New Driving Lights

[AWD Chaser]

Hey all.

On my much earned day off, I went down to SuperCheap, and got some driving lights:

Will be working on this tomorrow to get the left hand side done, the wiring and switch hooked up, and touch up todays work...

[Orbit]

i thought you said driving lights....there are a bit Anaemic aren't they?

[AWD Chaser]

lol - who said size matters....

[Orbit]

haha i did lol.
looks pretty neat though on the RHS one good job.

[kenz]

look a little tiny for me but wouldnt mind seeing some pics when you get them working. this is the setup i have currently

[XR6-VCT-2000]

Originally Posted by au3 chaser

Hey all.

On my much earned day off, I went down to SuperCheap, and got some driving lights:

Will be working on this tomorrow to get the left hand side done, the wiring and switch hooked up, and touch up todays work...

Nice , did you get those as a kit with the switch/wiring & relay included ?

[AWD Chaser]

nah - just the lights themselves - $25, had to get wire and switch seperatley... got a blue slimline rocker switch that lights up when on....

[XR6-VCT-2000]

Cool , not a bad price . Imo it wouldn't be a bad idea for you to wire them up to the parkers before your blue switch maybe , so the main headlight switch still overides them and switches them off when you turn your headlights or parkers off .(incase you forget to switch them off ) .

[AWD Chaser]

I'll take that into mind, but in reality (please actually answer this) - Why would I want my driving lights on without my headlights on?

[Orbit]

ok well, they aren't "driving lights" i'd call them fog lights.
BUT, in dense day time fog or twillight fog using only you low mounted "fog" lights will reduce the glare and back scatter of light... increasing your ability to see (debateable) and be seen. PM me if you want more info

[JC]

You should also use a relay.

Pin30 to battery positive
Pin87 to lights
Pin 85 to earth
Pin86 to switch
Other side of switch to parking light circuit (that way they will be on with parkers or low beam).

I may have mixed pin 85 & 86 up, but the others are right.

Using a relay means the lights are actually powered on their own circuit, direct from the battery (you can use an in-line fuse if you want to, between the battery and the relay), and the parking light connection from the switch back to the relay basically flips the trigger inside the relay to get the power from the battery. You cannot draw power until the headlights are at least in the Parklight position.

See, I have positive trigger relays down pat. Anyone know how to do a negative (earth) triggered relay?

[XR6-VCT-2000]

Originally Posted by au3 chaser

I'll take that into mind, but in reality (please actually answer this) - Why would I want my driving lights on without my headlights on?

Im not saying you would , but it would be easy to accidentlly leave the driving lights on in like a well lit carpark or something , least with them wired through the main switch too it would switch them off with your parkers or headlights , incase if you forgot to switch your driving lights off (stop any chance of a flat battery). That way then you can even permanentlly leave you blue switch on but use the main headlights switch to switch on both driving lights and parker/headlights in 1 click/switch of the original light switch , handy to have ya other switch incase you have to switch them off for some reason ( blow a globe in 1 driving light / enter a state where it is illegal etc etc ) .. ;)

[JC]

Originally Posted by XR6-VCT-2000

Im not saying you would , but it would be easy to accidentlly leave the driving lights on in like a well lit carpark or something , least with them wired through the main switch too it would switch them off with your parkers or headlights , incase if you forgot to switch your driving lights off (stop any chance of a flat battery). That way then you can even permanentlly leave you blue switch on but use the main headlights switch to switch on both driving lights and parker/headlights in 1 click/switch of the original light switch , handy to have ya other switch incase you have to switch them off for some reason ( blow a globe in 1 driving light / enter a state where it is illegal etc etc ) .. ;)

It is illegal to have auxilliary lights that are NOT wired into the existing light circuit. See my previous post about using a relay to do this.

[blackers10]

im led to beleive there is also a law against NOT having an individual switch to activate the light as well as being wired thru your headlight/parklight circuit??

check with your local department of transport! should be listed in their modification guide!

[JC]

Originally Posted by blackers10

im led to beleive there is also a law against NOT having an individual switch to activate the light as well as being wired thru your headlight/parklight circuit??

check with your local department of transport! should be listed in their modification guide!

correct. Which is why my post from 2 posts covers both. You can use this same circuit for highbeam, by tapping into the highbeam instead of parking light circuits. And also for air horns, by substituting lights for a horn, and the horn power circuit instead of the parking light circuit. In fact, it can be used for so many things, it's not funny. Even your undercar LEDs (swap light circuit for accessory circuit).......

[XR6-VCT-2000]

Originally Posted by JC

You should also use a relay.

Pin30 to battery positive
Pin87 to lights
Pin 85 to earth
Pin86 to switch
Other side of switch to parking light circuit (that way they will be on with parkers or low beam).

I may have mixed pin 85 & 86 up, but the others are right.

Using a relay means the lights are actually powered on their own circuit, direct from the battery (you can use an in-line fuse if you want to, between the battery and the relay), and the parking light connection from the switch back to the relay basically flips the trigger inside the relay to get the power from the battery. You cannot draw power until the headlights are at least in the Parklight position.

See, I have positive trigger relays down pat. Anyone know how to do a negative (earth) triggered relay?

