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Trail Night Lighting System Installation | |
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CONTENTS 1) Vehicle Setup 2) Performance Review 3) Installation 4) Additional Resources 1) VEHICLE SETUP This modification can be easily installed on Jeeps equipped with factory installed fog lights. No other modifications are necessary. No other modifications affect this install. ( For Jeeps WITHOUT factory fog lights, a switch will need to be wired into the dash. ) 2) PERFORMANCE REVIEW Overview: A trail night lighting system consisting of additional driving lights placed along side the frame rail (Fig 1) and pointing outward (to the side) is fired by a relay which is in turned fired by the factory fog light circuit. By tying into the factory circuit (Fig 2) the system takes advantage of a fused switch already installed in the Jeep to yield a very clean and tidy install. Operation: Once installed, turning on the night lights is a simple matter of turning on the factory fog lights. When the factory fogs switch on they fire a second relay which then feeds power to the extra lights along the chassis. The trail lights will work exactly as the fog lights work: they shut off when high beams are switch on, and they automatically shut off when the headlights are turned off. Given that most trails have numerous twists and turns it was thought that the high-beams on the headlights provide negligible benefit over the low-beams since the light cannot project too far before the trail is likely to turn. Therefore, having the night-lights tied to the fogs which necessitates that low-beams area used was deemed acceptable to the author. This, of course, is not the case with sand dune areas where forward projection would be desirable. On The Trail: Often when running trails at night drivers can suffer from tunnel vision created by the headlights only lighting up what is directly in front of the Jeep. Additionally, due to the light/dark contrast of what the headlights illuminate and what they don't, it becomes very difficult to see what is around the Jeep let alone around corners if the lights are pointing straight ahead. The trail night lighting system simply lights up the area surrounding the Jeep greatly enhancing the driver's situational awareness (Fig 3 - Fig 10). It also helps the driver follow the trail with some of the night lights pointing off to the side and at 45* angles. With the lights tucked under the body there is a reduced likelyhood they will blind by-standars and other drivers. One has to get far on the side of lean down to see the bare lights. Protection: The location of the lights poses some risk of damage, however, none of the authors body mounts evidenced any contact with trail obstacles and so this location should provide a measure of protection for the lights (Fig 11). Indeed, on a recent trail run the Jeep scraped its rocker guards over a boulder projecting under the chassis with no ill-effects on the lights. They came through without a scratch. 3) INSTALLATION Note: Refer to Figure 2, Wiring Diagram To Connect Lights Re-Using OEM Fog Light Harness: The original fog lights on the TJ are virtually useless at projecting light out in any usable fashion. Instead, aftermarket lights were installed. However, the stock fog light connector pigtail was snipped off and soldered in to the new aftermarket lights. This provided easy connection of the new lights and retains as much of the stock wiring harness as possible, including the quality factory connectors. Mounting Lights: Placement and mounting of the lights is the first task. The fog light replacements on the front bumper were set at a 45 deg angle outward (Fig 1) to light up the "pocket" of darkness between the side lights and head lights. For the side lights, two light fixtures were used on each side (Fig 1). These are tucked up tight against the frame under the body and point outward. The forward lights point slightly to the front and the rearward lights points slightly to the rear. Both side lights have a very slight down-angle to project the beam under the edge of the rocker panels. Slim profile driving lights from the auto parts store are used for their availability and low cost. In this particular instance, the forward lights are screwed into the frame after placing, marking, and pre-drilling some holes. The location (as seen in diagram Fig 1) actually is on part of the frame that angles inward, thus pointing the light slightly forward. The rearward side lights were mounted to the body tub in the location marked on Fig 1. The TJ body is of double wall construction so the small sheet metal screws won't penetrate the floor. [ cont. pg 2 ] |
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