Light bar Power Wire

[chino]

Hi all,
I installed a RC 20 inch light bar inside the bottom grille, install went great and simple, now the wiring harness is somewhat of an issue, the instructions tell you to hook it up to the + and - side of the battery, but i do not want constant power being drawn, the switch turns it off and on but I do not want that switch to be powered unless the truck or accessories are on. Other than that the light looks great. Any ideas on a ignition wire inside the hood? The harness is inside the hood and I don’t want to have the harness and relays inside the cab. Thanks

 

[chino]

Inside the hood hookup

 

[JBeckman]

I havent poked around under the hood on mine yet, but this may be an idea. In your fuse panel under the hood, there may be some empty slots. For accessories you dont have. Use a test light and see if you can find a slot that is only powered when KOEO. Then run your power from that slot. Try and find a empty slot that is rated for the same size fuse as your light as well. If it's an accessory that you do not have, you dont want to drag extra current through that system. If that makes sense.

 

[chino]

I havent poked around under the hood on mine yet, but this may be an idea. In your fuse panel under the hood, there may be some empty slots. For accessories you dont have. Use a test light and see if you can find a slot that is only powered when KOEO. Then run your power from that slot. Try and find a empty slot that is rated for the same size fuse as your light as well. If it's an accessory that you do not have, you dont want to drag extra current through that system. If that makes sense.

Thank you I’ll give that a shot

 

[JBeckman]

Thank you I’ll give that a shot

Keep us updated sir.

 

[Leif_Ram2019]

Looks great! I plan on doing the RC 20" light as well. In addition I'd like to do 2" square lights on the far ends of the grill (outside of the sensors, pictured). Based on your experience do you think the 2" square lights would work there?

Thanks in advance,
Leif

 

[GATORB8]

If you don't have air suspension or power side steps, some possibilities under hood:
Cavity Cartridge Fuse Micro Fuse Description
F17 – 20 Amp Yellow Air Suspension
F22 50 Amp Red – I Air Module
F25 50 Amp Red – Power Side Step

Not sure if cartridge fuse taps are available, so F17 may be best bet.

 

[Billet1500 4x4]

If you don't have air suspension or power side steps, some possibilities under hood:
Cavity Cartridge Fuse Micro Fuse Description
F17 – 20 Amp Yellow Air Suspension
F22 50 Amp Red – I Air Module
F25 50 Amp Red – Power Side Step

Not sure if cartridge fuse taps are available, so F17 may be best bet.

Aren't all those slots live regardless of keyed power? I think he wants the light bar to only have power when set to acc or run.

 

[GATORB8]

Aren't all those slots live regardless of keyed power? I think he wants the light bar to only have power when set to acc or run.

They may be, those were the only ones I saw under hood that could possibly be switched and weren’t critical circuits.

 

[Billet1500 4x4]

They may be, those were the only ones I saw under hood that could possibly be switched and weren’t critical circuits.

I'm guessing the light bar is on a relay and the switch is just controlling the coil side of the relay so that there isn't a large current load through the switch but to make it easier to install the switch is probably getting power from the same battery connection, the easiest way to do it would be to to cut loose the power leg for the switch and since the switch is already in the cab grab power from the keyed 12v cigarette adapter and use that to pull in the coil since most 12v automotive relays only require about 40 milliamps to pull in you don't need to worry about fuse size.

 

[chino]

Looks great! I plan on doing the RC 20" light as well. In addition I'd like to do 2" square lights on the far ends of the grill (outside of the sensors, pictured). Based on your experience do you think the 2" square lights would work there?

Thanks in advance,
Leif

View attachment 7683

View attachment 7684

There is room in there, just not sure about your mounting options. The 20 inch light is plenty bright and it has integrated spot and flood.

 

[chino]

I'm guessing the light bar is on a relay and the switch is just controlling the coil side of the relay so that there isn't a large current load through the switch but to make it easier to install the switch is probably getting power from the same battery connection, the easiest way to do it would be to to cut loose the power leg for the switch and since the switch is already in the cab grab power from the keyed 12v cigarette adapter and use that to pull in the coil since most 12v automotive relays only require about 40 milliamps to pull in you don't need to worry about fuse size.

The light bar is on a relay, the only thing getting constant power is the switch. Just didn’t want the switch to get power at all times, but I guess if I let it sit for long period of time I can always disconnect it from the battery.

 

[Billet1500 4x4]

The light bar is on a relay, the only thing getting constant power is the switch. Just didn’t want the switch to get power at all times, but I guess if I let it sit for long period of time I can always disconnect it from the battery.

The switch get's its power from the connection you made at the battery correct?

 

[chino]

The switch get's its power from the connection you made at the battery correct?

All the wires come out from the relay, but yes I am sure the battery is what powers the switch, then the switch will power the relay which in return will turn the light on, because I can turn the light bar on without the truck running or on accessory mode

 

[Billet1500 4x4]

All the wires come out from the relay, but yes I am sure the battery is what powers the switch, then the switch will power the relay which in return will turn the light on, because I can turn the light bar on without the truck running or on accessory mode

Is the switch a 2 wire switch? If so it's not drawing any current and won't affect your battery, it's just an open circuit. But if you still want it on accessory power just cut the hot leg going to switch off at the relay leave the switched leg connected to the relay and t tap the hot leg of the switch into the hot leg of the 12v cigarette lighter then the switch only has power when the key is on acc or run, the coil side of the relay doesn't care where the power comes from it just wants more than 9 volts and .04 amps to pull in

 

[Muttmutt]

I have the sport option. The filler panel looks the same but mine is solid. In other words there is black plastic behind the grills. I could not crawl under enough to see if there is a rear panel that comes off the center section or not. From the front it appears to be 1 solid filler panel so the light kit would not work ?

 

[GATORB8]

I have the sport option. The filler panel looks the same but mine is solid. In other words there is black plastic behind the grills. I could not crawl under enough to see if there is a rear panel that comes off the center section or not. From the front it appears to be 1 solid filler panel so the light kit would not work ?

I was concerned about the same thing when I looked at mine. From the instructions on RCs website, it looks like the filler is two piece, grille and solid, and the solid panel gets removed during install.

https://s3.amazonaws.com/roughcountry/install/921707780.pdf

 

[Leif_Ram2019]

There is room in there, just not sure about your mounting options. The 20 inch light is plenty bright and it has integrated spot and flood.

a lot less about more light and more looks / balance for me. thanks! I'm gonna do the RC model with the amber DRL's.

 

[fireron]

Hi all,
I installed a RC 20 inch light bar inside the bottom grille, install went great and simple, now the wiring harness is somewhat of an issue, the instructions tell you to hook it up to the + and - side of the battery, but i do not want constant power being drawn, the switch turns it off and on but I do not want that switch to be powered unless the truck or accessories are on. Other than that the light looks great. Any ideas on a ignition wire inside the hood? The harness is inside the hood and I don’t want to have the harness and relays inside the cab. Thanks

Chino,

Thanks for posting this mod. I like the hidden set up but have a couple of questions to ask.

Is there enough room between the light and the black grill to clean the light? And coming from the Wrangler world, $200 for a decent 20" light bar seems inexpensive for the light alone without the kit. Any opinion on quality? I see the warranty but ......

Thanks for any help on this item!

 

[Muttmutt]

This light kit will not work on the sport. I went to the dealer and the sport option has the lower grill as a solid piece. The only way you could make it work is to cut the whole center section of the grill out. Therefore it would not be hidden behind the grill and would not be flush to the front of the grill opening. I am not sure if the non sport grill would fit. It appears to be the same shape . Thought about ordering the non sport grill to see if it fits.