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Finished Aux Lights Fuse & Switch panels (PICS)

Skigirl

Skigirl

1/2 ton status
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Apr 2, 2001
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Los Angeles, California
Built a fuse panel box and wired it for all auxillary lights and 2 power outlets. I have 4 lights top front, 2 on the sides, 1 rear, and wired for 2 underneath, plus driving and fogs.

Mounted the fuse panel behind driver's seat. As you can see, the speaker pod still needs to be Line-x'd to match the bed, and the pod has a power outlet built in. Inside the pod, the power wires are shielded and separated from the speaker wires.

Wired up a toggle switch panel to run them and switch the power outlets.

Converted the wiring harnesses for driving, rear and fog lights so i can switch them independently or have them go on when my headlight highs, lows and backup lights go on.

I also wired for 2 lights under the rig, but haven't mounted them up.

The power runs from battery to circuit breaker, then to the fuse panel. Each set of 2 lights is powered by one 20 amp fuse to a 30 amp relay, which also runs the appropriate switch. I numbered all the wires.

The hook up to the shell is done so I can remove the shell and / or just the rack. The whole light wiring unplugs from the trailer plugs you see. There's also another trailer plug on the top side of the shell.

Because the whole rack is mounted on the fiberglass shell, I needed to run ground wires into the cab. I tested the ground mounting you see in the photos and it grounds just fine. The fuse panel itself has ground to the neg side of the 2nd battery.

Didn't post a pic of my rear light, there's only one, mounted on the rack, but I figured it would give me enough lighting to see back there.

Toggle Switch Panel:
2314toggles_closeup_1-med.JPG


Fuse Panel:
2314Aux_light_fuse_panel_1-med.JPG


Panel mounted, but wiring not all cleaned up yet:
2314fuse_panel_mounted_unfinished-med.JPG


Aux Lights:
2314Aux_lights_mounted-med.JPG
 
That looks awesome!!!! /forums/images/graemlins/thumb.gif /forums/images/graemlins/thumb.gif Very nicely done! I'm planning on doing almost the same thing with the rack on my rig, 2 lights out back, one on left and right, and probably 4 or 5 up front. A few questions about your setup though if ya don't mind:

1) Where'd you get the fuse blocks that you used?
2) How did you get the wiring from the rack inside the shell?

The only thing holding me up is figuring out how to get my wiring inside the shell without causing leaks, and being able to easily disconnect it from the rack to take the rack off. /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

Sweet setup though! /forums/images/graemlins/thumb.gif

-Steve
 
Looks good. I've been on a rewire frenzy myself so I can relate to the amount of work that took. I've reworked every harness except the primary engine harness (I'll get that one too eventually). I've got all the wires inside new corrugated wire loom and zip-tied to keep it together and where I want it. Rather than huge trunks like the factory uses, my vastly simplified harnesses have each circuit group in a separate loom from the fuse block out. I also took unused fuse circuits from my factory fuse block and routed them to a junction block so that things like the CB, rock lights, etc. can pick up appropriate fused power easily.

Where did the box come from? I'm considering getting a "project" box at a local electronics store to put some of my junk in. I also have lights that are getting wired to relays. I'm going to go junk yard shopping soon to pick up some mounting blocks for the relays. One relay going in for the headlights (driven from the factory light switch for now) and another relay for (4) 55W rock lights.

Also, where did you get those nice billet looking switches? I'm leaning toward rockers but, who knows...
 
Very nice set up. /forums/images/graemlins/thumb.gif /forums/images/graemlins/thumb.gif Someday I'll do something simular. Nice job. /forums/images/graemlins/thumb.gif
 
scrappy- got the fuseblock from Painless Wiring. Actually bought it thru LMC, they sent it to me, but the box it was in broke and some stuff was missing. I called them to send it back for replacement and they said don't bother, and sent me another whole set. So then I went and got the missing stuff.

