LED Fogs using factory switch

Zinjasub · Sep 9, 2017

I can’t find anything, but I know it’s possible. How do I wire my rigid leds into my factory fog light switch. I tried using the factory harness but they flicker and are not very bright. I know I need to wire a relay but not sure where/how. I checked YouTube and didn’t see anything useful. Any help would be greatly appreciated

. .

Skubasteve! · Sep 9, 2017

Cant help ya, but that bumper looks great.

JPT · Sep 9, 2017

A relay has numbers next to each pin. If you do this, your factory switch will trigger the lights, but the wiring from the factory harness will not draw any load. It is an electrical magnet that creates the connection only. The power fed to the lights will come directly from the battery and ground. Just note, some relays will have an extra pin, that is not used.

87: 12V+ TO your new lights (LEDs)
87a (IF a 5 pin relay): Not used
30: 12+ Run directly to the battery for this (WITH AN APPROPRIATE INLINE FUSE)
86: 12+ Trigger take the 12V wire from your factory wiring near the bumper
85: 12- Ground directly to a good grounded frame source

Power247 · Sep 9, 2017

Interested to see if a relay helps. In almost all cases the led pods will draw less power than a standard halogen bulb. This makes me thing the canbus is causing the lights to flicker and not an over load situation that can be solved with a relay. Similar to why you need canbus adaptors when you replace headlights with led or hid relay setup.

Greg
2012 | RAM 2500 | CCSB | Custom tuned by Double R Diesel
2016 | Heartland Pioneer | DS310

Zinjasub · Sep 9, 2017

JPT said:
A relay has numbers next to each pin. If you do this, your factory switch will trigger the lights, but the wiring from the factory harness will not draw any load. It is an electrical magnet that creates the connection only. The power fed to the lights will come directly from the battery and ground. Just note, some relays will have an extra pin, that is not used.

87: 12V+ TO your new lights (LEDs)
87a (IF a 5 pin relay): Not used
30: 12+ Run directly to the battery for this (WITH AN APPROPRIATE INLINE FUSE)
86: 12+ Trigger take the 12V wire from your factory wiring near the bumper
85: 12- Ground directly to a good grounded frame source

Soo I have a couple more questions, do I need one relay for each pod or one for both?
Which wire is the 12V from the factory wiring? (I don’t have a voltmeter)
Is there a preferred location to put the relay?

07MegaCabRam · Sep 9, 2017

I thought the factory switch was just momentary.

crash68 · Sep 9, 2017

If it is CANbus causing the flickering, a relay will chatter and not solve the issue.
Are the LEDs wired to the factory wiring using both wires and not grounded to the vehicle frame/body ?
You could try temporary wiring in a relay using the factory wires to see if it chatters(do not use a frame or body ground) .
You'll probably going to need to buy a pair of 9006 pigtail adapters and use a set of CANbus error correctors. The ones from Diode Dynamics I think are good for 3.5-4 amps and can be direct wired to the LEDs with no relays.
https://www.diodedynamics.com/store/catalog/product/view/id/22539/#!prettyPhoto

JPT · Sep 9, 2017

07MegaCabRam said:
I thought the factory switch was just momentary.

I have no idea, I'm new to 4th Gen's.

JPT · Sep 9, 2017

crash68 said:
If it is CANbus causing the flickering, a relay will chatter and not solve the issue.
Are the LEDs wired to the factory wiring using both wires and not grounded to the vehicle frame/body ?
You could try temporary wiring in a relay using the factory wires to see if it chatters(do not use a frame or body ground) .
You'll probably going to need to buy a pair of 9006 pigtail adapters and use a set of CANbus error correctors. The ones from Diode Dynamics I think are good for 3.5-4 amps and can be direct wired to the LEDs with no relays.
https://www.diodedynamics.com/store/catalog/product/view/id/22539/#!prettyPhoto

This sounds about right...

JPT · Sep 9, 2017

Zinjasub said:
Soo I have a couple more questions, do I need one relay for each pod or one for both?
Which wire is the 12V from the factory wiring? (I don’t have a voltmeter)
Is there a preferred location to put the relay?

I would try what others have suggested, (temporarily wiring it up) to see if the relay will fix your errors, but it might not as stated as the CANbus may be looking for a specific draw (that halogens provide).

If you do wire it up, as long as the Watt rating on the LEDs do not exceed the relay rating you can use one relay.

If you do use a relay, I would look for one of those harnesses that attaches to the relay (Auto parts stores will sell kits that have the relay and a harness that plugs into all 4/5 plugs). This way, if the relay goes bad, you can swap the relay easily. I would suggest putting it under the hood where you can access it, you can zip tie the relay (there is a screw hole) to any wire that is near by (this way you don't have to drill a hole for mounting this.

This picture has a harness and a relay:

Zinjasub · Sep 9, 2017

I didn’t think it was a canbus because when the bulbs were out I didn’t get an alert about the fog lights.

Zinjasub · Sep 9, 2017

07MegaCabRam said:
I thought the factory switch was just momentary.

I am not sure. If I am on the gas the flickering subsides.

Zinjasub · Sep 9, 2017

Skubasteve! said:
Cant help ya, but that bumper looks great.

Thanks.

JPT · Sep 9, 2017

Even if the switch is a momentary switch, the wire going to the factory fogs (the 12V+ that feeds the fogs) will constantly have power.

The OP needs to take power that feeds the fogs down by where the harness connected to the factory fogs themselves, not the 12v+ off of the factory switch.

Dangulo · Sep 10, 2017

Zinjasub said:
I can’t find anything, but I know it’s possible. How do I wire my rigid leds into my factory fog light switch. I tried using the factory harness but they flicker and are not very bright. I know I need to wire a relay but not sure where/how. I checked YouTube and didn’t see anything useful. Any help would be greatly appreciated

. .

thread jack but what front bumper is that?

ocwill1 · Sep 10, 2017

just did the same thing, you will need this

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01NCOH08V/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Zinjasub · Sep 23, 2017

Dangulo said:
thread jack but what front bumper is that?

It’s the gorhino br5, 1500 version of the br10.

Zinjasub · Sep 23, 2017

ocwill1 said:
just did the same thing, you will need this

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01NCOH08V/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

No relay needed?? Flickers went away??

ocwill1 · Sep 23, 2017

Zinjasub said:
No relay needed?? Flickers went away??

certainly did....

Rzrman328 · Sep 23, 2017

Zinjasub said:
No relay needed?? Flickers went away??

The item he attached has a built in resistor...that eliminates the flicker.

LED Fogs using factory switch

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