fog/aux lights

I have an 04 xlt with the factory fog lights installed.. originally i was wanting to keep my fog lights on with my high beams but coundnt find an easy mod to do that so i decided that i would just buy a set of halogen 55w lights and put them behind the grill to come on with my high beams..

Then i got to thinking i am actually happy with the amount of light my high beams put out.. but am very un happy with the amount of light my low beams put out.. soo what i want to know is if it would be ok to but the wires to the factory fogs and run those wires up to my aux lights behind the grill and then tap into my high beams and run those wires down to my factory fog lights... soo when my low beams are on the aux lights will also come on and when my high beams are on the aux lights will shut off and the factory fog lights will come on... has anyone done this and does anyone have any input on it...

 

[tursky4]

Still nobody has any input on this good or bad???

 

[YoungMounty]

I would not wire anything directly into your headlight wires. Use a relay so you won't fry any electrical components. Besides protecting your electrical system sounds fine if you like the outcome.

 

[tursky4]

I would love to use a relay but im not exactly sure how i could wire a relay in so that the lights turn on when my high beams on come.. if someone could please explain this to me i would really appreciate it

 

[dustinjorge]

You can do what you're looking to do, just make sure to use relays. If you Google 5 pin relay you'll find tons of info on how to wire them up.

I did something similar with my bumper lights. This may give you some ideas:

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=379158

 

[BigRondo]

I can post up my experience with wiring aux lights when I get home tonight. It's not really that difficult.

 

[BigRondo]

Sorry for the delay.

Here's how I did mine:

I have my lights wired so that they can only come on with the parking lights and I have a switch also so I can shut them off when the parking lights are on. I picked up the relay and the switch at Radio Shack.

This is the diagram I used for wiring my lights. The relay is triggered by the parking lights, turning on my aux lights, and the switch allows me to turn off the lights:

I found a great path for running wires through the firewall on my '02 XLT:

This is the view from the engine compartment. The access is behind the brake booster. Look behind the brake booster and down and you will see it.

This is the view from inside the Ex. Follow the brake pedal up to the firewall and look to the left. The red arrow points to the piece that you peel back and the black arrow points to the grommet:

I tapped the parking lights at the driver's side parking light itself, not a big deal since you have to route wires in that area anyway. The picture is from my how to for installing signal mirrors, the link is in my signature. There is some good info there for routing the wires.

Peel back and remove a portion of the plastic wrap - The red arrow indicates the quick splice connector connected to the Green w/White Stripe wire for the signal mirror - The white arrow indicates the quick splice connector connected to the Brown wire for my fog light relay.

Here is the pic of the grounding points. The red arrow indicates the grounding point for the lights, the white arrow indicates the grounding point for the relay & the switch, the yellow arrow indicates where I mounted the relay, the blue arrow points to the wire run from terminal 30 on the relay to the positive terminal on the battery (including in-line fuse):

My relay wiring is as follows:

Term #30 - wire run through in-line fuse to positive terminal on battery
Term #85 - wire run to ground point indicated by white arrow
Term #87 - wire run and connected to positive wires on fog lights
Term #86 - wire run to switch located inside vehicle

The switch shown in the link has 3 terminals (ground is required to illuminate the LED indicator light):

Line - wire run to parking light circuit at driver's parking light
Load - wire from term #86 on relay
Ground - wire run to point indicated by white arrow
If you use a switch without an indicator light then the ground wire is not required.

When wired as above, the aux lights can only come on when the parking lights & the switch are on. When the parking lights are on you can shut off the aux lights with the switch.

I hope I didn't confuse you too much. Feel free to ask any questions.