aux lighting question

SilverBullet01

SilverBullet01

Senior Member
so im looking to put a set of piaa 520 smr driving lights and a set of piaa 520 ion crystal fogs on my 01 sr5. putting the two driving up on the top of the bumper right inside the headlights, and the two fogs right on either side of the license plate.

just so its out there i have one 10 inch sub with a 500 watt amp running to it, so thats another power drainer...

my question is if my rig will be able to handle the power all at once if im on some backtrails with all the lights running, including the factory fog lights. is there anything i can do to help improve the power supply to them. would an optima yellow top help me? possibly a second battery mod, but any idea how to properly do that?

thanks again t4r.ord community :D
 
Register to hide this ad
get a batt. with alot of cca (cold cranking amps) i have about 700 and its a little low, i am running about 400 watts or lights on mine, maybe 800 or even 900 cca
 
Last edited:
Best bet would be to get a high output alternator. Simply putting in a larger battery will still result in pulling from the battery whatever the alternator can't handle.

If you do decide on going with a larger battery only, consider one suitable for starting and deep cycle service. Starting batteries are not designed for long term discharge and using one in that fashion will shorten its life.
 
the battery will actually hurt more than it will help. When the car is running it is running off the alternator. the batter wil just add one more thing the alternator has to charge.

The good thing here is that you probably won't be using the stereo and lights at the same time..... i'm guessing that if you are in the woods off road somewhere at night that you will have the stereo turned down to concentrate on driving.

I would look at some other alternators from toyota. MA70 Supras (turbo model) had an 80 amp and some of the MR2's had either 90 or 100. Most of these should bolt on to the 4runner w/ out problem. If i think about it i'll take a closer look at the 4runner's alt tomorrow and double check the fitment, as i have thought about throwing the MA70 Supra one in to help compensate for the electric fans in mine.
 
A second battery would be ok, but a new alt would be perfect. It might set you back $300 though, at least for a good one (200 amps or more).
 
hmm, i may look into this alternator business.....

but in all fairness since the optima is a dual post battery, if i run the lights off of the secondary post, wont that just pull from the battery instead?

but if anyone has a good suggestion on where and how much a more powerful alternator would be that would be much appreciated :D
 
I'm going to use HID bulbs and ballasts in my Hella 4000's(3 of them). Current draw is less than standard Halogen bulbs so it helps, not to mention that the performance is better.
 
but then it would almost cost you the same to just run a new alt in the car....

plus if im gonna go hid's im going to put them in my main headlights, and since that "technically" isnt legal, im gonna have to pass. been pulled over wwwwaaayyyyy to many times for non legal auto parts.....
 
SilverBullet01 said:
but then it would almost cost you the same to just run a new alt in the car....

plus if im gonna go hid's im going to put them in my main headlights, and since that "technically" isnt legal, im gonna have to pass. been pulled over wwwwaaayyyyy to many times for non legal auto parts.....
Click to expand...

You can buy HID kits for $50.

Aux lighting is considered for the most part "off road" by law enforcement anyways.

Just a suggestion....
 
Mechman (spelling?), EA, Iraggi, all make high output alts. I'm sure there are more, I just can't think of them right now.
 
vader... very true...... come to think of it, i may have to go that way with the driving beams.....

as for the alternators.. how many companies make one that would fit a 4runner? i mean on average how often does someone put on in a 4runner of all vehicles?

and on yotatech, people are talking about upgrading the big 3? any idea what that means? i know its a power and wiring thing but i dont know what exactly it is

also "boyle future tech" im told does alternator upgrading to output 140a from the stock alt. they are like 40 minutes from me, maybe i should just pop it out and take it to them
 
Last edited:
where i am there is a guy that is really good with "beefin" up alt's. thats what ive always done with other cars. see if they can beef it up and make sure to tell them everything that your putting in as well as the sound system thats intalled now. best of luck
 
SilverBullet01 said:

and on yotatech, people are talking about upgrading the big 3? any idea what that means? i know its a power and wiring thing but i dont know what exactly it is
Click to expand...

They're referring to beefing up the factory ground wires with a heavier gauge wire such as 4 gauge.
 
Vader said:
They're referring to beefing up the factory ground wires with a heavier gauge wire such as 4 gauge.
Click to expand...

1/0 would be even better.

Go to caraudio.com and search for big 3. You will find a TON of information.
 
sweet :D ive got toooons of 1 gauge wire left over from about 5 sub and amp installs.......

so upgrade the wiring, and beef up the alt.... anything else i need?
 
Check the classifieds on this site. There is someone selling a used heavy-duty alternator for a 99. Don't know if it will fit an 01, but check it out. asking $325 shipped.

Thanks for this thread, it has answered lots of questions of mine about extra power for extra stuff. I think an alternator is a good idea.
 
CSL said:
Check the classifieds on this site. There is someone selling a used heavy-duty alternator for a 99. Don't know if it will fit an 01, but check it out. asking $325 shipped.

Thanks for this thread, it has answered lots of questions of mine about extra power for extra stuff. I think an alternator is a good idea.
Click to expand...

Lol. I was just about to mention this.

I would definitely check it out. It seems to be a GREAT price.
 
but in contrast, it cost like, $170 to have the stock one beefed up. just need to call them ahead of time and have them do it while im there. hopefully it doesnt take that long :(
 
but all a capacitor does is make sure that the amp is getting the constant, same amount of power at all times..... and jl audio amps have a built in system, that no matter how many volts, from 10 1/2 to 14, that they will put out the exact amount of power every time. so it pretty much has it built in
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Members online

Total: 434 (members: 4, guests: 430)

Forum statistics

Threads
278,304
Messages
3,554,041
Members
248,016
Latest member
Advally Service

Share this page

Trending content

Back
Top