Fitting the Traxide Lighting Upgrade and Driving Light Kit to a 2007+

[one_iota]

I'm going to fit this bit of kit.

http://www.davesitshop.com/davesitshop/index.php?_a=viewProd&productId=23

I trialled a prototype of the upgrade on the Disco and it was very effective.

I have been mulling over the installation and have a couple of challenges:

1. Finding a location for the two relays..they need to be close to the lights and there is more spare space in a tin of sardines than in the engine compartment of the Puma. LRHybrid100 fitted these behind the passenger side head light on his Td5.

2. Finding a way for a wire through the firewall to the new switch for the spotties.

Has anyone fitted this to a 2007+ Defender.

If not I'll take notes and photos.

[numpty]

Mine is a 2006, but there would be little difference. I fitted the relays to the right front guard under the blank air inlet (top of guard) and connected to the right headlight, bringing power from the starter motor (rather than battery)

There are access nipples on the firewall behind the gauges (where the main wiring goes through) to push the switch wire through.

It all works fine on mine, so hope this helps.

[dmdigital]

You reading my mind:confused: I was thinking about this today too.

Just remember the Puma has H7 bulbs, was that the same for the Td5 Defender? The Tdi's had H4's. I'd send drivesafe a PM and ask him to confirm.

Only place I can immediately think of for the relay is under the driver's side wing (via the black panel).

As for the spotlights, I've already got a latching switch for the dash, just need a correct fascia for it. The switch was a cruise control one from the D2, the fascia just snaps off. This means you can mount it in a blank area on the dash. So I suspect if you pull the radio out and pop the centre dash you'll see somewhere to get the wires through.

Please post how it all goes as I'm keen to learn what you end up doing.

What spotlights have you got?

[one_iota]

You reading my mind:confused: I was thinking about this today too.



Just remember the Puma has H7 bulbs, was that the same for the Td5 Defender? The Tdi's had H4's. I'd send drivesafe a PM and ask him to confirm.


Yes I need to understand the implications of this.



Only place I can immediately think of for the relay is under the driver's side wing (via the black panel).


I'll look there.


As for the spotlights, I've already got a latching switch for the dash, just need a correct fascia for it. The switch was a cruise control one from the D2, the fascia just snaps off. This means you can mount it in a blank area on the dash. So I suspect if you pull the radio out and pop the centre dash you'll see somewhere to get the wires through.
The dash panel will be removed. There are two opportunities through the fire wall.

My switch is a genuine front fog lamp switch that is a push on push off type that will fit into a space that one of the blanks occupies...the trick there will be getting the dash illumination lighting to work..I will probably graft onto the appropriate rear fog wiring for this..I've been pouring over wiring diagrams until my brain is addled.


Please post how it all goes as I'm keen to learn what you end up doing.

Yes I will :)


What spotlights have you got?

Lightforce 170 moved from the Disco. They have been good lights.

[RMB3218]

My switch is a genuine front fog lamp switch that is a push on push off type that will fit into a space that one of the blanks occupies...the trick there will be getting the dash illumination lighting to work..I will probably graft onto the appropriate rear fog wiring for this..I've been pouring over wiring diagrams until my brain is addled.

Why don't you take the dash illumination from the cigarette lighter light.

[one_iota]

Just remember the Puma has H7 bulbs, was that the same for the Td5 Defender? The Tdi's had H4's.

The owner's manual says H7 60/55 w but I thought that H7's were a single filament bulb (two connections) used on lights with seperate low and high beam lamps :confused:

I had a look at the lamp yesterday and it is definitely a twin filament (3 connections) so by my reckoning they are H4's and the "H7" is a misprint :rolleyes:.

[Greylandy]

1. Finding a location for the two relays..they need to be close to the lights ...

Why does the relay need to be close to the light?

[weeds]

Why does the relay need to be close to the light?

good question, i installed mine over the weekend and thought about installing the relay in the battery box but it meant running five or six wires back to the battery box instead i one wire from the battery box to the relay and shorter runs to the lights

[one_iota]

Why does the relay need to be close to the light?

This is my understanding:

The longer the run to the lights from the relays the greater the voltage drop and the thicker the cable required to prevent this.

The kit uses 8 B&S (Battery and Starter) cable to get the power from the battery to the relays. From this point a thinner guage wiring can take over without appreciable decrease in voltage. So the closer to the lights the thinner that cable needs to be.

