Lighting - Wiring It Up II

Finding a switched power lead under the steering column or at the lighting switch proved to be a challenge. There was something preventing me from finding the high-beam power although I don't remember what it was. Fog light power was a weird one as it seem that the power at the switch is reverse to what is logical - there is 12V when the fogs are off and 0V when they are on. So I decided to use the engine bay fuse panel.

The Auburn Ected Locker switched lead is from the 4.56 gear and axle work. It uses a switched ignition circuit. The long range driving piggy-backs to a high beam switched circuit. The fog was more difficult because the leads at the fog fuse were not switched (always 12V). So I used a fuse tap from one of the kits and tapped into the fog relay which obviously would be switched. The fuse for this lead is back in the cabin behind the panel next to the lighting switches.

And finally, I wanted to locate a set of fuses and relays somewhere they are going to be easy to access. The engine compartment was one option but then you have to worry about the elements, and also I could not really see where I could put the amount of fuses and relays I needed in a neat and orderly fashion. To help out, I decided to go with a fuse/relay combo from Painless Performance. Its the CirKit Boss®™ Auxiliary Fuse Block/3 Circuits, part #70103:

I got 4 of these to be able to handle all the amps that are going to be needed. The distribution is like this, each group having its own relay:

• 2 x 130 Watt KC - front light bar
• 2 x 130 Watt KC - front light bar
• 4 x 55 Watt PIAA driving - roof rack
• 2 x 55 Watt PIAA fog - roof rack

I found a perfect place for these and that is underneath the rear seats in between the seat swivel mechanisms.

If you look at the close up you will see that I used some stainless steel threaded rod for the mounting points. I drilled the required holes in the seat swivel sides, then bolted the rods on 4 sides (outside and inside of each metal end surface). I then used heavy duty zip ties to attach the Painless kits to the rods.

All ground leads (these are for the relays only and don't carry the high amps) go to a couple of bolts where the OEM Jack used to be (I took all of its components out). All power leads are taken from the 12V power lead/post which is under the grey cover. The positive leads from the lights come out from the firewall, then under the floor carpet and plastic covers at the door openings, then out under the left rear seat, and finally across the rear under-seat platform to the appropriate relay/fuse block. Very easy to get to by just lifting the rear seats.