Hella Fogs and Driving Lamps Mounted

[M3M3]

I plan to use the stock the switch on the dash (faux pull). I saw in another thread that you replied to that you can swap that fake knob for one from a parted out car since they all look the same. My lights came with relays and I did find some wiring schematics in old threads. I'll dig around some more before I get started with the install. I just wanted to find out if my stock alt was powerful enough to run the second set of lights and if there was an alternate to drilling the bumper. Pierre's brackets look like the way to go. Anyone have a spare knob they want to sell? 

it is not the spare knob you need...you need a whole switch.  the trick is to find used defroster switch.  simple on off thing that replaces the fake knob and works perfect/looks stock for putting trigger to the relay.

 

the aux light project is fairly simple and rewarding to do.

 

as jim mentioned...if you live in a populated area the driving lights rarely get used, especially if you have H4's.  I used mine once...on the long dark drive to the vintage a few years ago through rural virginia.  they were awesome!  they have since been removed and tossed in a box somewhere.  i use the same circuit/switch now to run the track transponder....it gets a bunch more use than the lights did!  

[thinksound_mike]

Sorry to revive this old thread but i just wanted to double-check this before i mucked it up. I installed the lights using Pierre's brackets and ran the ground wire to the body of the car. I have a relay and harness from the kit supplied with the Hella 500s and I also have the switch from a rear defroster to replace my dummy switch. I also found a wiring diagram on another post that was helpful.

 

So here goes my dumb question: If I want my lights to be triggered with my low beams and turn off when my high beams come on (so not to overload the alternator) do I run the power to the passenger side or the driver's side of the radiator? I saw two options from the factory and wasn't sure which was which? I get confused with the left vs right when referring to the car (am I in it or facing it?)

 

Yes, I am new at this.

[Pierre]

Left and right refer to your left and your right as you are sitting in the driver's seat.

 

I am sorry but I do not have an answer to your wiring question.  But I can tell you that the Hella 500 running with high beans will not overload your alternator any more than running them with the low beams.  We're talking 10 watts more combines if you are using the standard 55W/60W bulb.

 

I wired mine independently.  I can use them with lights on or off, low or high beams.  In fact, sometimes I run then with my parking lights on and the low beams off.

[thinksound_mike]

Hi Pierre,

 

Thanks for clearing up the right/left thing. The answer I needed was in this reply from Marshall. It should go to the right side so the lights are active when my low beams are on. The brackets worked out great! 

 

Mike

 

stock alt fine....assume you used separate wiring harness and relays for each set of lights.  did you trigger the driving lights off the high beam tap on left side of stock headlight harness and fog lights off the tap on the right side of the headlight harness? that is right way to do it so the driving lights only go on with the high beams and fogs only go on with the low beams.  

[ndog]

I wired mine independently. I can use them with lights on or off, low or high beams. In fact, sometimes I run then with my parking lights on and the low beams off.

x2

[mikebontoft]

If you want them on with low beams only, you should be able to energize a relay using the low beam power supply (unless it's ground side switching in which case you hook up the ground side of the relay coil to the headlamp ground wire). It should switch off when the High beams come on.

 

I love the Hella 500's... I have them set up the opposite way on my 4Runner. They come on with high beams only: