Will this work fine?

[2K10HemiRam]

Alright so the only delay I've had in installing my off road lights is the fact that I pretty much need to make/modify my own wiring harness for the lights to get all 4 connected to one switch. Except for installing drop in kits I've pretty much never really messed with wiring ever and I'm a little unsure about this method I want to use working properly. I was practicing my soldering skills on a roll of spare wire I have and well...my skills are crap and I'm sure I'd make someone throw up if they looked at my practice pieces, lol. So another idea hit me and I just wanted to see what ya'll thought about it, whether it'd be fine to use or whatever.

My idea was to remove a strip of rubber on one of the harnesses approx 1 1/2 inches in length and then taking the other 3 harnesses, cut them where needed and then strip approx 1" to 1 1/2" section off the ends and then twist them around the open spot I made on the main harness. I believe I've seen people do this before and it worked just fine but I'm wondering what ya'll think of it. Here's a picture of a mock up I made just to make sure you know what I'm describing.

After all wires have been connected

Final product after wrapping with electrical tape.

 

[reefguy89]

i wouldnt reccomend doing it that way.what type of lights are you putting on? are you using relays? whats the amp draw on each light?

 

[the codes]

if they came with relays, you prob need a new one to handle all 4 vs 2, I would think?


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[DisturbedGator]

im sorry but you got me cornfused man. you got four lights, and you want all them to be on one switch right. how is this idea of yours gonna make the circuit? series? parallel? for four lights id recommend a relay cause that seems like a lot of current. you could wire them all hot and make the switch a ground side switch, man theres alot of ways to do it.

 

[reefguy89]

this is how i would wire it

 

[DisturbedGator]

work will this^^

 

[the codes]

x2.


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[2K10HemiRam]

Thanks guys for the advice, I really do feel like an idiot because I really do lack knowledge in this department but that's why I joined a forum, to have access to the knowledge, experience, and suggestions of others.

Thank you Reefguy89, I will look into the setup you drew up and will be hitting autozone up in the morning for some relays so I can finally get these lights installed.

And to eliminate any confusion, hopefully, this is what I was going to do pictured below. The lights I have are Anzo 7" HID off road lights pictured here in one of my earlier threads. I had talked with anzo via e-mail if it would be alright to splice all the lights to one wire harness and running a stronger fuse in place of the 15 they provide. You can only buy a single light so they all come with their own harnesses and I didn't want to run 4 switches so that's what led to this.

 

[quietpeen]

definitely follow what these guys say. Now back to your pictures of a splice.....this is just a critique on that splice itself( i know you are not using it) From just a splice stand point - the problem i see with it is that its just twisted and electrical taped. That joint would be much better if it was soldered then wrapped with electrical tape. I could see that coming loose and cause poor connection.

 

[0212353]

or better yet, soldered and shrink wrapped.

tape blows.

 

[Hemi450hp]

Always use shrink wrap before electrical tape.

 

[LB3711]

Thanks guys for the advice, I really do feel like an idiot because I really do lack knowledge in this department but that's why I joined a forum, to have access to the knowledge, experience, and suggestions of others.

Thank you Reefguy89, I will look into the setup you drew up and will be hitting autozone up in the morning for some relays so I can finally get these lights installed.

And to eliminate any confusion, hopefully, this is what I was going to do pictured below. The lights I have are Anzo 7" HID off road lights pictured here in one of my earlier threads. I had talked with anzo via e-mail if it would be alright to splice all the lights to one wire harness and running a stronger fuse in place of the 15 they provide. You can only buy a single light so they all come with their own harnesses and I didn't want to run 4 switches so that's what led to this.

That will work fine. I would solder for the most reliable connection. Shrink tubing would be the best to cover it. Tape over time will loosen up and fall off then short and fire time.

 

[reefguy89]

Thanks guys for the advice, I really do feel like an idiot because I really do lack knowledge in this department but that's why I joined a forum, to have access to the knowledge, experience, and suggestions of others.

Thank you Reefguy89, I will look into the setup you drew up and will be hitting autozone up in the morning for some relays so I can finally get these lights installed.

And to eliminate any confusion, hopefully, this is what I was going to do pictured below. The lights I have are Anzo 7" HID off road lights pictured here in one of my earlier threads. I had talked with anzo via e-mail if it would be alright to splice all the lights to one wire harness and running a stronger fuse in place of the 15 they provide. You can only buy a single light so they all come with their own harnesses and I didn't want to run 4 switches so that's what led to this.

That will work fine. I would solder for the most reliable connection. Shrink tubing would be the best to cover it. Tape over time will loosen up and fall off then short and fire time.

in theory that would work but in actuality the amp draw of all those lights on at the same time would be unreal. if each one has a 15 amp fuse thats 60 amps total you would need some big ass power wire for it and a switch that could handle it. thats why you need to use 2 30amp relays to distubute the power so you dont have to run as big of wire. the wire from the battery to the relay to the lights needs to be atleast 12 if not 10 gauge wire to handle both. the wire going from the battery to the switch to the relay can just be some 14gauge since the amp draw will be minimal. also there should be inline fuses of 30amps for the lights and i would put another one inline with the switch either 5 or 10 amp.

 

[2K10HemiRam]

So I finally had a chance to run to autozone today and I picked up almost everything I need to make the wire harness finally. The only things I don't have are the inline fuses because the one I went to didn't have any that could handle a 30 amp fuse so I'm going to have to make a trip to another one when I can to snatch those up. But before I do, I just wanted to make sure I'm buying enough for what Reefguy89 recommended. Should I only need two fuses for the lights, installing them between the relay and the y split to the two lights, or should I get 4 and put one on each light after the y split? If I just get two fuses then my wire harness will look like this when done

 

[Cthulhu]

You want those fuses as early in the circut as possible.. hence, if a relay fails, or something shorts out in the light, it will catch it..

If the lead to relay 1 from the battery, and the lead to relay 2 from the battery had the fuses, that'd be your best bet...

Its a great learning process, isn't it...

 

[2K10HemiRam]

It is, I'm slowly starting to figure this stuff out. First thing tomorrow I'll be going to get the inline fuses then I'll be sitting down all day working on building and installing the harness and lights. Should be a fun day if I can complete it all. And thanks for the advice!