Hey,

I just purchased some LED strobes to be placed in my headlights, and I need some help wiring it up. I have a legitimate reason for lights on my vehicle. Here is the link to the lights I have

http://www.autozone.com/autozone/cat...lot+Automotive

I need to wire I believe two wires from the engine, through the firewall into the cabin of the vehicle in order to have a switch to turn on and off the lights. If anyone could tell me where exactly I should try to thread the wires through, and how I should thread them through (do I just shove them in? maybe attach them to something sturdy like a coat hanger wire to guide it?). I've never dealt with wiring before, and want to use this as an "experiment". If anyone could maybe take a picture of where on the firewall the holes are, I would greatly appreciate it.

Thank you

 

Fedekz, it really depends on where you get the power from. For something like this, what I would tell you to do is to access your power from the back of the cigarette lighter. Run the power wire up to the switch (where ever you mount it) and then on to the black box that does the flashing bit for you. From there, you can run the two output wires down to where the steering wheel goes through the firewall. There are some rubber pieces there in the firewall that you can push the 2 wires for the lights through. From there, you can run them along the driver's side fender, on around to the area near the radiator. From there, you can ground the lights to the body of the car to complete the circuit. I'm sure you will need a ground for the control box, but that can be obtained from any suitable point inside the car.

As a side note, I don't see how you will make those LEDs shine like you need to without making something ugly inside the headlights. You may want to spend a bit more money for something like Whelen makes. It uses a true strobe bulb and will emit a lot more light than that LED kit. Keep in mind that LEDs provide directional lighting. So, unless the LEDs are pointing straight forward, you will hardly get any visable light out the front of your vehicle.

You may be better off putting the lights say behind the grille (spacing them between the fins) or say in the gap between the bumper and the grille.

 

Hmmm, when you say from the back of my cigarette lighter, what exactly do you mean? Because I plan to have other lights on the interior windshield, and in the rear. For example,

[IMG]file:///C:/DOCUME%7E1/HP_ADM%7E1/LOCALS%7E1/Temp/moz-screenshot.png[/IMG]

That uses a cigarette lighter for power. I have found some cigarette lighter "extensions" that add 4 extra ports, and offer a off and on switch for each port.

I'm new to wiring, would it be possible to attach the power wire from the previous headlight strobes to a cigarette lighter adapter? and be able to plug it in just as the image above?

 

Fedekz, yes, you could put a cigarette lighter attachment on the end of the first set of lights you were mentioning and then use them that way. There are numerous ways to get the job done. It is all a matter of how easy it may be later on to use.

Depending on how many lights you are planning on adding, it may be advisable to simply create a new fuse box to run all these lights off of. That way should you ever need to remove it from the car, you are not having to unwire a bunch of stuff and leaving holes everywhere.

For what you are talking about, the cigarette lighter multiplier would work, but it will leave a big piece hanging out on the dash. Not good looking in my opinion. But, ultimately, functionality always wins in my book. The big question that you have to ask yourself is how much power is the total of the lights you plan on using going to pull from the car? That may lead you down a path that will require the use of a separate fuse box like I mentioned earlier. If you are in doubt, send me a list of the lights you are looking at running and I will give you a detailed explaination of what needs to be done and a wiring diagram to follow so the wiring up will be easy and fairly painless for you.

 

sounds like youll be putting in a lot of lights that used a lot. in this case, you will want a solid source of power, with ease of use for the lights. for something like this, you will have to consider the variables:

Exactly how many lights will be installed? you mentioned headlight flashers, the blue and red...any others?? the more lights the more power you need.

Will everything need to turn on at different times, i.e needing different switches??
this will mean you need a switch panel of sorts, or different toggle switches.
if only one switch is needed to function all, i would suggest a heavy duty switch and a fuse before the switch.

if the blue and red light will be stationary in the car and not removed, i would suggest hard wiring it to everything else.

for a big wiring job like this you need the lay everything you want to go in the car out, and simplify it to work the way you want. you could hook everything up to one switch, or have a panel with multiple switches for each function.

as for power source, i would suggest running a decent size wire, about 10g off the positive terminal of battery with an inline fuse about a foot and a half away from the battery. if theres ever a surge of power, the fuse will pop first saving your lights. then i would feed the wire through firewall just as you thought. this is 100 time easier then it sounds, ive done it on a few cars. the best way is to lay on the floor under the steering wheel and look for a large grommet where there are currently wires coming through the fire wall. i poke a hole in the grommet with flat blade screw driver. bend the wire over the top of the screwdriver and then tape together around the screwdriver. then just shove it through the grommet, once the bent part thats taped is through just pull the screwdriver back and wire will stay in place. you may have to take the black plastic cowl at the bottom of the windshield off to get a better look. best of luck -stevis05

 

Stevie05 -

I plan to have 4 total of the above dash light, here is the size if that helps you get a idea on how big they are, Size: 1-5/8" (41mm) H x 16-3/8" (416mm) W x 1-13/16" (45mm) D.

Two will be in the back, and two will be in the front. I wont leave the wires hanging out just dangling to the cigarette lighter extension, looking like a jungle inside my car, ill extend the power cables, and make the wires unnoticeable. Ideally, the lights will be permanent by means of suction cupping them up, I don't plan on drilling some mounts on my roof to attach them.

I will have headlight and taillight flashers.

I don't need these to be able to run while my car is off, if they are on, my car will be on.

The reason I mentioned a cigarette lighter extender, one that adds 4 outlets is because I was at autozone the other day, and saw one that had switches that "turns on" each cigarette lighter, for example, there were 4 switches for the 4 outlets.

I didn't even think about pushing a wire through the grommet like that, that is an amazingly easy way it seems, thank you, that will definitively make things easier. And thanks for all your help.

Thermo -

I'm not sure how much each light pulls, here is the link to the lights

http://www.whelen.com/_AUTOMOTIVE/de...64&prod_id=289

it actually shows images of it on vehicles to give you a feel for how big they actually are.


If both the methods of the cigarette lighter extension and just a $%^* of plugs going to it, and the wiring from the battery and a new fuse box will work. Which ever you would think is cheaper, I'm not familiar with fuse boxes, and I have no clue what the costs surrounding it will be.


Thank you guys for all your help so far, I really appreciate it.

 

Fedekz, the Whelen lights you are looking at each pull 0.5 amps. So, you can run the lights off of a basic switch. For the 4 lights like this, I would simply power them off the back of the cigarette lighter as this circuit has enough room on it to power these lights. A basic switch like that found at most auto parts stores will handle the current too. Just make sure that the switch is rated for anything over 2 amps. If you find one rated for 10 amps, that would be great.

If you need wiring help, let me know. This is a pretty straight forward wiring job for lights like this.

 

no problem. glad i could offer a different point of view. i do this when wiring an accessory to the interior. following the same routes the manufacturer followed for wiring is always gonna be your best option. the switch with plugs you mentioned sounds interesting. it may work well for your needs. perhaps you might want to mount this in the small cubby area to the left of the dash board underneath the light switch. the plastic piece just pulls right out and could easily be cut in the back unseen from the out side (the whole this is pretty hidden as it is.) you could plug everything in hidden there and run just the one plug to cig. lighter and plug in when needed. let us know how it works out -stevis05