;) that's the way i wired mine up too , with the relay and inline fuse . No way would i do it any other way , definatelly a no go to run wiring with high amps through a firewall ! . And i especially wouldn't run any driving lights without the seperate inline fuse ! , seen to many under bonnet fires in my times from people doing dodgy wiring ..lol

[blackers10]

haha you posted your reply as i typed mine JC..
thanks for the corrections if any

[TwistedEL]

Originally Posted by JC

You should also use a relay.

Pin30 to battery positive
Pin87 to lights
Pin 85 to earth
Pin86 to switch
Other side of switch to parking light circuit (that way they will be on with parkers or low beam).

I may have mixed pin 85 & 86 up, but the others are right.

Using a relay means the lights are actually powered on their own circuit, direct from the battery (you can use an in-line fuse if you want to, between the battery and the relay), and the parking light connection from the switch back to the relay basically flips the trigger inside the relay to get the power from the battery. You cannot draw power until the headlights are at least in the Parklight position.

See, I have positive trigger relays down pat. Anyone know how to do a negative (earth) triggered relay?

You must use an inline fuse. If you don't invest in a fuse then you better invest in a fire extinguisher.

You need to create a circuit to run a negative trigger, I've knocked up and attached a real quick circuit diagram.

[JC]

Thanks TwistedEL - I may be able to work with that. Of course, if I can find a +ve feed for the circuit I want, I will just use a standard relay setup.

[XR6-VCT-2000]

you can actually buy the propper relay incorperating the transistor and diode , its a 5 pin relay .

[Smoked]

SO basically the laws state that i can run Fog/driving lights as long as i have them wired thru the current head light and have a seperate switch monted? What are laws with regard the the direction and angle of such lights?

[XR6-VCT-2000]

You can have them facing wherever you want , whichever works best for you , so long as they aren't shining directly in peoples eyes !. Alot of cars that come factory fitted with them have them facing down slightlly & outwards a bit , to help light up the sides of the road infront of you too a bit .

[Panda]

Originally Posted by Smoked

SO basically the laws state that i can run Fog/driving lights as long as i have them wired thru the current head light and have a seperate switch monted? What are laws with regard the the direction and angle of such lights?

A quick Google search led me to this website - Vicroads Website

You've got to read this document to believe it - it's huge, I didn't think there were so many different types of lights.

I tried copying and pasting some of the document but there's too much.

Panda

[AWD Chaser]

Got the left side fitted, but I have to redo the right side, cause it's a really bad cut job...

Still have to do the wiring....

Is there any reason why I can't take power from the high beam wire, go to a switch, then to a fuse, then to the lights? Why?

[LUXO_8]

those lights work quite well, considering the size... i had them on my NC for a while untill i broke them on my sisters driveway when they were moving in...
no joke they were almost on par with the NC's low beam at the time...

[XR6-VCT-2000]

Originally Posted by au3 chaser

Got the left side fitted, but I have to redo the right side, cause it's a really bad cut job...

Still have to do the wiring....

Is there any reason why I can't take power from the high beam wire, go to a switch, then to a fuse, then to the lights? Why?

You must run their own power source and use a relay and fuse , wiring straight off the other lights for power with no relay & inline fuse will put major load on the factory fitted light relays for the parkers/hi-beams/headlights/ , you would be drawing way to many amps through the original headlight wiring and relay , thus probably a good chance of causing a fire under your bonnet !

[T3man]

As far as driving lights go I'm afraid they will be next to useless fitted that close to the ground. Good position to fit fog lights but driving lights need to be as close to eye level as possible. Also, size DOES matter - they are a bit on the weeney side aren't they

JC> To use negative or earth switching all you need do is feed the +ive supply directly to the relay terminal #85 and in turn you put your switch in the earthing wire from terminal #86. The relay used is the same.

For driving lights it is not compulsory to have a separate controlling switch - as long as they cannot be operated except in conjunction with your main (high) beam headlights.

With fog lights it is compulsory to have a separate switch and they must be wired through either your park lights or dipped (low) beam lights.

Here's a couple of driving lights ...

[XR6-VCT-2000]

lol , there is driving lights (small), and then there is driving lights ( like yours / HUGE) , depends what you want them for , for looks or for use , mine aren't much bigger than AU3_Chasers' and are mounted low in the pods on my xr series II , and they work excellent ! . If you want them on all the time with your headlights ( for looks mainly )and only a bit of extra light then the smaller 1's are the way to go imo, no way would you get away with those huge asss driving lights around here locally, everone would be flashing you to turn them off ..lol

[Orbit]

lol.
The thing i would argue is that, driving lights are used only when needed.....therefore not around main roads... so no one would flash you.
As for the extra light etc etc.....low beams on cars these days are pretty good, and realistically you shouldn't need the "extra light". But hey personal prefrence at the end of the day.
good for the "look" value at any rate.

Just to follow with the "thats not a knife this is a knife" thingo....
heres mine lol.

[Dazza XLT]

I have 2xRallye 4000 on my Bullbar, but they now make a compact version, which do the same job.
Gone from this- 222mm Diameter

Down to this- 170mm Diameter