Wiring mistake?

[ShadowsPapa]

ShadowsPapa. Why the suspicious attitude? No need for it, he's a grown up and can make his own decisions on how he runs the lights. He did come back and explain his use case to satisfy you.

LOL - glad you asked.
I wasn't the only one wondering, but the only one who lacks the "social filter" most are born with so wasn't afraid to ask.
As far as "grown ups" - they make stupid decisions all the time. A grown up making a decision killed my father, a grown up ran his nicely restored 55 Chevy into a POLICE CRUISER this weekend - nice decision. Grown ups here run off-road lights on ATVs, Jeeps and other vehicles - often on the road. If my wife hadn't been with me last time a "grown up" did that - with light bar on blinding everyone and everything in his path, his adult light bar would be sitting in pieces in a ditch along the highway north of Melcher-Dallas.
Adult doesn't mean the best choices, wisdom and so on.
And in this case - it was rather clear - wiring novice for sure - ground at a foot switch? A foot switch is for fast access - generally not needed in cases off the road (and in fact, even in this case, a dash switch would be far more than adequate.

As far as grounding the light bar - I'd run a wire to a legit ground point on on the Jeep because you want to minimize "electrifying" any panels and such on these things.
I do not ground via body panels, especially mixed materials. I go right to legit ground points and avoid differences in ground potentials, which in itself can cause issues (especially if he later adds radios to the mix) Avoid ground loops - ground to common points.
Wire it to a ground point, not a panel. (you have no idea how well "grounded" a panel is - not to mention the weird paint issues)

Jeep gave you two extra wires that aren't even aux wires. One is a switched and one is a non-switched. Just use one of those.

Or a wire from the battery with a relay. Seems like a lot just for lights.

Exactly - skip all the extra stuff - there's bat and acc wires with the factory aux switches - one can use one of those direct to the foot switch, but I'd skip the foot switch because I grew up with those things and after a while, they are crap - your foot, especially if you Jeep or drive on less than perfect roads, will carry water, sand, silt, salt, dirt, whatever, to that switch. It will eventually fail because it's there where your foot deposits a lot of crap onto it.

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[tysongladiator]

LOL - glad you asked.
I wasn't the only one wondering, but the only one who lacks the "social filter" most are born with so wasn't afraid to ask.
As far as "grown ups" - they make stupid decisions all the time. A grown up making a decision killed my father, a grown up ran his nicely restored 55 Chevy into a POLICE CRUISER this weekend - nice decision. Grown ups here run off-road lights on ATVs, Jeeps and other vehicles - often on the road. If my wife hadn't been with me last time a "grown up" did that - with light bar on blinding everyone and everything in his path, his adult light bar would be sitting in pieces in a ditch along the highway north of Melcher-Dallas.
Adult doesn't mean the best choices, wisdom and so on.
And in this case - it was rather clear - wiring novice for sure - ground at a foot switch? A foot switch is for fast access - generally not needed in cases off the road (and in fact, even in this case, a dash switch would be far more than adequate.

As far as grounding the light bar - I'd run a wire to a legit ground point on on the Jeep because you want to minimize "electrifying" any panels and such on these things.
I do not ground via body panels, especially mixed materials. I go right to legit ground points and avoid differences in ground potentials, which in itself can cause issues (especially if he later adds radios to the mix) Avoid ground loops - ground to common points.
Wire it to a ground point, not a panel. (you have no idea how well "grounded" a panel is - not to mention the weird paint issues)




Exactly - skip all the extra stuff - there's bat and acc wires with the factory aux switches - one can use one of those direct to the foot switch, but I'd skip the foot switch because I grew up with those things and after a while, they are crap - your foot, especially if you Jeep or drive on less than perfect roads, will carry water, sand, silt, salt, dirt, whatever, to that switch. It will eventually fail because it's there where your foot deposits a lot of crap onto it.

Yea. my uncle had an old ford with a pedal switch for the headlights. Always had problems. He ended up putting a toggle switch into the dash. That is a bad location for a switch. And with the electronics in these newer vehicles, the last thing that you would want is another electrical component that is more exposed to water, mud, sand, etc. causing problems.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Yea. my uncle had an old ford with a pedal switch for the headlights. Always had problems. He ended up putting a toggle switch into the dash. That is a bad location for a switch. And with the electronics in these newer vehicles, the last thing that you would want is another electrical component that is more exposed to water, mud, sand, etc. causing problems.

Making it worse was the fact that it was fairly high amperage going through the connections and switch down there. Get a bit of corrosion started, that added resistance which generated heat which caused more corrosion and more resistance. It was a lose-lose thing.
But the positive of it was - you could stock a couple of those switches and some wire terminals and fix a Chevy, Ford, MOPAR, AMC, whatever - same danged switch in most.

 

[WILDHOBO]

If he wants it on an aux switch and then a second switch, so be it. I get wanting it the way you want it. As long as the switch handles the same amperage as the aux switch, and is enough for the lights, no issue whatsoever. Regarding the ground, just ground the lights to a ground post or the battery. My one question would be whether the foot switch requires power to function, or is just a passive interrupter. If it’s passive this will work fine. If it needs power, ground the switch itself separately. Should work just fine.

