Well I traded my racerback for 5 chrome 6" round lights. 2 of them are brand new and the other 3 were on the guys truck since fall and are a little dull, but can easily be polished. I put 2 of them on tonight to see how they looked, but it was getting dark so I'm gonna hook them up tomorrow.

I was gonna go with four on it, but i got the 5 so i'm thinking about puttin em all on. I want to put them on 2 different switches. If I go with four, I plan to hook the outside 2 to a separate switch from the inside 2, so I can have 2 on or all 4. And If I go with 5, I'll either do the outer 2/inner 3, or alternate them so its still 2 on one switch and 3 on the other.

Also, he had the 3 on his truck wired with no relay, but fused and he had a heavy duty tractor trailer switch, like 30 amp or something. And he's had no issues with it using that switch. He originally had a cheap illuminated toggle and it burnt up however. I know I should go with relays, but are they necessary? the lights are 100W a piece and will be at most 3 on a circuit. I'm good with wiring stuff up, but not sure of the math involved with the electrical..... so I'm looking for your opinions.

Oh btw viper, I took it for a drive and it already feels like I'm losing 5mpg with all that drag......... waaaaayyy more than the scoops lol
no j/k man I know lights are your specialty so you could probably help me the best






Bonus pic of my 2yr old and 4yr old daughters' rigs... The dodge product outlasted the GM product too during an afternoon of chasing each other around the yard haha

 

I like that look better than the racerback.

 

ya me too... i'm sooo glad I held off on that, just had a bad feeling about taping it on and losing it. And the rollbar is what I originally wanted anyway, I've always wanted a truck with a rollbar

 

I got a backrack and like it I have my whelen edge on there now and have been looking at putting more lights on it. I would have 4 forward facing and 1 rear just in case you need to back up some time.

 

ya when I put the other ones on i'm gonna build a bar and bolt it to the mounting tabs the lights are on now, and those 2 will sit farther apart than they are now, with the other 2 or 3 in between, evenly spaced of course. And I was thinking of bolting a couple smaller black lights under the bar for rear lighting. I don't really care for the backwards lights on top. I wanted the rollbar and lights more for the look it gives the truck than the function, however they ARE gonna be functional and I know I will use the lights ALOT for both woods driving and even on the roads around here when no cars are around of course... gotta love the rural living eh lol

 

Well finally we are supposed to get some nice weather for the next few days, so I might tackle the wiring for the lights. I need some advice on how to go about doing it for maximum brightness, without any of that truck burning nonsense. Heres the rundown of what I've got and want to do.

lights are 100 watts each
2 outer lights on a switch
2, maybe 3 lights on another switch
fuse holders of course
gonna wire a trailer connector between the box and cab for easy box removal if needed
I'm gonna have to run a power wire from each light inside the rollbar down to the bottom of the left front leg, through the box to the connector, will the lights ground ok to the rollbar?
What gauge wire should I run, with 3 lights max to a circuit?
Should I go with relays, or can I get away with heavy duty (30-50 amp) switches?

here's a rough MS Paint version of what I'm talking about:


please don't judge my artistic skills lol Its my left-handedness

any help is appreciated. Thanks!

 

Nice looking Ram! I love the roll bar. I always thought Dodge Ram's were the best looking kind of truck with a roll bar.

 

Looks good to me.

 

For picking the current rating of the fuse... you have to do a little math. Power = Voltage * Current. You know 100W and 12V. So... Current ~ 100/12 = 8A (for each light).

I would add 35% to that for a little bit of margin... 11.25A (each light).

So your planned 50 switch would work fine. I prefer relays myself, that way I can run smaller wires around in the cab, and keep the fatter higher current cables on the outside.

For picking cables... look at a wire load chart. I found one with a quick google search here: http://www.powerstream.com/Wire_Size.htm

Good luck,
Cartman

 

This is exactly what I was looking for!!! Thanks Cartman!

I knew there was some math there, but I couldn't remember how it went. Between your link and this one http://www.offroaders.com/tech/12-vo...gauge-amps.htm , it looks like I could use 12g or 14g from each light to the junction, then use 10g to the switch... sound right?