Whilst the relays are fused there is also an automatic resetting circuit breaker that is located close to the battery as usually fuses and circuit breakers should be close to the power source.

Then there are the connections to the existing headlight wiring that power the relays. The kit uses the plug from one of the lights to trigger the relays. So the relays should be close to the lights for convenience.

The switch for the driving lights will be mounted in the dash area so
conveniently the relays are also close to the dash via the firewall.


The Puma engined Defender presents some challenges in terms of relay location but the drivers side above the wheel arch as recommended by Numpty is the best. The down side is the additional length of power cable required to get there from the battery. Unfortunately attaching the power to the starter motor supply (another good idea from Numpty) is difficult to do in the Puma given to amount of refinery pipework in the way.:mad: I'd hate to have to remove the starter without removing the rest of the defender first!

I have some ideas as to how to modify the kit and have emailed drivesafe. I'll let you know how I go. It's a job for this weekend.

I'm sure Drivesafe will chime in :D

[dullbird]

be good to see this happen mahn as have condisered doing this on ours also

please take piccies.

[dmdigital]

What is with you Mahn?

Once again I talk to drivesafe today about lighting kits and again you post something!

That's just weird:confused::confused::confused:

Good point about the H7 bulbs, I suspect you are correct, but there are other 3 prong bulbs they could have gone to. I still need to subscribe to GTR, but I'd like to work through the wiring diagram and see if there is any need to relay the light circuit as it's possible that it already is.

As to the other reason of the improved power supply by a better harness. I look forward to your report when you get one fitted:)

[one_iota]

:eek:

Too many coinkydinkies.

The 07+ is relayed so to upgrade on that basis alone is not warranted.

However to upgrade to improve the light output probably is. I cooked my multimeter so haven't been able to do a "before" measure of the voltage at the lights.

:D

[one_iota]

Well the kit has been installed. :D

This is a quick "heads up".

It was a long job as all first time jobs are and I finished at 9:00 pm Sunday night with a head torch on.

And all works as it should except for the switch lighting (instrument illumination and on-light). I'm still scratching my head over this one as the genuine front fog switch circuitry seems to vary from the GTR documentation. Power for the driving lights uses 1 and 4 of the possible 5 connections but the wiring from the dash lights has me confounded.

I've measured the voltage drop before and after and while there is only a marginal improvement in that measurement the lighting is noticably brighter.

I am well pleased with the result.

I will document the important bits of the installation and post them in the Projects section when I get a chance (Driving to Broken Hill via Armidale next week so it might be the week after that).

[dmdigital]

Mahn, what switch are you using to run your spot lights through?

Did you get the Aux harness (switch with a "2" on it) or the front fog light switch?

[Wilbur]

This is my understanding:

The longer the run to the lights from the relays the greater the voltage drop and the thicker the cable required to prevent this.

The kit uses 8 B&S (Battery and Starter) cable to get the power from the battery to the relays. From this point a thinner guage wiring can take over without appreciable decrease in voltage. So the closer to the lights the thinner that cable needs to be.

Hi all,

Sorry to chip in late in the day.

I think it would be better to connect the relays to the output of the alternator instead of the battery. It is closer, so a shorter run is needed, but most importantly when the engine is running, the alternator powers the lights, not the battery. If you connect the relays to the battery, you get the loss in the wire from the alternator to the battery, and then from the battery to the relays.

Hope this is not too late to help,

Cheers,

Paul

[one_iota]

Mahn, what switch are you using to run your spot lights through?

Did you get the Aux harness (switch with a "2" on it) or the front fog light switch?

Derek

It has the light symbol with the "2" on it.

It was described as a front fog light switched Part No YUG 000540LNF

[dmdigital]

Interesting...I'm somewhat :confused:

I thought this was YUG000540LNF
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/

Can I ask where you got it from?

[one_iota]

Hi all,

Sorry to chip in late in the day.

I think it would be better to connect the relays to the output of the alternator instead of the battery. It is closer, so a shorter run is needed, but most importantly when the engine is running, the alternator powers the lights, not the battery. If you connect the relays to the battery, you get the loss in the wire from the alternator to the battery, and then from the battery to the relays.

Hope this is not too late to help,

Cheers,

Paul

Hi Paul,

I ran a 3 B&S cable (mighty thick) from the battery to close to the relays. The run is about 3.5 m (not as the crow flies) 4 B&S probably would have done the job. Overkill but that was what was available with the appropriate lug connectors.

