Easiest auxiliary lights to install
- Thread starter Jwhite
- Start date
Register to hide this ad
Doc2012
Senior Member
All the lights up mentioned come with kits.
The problem comes into where and how you're going to wire them.
If you want to mount them on the roof, then you're going to have to run more wire, seeing as the wiring kits aren't that long.
Where are you going to mount the switches? Are you going to run a relay? Are you going to use the supplied kit, or are you going to make your own?
I have lights, and made my own switch box for the lights. Look at the last few pages of my build thread to see how I did it.
If you have any questions, shoot me a PM.
The problem comes into where and how you're going to wire them.
If you want to mount them on the roof, then you're going to have to run more wire, seeing as the wiring kits aren't that long.
Where are you going to mount the switches? Are you going to run a relay? Are you going to use the supplied kit, or are you going to make your own?
I have lights, and made my own switch box for the lights. Look at the last few pages of my build thread to see how I did it.
If you have any questions, shoot me a PM.
MTD
New member
You may want to think about running them lower on the grill or as ditch lights. Wire management with roof mounted lights is always a nightmare no matter what kit... As far as type of light that I prefer I am partial to hella's because of the bang for ya buck factor. I retrofit in 55W HID's into my 700FF's and 500's and they will put pretty much any led or <$200 HID set up to shame.
If you only are running a couple switches I use a GB switch that fits into the stock switch blanks. I can get the part number after work.
Last edited:
SweetWaterSurprise
Banned
^^ Those are the switches I use. ^^
4RunnerKyle
New member
I did this yesterday..... easiest wiring job ever... a set of 55w Hella 500's wired directly into the factory fog stalk on the 99+.... a grand total of 4 wires to be connected.... blue to blue... black to black... works perfectly
Doc2012
Senior Member
Where are you trying to mount the lights on the roof? If close to your windshield, you're gonna be in for it.
From my experience, mounting lights that close to the windshield just causes too much light to be allowed into the windshield, washing everything out.
I plan on making some kind of light bar that goes slightly infront of the windshield, almost like a Heeps, to keep the light off the windshield.
As [MENTION=94545]MTD[/MENTION] said, running lights through the roof is a time consuming process, and you're going to need more wire.
So far, I have 5 of my planned 9 lights mounted on my roof. I think I used about 12' for the front, and about 20' for the back, for both power and ground. For just one light/set. That was (1) 6x9 KC long range, (2) Hella 6",both on the front of my roof rack, and (2) 4x6" Baja brand lights on the back of the rack.
I wired the 6x9 by itself because of the power, the (2) 6" Hellas together to 1 relay, and the (2) Baja lights together to one relay.
So, I have about 24' of wire for the 6x9, 36' of wire for the two Hellas(power to both lights from the relay, and ground was joined from both lights), and about 60' for the two Bajas(again power for both lights to from (1) relay, and the ground ran in series). The alley lights, I plan on making my own LED ones, and they will be wired in a series. So the amount of power that comes off them is enough to be ran to (1) relay, so about 40' for those.
I ran the 6x9 down hole under the roof rack front foot, and down the driver side a-pillar, the (2) Hellas the same way through the roof, down the passenger side a-pillar.
The alley lights are going to be wired the same way, but from the back foot of the stock rack mount, all the way forward to the passenger a-pillar and the Bajas are ran the same way as the alley lights are.
I did all this wiring while I had my head liner out, which made it a million times easier. The first time I did it, I had to hold the head liner and the plastic trim out of the way, while trying to fish the 6x9 and Hella wires through, then I had to tuck them all under the headliner/trim. PITA.
The length of the harnesses that come with the kit are not long enough to be able to mount it to the roof, so you're going to have to get wire, and make your own harnesses.
Which is NOT hard, just time consuming, as I stated earlier.
I had this massive reply typed out, but then thought, "maybe he knows what he's doing with the wiring, better not insult his intelligence."
