Off Road Lights using fog pre-wire

[LowBrau]

I have a 99 SR5 and have the pre-wire for the fog lights. I swapped out the bumper and don't intend on using fog lights, so I picked up a set of 7" FCKLightBars round off road lights. I was thinking that I could just use the pre-wiring for the fogs and connect them to the FCKs instead.

I've done some searching and read a bunch of the different methods of doing the pre-wire fogs to fogs, but don't really see anything about using off road lights instead (there are some JK's out there that have done it, but not in the Yota fam it seems).

Anyway, was hoping that it was just a little bit of splicing and adding a switch and I should be good. However, after reading some of the other forum posts, I'm concerned I should have picked up a wiring harness and some other items as well. Was hoping not to have to pull wire through the firewall, etc, and just be able to sorta plug and play.

Any electrical heads out there able to provide some input?

 

[Tucson4runner]

I did exactly this except with some rigid cubes. You'll need to make sure the wires you have will pull the power needed for those lights. If so, just wire them up and your ready to go. If not then you'll need to add a relay. I capped one set of wires (passenger side) and hooked the driver's side up to the relay and ran larger wires to the battery and lights and only used the power from the original fog for the trigger pin on the relay. Let me know if this helps

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[LowBrau]

I did exactly this except with some rigid cubes. You'll need to make sure the wires you have will pull the power needed for those lights. If so, just wire them up and your ready to go. If not then you'll need to add a relay. I capped one set of wires (passenger side) and hooked the driver's side up to the relay and ran larger wires to the battery and lights and only used the power from the original fog for the trigger pin on the relay. Let me know if this helps

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So the connections at the bumper are easy, since they are exposed. For the other end, I've read that they are in the steering column and there is a connector 13 that I'm supposed to tap two cables, which then runs to my switch in the knock outs. I was hoping I just disconnected both ends and attached to the lights and the switch.

Or do I need to tap in, and run new wire over to the knockouts and switch?

Anyway, trying to figure out that portion. I didn't see a wattage listed on the website for the FCK, and hoping not to have to pull wire (though I'm assuming it would be easier since I can just piggy back on the existing and pull through).

Appreciate your help. Was hoping to do this this weekend, and don't want to have to wait for a wiring harness and other bits.

Thanks.

 

[Tucson4runner]

So the connections at the bumper are easy, since they are exposed. For the other end, I've read that they are in the steering column and there is a connector 13 that I'm supposed to tap two cables, which then runs to my switch in the knock outs. I was hoping I just disconnected both ends and attached to the lights and the switch.

Or do I need to tap in, and run new wire over to the knockouts and switch?

Anyway, trying to figure out that portion. I didn't see a wattage listed on the website for the FCK, and hoping not to have to pull wire (though I'm assuming it would be easier since I can just piggy back on the existing and pull through).

Appreciate your help. Was hoping to do this this weekend, and don't want to have to wait for a wiring harness and other bits.

Thanks.

I wouldn't even worry about pulling the fog light wires. They are bundled with several other wires, wrapped in electrical tape, wrapped in a conduit, then secured all the way through the engine bay. If your just going to use the fog wires for power then I would simply add some connectors to them and attach them to your lights. If you need to run new wires then I would pull the wires back up through the engine bay as much as you can. Secure and cap off one set and use the other set to connect to the relay. They are already connected to the switch you want to use so no need to make any changes. Once you connect them the switch should still work to turn on your lights.

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[mark21742]

Im running LEDs so didn't have to worry about extra amperage so i used what was there. Just plugged the wires into a light switch and they had a dummy relay beside the battery i had to pull out and pop a real relay into on my 97 sr5

 

[LowBrau]

So I did some investigating today as I plan on doing it this weekend and wanted to see what I'm working with and if I need to hit the store ahead of time.

I looked under the steering column, and didn't see any loose connectors. Everything plugged in. I saw on someone's pre-wired toyota instructions that I am supposed to splice into two of these cables, however it is tight, not sure I could get in there.

On the other hand, near the clutch start button, there are two floating connectors. One of which has 4 cables going into it.

The black and white connector is the one with 4 cables going into it. There is a blue with white strip, white with green strip, and a white and green.

Is this connector the pre-wired fog lights? If so, how should I connect those four wires? I do have a switch with four wires, however not sure what would go with what.

Or, am I fishing in the wrong hole and need to go back to the steering column where my light stalk is and figure out which of those wires I need to splice into?

Thanks in advance.

 

[jlemond]

Jeep Guy who is new to the 4runner world so take my electrical knowledge for what it is and my 4runner knowledge with a grain of salt.

4Runner fog lights are I belive 35 watts each X2 is 70 watts. Rule of thumb gor safety is to never add anything except a relay to your stock wiring. (But) if you are going to then make sure to only use half of the available power (wattage) so make sure to only use 35 watts total. If they are the 4 or 6 LED cube lights you should be safe. Chinese leds are usually 3 watt CREEs so do your math for your lights using that as a starting point if you dont know your wattage.

Using the wires at the fog light location: Each light should have two wires. You can either buy the connectors and just plug them in and splice your lights to the pig tail or...
Splice right into the oem wiring harness. Black should be ground and a color should be hot. Make sure to tape all of your splices up and make them water resistant for reliability and so they dont short together.

Now the switch: You have 2 choices. An oem headlight and fog light stalk that is about $60. And is plug and play since you already have the wiring.

Or tap into the appropriate wire in the steering column (should only need one wire) and ground. And put a switch in the punch outs on the dash. A lot cheaper but if your not 100% comfortable with electrical then i say spend the money.

 

[jlemond]

Just looked up the website and lights you are talking about.

DO NOT USE THE OEM WIRING!!!

Those lights are 51 Watts each. Taking into consideration Chinese quality of about + or - 10% of the rating and you could easily melt your stock wires and possibly burn your rig down.

You must run a relay. A basic relay will be one hot wire run to your battery and the relay, then to each light. A ground for each light and using only one of your fog light hot wires as the trigger. Here is a great write up that can teach you lots;

How To Wire Fog And Driving Lights Harness Wiring Diagram

 

[Tucson4runner]

Just looked up the website and lights you are talking about.

DO NOT USE THE OEM WIRING!!!

Those lights are 51 Watts each. Taking into consideration Chinese quality of about + or - 10% of the rating and you could easily melt your stock wires and possibly burn your rig down.

You must run a relay. A basic relay will be one hot wire run to your battery and the relay, then to each light. A ground for each light and using only one of your fog light hot wires as the trigger. Here is a great write up that can teach you lots;

How To Wire Fog And Driving Lights Harness Wiring Diagram

Holy watts! Yeah without a doubt use the method I outlined above for these lights. Use the factory wire only for the trigger on the relay.

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