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Post by ES_97Sport on Sept 12, 2016 19:12:55 GMT -5
I'm working on the under-hood wiring diagram for all the accessories in my '99 Limited build. Lockers, lights, fans, etc. I want to install 'corner lights' - two LED packs, one in each 'wing' on the ARB bull bar. This has been an issue forever on my big '97. I love the OEM glass headlight housings but light distribution to the front corner sides is horrid. I had this problem fixed off-road back in the day with the IPF floods mounted on the forward edge of the roof rack, but I'm not installing a roof rack. Too much of a liability where I wheel. The problem isn't just off road. Driving and turning through poorly lit intersections is kind of nerve wracking in my big Sport. There just isn't enough light on the corners when making a right hand turn. I've been noodling this around in my head and I can't make a decision. I have two options as I see it ... 1) True cornering lights - when I turn on the right hand turn signal, the right hand corner light turns on solid and stays on until the turn signal is turned off. Same thing for the left hand turn signal. 2) Manual on/off - wire both sides into a dash switch so I can turn them on/off as needed. Great for off road. I dislike anything that requires manual management and decreases my attention on the road while driving on the street though. All opinions/thoughts are welcome. KIM this vehicle will see a LOT of road driving in unfamiliar territory - neither the big Sport nor this one are strictly off road vehicle. Edward
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Post by dirk on Sept 12, 2016 19:38:33 GMT -5
True cornering lights that are turn signal run definitely a plus on road, if you could wore an auxiliary switch to turn them both on manually for off road use would be great too. I assume there is a way to run them that way. I'm sure it would mean wiring them twice though.
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Post by redraif on Sept 13, 2016 11:52:14 GMT -5
Sounds like fun times with multiple relays...
Ok my thoughts...On and off with headlight function... I like that. So they could work with the headlights. Headlights could engage the "system power on" or you could wire a "system power on" switch. So a switch for "system power on" or a relay to tie in with the headlights, making them your "system power on" switch.
Next engagement with turn signals. Actual activation of the light... Now to run them with a relay inline with the bulbs, you would then have them blinking??? no good. A relay prior to the blinker switch perhaps? Hmmm... but are there 2 blinker switches? need to keep left and right straight. Good grief... you are making my brain hurt... lol... need a wiring diagram. Factory relays might be your only hiccup. Depending on where they are located in the wiring chain.
But with proper relay use... I think its doable to have them work only with headlights on and turn signal activated... that's how I would run them personally. Only thing... off road you would be using turn signals... bwhahaha
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Post by jkdv8 on Sept 13, 2016 15:31:47 GMT -5
They have harnesses and modules and the like to add cornering lights aftermarket. It would probably be a lot cheaper and less mess than making it yourself and it can be contained to the passenger compartment for reliability. Choose lights that will fit where you want and that have a low beam (that's bright enough for the task) and high beam circuit. Wire the low beam to the turn/parking circuit (only work when blinker is activated and the parking lights are on) and the high beam circuit to a switch for wheeling.
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Post by ES_97Sport on Sept 13, 2016 17:04:06 GMT -5
Firefox - right-click, View Image to see the full scale drawing. IE, you have to right click and then select "Save Picture As ...", save it and then go to wherever you saved it (like 'My Pictures') and them pull it up.
