Rock Light Wiring Clarification Needed

[JCappy]

I purchased a set of 4 Rough Country rock lights that came with a wiring harness that includes a relay, a positive and negative connection plus a switch. I would like these to work with my interior lights when approaching the truck and while getting in/out of the truck. I'm assuming the best way to do this would be to use the bed light harness. The lights only draw 5 amps total so I'm guessing that won't be an issue using the bed light wiring. Also I believe I can use the wiring that came with the lights by removing the relay, positive/negative connection and switch while just attaching the 4 positive wires to the bed light wiring and grounding all of the lights to a point under the truck. I don't believe a diode would be necessary since I won't be adding a secondary option to powering the rock lights. Would all of this be correct? I am not great with wiring so curious to anyone's thoughts.

Also after some thought, could I leave the wiring harness in tact, run the positive and negative to battery the way the harness is set up, using the relay and then cutting off the switch then using that wiring to run to the bed light power wire and ground? Would that even work? Would there be an issue with power from the battery and attaching to the bed light wiring? I may be making this more difficult than it has to be. I guess I am worried about the 5 amp draw being added to the bed lights as I am not sure how much draw that circuit can safely take. Thanks

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[jav_eee]

Use the relay but tap the wire that would go to the switch to one bed light.

The switch probably has another 1 or 2 wires for power and ground (if it’s lit) but you only need the one wire going to the 86 (I think, off the top of my head) terminal on the relay.

 

[culdbbi]

I purchased a set of 4 Rough Country rock lights that came with a wiring harness that includes a relay, a positive and negative connection plus a switch. I would like these to work with my interior lights when approaching the truck and while getting in/out of the truck. I'm assuming the best way to do this would be to use the bed light harness. The lights only draw 5 amps total so I'm guessing that won't be an issue using the bed light wiring. Also I believe I can use the wiring that came with the lights by removing the relay, positive/negative connection and switch while just attaching the 4 positive wires to the bed light wiring and grounding all of the lights to a point under the truck. I don't believe a diode would be necessary since I won't be adding a secondary option to powering the rock lights. Would all of this be correct? I am not great with wiring so curious to anyone's thoughts.

Also after some thought, could I leave the wiring harness in tact, run the positive and negative to battery the way the harness is set up, using the relay and then cutting off the switch then using that wiring to run to the bed light power wire and ground? Would that even work? Would there be an issue with power from the battery and attaching to the bed light wiring? I may be making this more difficult than it has to be. I guess I am worried about the 5 amp draw being added to the bed lights as I am not sure how much draw that circuit can safely take. Thanks

If you have two power options, one from the battery and one from the bed lights then you need to have a diode, so the power from the battery doesn't back feed into the bed lights.

I did this except I tapped into the footwell light. My problem is there wasn't enough voltage to turn the lights on (they just flashed) so I had to get a step up unit. So mine come on when I unlock the doors and and a aux switch.

There are other people who used the bed lights and it worked for them.

 

[JCappy]

Use the relay but tap the wire that would go to the switch to one bed light.

The switch probably has another 1 or 2 wires for power and ground (if it’s lit) but you only need the one wire going to the 86 (I think, off the top of my head) terminal on the relay.

You are correct. There are 3 wires from the switch. I believe one is power, one negative and the third is just for the red light on the switch showing it has power I believe. I did sit the connections of the harness on the battery terminals just to make sure all of the lights work and the switch had a tiny red light on it that was lit up. There is a connection within the switch harness so would it be best to cut the wires at the connection or past the connection closer to the actual switch which would give me some more wire to work with.
So you're saying I should attach the positive and negative connections to the battery keeping the relay and then connect only the positive wire from the switch harness to one bed light, correct? There won't be a need to connect the switch ground wire? Also the switch is closer to the front of the truck so is there a closer place to connect to the bed light wiring instead of running all the way to the back of the truck? Seems like I read somewhere that there is a harness in the passenger kick panel that has the bed light wire but I'm not 100% sure that's the case and which wire would be the correct wire. Not a fan of splicing into a harness with a bunch of wires as I would feel better about connecting near the bed light where there are only 2 wires. I've read that a short section of harness can be removed for easier splicing to the passenger bed light.

 

[JCappy]

If you have two power options, one from the battery and one from the bed lights then you need to have a diode, so the power from the battery doesn't back feed into the bed lights.

I did this except I tapped into the footwell light. My problem is there wasn't enough voltage to turn the lights on (they just flashed) so I had to get a step up unit. So mine come on when I unlock the doors and and a aux switch.

There are other people who used the bed lights and it worked for them.

I figured I may need a diode in a certain situation but I have never had to install one so I wasn't sure if it would be needed. Honestly I'd rather skip connecting anything straight to the battery and just tap into the bed light positive wire and then ground to the underside but I wasn't sure if it would work that way or not. Just seems to be the easiest way to do it and less work by just running wiring from the lights to the rear.

 

[culdbbi]

I figured I may need a diode in a certain situation but I have never had to install one so I wasn't sure if it would be needed. Honestly I'd rather skip connecting anything straight to the battery and just tap into the bed light positive wire and then ground to the underside but I wasn't sure if it would work that way or not. Just seems to be the easiest way to do it and less work by just running wiring from the lights to the rear.

Read this and see if it helps. https://www.jeepgladiatorforum.com/forum/threads/rock-lights-tied-to-bed-lights-and-reverse.24457/

 

[JCappy]

Read this and see if it helps. https://www.jeepgladiatorforum.com/forum/threads/rock-lights-tied-to-bed-lights-and-reverse.24457/

Yea I've read that post as well as others but I guess I'm still not 100% sure of what to do. Maybe the fact that the wiring harness has the relay and switch is throwing me off. I believe the guy that posted the thread you gave me made his own harness bypassing a relay and switch. I may need to read it over a 3rd time lol.

