New member and need new LED wiring help, please.

Looking to add 8 LED amber lights on the lower air dam, that will come on with parking lights. Can I just tap into the parking light wire on one side of the truck to trigger a single relay, or do I need to add a relay to each side of the truck (left/right parking light wires) and have one side run 4 of the lights and the other run the other 4? I've just had people telling me that the Rams are very sensitive on current loads going thru and the computer may know something isn't normal. Thanks in advance for any wiring suggestions or help.

Brad

flyin99 said:

Looking to add 8 LED amber lights on the lower air dam, that will come on with parking lights. Can I just tap into the parking light wire on one side of the truck to trigger a single relay, or do I need to add a relay to each side of the truck (left/right parking light wires) and have one side run 4 of the lights and the other run the other 4? I've just had people telling me that the Rams are very sensitive on current loads going thru and the computer may know something isn't normal. Thanks in advance for any wiring suggestions or help.

Brad

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I have a single relay running off the driver's side parking light circuit to run the cab lights the previous owner incorrectly installed and have had no issues with it. As long as you use a relay, you should be fine.

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argroft said:

I have a single relay running off the driver's side parking light circuit to run the cab lights the previous owner incorrectly installed and have had no issues with it. As long as you use a relay, you should be fine.

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May try just the one side. I was told the 2006 was different, as far as how sensitive it is to current changes and such, when adding extra lights. That's what has made me ask this stuff. I appreciate the info. Thanks!

The reason to use a separate relay is so you don't have to worry about adding any additional current draw to the existing systems. If you were going to wire them directly into the factory wiring yes, splitting it left and right wouldn't be a bad idea but the relay will pull the same current no matter how many LEDs you have on it.

Edit: the relay will pull the same current in terms of what it is pulling from the trigger source. It will pull the necessary current for the new LED's via the pin 87 (pretty sure pin 87 is the 12+ terminal)

Use 1 relay. Using 2 relays will actually put MORE of a load on the factory wiring, due to having to trigger two relays instead of one. A relay draws a very small amount of power, in the milliamps, but two will still draw twice as much as one.

Basically, your trigger wire (12v parking lights) will go to pin 86. Pin 87 goes to a good ground. Pin 30 will be your "feed" wire and can go to the battery or any high capacity 12v source (a lug in the fuse box for example), and pin 87 will be the "load", which is what you will hook your new lights to.

It would also be a good idea to fuse protect your feed wire. So wherever you decide to connect it, whether the battery or fuse box etc, as close to the connection point as possible, install a small inline fuse. I'm guessing those leds don't draw much amperage, a 5 amp fuse should be plenty.

I added five led lights to my lower air dam. Connection was made on drivers side parking light without a relay installed. This was done over a year ago and I have had no issues.

You can do it without a relay. Leds draw very little power. It is just a good practice to use one and gives you a little bit of peace of mind.

Thank you all!. I appreciate the help!