[Joe]

Gday guys i wana use a small spot light i have here for a reverse light.
To hook it up is it as simple as joining the wires from the stock reverse lights to the spot light or is there a bit more to it

Cheers Joe

[royce]

nah they might not take the load, better off to run a relay and get power from the battery

[ajsr]

get on fleabay and find a led spotlight , no load issues then

[Joe]

LED sounds good and easy cheers guys ill go have a look now

[Jester]

Ive used the relay method and have twin 55w spotties on the rear bar, just need to fix the switch on the gearbox!

[Joe]

Yeah but im not that smart when it comes to relays and stuff
So if i go for an LED light can i just join the wires or do i still have to piss fart about with relays and stuff

[christover1]

I'm running a single 55w small round light straight off the reverse wire behind the indicator assembly..would not risk 2, as too much for cicuit..but never had and probs woth using 1 low watt H3 on any car

[christover1]

Jester wrote:

Ive used the relay method and have twin 55w spotties on the rear bar, just need to fix the switch on the gearbox!

I gave up and put a manual switch on mine

[ainzy]

i ran two small spots on my patrol straight off the reverse wire never had a worry but that was a patrol now i own a zook im not so sure this thread intrests me as im building a tray for my shorty at moment ill be using LED fot the zook though they are the future

[hutch]

joseph wrote:

Gday guys i wana use a small spot light i have here for a reverse light.
To hook it up is it as simple as joining the wires from the stock reverse lights to the spot light or is there a bit more to it

Cheers Joe

If its an LED straight off reverse wire should be fine, but if not as royce says.

[royce]

relay is pretty easy

screw the relay in the back somewhere near a tail light

run a decent wire from battery positive to pin 30 on the relay, put a 30 amp fuse near the battery

run a decent wire from pin 87 to the spotty, earth the spotty if it needs it

run a skinny wire or thicker from the reverse light wire to pin 86 on the relay

earth pin 85

enjoy the sparkling goodness

you can get fancy with switches to turn it off all the time or on when you want as well as reverse but we'll worry about that later

[imatt]

Go the relay option, its not hard to wire up and if you put a switch on the dash you can turn it off, especially useful when in shopping centre carparks, spotlights used for reversing lights are bloody bright.
Cheers Matt

[Jester]

yeah ive got the switch on the dash too

[Joe]

royce wrote:

relay is pretty easy

screw the relay in the back somewhere near a tail light

run a decent wire from battery positive to pin 30 on the relay, put a 30 amp fuse near the battery

run a decent wire from pin 87 to the spotty, earth the spotty if it needs it

run a skinny wire or thicker from the reverse light wire to pin 86 on the relay

earth pin 85

enjoy the sparkling goodness

you can get fancy with switches to turn it off all the time or on when you want as well as reverse but we'll worry about that later

Haha nope ya lost me
I think ill just get a auto sparky to do it for me
Is it possible to have it as a reverse light but have a switch so i can just flick it on when out camping to have light for say cooking and stuff???

[Joe]

Not that i do any cooking cause thats Kate's job

[MacDaddy]

hutch wrote:

joseph wrote:

Gday guys i wana use a small spot light i have here for a reverse light.
To hook it up is it as simple as joining the wires from the stock reverse lights to the spot light or is there a bit more to it

Cheers Joe

If its an LED straight off reverse wire should be fine, but if not as royce says.

I have been looking at the LED Spots/Worklights on eBay too, they put out a real bright White light, 4WD stores are selling them now... you could run a couple of them off the reverse wire no problem, those LED Lights would not even draw 1amp !

Here's a thought Joseph, why not put that spot light on your roll bar, and make it movable/directional, so you can point it where you want it... maybe... just a thought... he he...

[steve]

joseph wrote:

Is it possible to have it as a reverse light but have a switch so i can just flick it on when out camping to have light for say cooking and stuff???

i think you'd run the risk of a flat battery if you left a spot/flood light on while at camp. I have a flouro light that i can leave on all night and doesn't drain the battery, or the led light option might work for that aswell.

But for a proper reverse light a proper spot or flood light would be better than leds.

