A fairly common modification for us Jeep Wrangler TJ owners is the addition of front or rear lighting on the vehicle. When doing this, you'll have to add a relay to the circuit to control the higher wattage lights. The stock wiring on a Jeep Wrangler TJ is simply not up to the task of controlling 110 watts of 12V light.
After adding these new backup lights, often times people find themselves wishing they could turn them on other than having them only go on when the vehicle is in reverse. This can come in handy when you're trying to perform repairs on the trail, or when you need the extra light for a number of other occasions.
The following is one method you can use for your wiring project.
The wiring diagram above provides you with two methods by which to control your vehicle's new backup lights. When the Selection Switch is in position 1, 12 volts is applied to the power relay's coil and causes it to energize. The 12V on pin 30 is applied to pin 87 and that 12V is then applied to the new backup lights.
When the Selection Switch is in position 2, the relay operates in the same manner as just described. The difference is that the 12V to operate the relay coil comes from the vehicle's backup light switch. As such, the new backup lights will only illuminate when you shift your transmission into reverse. (It should be noted that the vehicle's ignition switch would need to be in the on position.)
If you want to fully disable the new backup lights, make sure the selector switch is one with a on-off-on configuration. When you put the switch in the off position, this would allow neither circuit to provide power to the relay. This would be beneficial if you the state you reside in has a vehicle inspection program which requires your stock backup lights to function only as delivered from the factory (in other words, you can't have extra backup lights, since it didn't come that way from the factory).
I can't guarantee that your vehicles fuse panel and wire colors are the same as those on every TJ. However, here are a few things that might help make this project a little easier.
After adding these new backup lights, often times people find themselves wishing they could turn them on other than having them only go on when the vehicle is in reverse. This can come in handy when you're trying to perform repairs on the trail, or when you need the extra light for a number of other occasions.
The following is one method you can use for your wiring project.
The wiring diagram above provides you with two methods by which to control your vehicle's new backup lights. When the Selection Switch is in position 1, 12 volts is applied to the power relay's coil and causes it to energize. The 12V on pin 30 is applied to pin 87 and that 12V is then applied to the new backup lights.
When the Selection Switch is in position 2, the relay operates in the same manner as just described. The difference is that the 12V to operate the relay coil comes from the vehicle's backup light switch. As such, the new backup lights will only illuminate when you shift your transmission into reverse. (It should be noted that the vehicle's ignition switch would need to be in the on position.)
If you want to fully disable the new backup lights, make sure the selector switch is one with a on-off-on configuration. When you put the switch in the off position, this would allow neither circuit to provide power to the relay. This would be beneficial if you the state you reside in has a vehicle inspection program which requires your stock backup lights to function only as delivered from the factory (in other words, you can't have extra backup lights, since it didn't come that way from the factory).
I can't guarantee that your vehicles fuse panel and wire colors are the same as those on every TJ. However, here are a few things that might help make this project a little easier.
- The +12V wire that feeds the factory backup lights comes from the fuse block (behind the glove box), fuse #7, which is listed as a 10 amp fuse.
- The wire (color) that goes from the fuse to the backup light switch is violet with a white stripe.
- The wire (color) that goes from the backup light switch to your backup lights is violet with a black stripe.