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Post by ES_97Sport on Sept 13, 2016 17:41:35 GMT -5
Dirk, that's what I've been thinking for quite a while. Not that I plan to drive the '99 back and forth to work, but as much time as we spend wandering around strange towns .... I THINK I can make both work. I attached the diagram from 12volt that I've been looking at for some time. (that diagram is for one side only) It just going to make things a lot more complicated. I need to diagram it out and run a circuit test to be sure. redraif, I posted the diagram above of what I have so far. The Driving Lights will be the OEM rectangle set I got off ebay in July. Those will plug into the already existing OEM driving light harness and work the way our driving lights work now. The Corner Lights will be on the 'wings' of the ARB (see diagram for placement). They won't be affected by the headlights. That would actually be a bad idea IMHO - at least for off road use. If you have a spotter in front of the vehicle, you always want to be able to turn off the head lights and/or off-road lights so you don't blind the spotter. You definitely want to be able to independently control all your lighting, be that corner lights, backup lights, rock lights, etc. If you look at the wiring diagram above (under my diagram), there is a capacitor in line. When you turn on A turn signal, the capacitor is charged and then the relay is tripped, turning on the corner light for that turn signal. When the turn signal light is switched off by the turn signal relay (to make the signal blink), the capacitor feeds power to the relay for the corner light, keeping the corner light on. When the signal relay turns the signal light back on, the capacitor is re-charged for the next go-around. The corner light is steady on when the turn signal is engaged. "Only thing... off road you would be using turn signals... bwhahaha" I actually thought of that! Just how much of a PITA would it be to just flip the turn signal on when I needed a light on that corner? Hmmmmm. That might work out ok for me, but spotters usually want them both on and don't want a turn signal flashing in their face. I want both but I don't want to get carried away with the wiring and end up wasting time on something I'll rarely use. The corner light following the turn signal I know will be useful. I don't do nearly as much night wheeling as I used to - at least not intentionally - so I'm not sure about the full on feature. Edward
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Post by redraif on Sept 14, 2016 9:13:28 GMT -5
You know its funny... I edited my comment and removed the whole alternate idea of an independent switch... lol... was rolling with the keep it simple stupid... but the idea of blinding the spotter with headlights... GOOD point! one I had no idea about since I have yet to venture out. Interesting idea regarding the capacitor. I have never used one. They are big with stereo guys, but I never built my systems so powerful that they needed one. Was not doing competitions. I went the route of sound proofing the entire inside to make the system not have to be over built to compensate. Plus I HATE HATE HATE cars that rattle with bass... I even sound dampen my license plates. Ok back on track... the capacitor idea is pretty cool. Inline with the signal line, the power for the corner lights would never draw enough to deplete it...since it is only the signal wire and does not power the light. Nice! As for the first drawing... I can't get it to go larger. Right click does not give me the "view image" option
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Post by jkdv8 on Sept 14, 2016 14:21:16 GMT -5
That's what I was saying about the module. You could probably repurpose a drl module as well. Relays, diodes, resisters, and capacitors all add up to more failure points especially when placed in the engine bay. Also the capacitor needed would be about the same size as the relay itself. Something to consider as real estate is a premium on these trucks. As you pointed out you'll also need two of those, one for each blinker, and another relay for the dash switch. If you tap into the turn signal circuit before the flasher relay all that isn't needed. Wiring of course is light dependent but will be more complex with the single wire type. If they're setup right they shouldn't be blinding anyone whether it be spotters, pedestrians, or cross traffic. They don't need to light up the trees. They shouldn't however shine light above the hood line. If you want to light up more than that then you need a roof mounted light bar with the floods on the sides like mentioned in the other post. I was thinking you were putting them on the angled portions facing down. If you recess them it will help with unnecessary glare and offer protection. Anywhere else, if they're bright enough, you're going to blind the spotter as they are standing on or around the same area you're lighting up facing the light source.
