Thread: Fitting driving light

Originally Posted by GEK064

A friend of mine donated a set of light force 240 (that came off his car) and I want to fit them myself (found a simple diagram on another thread) and I have a couple of (or four) questions:
1. I have a TJM bulbar and the lights take up a fair amount of space - will they restrict airflow?
2. I need to get a wiring harness but noticed that the prices range from a few dollars to $75 for the light force wiring kit - what's the differences?
3. Where is the best place for the relays? (don't really understand what they do but I need them).
4. It there a trick to wiring it up so that the switch on the inside looks standard?- getting a switch from the wreckers so how do I connect those wires to that of the switch?

Any help would certainly go some way in helping me stay sane.

Good freinds like that are hard to find

1. Yes they will but not enough to worry about.
2. You pay for the name and quality. There are other good looms around.
3. Should come in the wiring kit. I get mine from any parts shop and run my own wiring.
4. Have a read of this www.discovery2.co.uk / Roof Rack Lights thanks to Urban Panzer.

Too easy...that link is prefect...but just to get in clear...is a relay like a fuse? Cause in the link it mentioned using a built in fuse?

Originally Posted by GEK064

Too easy...that link is prefect...but just to get in clear...is a relay like a fuse? Cause in the link it mentioned using a built in fuse?

UP strikes again

Laymans terms.
-The relay is turned on by the switch.
-This brings two contacts together.
-One goes to the battery and has an inline fuse on it.
-The other contact goes to the lights.

This cuts out voltage drop and gives a brighter light.

Most relays in Australia are ratted to high in amps to be usable as fuses.
An inline fuse protects the relay and lights.

Originally Posted by GEK064

...................
3. Where is the best place for the relays? (don't really understand what they do but I need them).....................

Without the relay you would need to run the full load current of the lights through the switch. This would would call for an expensive (and big) high current switch.
Also, the power cable (also quite expensive) would need to be much longer as it would need to run from the lights through the switch then to the battery.
Also, the power cable would need to be of greater cross-sectional area, as the longer run would mean greater voltage drop in the cable. You want to maximise the voltage drop at the lights, not the cable.
Therefore, the relay (which is operated by a low current switching circuit to the relay's coil) should be mounted in a position to keep the length of the power cable to a minimum.
Hope this makes sense.
Cheers,
biggin

Yeap that's me, the layman and certainly appreciate the patience.

There are a few 12v relays that have wedge fuses inbuilt,, infact for most of these thats the only difference in construction.
The ones I've seen are around 25A though,,

maybe just a quick change of fuse downwards maybe ok??

Hi there, I got a wiring kit off ebay for $15, tested it in our electronics workshop (no problem there) and used it for 2 years for my IPF lights without a single problem. The kit includes everything you need. As a switch (there was one included, but I wanted to have a nice LR dashboard switch, placed next to the steering wheel), I bought a switch for the rear wiper, removed the front cover and replaced it with a grey cover that come off the binnacle switch panel. Just a note - I am not selling the wiring kits :-) Regards J

Hi mate.

I bought some lightforce 170's off of ebay and they came with a 'Sidewinder' loom, which i assume is an el cheapo one.

I have had the light on for a year with no problems whatsoever.

All i needed was some spade clips to attach the leads to the lights.

Came with the relay, switch, and inbuilt fuse. All i had to do was connect it all up.