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Aftermarket fog lights

3392 Views 18 Replies 11 Participants Last post by  Activator
Hey guys.. i know some of you are realy good at modding your trucks (Pb) and i just have a quick question about wiring fog lights

I'd like to add some Hella aftermarket fog lights to the front of my truck but the wiring diagram shows to connect the green wire going to the Headlight (either for high for drivign lights or lows for fog lamps )

does this mean if i connect the lights to the low beams that fog lights will turn off with the high beams? or vice versa?
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Also is it possible to buy an OEM toyota Fog light switch and wire it up with the aftermarket kit?
Just wire them to an igntion circuit and then you can turn the foglights on whenever the engine is on. Just tap into the empty spot in the middle of the under dash fuse block, run that to a switch, then from the switch to the relay. You can order a stock fog light switch, but they're $40. Or you could get a nice switch for $10 from www.4x4mods.com.
How are you trying to hook them up? I normally run a wire that's hot when the key is in ACC or ON to a switch, then from the switch to a relay. Relay gets positive through a fuse from the battery, and everything's grounded to the frame. I don't mess around with the factory wires more than I have to. With that type of setup they can be on whenever you have the key in and turned at least to ACC regardless of headlights, and turn off when you take out the key. I've done that on 3 vehicles so far. Learned to use ACC the hard way when my battery died 3 times from me leaving fog lights on by accident.
I just did a brief write up on this a few weeks ago. I got my "older" Toyota switch from rallylights.com for about $6.

http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/t168083.html
I ordered a pair of PIAA 540 fogs and plan to install them next weekend if they arrive this week. I am going with the Toyota OEM fog light switch - plan on about $50 plus shipping if you go this route. The part numbers are listed here http://www.yotatech.com/showthread.php?t=92093: (beware of bad part numbers for the repair wires on Tundra Solutions). There are lots of ways to get voltage to the relay. If you plan on them being on all of the time like your OEMs, go the ignition circuit route. If you are like me and only use them occassionally, I suggest tapping into the parking/marker light circuit. This gives you three modes of operation (parking lights only, low beam, and high beam) and turns them off with the rest of the lights when you turn off the lights or ignition. I tapped directly into the green wire leading to the parkling/marker lights without any trouble for my OEM fog install. This won't help you if you ever want to only run the fogs w/o taillights/markers, but that seems like a bad idea to me anyway. Just my $0.02.
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I like the idea of being able to turn them on whenever i want.. (would be handy around the cottage at night... ) but i dont always have my keys on me and i'm kinda afraid of locking the keys in there and no spare lol

would it drain my battery if i just ran the wire straight to the + post? then technicaly i would be able to turn them on anytime without the key correct?
firefighter11 said:
I like the idea of being able to turn them on whenever i want.. (would be handy around the cottage at night... ) but i dont always have my keys on me and i'm kinda afraid of locking the keys in there and no spare lol

would it drain my battery if i just ran the wire straight to the + post? then technicaly i would be able to turn them on anytime without the key correct?
Correct, just make sure you turn them off when you're done or they WILL drain the battery. The problem with my first install is they could be on any time, and I would forget to switch them off. You could either roll a window down so you don't lock the keys in, or get one of those aircraft style switchs with the cover. The kind where you flip up a cover, then flip up the switch. That would probably remind you to flip them off and prevent accidently hitting the switch when getting out.

Something like this:



I'm using one like that when I get the Shrockworks bumper and add some 5" lights so I don't turn them on driving down the road by accident.'


Edit:

Autozone also sell a wireless remote switch. You could use that to run a relay for the lights and carry the key fob with you to turn them on and off as needed. If you get out and see they're on when not needed, then you don't need to get back in the truck to turn them off.
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I installed my IPF's the way PB described above. I re-used my factory fog light switch and it worked out great.
firefighter11 said:
I like the idea of being able to turn them on whenever i want.. (would be handy around the cottage at night... ) but i dont always have my keys on me and i'm kinda afraid of locking the keys in there and no spare lol

would it drain my battery if i just ran the wire straight to the + post? then technicaly i would be able to turn them on anytime without the key correct?

After you finish doing your mod fog lights buy a spare key along with a hide-a-key just in case you lock your keys in the truck.:lol: happy new years!!!
rpmspeedyBlue said:

After you finish doing your mod fog lights buy a spare key along with a hide-a-key just in case you lock your keys in the truck.:lol: happy new years!!!
Spare key (for those with transponder) will cost around $45 from the dealership. At least the one I bought my truck from. Cheaper idea would be get it copied at Walmart or someplace. Won't be able to start the truck, but you'll get in and retrieve your keys.

Also, if someone finds your hide-a-key, they won't be able to start the truck and drive off with it! :thumbsup:
Doesn't match my 06's switch.
Adventure North said:
I installed my IPF's the way PB described above. I re-used my factory fog light switch and it worked out great.
If you're running 55w lights (with your bumper) you should be able to just extend the stock wires and re-connect the new lights to the factory fog light system, no?

BTW-your name looks good in green.:thumbup:
BillBrasky said:
If you're running 55w lights (with your bumper) you should be able to just extend the stock wires and re-connect the new lights to the factory fog light system, no?

BTW-your name looks good in green.:thumbup:
That's what I was thinking.... Or splicing them into a relay if I ran larger wattage bulbs so I could reuse the factory switch.
im trying to find some fog lights for my tacoma. so far it looks like the only kind that look right cost $350. could someone tell me what the diameter of the fog lights are. if i can find some cheaper ones that are the same size i'll give them a try and let you know how it turns out. thanks
4"... PIAA 510's will fit. They cost around $150. You would have to find a way to secure them though.
Buy the kit from Toyotapart.com. Yes, it's $350, but you get the OEM Toyota Fog Light housings which snap right in, factory bulbs, relay and illuminated in-dash switch, plus all the waterproof leads and plugs. You DO need to buy the long connecting wire, though. I got wire and those ribbed plastic wire tunnels so everything looks "factory". (My 4cyl is NOT pre-wired for fogs.)

I tied the relay into the left parking-light hot wire so that I can run the fogs without headlights, but i can"t leave them on unless the parking lights are also on. The way the kit works, the actual power for the lights comes directly from the battery (via the relay), but the in dash switch uses the switched parking light power to complete the circuit and turn the relay on and off.
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