Worklamp as a backup light?

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Author Message   Greg Davis (Gregdavis) Posted on Monday, November 18, 2002 - 12:07 pm:    OK. Searched for this, and came up empty. What I would like to do is be able to use my worklamp as such, but also have it(them) come on when I go into reverse. I have converted my rear lights so that my signals and brake lights are combined, but I want to get rid of this and use my reverse lights as my turn signals(using amber bulbs, of course). Therefore, I will need reverse lights. Is there any way to accomplish this(easily)?   ed petrush (Exp) Posted on Monday, November 18, 2002 - 01:55 pm:    the easiest way to accomplish this is to buy a wiring harness for a backup light. (I bought an ipf harness for $20 or so) or you could build one.. need a three way switch and relay... one of the three position switches would be wired to original back up light to fire up the relay to send power to light. the second position would be hot wired to work as a worklight.. Its worth the $$ to buy a backup light wiring kit from someone..   Dean Brown (Deanbrown3d) Posted on Monday, November 18, 2002 - 02:33 pm:    Greg, Is your backup light gonna be legal? Because I often put the disco into park at slow lights, so I can take my foot off the brake, and if there's a policeman behind you.....   Greg Davis (Gregdavis) Posted on Monday, November 18, 2002 - 02:35 pm:    Ok Ed, indulge me here since I'm electrically challenged. I have the factory reverse light leads, and the factory fog lamp leads, both already in place. To make it much easier on myself, can I use these leads and just install a relay? That way, the light activates when put in reverse, or I can use my existing rear fog lamp switch to activate them as work lamps. Sound feasible?   Ken Tipton (Irish_Nv) Posted on Monday, November 18, 2002 - 03:23 pm:    It's very easy. Cut the leads goin to yur reverse lights. Run wire directly from your turn signals to your reverse lights. That part is done. Now the wires that you cut from your reverse lights use those to power a relay to operate your worklamp as reverse lights. you can ad a low voltage switch up front with you to activate that same relay to turn on your worklamp when you need.   Peter Carey (Pcarey) Posted on Monday, November 18, 2002 - 04:14 pm:    You didn't seach hard enough. I think this is a nice set up, allows for a switch to be put in so the light doesn't go on every time if you don't want. ../17/8615.html"#333333">   Andy Nix (Andy) Posted on Monday, November 18, 2002 - 04:18 pm:    A buddy of mine did this last weekend. He used the positive wire that goes to his backup light, and added his own ground. He also put a switch in at the dash. He can turn the light on by shifting into reverse, or turning it on manually.....no relays used.   Eric Pena (Evalp) Posted on Monday, November 18, 2002 - 05:02 pm:    Correct me if I am wrong but Andy's plan is all good. But if you want you can add a relay to prevent your reverse lights from comming on if turn on your work lamp from a switch.   Peter Carey (Pcarey) Posted on Tuesday, November 19, 2002 - 12:51 am:    yup, the relay gives you more flexability. But it all maters how you want it to work.   Andy Nix (Andy) Posted on Tuesday, November 19, 2002 - 12:56 am:    Use a tap splice connector on the far left wire/outer most wire on the loom. That's it. you're done, works awesome......   Greg Davis (Gregdavis) Posted on Tuesday, November 19, 2002 - 09:29 am:    Dean, good point. I'll have to remember not to do that. Peter, I searched using worklamp as one word, so I guess that's why I missed it. Thanks. However, he was keeping his factory reverse lamps, whereas I need to replace them with the work lamp. Eric P., I don't think I need the relay since my worklamp IS my backup lamp as well. So, how can I use my existing switch/rear fog wires in conjunction with my reverse lamp wires? Can I just use the hot lead from the reverse lamp and the hot/ground/switch from the factory fog wires and be done?   ed petrush (Exp) Posted on Tuesday, November 19, 2002 - 09:57 am:    Andy & Eric.... the idea of using the current wiring sounds okay but in changing your wiring, you will be going from powering 2 4 watt bulbs to one 55 watt work light..(not sure what the amp. difference is but it is substantial) this is a tremendous amount of power increase going thru the factory wiring.. No reason to wire something up and save 30 minutes of your time and maybe risk a fire hazard... Just run a lower guage wire with relay to power the 55w light..   Dean Brown (Deanbrown3d) Posted on Tuesday, November 19, 2002 - 10:13 am:    Greg - do it properly - put up four 55W halogen lamps, one in each section of the roof rack bars, and add a switch / wiring / relay to your interior that's independent of your reverse gear. I did this, and the lights are useful for BBQs and other times when you need light up back but you're not reversing. For example, when flashing the bastard behind you who's blinding you with his lights on full (priceless!): Dean Ps while you're there do some side lamps too   Greg Davis (Gregdavis) Posted on Tuesday, November 19, 2002 - 11:11 am:    Uhmmm, Dean. Weren't you the one asking if my SINGLE 55 watt lamp would be legal?? So, you don't have your factory reverse lamps operating? Everything's manually switched on? How's that work with yearly inspections?   Dean Brown (Deanbrown3d) Posted on Tuesday, November 19, 2002 - 11:17 am:    Sorry I think I misled you - the lamps are on a completely seperate circuit - the reverse lamps are untouched and still work as normal. I added an additional switch to control these lamps.   Brian Lewis (Thejekyll) Posted on Tuesday, November 19, 2002 - 11:44 am:    Greg, I was unsure about combining the reverse lights & turn sinals together like your instructions for your rear bumper instruct. I was thinking of adding a small surface mounted amber sinal on your rear bumper or just below the factory brake lights. Would this solve your problem with the reverse lights? Brian   Greg Davis (Gregdavis) Posted on Tuesday, November 19, 2002 - 12:15 pm:    Brian, yes it would. My current method has worked fine, but now that I have my rack and a place for a rear worklamp, I figured why not use the work lamp as the reverse lights, and get rid of the convertors. I like the idea of the better illumination when reversing, but don't want to have to run a bunch of new wiring.   Andy (Aharper) Posted on Friday, November 22, 2002 - 03:24 pm:    Here's what I did. I put aux lights under the bumper and wired them into the backup lights with a simple automotive relay. When I put the vehicle in reverse the lower aux lights turn on. I also have a set of "high mount" aux lights. Those are run to a switch inside the vehicle. When I turn the switch on they turn the "high mount" aux lights on as well as the lower ones under the bumper (another relay). This gives me 4 55 watt aux lights that work at the rear of the vehicle at the touch of a switch and allows 2 of those lights to turn on while in reverse.   Greg Davis (Gregdavis) Posted on Friday, November 22, 2002 - 03:34 pm:    Nice idea Andy. Thanks.