 

[culdbbi]

Yea I've read that post as well as others but I guess I'm still not 100% sure of what to do. Maybe the fact that the wiring harness has the relay and switch is throwing me off. I believe the guy that posted the thread you gave me made his own harness bypassing a relay and switch. I may need to read it over a 3rd time lol.

If you just want them to come on with the unlock/bed lights then I wouldn't use the relay, and just connect the positive wire from the harness to the bed light (just tap the wire), and run the ground to the frame or a ground point on the truck.

If you want them to come on with the bed lights AND the switch then you need the relay to the battery, and then I would use one these. Battery power after the switch in and bed light power in, and out power to the lights.

Does that help?

 

[jav_eee]

The 3 wires going to the switch will be the hot wire from the battery (comes from the 30 terminal on the relay), the hot back to the relay from the switch, and the ground wire (for the red light).

you can cut the one from the 30 and the ground and use just the wire back to the relay (86) to power the lights through the relay from the bed lights. No diode needed for that. This method *should also work with the footwell lights as it doesn’t take much voltage to trigger the relay.

if you want to be able to also switch them on with the switch then you would need the diode on the wire to the bed lights.

as for an alternate source closer to the front of the vehicle, that I don’t know!

 

[JCappy]

If you just want them to come on with the unlock/bed lights then I wouldn't use the relay, and just connect the positive wire from the harness to the bed light (just tap the wire), and run the ground to the frame or a ground point on the truck.

If you want them to come on with the bed lights AND the switch then you need the relay to the battery, and then I would use one these. Battery power after the switch in and bed light power in, and out power to the lights.

Does that help?

Yes it does help. I don't have the need to power them with an additional switch. I want them to work with the doors unlocked and I believe they would also work with the bed light switch on the dash. I won't be using them as real rock lights. I just want them to illuminate the ground at the front and rear doors for use at night. I guess I could disassemble the harness as much as possible to make running the wires to the rear a lot easier. Also 5 amps shouldn't be an issue to add to that circuit correct?

 

[JCappy]

The 3 wires going to the switch will be the hot wire from the battery (comes from the 30 terminal on the relay), the hot back to the relay from the switch, and the ground wire (for the red light).

you can cut the one from the 30 and the ground and use just the wire back to the relay (86) to power the lights through the relay from the bed lights. No diode needed for that. This method *should also work with the footwell lights as it doesn’t take much voltage to trigger the relay.

if you want to be able to also switch them on with the switch then you would need the diode on the wire to the bed lights.

as for an alternate source closer to the front of the vehicle, that I don’t know!

Great info. If I went this route how do I know which wire to use off the switch. I have a white, black and blue? I'm assuming it's the white or blue. Do I need to pull back the shrink wrap on the relay to see which color goes to the 86 since there is a 30, 85, 86 & 87? I did read somewhere about connecting to the footwell. I guess I could use the drivers or passengers side if I go that route. I want to make this as painless as possible.

 

[arskemp]

I'm currently in process of setting up my rock lights.

- I'm powering it from either the bed light and/or the aux switch. Since I am using multiple power on sources, I am using diodes. If you are ONLY powering if off the bed lights, you will not need one.
- My kit also came with a relay which I still plan on using (I'm running ~ 11 rock lights though).
- I'm tapping the bed lights in the rear for the trigger for the relay, and then tapping the trailer 7-pin harness for the power. Since I didn't want to splice into the harness itself I bought one of these and cut the end off the extra 7 pin. https://a.co/d/2JILdgl. This keeps all the power related wiring at the rear of the vehicle, although it could easily be ran straight to battery if you prefer.
- The switch on my rock lights also had multiple wires going to it (Power, Ground, and a relay trigger). I'm removing the switch and only using the relay trigger. I am, however, adding a waterproof switch inline on between the bed light and the relay trigger that will allow me to disable the rock lights if for some reason I wanted to wanted/needed to disable them from coming on when unlocking the vehicle or opening the door.

 

[JCappy]

I'm currently in process of setting up my rock lights.

- I'm powering it from either the bed light and/or the aux switch. Since I am using multiple power on sources, I am using diodes. If you are ONLY powering if off the bed lights, you will not need one.
- My kit also came with a relay which I still plan on using (I'm running ~ 11 rock lights though).
- I'm tapping the bed lights in the rear for the trigger for the relay, and then tapping the trailer 7-pin harness for the power. Since I didn't want to splice into the harness itself I bought one of these and cut the end off the extra 7 pin. https://a.co/d/2JILdgl. This keeps all the power related wiring at the rear of the vehicle, although it could easily be ran straight to battery if you prefer.
- The switch on my rock lights also had multiple wires going to it (Power, Ground, and a relay trigger). I'm removing the switch and only using the relay trigger. I am, however, adding a waterproof switch inline on between the bed light and the relay trigger that will allow me to disable the rock lights if for some reason I wanted to wanted/needed to disable them from coming on when unlocking the vehicle or opening the door.

Thanks for the input. Do you know which wire you will use to trigger the relay? Not sure which one is correct if I decide to go that route. Since I'm only installing 4 lights I may bypass that and just wire directly to the bed light which should be easier.

 

[culdbbi]

My guess is blue is to trigger the relay, and white is power to the battery.

If you use the relay you need to connect to the battery. If you just power off the bed lights you don't need the relay.

 

[JCappy]

My guess is blue is to trigger the relay, and white is power to the battery.

If you use the relay you need to connect to the battery. If you just power off the bed lights you don't need the relay.

That's kind of what I was thinking. Thanks

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