anyone with hella 500s on the runner help me out

[burton6509]

just got mine mine in and i have some question on the install.i have read some treads on the install but were not very helpful..is the green wire that ur suppose to connect to the headlight neccasary? and the blue wire on the lights that is suppose to be grounded isnt long enough to ground it to anything... i am installing them on a brush guard..i dont no really much about electriclal work on cars..where can i buy the parts and what should i get.. also on the switch what did you ground the blue wire to? any help i would appreciate...pics of the install would be great to... ive got on 02 sport

 

[Ron Helmuth]

Wire up in general terms

I don't presently have Hella 500s but am likely to get a set here real soon. I have had Hellas before, and the first decision is whether or not to wire using their relay and instructions.

Advantage of their set up/wiring diagrams-when you use your high beams the Hellas (if wired up correctly) will come on as well.

Personally I find that using the supplied instructions and wiring it their way is a pain in the butt. I like to use my driving/fog lights on low beams at times or separate with no headlights at all. So I have always wired my auxilliary lights to my own switch-typically substituting their supplied wires with smaller numbered wiring (thicker wire). I frequently use 'safety switches' which are only accessible after first flipping up the toggle switch cover protecting them, so they can not accidently be flipped on by my dog for example.

The switch and both of the lights must all 3 be grounded-typically you can find an inside grounding location near or on the firewall for the switch itself. The lights will either ground directly to your bumper/brush guard or run a separate ground wire to a location under the hood.

For power- always use an inline fuse holder of the same size rated for the lights, some folks recommend a relay as well-personally I avoid them. I typically run a power lead direct from the battery with a fuse under the hood and protected from the elements. This allows the lights to work anytime-and are not dependent on the headlight wiring in any way.

So a switch will have 3 wires-

1)a power supply from the battery to the switch. (long wire-typically red to indicate power)

2) A ground wire for the switch to the firewall.(short wire)

3) Power to the device-the lights (long wire-frequently but not always white) This wire will be "split" to feed both lights.

If you have more than one wire leading out of your light be sure to verify which is the ground and which is the power (input) so as not to short them out. If their is only one wire, then it is for the power and the lights ground themselves at the point of mounting to the bumper/bull bar.

I hope this helps and did not confuse....



:bash:

 

[burton6509]

don't presently have Hella 500s but am likely to get a set here real soon. I have had Hellas before, and the first decision is whether or not to wire using their relay and instructions.

Advantage of their set up/wiring diagrams-when you use your high beams the Hellas (if wired up correctly) will come on as well.

Personally I find that using the supplied instructions and wiring it their way is a pain in the butt. I like to use my driving/fog lights on low beams at times or separate with no headlights at all. So I have always wired my auxilliary lights to my own switch-typically substituting their supplied wires with smaller numbered wiring (thicker wire). I frequently use 'safety switches' which are only accessible after first flipping up the toggle switch cover protecting them, so they can not accidently be flipped on by my dog for example.

The switch and both of the lights must all 3 be grounded-typically you can find an inside grounding location near or on the firewall for the switch itself. The lights will either ground directly to your bumper/brush guard or run a separate ground wire to a location under the hood.

For power- always use an inline fuse holder of the same size rated for the lights, some folks recommend a relay as well-personally I avoid them. I typically run a power lead direct from the battery with a fuse under the hood and protected from the elements. This allows the lights to work anytime-and are not dependent on the headlight wiring in any way.

So a switch will have 3 wires-

1)a power supply from the battery to the switch. (long wire-typically red to indicate power)

2) A ground wire for the switch to the firewall.(short wire)

3) Power to the device-the lights (long wire-frequently but not always white) This wire will be "split" to feed both lights.

If you have more than one wire leading out of your light be sure to verify which is the ground and which is the power (input) so as not to short them out. If their is only one wire, then it is for the power and the lights ground themselves at the point of mounting to the bumper/bull bar.

I hope this helps and did not confuse....



thanks man..yeah i do not want to connect the wire to the headlights i just got off the phone with hella and they said i did not have to hook it up just to ground the wire somewhere...but for grounding the ground wire for the lights and the switch i am going to need to make the wire longer and i dont know how to do that for both ground wires.. becasue in order for me to ground it to the brush guard i would need to drill holes and i dont really want to do this...could you tell me what i would need to get to make the ground wires londer?? thanks for the reply

 

[Ron Helmuth]

splice

to add in additional ground wire you will need to splice together 2 wires. The proper way is to solder them together and then use shrink wrap to close up the exposed area.

And remember to put on the heat shrink first.....and to be safe pull the bulb out from inside the light so no circuit is completed to burn out the bulb.

 

[burton6509]

ok sounds good...could i use electrical tape would that be fine?and i had another question i want to take off my running boards and was wondering if i should use any spray or anything so it does not rust..do you have them on ur 4runner?

 

[Ron Helmuth]

avoid the electrical tape

I would avoid using electrical tape for your connections-out here it just dries up and blows away.

The running boards I would remove them before you wheel-they almost always get bent up with the way they hang down so far.

and you will have better luck selling them if they are not all dented up.

Mine never had them attached so I am not sure how to best preserve them, mainly keep them dry and out of harm's way like in the rafters of the garage for example.