The alternator on the Puma motor is buried low on the drivers side and even harder to get to than the starter on the otherside.

[one_iota]

Interesting...I'm somewhat :confused:

I thought this was YUG000540LNF
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/

Can I ask where you got it from?

www.britishparts.co.uk (http://www.britishparts.co.uk)

I recollect that this illustration was incorrect for the part.

I followed a lead from

Land Rover UK Forums (http://www.landrovernet.com/forum/search.php'searchid=1297257)

and

www.REEDX.net (http://www.reedx.net/landrover/mods/2002dash/part5/index.htm)

[dmdigital]

So you ordered YUG000540LNF and got this...
http://www.saharanomads.com/gallery/data/511/medium/Image031_Large_.jpg

That's what I'm after then:D Did you order from www.britishparts.co.uk (http://www.britishparts.co.uk)?

[dmdigital]

Forgot to ask two other things...

1. Where did you fit the Traxide relay(s)?
2. Did the headlight bulbs end up being H4's?

[one_iota]

Yes and Yes

Cost $12 plus Postage $12 a couple of months ago.

[one_iota]

Forgot to ask two other things...

1. Where did you fit the Traxide relay(s)?
2. Did the headlight bulbs end up being H4's?

I'll take some photos tomorrow but in the mean time:

Front driver's side guard is easy to get to with the false intake removed. Plenty of room to work with drill access to the guard liner from the underside of the wheel arch

The sound deadening insulation was sacrificed to reveal the plastic guard liner. I mounted the 2 relays with 3 x 25mm M10 bolts (the middle one shared between the two relays) and mudguard washers and spaced them off the guard with large rubber gromits.

I took a thick earth from the AC compressor to one of the relay mounting bolts and fixed the other earths to this.

Getting the switch wiring through the fire wall was an interesting
exercise involving poking a straightened coat hanger through the large grommit pointing to the center of the vehicle. and then feeling for it as it hit the console (much luck involved there and a two person job). Taped the figure 8 wire to the coat hanger and pulled it through the firewall.

The lamps are H4.

[dmdigital]

Getting the switch wiring through the fire wall was an interesting exercise involving poking a straightened coat hanger through the large grommit pointing to the center of the vehicle. and then feeling for it as it hit the console (much luck involved there and a two person job). Taped the figure 8 wire to the coat hanger and pulled it through the firewall.

Awww now you've gone and spoiled the surprise :p

Didn't expect it to be easy :mad:


Pic's would be good, I suspected you would have fitted it under the blank, there's not many other spots.

[Wilbur]

Hi Paul,

I ran a 3 B&S cable (mighty thick) from the battery to close to the relays. The run is about 3.5 m (not as the crow flies) 4 B&S probably would have done the job. Overkill but that was what was available with the appropriate lug connectors.

The alternator on the Puma motor is buried low on the drivers side and even harder to get to than the starter on the otherside.

Hmmm, bad news about alternator accessibility. Why is it that every time they upgrade a vehicle, it becomes harder to work on? Anyway, with 3 BS cable you should be right as rain.

Cheers,

Paul

[Disco_owner]

Hi all,

Sorry to chip in late in the day.

I think it would be better to connect the relays to the output of the alternator instead of the battery. It is closer, so a shorter run is needed, but most importantly when the engine is running, the alternator powers the lights, not the battery. If you connect the relays to the battery, you get the loss in the wire from the alternator to the battery, and then from the battery to the relays.

Hope this is not too late to help,

Cheers,

Paul

Paul ; i s'pose in that situation there has to be a way to switch between output of the alternator and batteries because if you're alternator dies whilst you're driving at night :eek: but there will be times where you would want to run your lights whilst engine is shut off.

[Wilbur]

Paul ; i s'pose in that situation there has to be a way to switch between output of the alternator and batteries because if you're alternator dies whilst you're driving at night :eek: but there will be times where you would want to run your lights whilst engine is shut off.

No, it is all automatic. If the engine is not running (or the alternator fails), the lights draw power from the battery.

When the alternator starts up, it first powers all the electrics of the vehicle, and then whatever is left of the alternator output is used to charge the battery.

[one_iota]

Awww now you've gone and spoiled the surprise :p

Didn't expect it to be easy :mad:


Pic's would be good, I suspected you would have fitted it under the blank, there's not many other spots.

So some photos:

The relays in situ:

Note three bolts for the two relays with the earth connections on the centre bolt.