My big problem was the same as you are trying to solve. How to route thru the shell so I can remove the rack and the shell. I used trailer wiring plugs. If you look to the right of the fuse panel you'll see a trailer plug mounted to the wall. There's an identical one coming thru the shell. The wires from the lights are attched to the upper plug, which plugs into the part embedded in the shell (waterproof sealed and bolted to the shell). Then connected to the bottom of the plug thru the shell is more wire going to another plug (the one by the fuse box). To take off the shell, I unplug the one by the fuse box. To take off the rack I unplug the on on top of the shell. Here's pics (not great but will give you the idea):
2314fuse_box_plug_1-med.JPG

2314shell_plug-med.JPG

2314trailer_plug_top_of_shell_1-med.jpg


Looks a little sloppy up top there still, but I'm going to put a box over the set-up that will hinge so I can get easy access to it, but it won't get caught in anything I throw up on the rack.

I opted to use separate ground wires from the lights to the bolt on the shell you see there, that correspond to the way the lights tie into the fuse panel, so if there are ground problems on a circuit I can isolate it easily. If I stuck a longer bolt thru there I could put spacers between each ground wire set and get those ground wires to sit more on top of each other for a cleaner look. Probably will just mount a box on there and forget about it.

The trailer plug on top has silicon sealer under there to prevent leaking. You'll notice a small white wire to the side straight thru. That's for the back up light, it had it's own harness so I just ran it thru and used a waterproof connector with the same concept as the trailer plug.
 
Baddog - Boy I don't envy you all that work. It takes so much longer than you'd ever think, and when it's done it looks like it should've taken no time at all.

What a cool set-up tho. That is a great idea, I'd love to have that type of setup in my rig.

[ QUOTE ]
I also took unused fuse circuits from my factory fuse block and routed them to a junction block so that things like the CB, rock lights, etc. can pick up appropriate fused power easily.


[/ QUOTE ]
That is sooo friggin clever. I'm gonna steal that idea from you I think!

I got my box from Lowe's - in the home electrical section. I checked out other project boxes, but they just weren't deep enough. This one has a cover that I'll use those knobs to tighten for easy access, and I'm going to fab up a piece that will go from that box across to the end of the quarter panel there and cover up all those wires you see hangin out. Then it'll all be line-x'd so it'll pretty much disappear.

My next step is to add a kill switch setup (I got it from Jacobs, but it needs to be modified slightly), then I'm going to put my headlights on a relay too, like you're gonna do. I replaced the factory headlights with halogens but want to set it up right.

Got the billet toggles at Autozone. Only problem was they only come in ON-OFF so I needed to use a different toggle for the driving, back-up and fogs (those toggles on the right) for ON-OFF-ON. Still gonna look for something that's a better match tho.
 
That is a very nice setup. It makes it nice to change fuses or to check relays, instead of going from one spot on the truck to another, like on my blazer.

For going putting the wires through the roof, I've done it a couple of ways when I worked for our city maintenance dept working on police cars and fire trucks. We usually drill one big hole center of most of the lights, like under the lightbar. On metal we use a rubber gromet on the inside, but on fiberglass you shouldn't need to do that. You may want to seal the hole to prevent cracks in the future. But to keep the weather out, we used clear silicon caulk or rv sealant and lots of it.

I put extra backup lights on my blazer this summer and wired them to go on with the stock lights. My friends (with no electrical knowledge) thought that was the coolest thing.
 
Yea, I sealed it with clear silicon goop. Rained pretty hard the other day and no leaks.

I thought it was pretty cool too when my aux rear light came on when I put it in reverse! Nice when everything works like you thought it would.
 
Yeah, that feeling when everything goes the way it should is nice. I looked at your pictures of your hardtop and had some more ideas. First, what gauge wire do you have for the lights? It looks kind of small IMO. Second, instead of having all of those ground wires coming into the bolt, could you ground your rack and just run a short wire from each light to the rack?
 
Lights are 100 watts, so 8.33 amps. Wires are 14g. Thought about going to 12 gauge, but I think 14 will be fine.

