How to hook up Aux Reverse Lights??

TylerWj · 01-01-2009, 02:40 PM

I just bought two aux lights for the back end of my wj and was wondering how i could get them to come on automatically when i put it in reverse. Can i take a tail light off and hook it up to that wire?

cx300 · 01-01-2009, 02:58 PM

yes, you can hook it up to the + wire... THROUGH a relay... the relay will act as a switch to turn on the lights.

TylerWj · 01-01-2009, 03:03 PM

so then they will come on automatically when i put it in reverse?

RichH · 01-01-2009, 03:11 PM

I ran a wire from the battery back to the relay, which I put inside one of the taillights. The switched power needed to power the relay I hooked up to the wire going to the reverse light, so the relay was only on when I put the Jeep in reverse.

madrabbitt · 01-01-2009, 09:32 PM

Yes, just like RichH said.

On the relay you're going to use.
Run a 12 gauge wire to the battery. Put it on post 30 of the relay.
Post 87 should run to the + side of the lights, and the lights should be grounded.
Post 85 on the relay should get grounded as well.
Then, run a thin, like 18 gauge wire from post 86 of the relay, and splice it on the + side of your OEM reverse lights.

This way, when your reverse lights come on, it energizes the relay, which pulls power from your battery, and powers your lights.

cx300 · 01-01-2009, 10:48 PM

exactly as they have it. that is the ONLY way to do it right.

TylerWj · 01-01-2009, 10:53 PM

Alright thanks for all the help

stvnlo80 · 01-01-2009, 11:19 PM

This is gonna sound stupid.....but, what kind of relay? And where do I get it? Duh....(not too good with electrical stuff)

TRL · 01-01-2009, 11:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stvnlo80

This is gonna sound stupid.....but, what kind of relay? And where do I get it? Duh....(not too good with electrical stuff)

All the auto parts stores sell them. So does radioshack.

Here is a link.
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3020762&retainProdsInSession=1 &numProdsPerPage=60

cx300 · 01-02-2009, 09:38 AM

a Bosch relay, autozone will know what youre talking about you only need one with 4 poles on the bottom (SPST) but if you can only fine a 5 pole (SPDT) that will do just fine, just don't use the middle terminal

**ChiliPalmer** · 01-02-2009, 10:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cx300

a Bosch relay, autozone will know what youre talking about you only need one with 4 poles on the bottom (SPST) but if you can only fine a 5 pole (SPDT) that will do just fine, just don't use the middle terminal

That 5th pole will be 87A (middle terminal) - just disregard it for your needs.

And FYI - the Autozone by my house didn't have them in the regular electrical supplies section; it was over by the car audio stuff.

TylerWj · 01-02-2009, 12:57 PM

if i just wire them into the wiring that is in the tail light to light up the reverse light will it have enough power through that or will they be dim?

**ChiliPalmer** · 01-02-2009, 01:35 PM

The wires in the tail lights are designed to carry the load for the tail lights only and won't supply enough power to the backup lights; they'll light up but they would be dim and you could also melt the factory wires if your backup lights draw too many amps.

The relay can be installed just about anywhere in the vehicle.

Someone mentioned before that they put their relay in the tailight housing. If you don't want to do this I would put it under the hood. Just find a suitable mounting place and run a 12ga fused wire from the battery to terminal 30 on the relay, then run a 12ga wire from terminal 87 to the + side of the lights. This is the power that's supplied to the lights, the relay is normally open so power will not flow through until you activate the relay. To activate the relay you simply supply power to terminal 86 (via the OEM backup light wire - I would recommend you find the wire coming out of the back side of the fuse panel - VT/BK - violet with black stripe - on my '99 WJ) then ground terminal 85. This way (the same way madrabbit pointed out) when you put the vehicle in reverse 12V power is transmitted to terminal 86 on the relay and activates it which in turn activates the "switch" that allows power to flow from the battery to the lights. Terminal 86 requires very little amps to operate (less than 1 amp I believe) so there's very little draw on the factory wiring.

TylerWj · 01-02-2009, 11:53 PM

thanks for taking the time to post all that im sure that will help me alot tomorrow. after im done ill tell you how it goes and maybe post some pictures. Not sure if i have the 50 posts or whatever yet though.

**ChiliPalmer** · 01-03-2009, 01:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TylerWj

thanks for taking the time to post all that im sure that will help me alot tomorrow. after im done ill tell you how it goes and maybe post some pictures. Not sure if i have the 50 posts or whatever yet though.

Post up the pics - we'll quote you so they show up.

And good luck with the install.