Auxillary Driving Lights?

[EMoroney]

I am trying to wire in a new set of PIAA auxillary headlights onto my 2003 truck. Does anyone know how to wire a new set of auxillary lights into the high beam circuit? On my 1995, one of the ports in the headlight socket lights up so you can determine the proper circuit.



Any help is much appreciated.



Thanks



EM

 

[DF5152]

ok i give this a shot the piaa's should have come with a prewired circuit. just tie the hot wire for the high beams into the switch or bypass the switch and they will come on automatically when the high beams are on. Now that being said there have been individuals that have experience problems with idiot light giving a false light out since all this stuff is now tied into a computer and uses a pulse type signal to communicate back and forth.

 

[Prairie Dog]

I would use a relay and draw current straight from the batt. The headlight switch can't handle that much current and the stock wiring is not large enough to handle the extra load w/o a substantial voltage drop.

 

[EMoroney]

Thanks guys, I am going to clarify below...



EM

 

[EMoroney]

All Piaa lights come relayed, thus there is no load on the factory circuit. The 2003 is a three pronged socket... and a 12 volt test light reveals none of the three headlight socket ports energized on either low beam or high beams. (This was taken off the drivers side headlamp socket) My question is, all I want to do is use the energizing of the high beam as a trigger for my auxillary driving lights... do I have to tap into two wires in order to get an energized source to my lights? If not, what is the combination?



Thanks,



EM

 

[DF5152]

I think this has to do with the computer that controls the lighting if u have a digital volt meter try to measure voltage and see what u get. I havent wire any of my light yet so i dont have an answer. i was going to wire them independent of everything to avoid a problem





found this wiring

 

[EMoroney]

Thanks for the info... this confirmed my suspicion that I will need to break the ground... Toyota did this same thing back in '93 on their Landcruiser. I will go talk to PIAA as they are located here locally and see what I can find out.



EM

 

[LRoy]

Did you probe the circuit without a bulb in the loop? That may explain why you didn't see voltage - I would not be surprised if the computer senses there is no bulb then immediately shuts off the current.



I can doublecheck which wire I used on mine if you want. I connected the standard PIAA relay setup to trigger off the high beams and have had no problems in over a year of use now.



fwiw - I used PIAA Pro 80's. They were the only serious driving light I found that was slim enough to install on the stock front bumper.



Leonard

 

[EMoroney]

LRoy, thanks for the info. I would really appreciate it if you could check your wiring as that would be very helpful. If I knew what wire you tapped into or what combination of wires, I would be on my way. Thanks for the fwiw, as I have mounted a steel plate under the truck and will be putting 2 sets of 60 XT's... need all the light I can get driving out in the "country".



Thanks,



EM

 

[n7gxz]

EM,



Something else to consider, in about 2000 Dodge start switching the ground and not the hot side of things.



Kevin

 

[RichV]

Why bother hooking up to the high beam circuit anyway? Run it so that you can have highbeams on along with the PIAA lights. PIAA wants the high beam circuit connected, so that when you turn on your high's, the driving lights shut off, this is a federal rule/law, just like the factory driving lamps do. I used to have PIAA lamps, I don't have the instuctions, and am trying to remember what I did so that I did not need to hook up to high beam circuit and run the lights even if I had high beams on.

 

[EMoroney]

RichV,



We live out in the country and need as much light as possible. The nice thing about running the PIAA lights with high beams is you can shut them off when oncoming traffic approaches as is required by law. I don't need them except when out in the boonies to shed more light on those open stretches of highway.



Thanks,



EM

 

[EMoroney]

LROY,



You hit the nail on the head!



The computer senses no bulb and therefore does not send a current... problem fixed and I am on my way.



Thank you much,



EM

 

[Jeremiah]

Dimwits!

Originally posted by EMoroney

LRoy, thanks for the info. I would really appreciate it if you could check your wiring as that would be very helpful. If I knew what wire you tapped into or what combination of wires, I would be on my way. Thanks for the fwiw, as I have mounted a steel plate under the truck and will be putting 2 sets of 60 XT's... need all the light I can get driving out in the "country".



Thanks,



EM

There is a thread that began about a year ago on this. I know because I started it. The damn lights on the 2003 trucks are too dim in the boonies where drivers need lights to avoid deer, dogs, joggers with dark clothing, etc. I'm hoping some old codger sues the U-KNO-WHUT out of DC for selling trucks with lights too dim to see down the highway. Maybe then they will do a recall, fix the problem, and help the rest of us out.

 

[DF5152]

Re: Dimwits!

Originally posted by Jeremiah

There is a thread that began about a year ago on this. I know because I started it. The damn lights on the 2003 trucks are too dim in the boonies where drivers need lights to avoid deer, dogs, joggers with dark clothing, etc. I'm hoping some old codger sues the U-KNO-WHUT out of DC for selling trucks with lights too dim to see down the highway. Maybe then they will do a recall, fix the problem, and help the rest of us out.

hope ur not holding ur breath. Oo.

 

[Jeremiah]

Re: Re: Dimwits!

Originally posted by DF5152

hope ur not holding ur breath. Oo.

If I wuz I'd be 6 feet under now.

 

[LRoy]

EMoroney: Glad that worked for you.



To everyone complaining about the headlights? Do you mean the low beams, highs, or both?



I admit I haven't actually driven with stock high beams since Feb '03 - but I do drive in rural areas (no streetlights, lots of deer, etc) and find the low beams to be fairly decent.

 

[Jeremiah]

Hi Beams and Lo Beams

Originally posted by LRoy

EMoroney: Glad that worked for you.



To everyone complaining about the headlights? Do you mean the low beams, highs, or both?



I admit I haven't actually driven with stock high beams since Feb '03 - but I do drive in rural areas (no streetlights, lots of deer, etc) and find the low beams to be fairly decent.

It's the hi-beams that are inferior on my truck. They spread the light around more but don't light up far enough down the road to let me drive at what might be called normal highway speeds.



It isn't noticeable until you get in the boonies away from other lights. But that's where you need the brights!



I've had the dealer raise the lights a couple of inches but it doesn't do any good. The problem is a poorly designed reflector.



That means adding brighter bulbs won't help.

 

[EMoroney]

LROY,



I concur with Jeremiah. The low beams are sufficient for most in town driving, I just prefer to have a lot more light on the road when I am using my high beams. The high beams are fine for most people, but I like to make it look like the sun is still shining bright at 10pm.



Thanks again,



EM

 

[bighammer]

Originally posted by EMoroney

LROY,



I concur with Jeremiah. The low beams are sufficient for most in town driving, I just prefer to have a lot more light on the road when I am using my high beams. The high beams are fine for most people, but I like to make it look like the sun is still shining bright at 10pm.



Thanks again,



EM

I'm much happier with mine after BOMBing my multifunction switch. (for the high beams) I can have the high beams on without having the low beams or fogs shut off. It doen't increase the range of the high beams, but the road is much better lit, especially on a rainy night. When I pull back to flash the high beams, it clicks into place and stays there.