If you need help with making your own harness, let me know. I'll be glad to walk you through it.
From my experience, mounting lights that close to the windshield just causes too much light to be allowed into the windshield, washing everything out.
I plan on making some kind of light bar that goes slightly infront of the windshield, almost like a Heeps, to keep the light off the windshield.
As [MENTION=94545]MTD[/MENTION] said, running lights through the roof is a time consuming process, and you're going to need more wire.
So far, I have 5 of my planned 9 lights mounted on my roof. I think I used about 12' for the front, and about 20' for the back, for both power and ground. For just one light/set. That was (1) 6x9 KC long range, (2) Hella 6",both on the front of my roof rack, and (2) 4x6" Baja brand lights on the back of the rack.
I wired the 6x9 by itself because of the power, the (2) 6" Hellas together to 1 relay, and the (2) Baja lights together to one relay.
So, I have about 24' of wire for the 6x9, 36' of wire for the two Hellas(power to both lights from the relay, and ground was joined from both lights), and about 60' for the two Bajas(again power for both lights to from (1) relay, and the ground ran in series). The alley lights, I plan on making my own LED ones, and they will be wired in a series. So the amount of power that comes off them is enough to be ran to (1) relay, so about 40' for those.
I ran the 6x9 down hole under the roof rack front foot, and down the driver side a-pillar, the (2) Hellas the same way through the roof, down the passenger side a-pillar.
The alley lights are going to be wired the same way, but from the back foot of the stock rack mount, all the way forward to the passenger a-pillar and the Bajas are ran the same way as the alley lights are.
I did all this wiring while I had my head liner out, which made it a million times easier. The first time I did it, I had to hold the head liner and the plastic trim out of the way, while trying to fish the 6x9 and Hella wires through, then I had to tuck them all under the headliner/trim. PITA.
The length of the harnesses that come with the kit are not long enough to be able to mount it to the roof, so you're going to have to get wire, and make your own harnesses.
Which is NOT hard, just time consuming, as I stated earlier.
I had this massive reply typed out, but then thought, "maybe he knows what he's doing with the wiring, better not insult his intelligence."
If you need help with making your own harness, let me know. I'll be glad to walk you through it.
the great him
Elite Member
well having owned all of those light brands and more, i can tell you without a doubt that PIAA will have the best and easiest to use wire harness, its 99% plug and play, the only think you will have to do is find a ground and put a terminal of some sorts on the main power wire.
but even with the stock PIAA harness it will not be long enough to reach the roof, but good news, PIAA makes extension harnesses just for things like this.
MTD
New member
This it true, PIAA does have the best peripheral components (wiring harnesses, mounts and such). They are a bit overpriced for their output though I think. It seems more like a brand recognition thing with them.
jgue467
Senior Member
Hey Kid, do you use PIAA H4s or something else for your mainlights? If so are they 'whiter' or much whiter than say regular sylvanias? thxs...
the great him
Elite Member
i have used both PIAA and IPF in my head lights, and i and currently running PIAA again, not because i think they are better, but because they are so much easier and cheaper to get, i think they are both about equal, and both far superior to the sylvanias. i have nothing good to say about sylvanias, they are overpriced and terrible quality, and their lifespan sucks. you can buy PIAAs for the same price and they will last twice as long and be much brighter. the "whiteness" of the lights depends on the K number you get(color), the higher the K number(temperature rating in kelven) you get the bluer the light gets. natural sunlight is roughly 4300k, anything over that and you actually start to lose visible light and light output(especially in inclimate weather) for the gain of "cool factor"... i have run 5500k, 5100k, 4800k and 4100k bulbs from both IPF and PIAA and i like the 4100 the best, it gives the best light imo for a halogen bulb and yet still looks good from outside the vehicle so its "cool factor" is still there imo, but you sacrifice no visible light output
sorry for the off topic segment
jgue467
Senior Member
That's what i thought
Thanks Kid. Yes, sorry for the off topic everyone, but yes I have 2 Sylvania "silverstars", I had one go out so I replaced it w/another one I had leftover from another car's replacement, same exact model But one looks 'bluish' compared to the other one's very obvious yellow hue, look terrible together. I heard about the PIAA, found some on ebay for $30 each shipped, guess i'll try those next. :high5:
Thanks Kid. Yes, sorry for the off topic everyone, but yes I have 2 Sylvania "silverstars", I had one go out so I replaced it w/another one I had leftover from another car's replacement, same exact model But one looks 'bluish' compared to the other one's very obvious yellow hue, look terrible together. I heard about the PIAA, found some on ebay for $30 each shipped, guess i'll try those next. :high5:
I think the easiest to wire would be the Warn wireless lights. No hassle running the harness into the cab. The only bad thing is having to have a control style switch instead of a simple switch..