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2008/10/974.jpg

The relays and the earth connection to the AC Compressor shroud bolt. The 3 B&S cable is just above the relays connected via an additional circuit breaker to the short 8 B&S cable to the relays

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2008/10/975.jpg

The figure 8 switch wire (the black and white wire) going through the fire wall:

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2008/10/976.jpg

The reconfigured console switch arrangement:

All the rear window controls are now on the left and on the rhs the rear fog left and new driving light switch to the right closest to the steering wheel.

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2008/10/977.jpg

I still have some cable management to do.

[willie]

a thread revival!

I'm planning on putting a Traxide Lighting Upgrade and Driving Light Kit into a TD5 Defender, and using the same switch above.

The YUG000540LNF switch has five pins; my friend google has identified them as being:

1 = earth switched
2 = +ve illumination (on with sidelights)
3 = earth
4 = redundant earth (matches pin 3)
5 = +ve control light (small orange led, feed from powered device)

Equally helpful on that site is a wiring diagram that shows the switch operation ...

http://www.landroveraddict.com/smf/i...opic=374616.20

Has anyone reconciled the traxide driving light wiring with this switch, so that you get a green LED for dash illumination and an orange LED when the DL are on?

Cheers

[drivesafe]

Hi willie and you will need to experiment with this but here goes

The short purple wire that runs from the driving light relay to the headlight relay, the end of it at the headlight relay needs to be disconnected and then that end needs to be connected to the B terminal on the driving light relay.

Next, the Black wire running from the driving light relay to the switch now needs to be connected to the ( 1 ) terminal of your Land Rover Fog Light Switch.

The White wire can now be used to turn on the Land Rover Fog Light Switch’s Orange LED by connecting it to ( 5 ) Land Rover Fog Light Switch and running it to L1 or L2 on the driving light relay.

The rest of the Land Rover Fog Light Switch wiring should be done as normal.

This should do what you are after.

PS willie, sorry I didn’t see your post earlier.

[CraigMarlow]

Hi all!

I have a new Puma Defender, and am about to wire in some driving lights. I have got a Traxide kit, and the LR Front Fog Light switch.

Going through the traxide wiring diagram and the suggestion from drivsafe, I can't help but think that if I move the short purple wire end at the headlight relay to the B terminal on the driving light relay, the driving lights will then not be activated only when High Beam is operating, but will in fact be able to operate all the time.

Please bear with this lengthy description, but I am thinking:

- Disconnect the short purple wire all together.
- Terminate the white wire from the figure 8 cable to the Driving light Relay 'L1' or 'L2' terminal.
- Extend a new cable from the 'S1' terminal on the Headlight Relay to the 'S' terminal on the Driving Light Relay.
- Wire the switch in the dash with Earth on pin 3 and/or 4, Black wire (from figure 8 cable) on pin 1 and White wire (also from figure 8 cable) on pin 5

This would provide power to activate the relay only when High beam is operating through 'S', the earth at the switch would provide the activation through 'S1' (and 'S2'), and the LED in the switch would be turned on with the driving lights.

Is there anyone who has their setup working (and/or who can understand what I just explaned!) that can either confirm or shoot down my ideas?

I intend to try the install this weekend (time permitting), so any advice would be appreciated. I do intend to take lots of photos during the install, and will try to post up a guide of what I did if it all pans out sucessfully.

P.S. So far I can say the Traxide kit is a very well thought out kit, and I would reommend it to anyone.

[one_iota]

Forgive me if I misunderstand. :)

I take it you want to be able to operate the driving lights independently of the high beam.

A word of caution if this is the case:

Regulation requires that the driving lights must be dimmable with the high beam lights which is why the Traxide kit is configured this way.

A dumb question:

Why do you want to do this?

[CraigMarlow]

You're forgiven ;). I specifically want to comply and have the Driving lights activate only when high beam is on.

When looking at the wiring diagram and the suggestion from drivesafe (to modify his normal kit to work with the negatively switched LandRover switch), it appears to me that in that configuration the lights would indeed be able to operate without high beam being active.

I may well be mistaken, which is why I am asking the question.
There are no dumb questions!:)

I hope this clarifies things?!

[one_iota]

Ah so...it's about getting the switch to light up:

I've failed this test but haven't persevered.

I can get the amber LED to illuminate when the driving lights are on but haven't pursuaded the green switch light to show up with the rest of the switches when they are illuminated.

