fender halogen lighting wire harness rating

[harryator]

Hi everyone, was curious if anyone has this information handy. I'm trying to find out how much wattage is safe to pass through the fender harness feeding the halogen DRL and turn signal bulbs. For example, the current bulbs are 21w, however can the harness/socket handle higher wattage if fitted with a 28w bulb? any idea on the wire gauge specifications?

This is for a 2021 JT Sport S

thanks!

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[bd100]

The fuse would tell you. Don't run near max. But maybe the computer will not be happy?

 

[Outback_Joe]

Use a relay to power your add ons. This way you'll never have a issue with the computer or wiring.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Hi everyone, was curious if anyone has this information handy. I'm trying to find out how much wattage is safe to pass through the fender harness feeding the halogen DRL and turn signal bulbs. For example, the current bulbs are 21w, however can the harness/socket handle higher wattage if fitted with a 28w bulb? any idea on the wire gauge specifications?

This is for a 2021 JT Sport S

thanks!

Only use as triggers, not to feed anything. The BCM may be sensing the load through there. These aren't meant to be tapped into to drive other things.
At least I never would - may upset the built-in light diagnostics, etc.

 

[JRobes]

Use a relay to power your add ons. This way you'll never have a issue with the computer or wiring.

This isn't completely true: if the relay uses a much smaller amount of current to activate than the fender light bulb, the computer could still see the power difference and cause issues.

 

[harryator]

I appreciate all the responses; thank you!

There are no plans to tap into that wire harness to supply any add-ons. The gist of this exercise was to swap the OE DRL bulbs (21w) with Amber ones (28w), as it seems almost impossible to find good quality 21w bulbs in true/natural Amber (example: 7443na).

After spending some time reading up on this, it looks like the wire harness is a 20awg, and most likely not appropriate for an always-on feed to a 28w bulb for DRL use.

I could swap to LEDs, however personal preference is on halogens, as I like their color temperatures in comparison to LED temps.

Will keep looking for correct size bulbs in amber.

Thank again!

 

[Outback_Joe]

This isn't completely true: if the relay uses a much smaller amount of current to activate than the fender light bulb, the computer could still see the power difference and cause issues.

How? The relay only uses the wire as a signal. I run all my high power LED Light bars and ditch lights from a signal wire for the fog lights. A relay isolates any voltage spikes or loads so the computer can't see it. This is easy to wire with a small wiring harness extension. No need to alter the original harness. Everything is easy to return to stock in minutes. Just saying!

 

[JRobes]

How?

From experience with my vehicle and seeing others' posts, the vehicle is monitoring how much current each lighting circuit is using, and has the ability to fully cut power to the circuit if it senses out of spec loads. What load ranges it's looking for depends on what all options your vehicle has, and I don't think anyone really know what the values are, but it could have both high and low thresholds for each circuit. As I mentioned, if it senses too low a value (using a relay vs an incandescent bulb) and it's past is low threshold value, it could decide to fully cut power to that circuit.

I believe this circuit monitoring is a huge reason as to why aftermarket light companies (Oracle and Diode Dynamics come to mind) have such difficulty dialing in their lights to work with all the various lighting combinations our vehicles can have from the factory.

 

[bd100]

The fuse would tell you.

... and checking the manual I don't find a fuse dedicated to the DRL or any other particular bulb.

 

[Outback_Joe]

From experience with my vehicle and seeing others' posts, the vehicle is monitoring how much current each lighting circuit is using, and has the ability to fully cut power to the circuit if it senses out of spec loads. What load ranges it's looking for depends on what all options your vehicle has, and I don't think anyone really know what the values are, but it could have both high and low thresholds for each circuit. As I mentioned, if it senses too low a value (using a relay vs an incandescent bulb) and it's past is low threshold value, it could decide to fully cut power to that circuit.

I believe this circuit monitoring is a huge reason as to why aftermarket light companies (Oracle and Diode Dynamics come to mind) have such difficulty dialing in their lights to work with all the various lighting combinations our vehicles can have from the factory.

Interesting.

 

[harryator]

Thought I'd wrap up this post with an update.

I happened to be at a shopping center and noticed a JL with LED-swapped turn signal bulbs, with a very nice shade of amber color. Spoke with the owner who pointed me in the direction of Sylvania's ZEVO series, paired with a Tazer-mini for an error free operation.

Looks like this combo is the best for my needs since I'll get the results I'm looking for. Also an opportunity to upgrade the rest of the bulbs to LEDs, while retaining factory wiring specs.

Thanks again!

 

[Klicht87]

Thought I'd wrap up this post with an update.

I happened to be at a shopping center and noticed a JL with LED-swapped turn signal bulbs, with a very nice shade of amber color. Spoke with the owner who pointed me in the direction of Sylvania's ZEVO series, paired with a Tazer-mini for an error free operation.

Looks like this combo is the best for my needs since I'll get the results I'm looking for. Also an opportunity to upgrade the rest of the bulbs to LEDs, while retaining factory wiring specs.

Thanks again!

I didnt use the zevos but I did swap my DRLs and Turn signals with Amazon LEDs from Alla Lighting. I also have the oracle Bi-LED headlights and changed all appropriate settings to LED and have zero issues. Good luck with what you decide to go with.

 

[Shakey Graves]

Hey, can you tell me what settings you changed to LED? I have all halogens stock, but bought the bi-led switchback halo headlights.

Thanks!

 

[harryator]

Hey, can you tell me what settings you changed to LED? I have all halogens stock, but bought the bi-led switchback halo headlights.

Thanks!

I connected a Tazer Mini to reprogram and change the 'DRL' and 'Turn Signal' values to LED, as I swapped both bulbs with LEDs. My Gladiator has two separate bulbs in the fender; one for each function.

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