[Gwagensteve]

joseph wrote:

royce wrote:

relay is pretty easy

screw the relay in the back somewhere near a tail light

run a decent wire from battery positive to pin 30 on the relay, put a 30 amp fuse near the battery

run a decent wire from pin 87 to the spotty, earth the spotty if it needs it

run a skinny wire or thicker from the reverse light wire to pin 86 on the relay

earth pin 85

enjoy the sparkling goodness

you can get fancy with switches to turn it off all the time or on when you want as well as reverse but we'll worry about that later

Haha nope ya lost me
I think ill just get a auto sparky to do it for me
Is it possible to have it as a reverse light but have a switch so i can just flick it on when out camping to have light for say cooking and stuff???

Seriously Joseph, buy a relay, turn it upside down so you can look at the little diagram of the terminals, and read Royces post again. wiring a relay isn't hard. Really, It's not. Royce's instructions are spot on, but it's hard to see what you have to do unless you are looking at the relay.

There are good reasons to run an LED light, but there are even better reasons to be able to wire a relay.

Running a 55w light off the stock loom might be OK, but I don't think it's a great idea.

As for switching it from either the reverse light or an external switch, it's quite possible. I've never really bothered though - just leave the car with the ignition on and in reverse.

I have a 55w flood light as my camping/reverse light but it's on a separate switch - I don't want it coming on all the time, even at night or in the bush necessarily - when I reverse.

Steve.

[alex]

[Ben_Sierra]

joseph wrote:

royce wrote:

relay is pretty easy

screw the relay in the back somewhere near a tail light

run a decent wire from battery positive to pin 30 on the relay, put a 30 amp fuse near the battery

run a decent wire from pin 87 to the spotty, earth the spotty if it needs it

run a skinny wire or thicker from the reverse light wire to pin 86 on the relay

earth pin 85

enjoy the sparkling goodness

you can get fancy with switches to turn it off all the time or on when you want as well as reverse but we'll worry about that later

Haha nope ya lost me
I think ill just get a auto sparky to do it for me
Is it possible to have it as a reverse light but have a switch so i can just flick it on when out camping to have light for say cooking and stuff???

Bring it to my place I'll do it for a 6 pack

[Joe]

Ben_Sierra wrote:

joseph wrote:

royce wrote:

relay is pretty easy

screw the relay in the back somewhere near a tail light

run a decent wire from battery positive to pin 30 on the relay, put a 30 amp fuse near the battery

run a decent wire from pin 87 to the spotty, earth the spotty if it needs it

run a skinny wire or thicker from the reverse light wire to pin 86 on the relay

earth pin 85

enjoy the sparkling goodness

you can get fancy with switches to turn it off all the time or on when you want as well as reverse but we'll worry about that later

Haha nope ya lost me
I think ill just get a auto sparky to do it for me
Is it possible to have it as a reverse light but have a switch so i can just flick it on when out camping to have light for say cooking and stuff???

Bring it to my place I'll do it for a 6 pack

Ill send ya a pm when i go on my next break

[BlueSuzy]

I used a relay on my driving light/reverse lights now, as i blew the reverse switch in the gearbox when i didnt run a relay...

[whincup]

christover1 wrote:

I gave up and put a manual switch on mine

this would be great for the idiots tailgating... soon as theyre too close, let it rip!

[appsie]

a mate of mine had 2 x 100w night visions on his tailgate of his zuk pointing back.thought it would be funny to flash some people in the face at the lights one night.Was funny till the cops put their lights on

[Ben_Sierra]

So you want those lights hooked up Joe?

[shandy92]

appsie wrote:

a mate of mine had 2 x 100w night visions on his tailgate of his zuk pointing back.thought it would be funny to flash some people in the face at the lights one night.Was funny till the cops put their lights on

ahaha busted, i would prob do that lol

[Joe]

Ben_Sierra wrote:

So you want those lights hooked up Joe?

sorry man i been sleeping ill send ya a pm now

[MacDaddy]

Hey lets all rock up to Joe's place and help him connect the lights up !