Wiring overhead lights

[Snafu]

How did you route the wiring for you overhead lights? I am putting on some lights and wondered how you ran the wires.

Thanks

[Scotto]

Wiring goes up thru the passenger side pillar, pushes thru the roof under the bracket for the roof-rack/wind-dam and pops out there.

[Spider 007]

If you don't feel like drilling holes in your roof, you can run the wires under the weather stripping along the passenger side of the windshield, throught the front endge of the passnger door and then behind the dash where the glove box s. Behind the glove box is also a great place for the relays and wiring.

[Nd4SpdSe]

Wiring goes up thru the passenger side pillar, pushes thru the roof under the bracket for the roof-rack/wind-dam and pops out there.

Is there a hole there already or do you drill one?

[Scotto]

Same hole the roof assembly bolts thru.

[Snafu]

Thanks guys

Why do you run it on the passenger side rather than the driver side? Behind the glove box sounds like a good locale for fuses and such but I plan to put the switch for the lights by the dashboard dimmer (lower left-hand side of the steering wheel). Running it down the driver side pillar to the switch then on to the power source would not need as much wire. At least this is my thinking

[Spider 007]

Yeah, I had my switches in the centre console, so one side or the other didn't make much difference to me. I chose the passenger side just because of the ease of access once the glove box is removed.

And Scotto, I don't think there is a hole where the roofrack mounts originally. I took my roofrack off a few times, and I don't recall any other holes than the threaded holes for the roofrack screws...

[Snafu]

Well if there is no access hole under the roof rack mount then I could either run the wire along the weather stripping or drill a hole through the roof and roof rack mount. If I drill then at least the hole through the roof is hidden under the roof rack mount.

@Scott - maybe I can drop by sometime and see how yours is run? Need your addy though before I can.

BTW - I should post up picks of what I am doing/making. I may another set for the rear bar and a rear set of lights (just for those nights when you want a challenge and run a course backwards ).

[HolidayNation]

Ronny, I have been contemplating the same thing, but haven't ripped the roof rack off yet to have a look see. I prefer going throught the roof and keeping everything neat a tidy. If you have a look at Scotto's and go that route, a pic/how to thread would probably be really beneficial for those that follow. ie:ME Just don't put too many lights up there.
or it will look something like this when your done.

[rush356]

[Snafu]

Eric, Eric, Eric

If you're gonna poke fun then you gotta do it right

That is NOT what my truck would look like with too many lights. THIS is what it would look like with too many

[deeker]

Ummm....

[Pezzy]

uh, have you seen Medic's truck??

[HolidayNation]

Eric, Eric, Eric

If you're gonna poke fun then you gotta do it right

That is NOT what my truck would look like with too many lights. THIS is what it would look like with too many

Touche'

[Scotto]

I dunno, Ron, I think it would look OK:




Scott

[Scotto]

As for my wiring - you have to remember that my truck has a former owner. So when I had to repair the wiring last spring, I was looking at what is there now, not what may have not been there in the past. The wires begin their journey from the battery, proceed to several relays (one for the outers, one for the inners). One side of this relay box continues to the roof-mounted lighting array, which proceeds thru the firewall and up the inside passenger side windshield column. The other side proceeds to the switch and fuse box. The third side is grounded.

As far as I can tell, the little weenie wires (there's two of 'em) that travelled thru the passenger side windshield column come flying out under the base of the roof-rack mount from a hole that looks Nissan-built, up thru the roof-rack bar, then exit a non-Nissan built hole and proceed to a carrier that connects via a harness to the lighting array. I could be wrong on one of the details.

Scott

[medic]

uh, have you seen Medic's truck??

I had the wiring run through the tubular roof rack. The wires for the lights runs through the centre/passenger side tube, and the wires for the CB and scanner are through the rear passenger tube. The points where there the roof was drilled, once the wires were passed though was siliconed to hell and sealed for life.

So far no problems.

I've taken over as the alternate lighthouse for Port Credit, as well as back-up landing lights for Pearson should a black out occur

[Snafu]

Good pic there Scott

Ah, running the wires through the roof rack tubes. Cool idea. I will have to add this to the list of things to do when I start to add a few more lights and stuff.

Below is a pic of the light rack I made (lights to be adjusted). All that is left is to run wires from the switch to the lights, battery and a ground.



Here is a shot of the roof mount that I will take a look at to see if I can get a wire in there (just for Eric).



BTW - if I do drill some holes I am going to use a polyurethane caulking. It dries and glues like hard rubber and very water-proof. Apparently far better than silicon.

[Jayman]

I have the same angled metal for my lights, although I have mine mounted a little bit differently then yours are Ron. I have mine mounted using the front screw for the roof basket. You may find that due to the metal being a little bit thin, that the lights bounce a bit when driving off-road.

Now, because I don't run my lights full time, I wanted something that was removable, so my wiring comes from the battery, across the back of the firewall, through a peice of rubber in the firewall into the driver's side footwell, and then up under the dash to my relay. From there, I have a switch wired in.

Power to the lights runs from under the dash, down the centre console where the plastic meets the carpet, and then under the driver's seat. Under the driver's seat, I wired in a 4pin trailer wiring harness. 2 pins for power, 2 for ground.

This way, when I want to run the lights, I just mount the rack to the roof, run the wiring down through the driver's side door, and plug it in under the seat.

When I'm driving around town, I take the rack off the truck.

Easy peasy.

Sadly, I have no pics of amything, but I'll see if I can snag some this afternoon if you want.

[Snafu]

I have to ask. What is this "relay" everyone keeps mentioning? If it is a fuse then I thought it was better to have the fuse closer to the battery (or power source)? This leaves the least amount of un-fused wire exposed. Or are folks pulling power from the fuse panel under the dash?

Thanks for the ideas. I wired the lights so that I can either disconnect the whole light bar or even individual lights. I think it is nice to be able to take them off if they are not needed. The 4-pin trailer harness is a great idea. I think I recall seeing a 2-pin version but now I cannot remember where I saw this part.

I think the next time around I would pull the whole roof rack off the truck and set up the bar in the garage (more ideas are forming). This would make it easier to run the wires inside the rack and to mount a number of other things.

The steel angle is a bit flimsy but the weakest part are the rack mounts I made. I used 1/4" closed cell foam on the mounts to protect the rack and to have a tighter fit. It would be better to have a basket. I just tossed this together because I have had the lights hanging around and wanted to try something a little on the cheap side for now. It is still fairly solid but I can imagine the lights vibrate when running over rough ground.

I looked under each mount for the rack and there is no holes through the roof aside from the mounting holes. Taking this route will mean drilling through the roof so a wire can be routed through the front pillar. I may not take this approach this time around. I will probably route it temporarily through the door/windshield seal (there is a nice channel under the seal. From there it can run through the firewall to the switch.

Well here is a pic of the lights installed:



The switch has a home so now all I have to do is run the wires. Probably tonight (I hope).