You have a good idea about that ground wire. Yea, I could run one larger wire from the rack to the bolt and then ground each light to the rack. That's a pretty good idea! Guess I'm going back up on the rack!
 
If you like that, here is another thing I did (and forgot to mention). After removing the usefulness of most of the wires going through the bulkhead connector (part of and behind the fuse block) I actually removed most of the wires. If you don't already know, most all those plugs can be disassembled without cutting the wires. There are like 3 or 4 different "lock" mechanisms, all of which can be tripped with a small "pick" or even a paper clip unrolled. Anyway, I left 4 of the larger gauge wires passing through the bulkhead connector. They are attached at each end to a junction block using soldered hook toed spades (don't fall off even if the screw is a little loose) and sealed with shrink wrap. Now, when I need to run my rock lights, I can just drop from a switch to the junction block, and pick up the wire at the junction block on the other side of the fire wall to connect the relay and wire the lights. No more drills, grommets and sealers.

Even if you don’t want to scavenge existing wires going through, there are unused slots that you can fill by scavenging wires with the correct ends from a donor harness.
 
Geez Russ, that's awesome! No, I didn't know it could be disassembled like that! I'm impressed /forums/images/graemlins/thumb.gif
 
Another thing... (Sorry, can't seem to get it all together at once /forums/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif ) If I need fused power under the hood, just jump a wire from the power junction block to the pass through junction block and voila! Might even be usefull for those quick trail fixes. Something goes out, gets broken, burned in two; just a couple of jumped wires and your ready to go...
 
Ahh that's a pretty cool idea using the trailer plugs for that. I was thinking of using the flat four type trailer plugs but using the round type like that is much better since it's flush and waterproof. I'll probably end up just grounding the entire rack with a fat ground wire.

I also thought about running the wire along the same route as the dome light wiring in the hardtop. That way it would be more hidden inside the cab, but I doubt there will be enough room behind there. Thanks for the info! I'll have to grab a fuse block or two from LMC and get started. /forums/images/graemlins/thumb.gif
-Steve
 
[ QUOTE ]
I also thought about running the wire along the same route as the dome light wiring in the hardtop.

[/ QUOTE ] The dome light wire on your '88 is tucked under the weatherstrip that seals the front of the top to the back of the cab. You could probably add a few wires, but too many would get crushed when you put the top back on. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif
 
Hey, here's you another idea. How about mounting the female side of the plug (with bracket) in the fuse box? Drill a hole and mount it using the bracket you have, just like the plugs that pass through the body or bumper. Looks like it might not have room on the top (cleanest location) due to speaker box but, maybe. That way half the plug and the wires on that side are inside the box. With the top off and the cover on the box, it would all be concealed.
 
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I also thought about running the wire along the same route as the dome light wiring in the hardtop.

[/ QUOTE ] The dome light wire on your '88 is tucked under the weatherstrip that seals the front of the top to the back of the cab. You could probably add a few wires, but too many would get crushed when you put the top back on. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

I know what you mean about that, I replaced my seals a while back and there's not much room in there at all. But I was thinking just running the wires in the hardtop, behind the coverplate for the dome light. The wires run under that plate and then up and towards the back to the light. That way I could maybe put a second plug behind that plate for the roof lights, and not have all the wiring exposed in the cab. I'll have to see if there's enough room behind that cover plate.
-Steve
 
There's enough room under there, the trim plate does not mount flush. Not sure exactly how much room inch-wise but there's plenty for some wires...
 
[ QUOTE ]
How about mounting the female side of the plug (with bracket) in the fuse box? Drill a hole and mount it using the bracket you have, just like the plugs that pass through the body or bumper. Looks like it might not have room on the top (cleanest location) due to speaker box but, maybe.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yea, I tried, not enough room. I'm going to fab a plate that will cover all the wiring that's on the outside of the box now, so all you'll see is the top part of that trailer plug, and of course the wiring going up the pillar to the shell. But I'll attach that to the pillar with a clip (that can open) and it'll be fairly clean looking.
 
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