i used the mounts that came with the lights.. just drill a hole strait though the panel... from the back side put a nut on it and hook up the wires...

 

I like your set-up, Ron. I usually find a way to break off aux. lights when they hang below the bumper.

 

I put in the diode and set it up just like your diagram showed. The switch works great but then I realized that they no longer automatically come on in reverse. I think this is what it is supposed to be like:

Just both cables into the female that connects to the relay. It makes more sense. I'm going to switch it today. Should only take about 5 min. But look at my switch !

I like where it is mounted. Glows green too when it's dark. Tail Gaters beware! I will eventually put a switch on the exact opposite side of the steering wheel for lights up front. I'm thinking about putting four fog lights in my grill but I know that I eventually want to get a new grill so I'm not so sure that I want to go through the hassle of mounting them. Can everyone post pics of aux lights that they have up front?

 

Also, does anyone have any ideas about where I can get a new rubber piece that goes around my shifter handle? As you can see above mine has a big split in it and when i'm on a bumpy road sometimes it makes a faint noise since it moves around a little. Just enough to bother me. Not that anyone else would ever nitice it.

 

thanks Chris...i break them every year backing into parking spots with a 10 foot snow bank...these lights with this set up have lasted 2 winter's so far...

lol took me a couple minutes to figure out what you did... I hooked mine up just as you said...both wires to the connector...my heated mirror switch is in the same place..

check out the classifieds..i just bought a turn switch off a guy that was stripping a parts truck....i dont have his name saved though...sorry....

 

haha ya i bet. I just barely adjusted it. I followed your first diagram exactly, so I tapped in the new 12v cable to the middle of the switch wire that runs from the factory reverse wire to the relay. I should have known that it went straight into the female with the other wire.

And no worries about not having a name for that guy. I would go get one from one of the auto wrecking yards around here but they are kind of a drive from where I'm at. I'm not so sure it would be worth the fuel to go out there for one little rubber piece. But who knows, I always come back with more than I go there for.

And since you couldn't give me info on the one guy. I'm gonna ask another question. Where did you get your mirrors and how much were they? Mine work fine but the plastic where it mounts to my truck is cracked on one side and it holds a little water when I wash my truck then when it's air drying I get water running out of it and it leaves dirt streaks accross my door when I drive. Maybe it's just an excuse to get new ones but the paint on the other side is chipping off a bit too! Plus, I like the look of the chrome ones. the heated part is a nice touch too. Do they have turn signal lights on them as well? They look good

 

they are heated, motorized, lighted and telescopic and have the stainless steel cover on the out side...I got the pair in the classifieds off of a guy with a 05 truck for $150. to my door..he put 08 mirror's on his truck...

 

Nice! More questions. Remember how I was saying that i wanted to run some fog lights on the front but I was thinking about getting a new grill? Well you gave me yet another idea. I was snooping on your gallery and saw your grill paint job. I like the black. That is exactly the part that is starting to look weathered on my grill. So you painted the little vents on either side as well? did you just tape the whole thing and use steel wool or something? any specific paint? Sorry I ask a lot of questions.

 

yes tape off everything you dont want painted...scuff sand what you want painted.. then paint it...i used paint from walmart that was for plastic out side furniture then clear coated it with a can clear i got from there as well ...lasted 4 years so far..

 

10-4. I'm on it. To Walmart

 

almost forgot... pick up some solvent from a parts store...you want to make sure its good and clean after you sand and b4 you paint...

 

Thanks Ron: Check it out --> Sorry these pics aren't relevant to the post. I will get back on track here in a sec:

 

OK I have an issue. So i went home last night to fix my wiring job to match the most recent diagram up there.

My issue before was that my switch worked great and only turned on the aux back up lights like it should, but the reverse lights were no longer automatically turning on. I know I tapped into the reverse lights correctly because before I incorporated the switch, it automatically turned on in reverse.

Ok, so last night I checked on things before I made the change , and when the switch was on, the aux back up lights AND my stock back up lights would turn on. Now this wouldn't be an issue if they also turned on automatically in reverse, but they do not. Maybe the diode went bad allowing the current to flow back to the stock lights as well?

Anyways, I ran both power wires (switch wire from stock reverse light & switch wire from new toggle switch) to one female that I plugged into the relay like it should be. I did not incorporate another diode. Same Result. I flip the switch on and both the aux lights and my stock reverse lights come on, but neither come on automatically in reverse!

Could this simply be because I did not incorporate a diode on the stock reverse switch wire? Would the current running backwards toward the stock back up light cause it to only light up on the switch and not when I'm actually in reverse? Or did I maybe blow a fuse that engages the reverse lights to come on while in reverse?

Also, I bought 12V diodes. They come in packages of 2. Am I supposed to run both diodes on one wire? I know that when I did have a diode incorporated, I put it in correctly. The stripe side is the positive aka it points the direction that you want current to flow.

 

grill looks good Bryce..why does your pictures always have a blue tint to it?? for the switch i used a 5 amp fuse..all it needs to do is trigger the relay..you want a bigger dioed then the fuse..i used a 6 amp dioed from the shack.....

 

Thanks Ron. Its my camera phone that I use to take the pictures. It is most likely blue tinted because of the time of day I take the pictures (early morning before work). It is the only time I can really do it seeing that I work all day and there is no way that I could do somthing to my truck the night before and not have a pic to show the next day haha. Speaking of tint, I just got my windows tinted at lunch today. Both fronts for 80 bucks. 25%

I dont have an in line fuse for the switch. So you are saying that i just need to incorporate a 6 amp diode? When I asked the guy at the shack he just showed me the small little diodes that were in a metal droor. I figured i needed a 12V diode. It was tiny. Are the 6 amp ones on the shelf or something?