I did purchase a socket to fit the back of the switch to make life easier but the wiring puzzle eludes me.

[willie]

The challenge is the switch itself - it is negative switching. The pins are below:

1 = earth switched
2 = +ve illumination (on with sidelights)
3 = earth
4 = earth (matches pin 3)
5 = +ve control light (small orange led, feed from powered device)

When the button is pressed, it joins (1) & (4) and closes a circuit with 5 (see pic below).

With the dual headlight relay, S1 & S2 are the switches for L1/L2. The normal relay has these attached to the HB via a switch and a constant earth (S). You need to change this, making the earth the switch not S2/S2 (which are linked to the HB).

To make the switch work - you tap (4) into the dash earth header and use (1) as the relay's -ve and have the high beam from the headlight relay providing +ve to activate the driving light relay. Press the button, closes the earth switch, powering the relay.

If you connect a wire from the DL (L1) to (5), the orange led will glow when the DL has power. If you connect (2) to the dash illumination, the switch will light up when the dash lights up.

Lookie here for a butchered traxide diagram.
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2014/06/376.jpg

Not my own work - I found a bunch of people who have struggled with this - most comprehensive post is here Defender2 - View topic - Switch fascia (http://www.defender2.net/forum/topic552.html?highlight=switch&start=15) ... It did take me a handful of 10A fuses and an hour or so to put it all together for the Dual headlight relay ;)

[CraigMarlow]

Thanks Willie. Your diagram corresponds pretty much with what I envisioned. That gives me great confidence!

Unfortunately I didn't get the chance to get the driving lights in on the weekend. When crawling under the car to work out the best cable route from the battery, I noticed an oil leak between the gearbox and the transfer case. I didn't want to touch too much until I got it back to the dealer for repairs as I've only got about 1000k on the clock so far! (A lot further than some other people, but still.....).

[Trout]

Interesting...I'm somewhat :confused:

I thought this was YUG000540LNF
http://images.britishparts.co.uk/www.britishparts.co.uk/YUG000540LNF.jpg

Can I ask where you got it from?


Can anyone suggest where in Aust.to get the female plugs that fit these switches. I have tried searching but I am having trouble working out exactly which plug it is and whether I also need to get special terminals to fit in the plastic holder (that then plugs into the switch). Also places I have found on-line only seem to sell these types of plugs in bulk packs.

Thought about just soldering on wires direct to switch but there is not much room and I am worried about melting the plastic or ending up with a short circuit.

[CraigMarlow]

I don't know where in Australia, but I got mine from the UK:
Dingocroft (Penn Rental Service Ltd t/a) Electrical Miscellany (http://shop.dingocroft.co.uk/acatalog/Electrical_Miscellany.html)

Part number: ZZplug01

I bought two of them when I got mine, and I believe there would be no problems if you only want one.
The part comes with the plastic insert to fit the back of the switch and also the lugs to terminate on the end of your wires to suit.

[Trout]

Thanks. :) A sets of two is perfect....I got two switches just in case i needed more lights.

[tuesdayfox]

The owner's manual says H7 60/55 w but I thought that H7's were a single filament bulb (two connections) used on lights with seperate low and high beam lamps :confused:

I had a look at the lamp yesterday and it is definitely a twin filament (3 connections) so by my reckoning they are H4's and the "H7" is a misprint :rolleyes:.

I think LR screw that up ......
mine MY13 puma are H4 bulbs..too:eek:

[austastar]

Hi,
Yep, my manual says H7 for Def

Google says H7 looks like this

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2014/09/1422.jpg


Google says H4 looks like this

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2014/09/1423.jpg

I think Google wins!


cheers

[AndyG]

Would there be space under the blank for say a 6 slot fuse box ? And the two relays.

[D9Oh..]

Thanks goes to Willie for his modified Traxide wiring diagram. Fitted Combination harness for headlights and driving lights on the weekend including a new dash mounted switch. All lights work well, LED in the driving light switch doesn't but I was too over it Sunday evening to investigate further.


Fitted the relays in a sealed junction box under the LHS fender near the A/C blower.


Photo's attached

[tcf]

Nice one mate. Where was the factory looking switch from?

Cheers. Tim.

[D9Oh..]

Got mine from Daniel at Expedition Centre, bought a fuel pump, driving and work light switch. Shifted the rear window switches all to one side and used the blank spots for the new ones.


expeditioncentre.com.au/