Amber grille strobes

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Sep 17, 2016 | 06:56 AM

Poncho450

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From: NY/Canada border

Amber grille strobes

Looking to put some amber or amber/white strobes in my grille and wiring to an upfitter switch. Just for some more visibility if I'm backing my trailer from the road into a jobsite or if there is a roadside emergency. Maybe 4 lights with 3 or 4 LEDs in each.
So far the search isn't turning up a good combination of fairly good quality and fair price. Bad reviews for lower priced sets and I don't want to spend too much money for the limited use. I'm not a firefighter or EMS responder.
I figured if there were a pattern controller I'd just mount it under hood so as not to clutter up the interior and I'd simply switch the lights on/off with one of the 4 available and so far unused upfitter switches.
Has anyone done something like this?
I'm considering these Alpena models because I can grab them at a local Advance Auto. http://www.shopatlow.com/Alpena-Twin...-dd-76444.html

Sep 17, 2016 | 12:49 PM

Poncho450

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Went ahead and bought Alpena 77234 amber and Alpena 70770 white. Will attempt to run them off the same controller so that the patterns are the same. The plan is to power them from one of the upfitter switches. I've seen the body builder diagrams online for the switches, but may need to figure out how to power them off an "always hot" source instead of having the key on.
Alpena 77234
Alpena 70770

Sep 18, 2016 | 05:51 AM

Poncho450

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End result.

http://vid1193.photobucket.com/album...psu0g8vxj3.mp4

Sep 18, 2016 | 07:28 AM

Chuck's First Ford

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From: very South Texas

Looks like you got what you wanted.. Good Job.

Easy, Hard, very Hard?
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Sep 18, 2016 | 07:55 AM

Poncho450

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Quote:

Originally Posted by Chuck's First Ford

Looks like you got what you wanted.. Good Job.

Easy, Hard, very Hard?
.
.

Not bad. Took me a few minutes to figure out that I had to connect the under dash wire from the upfitter switch to one of the blunt cut wires that was blunt cut on both the inside and outside of the firewall (there are 4). But after that it was fairly easy. Thankfully someone had posted a YouTube video on where to find the blunt cuts in the engine bay as well as where to find the blunt cut ends/colors for the upfitter switch wires. His was a 2014 but they were in the same spot on the 2016. Remove the fuse block cover. Look between the rear of the block and the firewall. It was a little tight to get in there and cut the black tape that held the blunt cuts to a larger harness. Also a little tight to strip the end of the blunt after you work it loose.
Grille removal is a breeze on these trucks. I found a video on either YouTube or 1A Auto, I can't recall which. Not crazy about drilling a new truck so I used heavy duty double sided tape on the lights.
I also taped the controller next to the coolant reservoir. I'll most likely only be using the one pattern and the controller automatically defaults to the last pattern used.

Sep 18, 2016 | 11:02 PM

djm1204

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From: Dunnellon, Fl

so the amber strobes are new? The ones you just installed ? What about the white ones ?

Sep 19, 2016 | 06:12 AM

Poncho450

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Quote:

Originally Posted by djm1204

so the amber strobes are new? The ones you just installed ? What about the white ones ?

Both amber and white strobes are new. Bought and installed the same day. Spliced them both into the same controller so that they have the same pattern. Ran them off the 10 amp upfitter switch because the paperwork with the lights claims that each set only needs 1 amp.

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Sep 19, 2016 | 05:06 PM

Poncho450

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Quote:

Originally Posted by Chuck's First Ford

Yup. There are 4 blunt cuts that run through the firewall. 2 white/orange stripe. 1 solid white. 1 that's brown or gray (couldn't see it well enough) with white stripe. It's my understanding that they're a little different in gauge depending on what amperage the switch is.
There are also 4 differently colored blunt cuts that start at the upfitter switch and terminate under the steering column. One of those is what I had to connect to one of the 4 that run through the firewall to get power to my light controller.