Schematic or high beam trigger for lights?
Laughing Gas
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 906
Likes: 107
From: Seattle area
Pull the driver side battery. Reach in and disconnect the wiring loom where it plugs into the headlight. It has enough slack you can pull it up into the space where the battery was. Use a voltmeter or circuit tester and you can easily find the high beam wire. Tap it a few inches away from the connector and you're set. Bonus, its right next to the upfitter relay box, so you can add your extra relay right there, supply it from an upfitter output wire and have a spotlight that comes in and off with your high beam switch. Did this to mine, no issues.
Steve
Steve
Thread Starter
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Mountain Pass
Joined: Jun 2010
Posts: 185
Likes: 3
From: Scenic Vermont
Pull the driver side battery. Reach in and disconnect the wiring loom where it plugs into the headlight. It has enough slack you can pull it up into the space where the battery was. Use a voltmeter or circuit tester and you can easily find the high beam wire. Tap it a few inches away from the connector and you're set. Bonus, its right next to the upfitter relay box, so you can add your extra relay right there, supply it from an upfitter output wire and have a spotlight that comes in and off with your high beam switch. Did this to mine, no issues.
Steve
Steve
Mountain Pass
Joined: Dec 2017
Posts: 102
Likes: 0
From: New Mexico
Did you ever finish the install? If so, how'd it go?
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Joe Kucinski
Junior User
Joined: Mar 2017
Posts: 98
Likes: 0
I did something similar in my truck for the LED driving light. But I used the relay to complete the ground circuit.
I tapped into the high beam wire on the driver headlight to use as a trigger for the relay. When the relay is triggered, the ground circuit is complete and the light comes on. But that's not all, I used a dpdt switch in the cab to allow me to turn the LED on independent of the high beams. I just use the switch to choose how I want to complete the ground circuit. Either through the relay (high beams) or manually. By supplying constant 12volts to the light (through a fuse), I don't have to worry about any issues with a 12volt lead coming through the firewall.
Clear as mud, right?
I tapped into the high beam wire on the driver headlight to use as a trigger for the relay. When the relay is triggered, the ground circuit is complete and the light comes on. But that's not all, I used a dpdt switch in the cab to allow me to turn the LED on independent of the high beams. I just use the switch to choose how I want to complete the ground circuit. Either through the relay (high beams) or manually. By supplying constant 12volts to the light (through a fuse), I don't have to worry about any issues with a 12volt lead coming through the firewall.
Clear as mud, right?
More Turbo
Joined: Oct 2017
Posts: 741
Likes: 233
From: S. Indiana
Pull the driver side battery. Reach in and disconnect the wiring loom where it plugs into the headlight. It has enough slack you can pull it up into the space where the battery was. Use a voltmeter or circuit tester and you can easily find the high beam wire. Tap it a few inches away from the connector and you're set. Bonus, its right next to the upfitter relay box, so you can add your extra relay right there, supply it from an upfitter output wire and have a spotlight that comes in and off with your high beam switch. Did this to mine, no issues.
Steve
Steve
Hotshot
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 12,340
Likes: 4,361
From: SW VA
Bump this up for a possible answer...
Is there a wire around the steering column that sends a signal for the high beams (from the multi-function switch)?
I just added my lights and SPDT switch for my lightbar...only thing left is to tap into the high beams, but I don't want to do it under the hood. The elements mixed with an open wire (t-tap) will not be pleasant given the time to corrode...
Is there a wire around the steering column that sends a signal for the high beams (from the multi-function switch)?
I just added my lights and SPDT switch for my lightbar...only thing left is to tap into the high beams, but I don't want to do it under the hood. The elements mixed with an open wire (t-tap) will not be pleasant given the time to corrode...
Tuned
Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 492
Likes: 35
Bump this up for a possible answer...
Is there a wire around the steering column that sends a signal for the high beams (from the multi-function switch)?
I just added my lights and SPDT switch for my lightbar...only thing left is to tap into the high beams, but I don't want to do it under the hood. The elements mixed with an open wire (t-tap) will not be pleasant given the time to corrode...
Is there a wire around the steering column that sends a signal for the high beams (from the multi-function switch)?
I just added my lights and SPDT switch for my lightbar...only thing left is to tap into the high beams, but I don't want to do it under the hood. The elements mixed with an open wire (t-tap) will not be pleasant given the time to corrode...
If you need it to come off, it peels off like rubber after it dries.
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