Hooking up 9 off road lights
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Tuned
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 302
Likes: 0
From: Jonesborough,TN
Hooking up 9 off road lights
i will be mounting 4 on my push bar and 5 on my roll bar,,,do i need a fuse block to have one big hit wire from the battery to it and then all the hot wirse running from all the lights to it,,i have 7 6x9 rectangle off road lights and 2 8" off road lights,all are rated at 100w a piece???
Fleet Mechanic
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 1,279
Likes: 0
From: savannah,ga
that is going to pull about 8 amps per bulb
this means at a min. you will need 14ga. wire to each lamp
to switch them I would run a bosch style relay for a max
1 relay for 2 lamps, this will give you
almost 2 to 1 safety ratio on a 30 amp relay
yes you will need a dedicated fuse block to run this
I would go for seperate fuses for each relay
this will keep from losing all lites to one short
to save some wiring run one 12ga. wire to 2 lamps
and splice the wires at pairs of lamps
this will also make wiring the switch(es) easier
just need to use a grounded switch to the relay
good luck and seal all your connections
this means at a min. you will need 14ga. wire to each lamp
to switch them I would run a bosch style relay for a max
1 relay for 2 lamps, this will give you
almost 2 to 1 safety ratio on a 30 amp relay
yes you will need a dedicated fuse block to run this
I would go for seperate fuses for each relay
this will keep from losing all lites to one short
to save some wiring run one 12ga. wire to 2 lamps
and splice the wires at pairs of lamps
this will also make wiring the switch(es) easier
just need to use a grounded switch to the relay
good luck and seal all your connections
Post Fiend
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 10,007
Likes: 4
From: Central Florida
At a little over 8 amps each, your total pull is 67 amps plus a small amount for the relays, so figure an additional 70 amps on your electrical system. I think your 78 will only have something to the tune of a 70 amp alternator. So with all of your lights on, your going to suck everything your alternator can put out at high speed plus dipping into your battery to keep the truck running. I'd recommend a 130 amp alternator minimum and 200 amp as a good choice if your going to use them all much.
Saying all of that, you may want to consider wiring them separately so you don't double your electrical with only one switch. I would suggest switching the grille guard lights separate from the roll bar. 400 watts of light is a lot on their own, so you may rarely need all 800 watts.
Saying all of that, you may want to consider wiring them separately so you don't double your electrical with only one switch. I would suggest switching the grille guard lights separate from the roll bar. 400 watts of light is a lot on their own, so you may rarely need all 800 watts.
Postmaster
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 4,517
Likes: 3
From: SE Wyoming
When I ran 4-150W lights on my grille guard I used 2 relays for 2 sets of lights and ran them off one switch. For the power I wired directly off the battery with an inline fuse then went to the relays which were only a few inches away. This way you only have to run one long wire to the switch in the truck and everything else is rather short under the hood and out to the lights. I do agree I'd probably run the front and top's off different switches just to be safe.
