Roof Light Help

[gunna15]

Hey folks,

I have an Xoskel Lo Pro light bar and 4 Hella FF75s ready to go up on my roof. But I have no idea what else I need to begin. The only wire I have is the small gauge wire that came with the kits so I'm sure I need to use a thicker wire. Also, I'm not sure whether I should drill through my roof or run the wire through the rack......I was hoping to just go through the roof. I know many of you have experience with this mod so I would appreciate some advice! I live in GA so if anyone near by has some free time and wants to lend a hand its definitely worth some beer! Thanks!

 

[civicjoe]

If the lights came with a harness i would use that as much as you can, I didnt want to drill so i ran my roof lights thru my gobi rack and thru the rubber grommet on top of the left part of the back hatch, that feeds thru to the cargo area from there you can route it next to the door all the way thru to the driver side kick panel. Im running 16g on all my lights but all of mine are LED, so the pull is different. You could probably do with 16 as well, you probably dont need anything super HD unless youre running some crazy 200W lights. If you need any help pm me i might be able to help you out

 

[Prime]

When I did my roof light wiring I planned on going through the roof as well. But I ended up running to the gromit that goes between the hatch and the body. From there I was able to drop into the cabin and hook it all up. After I ran the wires in I filled the boot with some OSI Quad that I got from a siding place. The big difference between that and silicone is that it always stays 100% flexible and will never dry out or crack.

As far as gauge, step the wires together one at a time. That way when it comes to dropping the wires I to the truck, you only have two to contend with. And 16ga should be fine for 4 lights wired in parallel.

 

[Pro-2X]

I pulled the interior light down, drilled through the roof and used a grommet with some silicone to prevent leakage. The biggest warning I can give you is on the bar itself. Those factory nuts will pull all the way through the roof without a whole lot of tightening. Go slow and be gentle when tightening the bolts. I m in GA, but I not sure where Swainsboro is.

 

[gunna15]

Thanks civicjoe and Prime for the input! The option of going through the back hatch is sounding more tempting. Did you ground the lights once you got into the rear of the X? NewModelGuy Swainsboro is in south/central GA, about 40 miles west of Statesboro, pretty much the middle of nowhere.

 

[Prime]

Yeah, I just brought the wires through the boot and grounded out in the trunk, then carried my trigger up to the dash for the switch. All of my power distribution is under my trunk floor where the factory jack was. So my relay and fuse box is in the back. Thats why it made sense for me to do it that way.

 

[gunna15]

Did you buy a fuse box to use just with the lights?

 

[chuckamazuk]

Gunna,

Check out my Wiring write-up (link in sig). It will help guide you a bit. Personally, I drilled through the roof under the front foot of the roof rack. I did it years ago and I've had no trouble at all. Either way works so it's ultimately up to you.

 

[gunna15]

Hey thanks a lot chuckamazuk! That diagram will definitely help!

 

[Prime]

Did you buy a fuse box to use just with the lights?

Yeah. I bought a Blue Sea fuse box. Toward the end of my build thread there's full specs on the wiring.

 

[GhostX]

I had an Xoskel light cage with four KC 100 watt daylighters on my X for quite a while.

I used 16 gauge wire and set them up with an aftermarket kick panel fuse block, and used 10 gauge wire from there to the battery to power that and my Ham radio.

I plumbed the wiring from the lights through a drilled hole/grommet in the roof like others, sealed with a liberal application of clear silicone RTV goop.

I ran the wires across the roof and down the drivers side windshield pillar...which suited the mounted fuse block on the drivers side kick panel just fine. Up and out of the way and close the the switches there on the left side of the steering column.

I'll try to find some pics and post up today or tomorrow to help show the fuse block.

I did melt my power line from the battery running all four lights and transmitting on my ham radio, so I must have figured the guage wiring to the battery incorrectly. At max power all four lights and ham radio would be 250 watts....fail on my part.

Good luck!