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Post by ES_97Sport on Sept 14, 2016 15:43:52 GMT -5
You know its funny... I edited my comment and removed the whole alternate idea of an independent switch... lol... was rolling with the keep it simple stupid... but the idea of blinding the spotter with headlights... GOOD point! one I had no idea about since I have yet to venture out. Stuff you learn from experience. And a lot of people yelling at you. One of the things in the off road world that LEDs have made practical is 'rock lights'. A lot of the old vintage implementations were horrible. Limitations of using incandescent lighting. Some of them I've seen seemed to do more harm than good, blinding the driver and spotter at the same time. Rock lights are something else I forgot to add to my diagram. There are a lot of applications. I have one on my 'Bird ignition. Correct, and the size of the capacitor manages the 'on' time. The idea is to size the capacitor to (slightly more than) the amount of time between signal flashes. The only 'unfortunate' side affect is that the cornering light will stay on for that period of time AFTER the turn signal is shut off. The period of time it takes the capacitor to bleed off. I couldn't care less myself if the cornering light stayed on a second or two. One guy that did this actually increased the capacitor size specifically to get them to stay on LONGER after the signal was turned off. Personal preference, but that didn't sound like such a bad idea to me. Something that would be extremely helpful off road - I like rock lights, but I wouldn't want them on all the time (off road). Too hard on my night vision. I see better with a minimum of lighting. Cornering lights on the BACK corners (the same as on the front wings) that I could turn on and leave on would be REALLY, REALLY nice. Its a long wheel base thing. Those would be great to just turn on and leave on so one could take a quick glance and see what's going on on the back quarters. Not particularly useful for spotters - that's what rock lights are for - but they'd be very useful for me and a passenger while inside the vehicle. ARG!!! Now I have ANOTHER thing to add!!! Sorry redraif! That was for Firefox. IE, you have to right click and then select "Save Picture As ...", save it and then go to wherever you saved it (like 'My Pictures') and them pull it up. Sorry its such a PITA. That is a HUGE image off my CAD software and I couldn't shrink it down and still have it legible.
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Post by redraif on Sept 14, 2016 16:15:47 GMT -5
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Post by ES_97Sport on Sept 14, 2016 17:11:13 GMT -5
I had to revise my lighting on the front bumper. So the OEM driving lights will go in the existing turn signal slots most likely. But that means I need to get different turn signal lighting for the front and space is limited. UT - "Turn signals are not visible from a distance of 100 feet in normal light." (CO is pretty much the same) This was the only thing that was relevant to me since I'm not changing from the OEM amber color. I'm wondering if four or five of these ganged together for each side would be sufficient. I'd like a single unit per side - something bright enough, flush mount and not huge, but something like that seems to be hard to find. Edward
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Post by dirk on Sept 14, 2016 17:23:59 GMT -5
You could also use your four ways for the always on for them? I know it is a separate fuse, just an idea. As for length on etc, you can also get an adjustable relay like I use for my turn signals to adjust the length of the flashes, and pause between flashes. That may adjust the time the turning lights remain on?
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Post by dirk on Sept 14, 2016 17:26:14 GMT -5
Use a dimmer switch for the rock lights to adjust the brightness? By all means any ideas I toss our there feel free to dismiss them or say they are silly, just additional ideas, one of the crazy ones might actually help/work lol
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Post by ES_97Sport on Sept 15, 2016 19:25:48 GMT -5
You could also use your four ways for the always on for them? I know it is a separate fuse, just an idea. As for length on etc, you can also get an adjustable relay like I use for my turn signals to adjust the length of the flashes, and pause between flashes. That may adjust the time the turning lights remain on? Mmmmm ... I need to look into this. Not silly. I know people who have done this. I can't remember if it was here or the Wire, but I think someone did this a while back. No worries! At this point nothing is silly or irrelevant. This is the planning stage for the wiring and I don't do an entire vehicle at a time so opinions and ideas are welcome. As for the dimmer ... mmmmmm ... the front and rear cornering lights will be ok as they come. I'm thinking Rigid Industries SR-M - Diffused (White). I haven't recently looked into rock lights. That's where I'm at now. I know some of the kits are insanely bright. That might be a good way to fix the problem if it comes up. First I need to do some surfing. After getting everything drawn out, I realized the fuse/buss block that I have won't work. I didn't realize that the new ARB compressor pulls close to 40A. Sigh. Blue Sea makes another one that should work ok. SafetyHub 150 Fuse Block. The other one was overkill so maybe not a bay thing. Edward
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Post by ES_97Sport on Sept 15, 2016 19:30:06 GMT -5
Updated diagram: Edward
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