Wiring follow up

[Goofyexponent]

Ok, I was out looking at the truck's wiring while doing as Midnight Rider suggested with the trailer running lights and I was just in shock with the mess!!

I am going on Ebay RIGHT NOW and ordering a switch panel....5 switches with lights to let me know my "accessory" is working.

I am yanking the light switch the **** out of there along with all the BS wiring and I plan on running everything on it's own separate RELAYED switch!!

I will have to work out the dimmer switch (perhaps one from an L9000 Ford?) and I will need a PILE of wire and ruse holders and relays.

Normally I would leave well enough along....but this is a fire waiting for the worst possible time to happen.....possibly while on the 103 tomorrow with a tandem camper in tow

Anyone out there done such a thing before? I want to mount the switch panel below my ashtray and rin all the wiring out through the firewall to a stand alone fuse panel run directly off the batteries...activated with a constant duty solenoid.

 

[MIDNIGHT RIDER]

So far as the lights are concerned, there is absolutely no reason to complicate what you intend to do with a bunch of relays and solenoids, unless you just want to do it that way.

Big 50- or 75-amp toggles, the ones that go "CLICK" like the hammer on Matt Dillon's .45, will carry a whole string of lights without a flinch.

I have had great results with these fuse-blocks :

http://www.delcity.net/store/6-gang-/p_10960.a_1

One by one, I have been converting all the many various other types in our trucks to this type.

I like the neatness of the single big power wire and REALLY LIKE the individual terminal screws for each fuse, making any additions or re-wiring a simple matter.


Plain old floor-mount dimmer-switches are all the same, regardless of make/model; three wires, one main wire from the head-light-switch, a BRIGHT and a DIM wire going to the respective elements in the bulbs.


You can make a much better panel than any you can buy for probably 10% of the cost.


Bring that thing to the house tomorrow and we'll have her lit up like Las Vegas by suppertime.

 

[MIDNIGHT RIDER]

To clarify/justify what I just stated about the lights not needing relays :

The reason we do the "relay mod" to our existing factory head-light system is STRICTLY on account of the factory wiring being much too small and the factory switch being barely capable of handling the load.

The relays thus switch the big wires and carry the load, leaving the headlight-switch and dimmer-switch only having to trigger the relays.


If you use 12-AWG wire all the way, completely omitting the factory mess, then there is no need for the relays.

The big high-amp toggles will not over-heat like the factory switch, nor will the 12-AWG lose voltage like that little puny factory wire.

 

[Goofyexponent]

I like the looks of that fuse block! One or two of them under the hood activated with a keyed constant duty solenoid will certainly take care of that mess!!

One thing I REALLY want to do is install LED bulbs wherever I can. Having the lights like the big KW I run, (roof lights, headlights, park lights, trailer lights) all on a separate switch is the ONLY way to go in my opinion!

This way if ONE set of lights has a problem, it's only that ONE set of lights.....nothing like a poorly set of roof lights turning off ALL the lights on a rainy dark night!!

 

[MIDNIGHT RIDER]

(roof lights, headlights, park lights, trailer lights) all on a separate switch is the ONLY way to go in my opinion!

This way if ONE set of lights has a problem, it's only that ONE set of lights.....nothing like a poorly set of roof lights turning off ALL the lights on a rainy dark night!!

AGREED.

The more segregated you can get electrical systems, the less integrated your problems will be.

 

[Goofyexponent]

The more segregated you can get electrical systems, the less integrated your problems will be.

I like that! It's going in my permanent memory for the next time I do some wiring!!

 

[LCAM-01XA]

Which is why my auxiliary lights are all on battery powered switches, same goes for the FSS and the alt and the CB - I can have complete electrical system failure, and the engine will still run and the alt will still charge and some lights and the CB will still work Of course everything has relays, I think I'm up to 15 or so already, lol

 

[MIDNIGHT RIDER]

Some time ago, I fixed up a KEY-ON triggered relay that powers up a fuse-panel.

I moved all the odds and ends that had been getting power from the key-switch over to this fuse-panel, thus taking all the load that the key-switch had been carrying.

I also added a toggle-switch over-ride, such that I can turn ON the fuse-panel without having the key.

The only two functions still on the factory system are the wipers and the fan-blower.

 

[timothyr1014]

I relay everything, but thats just personal preference...like midnight said, as long as your switches and wires are up to the task you are fine running things straight.

I agree 100% with keeping your circuits segrigated (personally I have heads on one, tails on another, and a third for markers/clearence...so it takes 2 failures to turn me totally dark from any angle). Main reason I went relay was to be able to run a quick bypass for a side of the road failure. My relay box sits on the right fender, for the critical systems (headllight/tail-light/ fss) you have a wire running directly from there (think upper starter solenoid location) to the load....I keep a half a dozen fused jumper in my glove box. If you tore all of the wiring from the cab it would still take me less than 5 mins to get the lights back on and have her started and running....and that includes inspecting the head and tail lamp wiring for damage.

I tend to plan for the worst, but then again, since I have gone to IDI's I have but about 80k on them (less than a year now), and the only time I needed a wrecker was when I had a blow-out...everything else has been side of the road repairs.
LED's are the way to go....much less power draw, much better life.

On the truck that I spend majority of my time in I rewired it bumper to bumper....and after pulling it all apart, I can honestly say IMHO ford wiring sucks.