volt, that throws off calculations (240w/12v=20amps, which means I can only put 2 lights on the 30amp Aux). Do I need to keep the relays and fuses on the harness and wire the lights to the battery and cut off the harness switch and connect it to any of the 10a Aux switches?

Pic of test fitting the lights on my Bronco Raptor today...

 

[cr117]

pardon my hijacking this thread, but I have a SAT level amperage question. I have the AuxBeam Ray-L Series 7" round off-road lights. There are 2 lights in the set. The package says it is 240W and volt is 9-36V.

First question, how can it be 36V in a 12Volt system?

Second, if amperage is watts/voltage, then 240W/36V = 6.67amps. Is that correct? So if I have 4 of these lights, is that 13.33amps? if so, then I can safely put these four lights on the 15a Aux. If not, and I should be dividing by 12volt, that throws off calculations (240w/12v=20amps, which means I can only put 2 lights on the 30amp Aux). Do I need to keep the relays and fuses on the harness and wire the lights to the battery and cut off the harness switch and connect it to any of the 10a Aux switches?

Pic of test fitting the lights on my Bronco Raptor today...

Their specs are stating that the lights work within the range of 9-36V. With the 12V system on the Bronco, each pair will draw 20A. Use the provided relays and tie them all to any switch of your choice.

 

[GroovyGeek]

Yes, you're correct.
Also, if you want to save a switch, you can use a fuse tap & hit Fuse 24 to have your backlit DRL on at all times.

Depending on where the OP lives that may not be such a great idea. Ditch lights are not approved for on road use, and some states want them covered when on road. You are risking some bored cop pulling you over for no reason.

 

[bigblackbronco]

Depending on where the OP lives that may not be such a great idea. Ditch lights are not approved for on road use, and some states want them covered when on road. You are risking some bored cop pulling you over for no reason.

Illegal in the great state of California

 

[orion]

Illegal in the great state of California

But if you get what I suggested, the amber back light comes on only when your driving lights come on. Still don't know if that is legal or not in CA though.

 

[Brian_B]

I say do what you want in CA - enough cars out there flaunt the rules the odds of you not being the one breaking them the worst is good.

Sure, there is always the bored cop situation - as long as you are respectful and play semi-ignorant, probably just get a fix it ticket, which is annoying but easy to remedy.

The dude in the 4Runner on 37s running with his four light bars blazing down the 99 with Idaho plates is probably gonna get pulled over before they get me for running my backlights at night on my triple fog set

—-and to clarify I’m not digging on idahoians - all the folks that don’t want to admit they live in CA but get made fun of when they try to move out of state all come crawling back but keep their out of state registrations, so there are an awful lot of ID, WY and MT plates running around living out of their California mountain “vacation house”

 

[bigblackbronco]

UPDATE - successfully mounted and wired M and R 40” light bar using their no drill brackets, and added 2x 5” AUX BEAM round pod lights directly to the bronco mounting points … light bar was a breeze, but the pods were a bit more tedious then I expected. Here’s the results, I’m pleased. Thanks everyone for the help @MandRautomotive

 

[DucksOff]

I have no clue what's legal in CA. I'm in PA. No one has bothered me with mine for over a year.
But you can get what's called a fuse tap, which is essentially a replacement fuse with a wire running out of it & make your connection to that for the amber DRL.

If you replace fuse #24 with that, your Amber DRL will run anytime your vehicle is turned on.

Isn't fuse 24 a bit risky to use? According to Ford (above), fuse 24 controls powertrain and power steering. Isn't using F24 a lil' risky? Are there other fuses that can be used for the BL hookup that pose a lower risk?

 

[jtgensler]

Isn't fuse 24 a bit risky to use? According to Ford (above), fuse 24 controls powertrain and power steering. Isn't using F24 a lil' risky? Are there other fuses that can be used for the BL hookup that pose a lower risk?

Idk. If you're wanting backlights to be on, you need a fuse that is constant power I'd think? That's what the instructions for my grill letter lights told me to use lol. Been on there a year & half without popping the fuse. And if there was a problem, I'd think that's all it would do is blow the fuse out. I keep spare fuses, so if I pop that fuse, I'll just replace it & not have grill lights/backlit ditch lights until I can put another fuse tap on

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