Wiring KC Hilites

[Cendee]

I want to add some lights to my Jeep and have them all picked out. I have heard the spod is the easiest way to wire them all in but it's pretty pricey. What other options are out there to wire all lights to one area of the engine? I don't want a mess under there and want it to look nice inside my Jeep. Help!!!

 

[James Deaton]

Do you want the lights to come on with the lowbeams, or highbeams, or an auxilliary switch?

There are piggyback wiring harnesses that add on to the headlight bulb plugs, simple plug and play on that end, then when you turn the lowbeams or highbeams on (depending on how the piggybacks are wired), the KCs come on.

Another option is running a wire directly off the battery, which I would not recommend, because you can drain your battery.

Another option is running a wire off an ignition switched location, meaning the wire will only have 12V when you have the ignition on.

You may need a relay depending on the current draw of the lights. If you do need a relay it will make wiring slightly more complicated, but nothing to fret about.

You could also call KC and ask about wiring options and diagrams for your vehicle. They will likely be very helpful, and may even make a plug and play harness for you.

Let us know your thoughts on the options mentioned above, that will make it easier to help :)

James

 

[Cendee]

Do you want the lights to come on with the lowbeams, or highbeams, or an auxilliary switch?

There are piggyback wiring harnesses that add on to the headlight bulb plugs, simple plug and play on that end, then when you turn the lowbeams or highbeams on (depending on how the piggybacks are wired), the KCs come on.

Another option is running a wire directly off the battery, which I would not recommend, because you can drain your battery.

Another option is running a wire off an ignition switched location, meaning the wire will only have 12V when you have the ignition on.

You may need a relay depending on the current draw of the lights. If you do need a relay it will make wiring slightly more complicated, but nothing to fret about.

You could also call KC and ask about wiring options and diagrams for your vehicle. They will likely be very helpful, and may even make a plug and play harness for you.

Let us know your thoughts on the options mentioned above, that will make it easier to help :)

James

I do want an auxiliary switch inside my jeep. I have seen them with 4-6 switches that mount nicely above the rear view mirror.

I don't want anything that is going to drain my battery or cause a huge wiring mess in the engine area.

I want to add the rear chasing light, Rock lights, Backup area flood lights around my roof rack and maybe a few in the front on my bumper.

The whole electrical thing scares me because you can screw up so much even if a shop does it.

Thank you so much for the input I think I will call KC and see what they recommend for the amount of lights I want to install.

 

[James Deaton]

Okay good answers. Make sure to ask KC if you need relays to run the lights.

Definitely be careful about having a shop do the work. No one cares more about your vehicle than you do. That is why I do all my own work. If I don’t know how to do it, I research, ask questions, until I am comfortable doing it myself.

James

 

[smritte]

The whole electrical thing scares me because you can screw up so much even if a shop does it.

My advice is, find someone who does this alot and look at their work (4wd shops). I'm very OCD about wiring, It has to be proper and cant look like it doesn't belong. What you want done is simple but, if you want to do it yourself, your going to be doing a bit of research. KC will give you a schematic diagram that you may or may not be able to read.

The hardest part about doing this is where you "tap in" for power and then routing so its safe and looks good. Wiring/Electronics was one of my specialties when I was in a shop and I've seen enough "home done" wiring that makes me nervous.

Good luck with your project. Take some time and it will come out fine.

 

[Cendee]

My advice is, find someone who does this alot and look at their work (4wd shops). I'm very OCD about wiring, It has to be proper and cant look like it doesn't belong. What you want done is simple but, if you want to do it yourself, your going to be doing a bit of research. KC will give you a schematic diagram that you may or may not be able to read.

The hardest part about doing this is where you "tap in" for power and then routing so its safe and looks good. Wiring/Electronics was one of my specialties when I was in a shop and I've seen enough "home done" wiring that makes me nervous.

Good luck with your project. Take some time and it will come out fine.

Yeah I can do a lot of things but wiring is not one of them. This part can screw things up to fast. My main concern was the box you place inside the engine compartment to run everything to.

https://www.northridge4x4.com/part/switch-panels/8-600-0915-ledr-spod-8-switch-panel-se

This is the cleanest way I have found to get the job done but they are really pricey.

 

[James Deaton]

That is a very nice kit, but I’m not in the right tax bracket for it. The low-voltage cut off is a nice feature, but you can get those separately for $50. As long as you are not an idiot, and don’t leave your lights on, then you won’t run your battery down. If you are worried about becoming an idiot one day, then get a low-voltage cut off switch LOL.

No way would I pay that for what you want to do....

