4 offroad lights

[ROUSHDEMON]

So I just got my roof rack on this past weekend with 4 130w offroad lights, I also got 4 up front on my brush guard but I haven't hooked any of them up.

I can do the regular positive/negative/grown wire set up, but last time I did that for 4 lighst on my old Excursion they were very dim and you could actually see when you turned them on a delay on them as if they were trying desperatly to get volts....

What is the correct way to wire 4 lights (i'll do 2 set ups) to get full brightness out of them? a Diagram or something?

Thanks in advance!

[HumminNBoatin']

Well make sure you find a heavy duty relays or get 2 relays and have one for each pair of lights. Use a heavy guage wire. Maybe go to your local car stereo shop and ask for some heavy subwoofer speaker wire. Should be like 12ga. Use that to run your power wires from the relay(s) and to your grounds.

[ROUSHDEMON]

cool thanks, what kind of relays do I need? like if I use one relay per every 4 lights? any diagram anybody has saved somewhere?
Thanks!

[Rico001]

Go with a 10 or 12 gauge stranded wire and a relay for each 2 lights. Also with the separate relays you could wire in switches for each set and turn them on in sets or all at once.
~Richard

[MaineH3]

Originally Posted by Rico001

Go with a 10 or 12 gauge stranded wire and a relay for each 2 lights. Also with the separate relays you could wire in switches for each set and turn them on in sets or all at once.
~Richard

This is exactly how I did it on my other vehicle (xterra). 4 lights - 2 relays - 1 switch. 10 & 12 gauge wire. Worked great and had full power. 2 lights per relay seems to be the optimal way.

Luke

[KT2T]

For wire I would recommend the folks at Powerwerx. I buy most* of my stranded zip from them and their wire is top-notch. It's actually manufactured by JSC and it has a high number of fine strands which makes the cable very flexible. I use their zip in various sizes along with Anderson Powerpoles for all of my 12v DC hookup needs (mostly my amateur radio gear).

* - For the really heavy stuff, like 0 or 00, I wait for my next local ham radio festival (hamfest) and buy from a vendor there to save on shipping that heavy wire.

[ROUSHDEMON]

Cool, thanks guys!
The only think I need then is the relays, all I know about relays is that they have 3 prongs but I have no clue how to hook them up, if you have any links to any relays I could use send it over.

Thanks a lot!

[HumminNBoatin']

They usally have for prongs

1. For wire from power source
2. For wire to what is being powered
3. For wire comming from switch
4. For wire going to ground.

They are typically labeled on the packaging. Essentially a relay is just a remote switch. This allows you to take a small amount of power inside of the truck to be able to switch on something requiring more power on the outside allowing you to safely tap a bigger power source.

[ROUSHDEMON]

thanks... sooooo... if I went to Auto Zone and wanted to get relays... are the any specific ones I need? or they'll know what i'm talking about?

[Humdingah]

Roushdemon,

Shoot me a PM with your e-mail address and I can send you a few documents I have on wiring a relay.

Dan

[ROUSHDEMON]

saweet!

Thank you!

[ROUSHDEMON]

wow that was quick, thanks man those will definitely work, much appreciated!

[H2R]

Most common relays have the schematic diagram printed on them. Also when you buy them most of the time you will get wiring instructions. Watch the AMP Rating of the Relay.

[Humdingah]

Originally Posted by ROUSHDEMON

wow that was quick, thanks man those will definitely work, much appreciated!

Ain't no thing brother...just glad I could help out.