 

[Pickle_Bill]

Got a foot switch on my dead pedal for almost 4 years now, works great.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

If he wants it on an aux switch and then a second switch, so be it. I get wanting it the way you want it. As long as the switch handles the same amperage as the aux switch, and is enough for the lights, no issue whatsoever. Regarding the ground, just ground the lights to a ground post or the battery. My one question would be whether the foot switch requires power to function, or is just a passive interrupter. If it’s passive this will work fine. If it needs power, ground the switch itself separately. Should work just fine.

As the dead pedal mounts to studs in the cabin - the switch should be grounded if the case of the switch is the switch ground. No other ground needed. But a powered switch? That would be odd indeed as most of the dead pedal switches are simply latch on, latch off, SPST switches, no electronics. I haven't seen one that wasn't just a simple on-off mechanical switch. They may exist, but I'd wonder why.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Got a foot switch on my dead pedal for almost 4 years now, works great.

Is it a simple mechanical SPST switch with two terminals? That's what the ones I have looked into in the past were.

 

[WILDHOBO]

As the dead pedal mounts to studs in the cabin - the switch should be grounded if the case of the switch is the switch ground. No other ground needed. But a powered switch? That would be odd indeed as most of the dead pedal switches are simply latch on, latch off, SPST switches, no electronics. I haven't seen one that wasn't just a simple on-off mechanical switch. They may exist, but I'd wonder why.

Usually if the switch is lighted.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Usually if the switch is lighted.

Yeah, lighted rocker switches, but a pushbutton on/off switch on a pedal would be interesting. I'd never see that light down there.

The ground would be for the light, which if his push-button pedal switch did have a light, could ground via the pedal since it attaches to the side or firewall studs.

The old parts store fog light kits had lighted rocker switches you mounted at the dash, some cars even had a lighted rocker switch for the fog lights made right into the dash, and those would require a ground.

Toyota, AMC and others have used lighted fog light switches -
Toyota factory switch -

Toyota copied AMC LOL -

I had to get creative with mine since I used the ZJ's PDC relays to control my fog lights via that switch, and I ran my headlights through relays, not the stock 18 gauge wiring.

 

[Brodek2024]

I seriously think you're making it more complicated that it needs to be. Simply pushing the aux button for the light is just as easy as a dead pedal switch seeing as how the aux button is right there by your hand. It's literally a split second action.

But... maybe you are a person that drives around with a coffee cup in your hand and never use the cup holder. Jeep gave you two extra wires that aren't even aux wires. One is a switched and one is a non-switched. Just use one of those.

Or a wire from the battery with a relay. Seems like a lot just for lights.

Got it solved, and all is working as I want(ed).

Had a break in the wire that ran from the pedal to the light. Trusty multimeter helped me find it. All is well.

KB

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Got it solved, and all is working as I want(ed).

Had a break in the wire that ran from the pedal to the light. Trusty multimeter helped me find it. All is well.

KB

And not only that, you have experience with some wiring situations and troubleshooting with a meter.
Win-win-win.

 

[tysongladiator]

Got it solved, and all is working as I want(ed).

Had a break in the wire that ran from the pedal to the light. Trusty multimeter helped me find it. All is well.

KB

Yes!!!! I love it when a troubleshoot and diagnose works out! Awesome!!!!

 

[WILDHOBO]

Got it solved, and all is working as I want(ed).

Had a break in the wire that ran from the pedal to the light. Trusty multimeter helped me find it. All is well.

KB

Yay. Good work.

 

[Pickle_Bill]

Is it a simple mechanical SPST switch with two terminals? That's what the ones I have looked into in the past were.

https://www.amazon.com/GM-Genuine-P...+headlamp+dimmer+switch,automotive,156&sr=1-1

Only use two of the terminals.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

https://www.amazon.com/GM-Genuine-Parts-12663052-Starter/dp/B000C9QXKA/ref=sr_1_1?crid=5HJYZA0SXKP6&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.5sLn7QHQM0WWTKX2bFY_4GuDtzjQZ9p4IlSUnQricEE-RgnwrD69I1KmkLXQVe-81nfad2W_6RLIbr-nGMkboj01WcyYWIxbQIbjIeQWEY0Ny_j86VFNinEug3fGtNsizH5743A2xhhxm8yA4BOTdySuRXo5VFDQDyJZJhjeMl-liIqFsLQblajTG74L5ooj1mqK8jDNs8oxv2xAUCN-lKiuXAIz2qbviKzGTHLZuT0wC5EFQAd_URJId9QC_fiPcxPY3jBsc9nGfycDsva_PHleZLcAs05OXq6mYD9Fswc.ed_KdFXPV1emRRro3xSZoPzFgTXPjCVq1KWW672Vjrg&dib_tag=se&keywords=General+Motors+GM+Genuine+Parts+D808+Headlamp+Dimmer+Switch&qid=1751757157&s=automotive&sprefix=general+motors+gm+genuine+parts+d808+headlamp+dimmer+switch,automotive,156&sr=1-1

Only use two of the terminals.

I was asking about the switch his dead pedal came with.
Some have a switch a lot smaller than that dimmer switch.
others come with a switch like a dimmer switch - however, he was looking to put a ground on that switch, and that would have been a mistake if it was a dimmer type!

You can buy the pedal with either a switch like a dimmer, or just a 2 connector switch.

Here's one example and why I was asking about his specific switch (in any case, no ground needed)
https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/forum/threads/dead-pedal-with-a-little-extra.102497/

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