James

 

[Cendee]

That is a very nice kit, but I’m not in the right tax bracket for it. The low-voltage cut off is a nice feature, but you can get those separately for $50. As long as you are not an idiot, and don’t leave your lights on, then you won’t run your battery down. If you are worried about becoming an idiot one day, then get a low-voltage cut off switch LOL.

No way would I pay that for what you want to do....

James

That's what I am saying. That is way to pricey for me also. There just has to be something else available that is similar just not cost more than the damn lights do. :0) OOHHH and I can be an idiot sometimes. :0)

 

[smritte]

Yea. Not a fan of S-Pod. Mostly because I can build it. As for the "low voltage" feature, when is the last time you left your headlights on and killed your battery? Its not hard to, not notice off-road lights left on in day time or accidentally hitting a switch. On my TJ the forward facing lights are tied into my running lights. Rearward are tied into my reverse lights. Thats not an issue there.

On my Cruiser I built a daytime running light that turns on with the ignition and off with headlights. The cruiser off-road lights are independent and could be accidentally left on but, the switch's are placed where their not easily turned on accidentally. My rearward come on backing up only with a single lamp thats controlled by a switch on the light it self. That's my "camp" light.

When considering doing your own wiring, you first figure out all your lamp placements, where your pulling power from, relays and fuses. Now draw a picture with everything and draw in your wire routing. When I do this, I draw wire size and how many wires. I cover them with something called split loom. Then route with the vehicle wiring. You can make it simple or a complicated as you like. I add in my own fuse blocks because for me its simpler. Even simpler are these. Being careful where you route so nothing gets pinched and with some research, you find out, its not too difficult. It is very time consuming and that's why people don't do it right.

Most of my wiring looks like it came with the car.

 

[phxdsrtrat]

I made my own. It's all fused, has 2 relays for the 2 different sets of lights. I used some fairly generic switches in the cab that match well with my other dash controls. It wasn't hard, but it also wasn't "dirt cheap" either. Think I spent around $75 building the box.

There are some newer things out there that would make this type of setup a little easier. For example, uses this would eliminate the need for the separate positive bus bar and negative ground point. Coupled with a couple of relays and an electronic project box could be a fairly simple, inexpensive solution.

-Curtiss

 

[phxdsrtrat]

And just came upon this little gem. This would be perfect for putting together an under hood wiring solution that requires fuses and relays.

-Curtiss

 

[Chadlyb]

That's what I am saying. That is way to pricey for me also. There just has to be something else available that is similar just not cost more than the damn lights do. :0) OOHHH and I can be an idiot sometimes. :0)

So much like yourself, I wanted a less pricier solution to my lighting because there will be alot on The Black Pearl. I did some digging and this is what I found. Blue Sea fuse blocks and Waterwich control panel. Small cost compared to SPod and reliable. I think you can get the control panel fitted for your Jeep exactly with this company also. Hope this helps and good luck. Can't wait to see your finished product.

 

[James Deaton]

Those are nice clean solutions, for 1/10 the cost.

James

 

[Cendee]

Thank you all so much for the help.

 

[phxdsrtrat]

So, I decided to upgrade my wiring a bit. I ordered some of the stuff listed above along with some other goodies I found. What a difference 3 years makes on this kinda stuff. Stay tuned. When I finish my new box I'll post here along with what I spent. If it all works out I'll have a seriously sweet new "power distribution box" as I call them. I have a serious issue cutting into factory wiring harnesses so this one, like my other will be completely stand alone and not "compromise" the factory harness in any way.

-Curtiss

 

[Cendee]

So, I decided to upgrade my wiring a bit. I ordered some of the stuff listed above along with some other goodies I found. What a difference 3 years makes on this kinda stuff. Stay tuned. When I finish my new box I'll post here along with what I spent. If it all works out I'll have a seriously sweet new "power distribution box" as I call them. I have a serious issue cutting into factory wiring harnesses so this one, like my other will be completely stand alone and not "compromise" the factory harness in any way.

-Curtiss

Can't wait to see...

 

[phxdsrtrat]

As promised, my new relay box (lights and my newly installed "power center" in my camper shell (12 volt + USB). I cut two of the relay spots out of the relay box to make room for a pair of bus lugs. I wanted to run my positive and ground to the box off "main lines" (top side of the first phots) This left some extra space on the top of the box. I had originally thought of trying to integrate a low voltage cutoff. Unfortunately I couldn't find a small enough module. I did find a volt meter that fit in the spot nicely. I'm only using 2 of the relays. The extra fuse spots I used for my camper shell power line and the power to activate the relays. I'm using a slightly hackerish technique to share these pics from Google photos. You will have to let me know if its working...

Old box next to new box

Volt meter

Installed in my rig

-Curtiss