KC, PIAA, IPF, Hella, Lightforce all use the same basic harness, wiring them is the same procedure. From my experience: any of those would work, but I have a tendency to stay with KC. For the price, they're the ones that offer best quality by far, plus theyre impressively bright. Lightforce is great, although overpriced IMO. IPF's are like freaking candles compared to any of the others, and Hella offers the best quality light you can have. Don't buy any of the Hi/Lo versions of PIAA, IPF or Warn, they suck in both power settings...
KC, PIAA, IPF, Hella, Lightforce all use the same basic harness, wiring them is the same procedure. From my experience: any of those would work, but I have a tendency to stay with KC. For the price, they're the ones that offer best quality by far, plus theyre impressively bright. Lightforce is great, although overpriced IMO. IPF's are like freaking candles compared to any of the others, and Hella offers the best quality light you can have. Don't buy any of the Hi/Lo versions of PIAA, IPF or Warn, they suck in both power settings...
Last edited:
the great him
Elite Member
THEY DO NOT USE THE SAME BASIC HARNESS... Nothing about the harness is even close. PIAA by far has the easiest and best plug and play harness and between PIAA & IPF they have the best constructed lights and materials use in their lights. Light force is not far behind and in some areas you could say they are ahead. KC and Hella use a lot of cheep parts and it shows in the amount of vibration in the light, the rigidity in the housing and the beam patterns as well the last good set of KCs I had were the old sealed beam 150w stainless day lighters. Those were bright but not as bright as my IPF MSR800s I have now. Hella, well unless you get into their high end lights are junk IMO and have been that way for a long time. And when you get their high end stuff you get it one part at a time, they don't sell them as a kit and I don't think they even have a wire harness available for them its up to the installer to build one. Now that can be an advantage if you are truly doing custom stuff. KC wire harness are a joke and their instructions are definitely not for a novice and they try to control how and when the lights can come on by telling you to wire them a specific way -Hella is also guilty of this. The last set of KCs I bought where some 6x9s for my pickup to go on the roll bar about 3 years ago. The lenses where plastic and two of them leaked and fogged up the first time I drove the truck in the rain. KC sent me out two replacements and I had the same issue. Unless you get into the carbonfiber race team lights i dont think KC makes a good product that really stands out. Hella mounts leave a lot to be desired. Again the materials used are cheap. The plastic housings are not ridged enough to fight any vibration and so the lights bounce a lot and its terrible at night, creating driver fatigue. And when it comes to brightness well I have never complained about my PIAAs or IPFs in fact u have been pulled over for running them at night in fog and rain
pattycakes77
New member
Ive only installed one set of lights but i can say the set of Rigid Industries backup lights i just did were so easy. They came with a non toyota switch but everything was straight forward, nice wiring with relay, easy directions, and i just needed to connect to power and ground. Sounds like most kits are like this anymore but i had to give credit to Rigid Ind for a simple and clean install of their product. I may be changing out the switch later on though but that's because of my ocd, not Rigid's problem. 
