Need help wiring light bar to switch

I’ve got a Baja Designs hidden light bar. Hooking it up to an AOB factory style switch. I’m having trouble mating up the proper wires.

From the light bar I’ve got a black negative wire, a white positive wire, and a blue wire going to the relay.

The switch has black and white negatives, which I will pair together in the same connector, and connect to black wire from light bar. Then the red switch wire is positive power which will go to the white wire of the light bar. Blue wire on switch is positive power out to relay. Connect that to blue wire going to light bar relay.

That leaves me with the green wire left on the switch, which is supposed to be positive from fuse box. Where do I tap/connect that wire?

And what wires do I use on the switch to illuminate it? Is that what the green switch wire above will do?

Diagrams are attached for reference. Thanks!

 

FWIW, everything works fine when connected to the factory Baja Designs toggle switch.

 

Depending on the trim you have, and the blanks on the switch panel, you can grab one of the extra plugs that are just sitting there.

I have a Limited and when I popped off the panel, I found a few ready to go plugs that were hooked up to power and lights and fit into the little switch I got. All I needed was to tap into the active wire with the wire that runs to the switch side of the lightbar relay.

The nice part was that these plugs worked with the aftermarket switch so it was really simple and looks clean.

Just make sure that you protect the current to the switch so it doesn't get overloaded. These are tiny wires and a 3 amp fuse is recommended.

Hope this helps.

 

I have a 1794 and I have several empty switch blocks. So based on what I stated and the switch diagram above, is the green wire the "wire that runs to the switch side of the lightbar relay" as you put it?

And if I tap into one of the wires that goes into the back of an empty switch block (I think that's what you're saying) How do I know which one is hot or "active" as you put it? They're too small to poke with a test lamp.

And lastly, are you saying I need to install a 3a fusible link in that green wire?

 

I think I got the same switch that you have. There were a few blanks on the panel and when I opening the panel I found a few active plugs just sitting there. I used a multimeter to figure out which one was powered and which one was sending power to the blue LED light in the switch. Once I figured out which wire was doing what, I just cut the wire that the switch controlled on/off when I pressed the switch. My DD lightbar came with the high voltage relay and the control wire and it came with a fuse inline.

That control wire was connected to the switched output wire and that's all I did.

I think it would be that simple with the BD lightbar kit.

Just have look at the extra plugs hiding behind the switch panel. There should be a few there and these plugs will fit into your new switch.

 

Ok, I see the confusion. We are talking about two different things. Yes the factory plug/harness on the back of one of the dummy switches will physically plug into the new switch, but it will not work. No power. Doesn't light up the new switch. I don't think that's going to work.

The switch came with it's own wiring harness, which is what I'm trying to use.

 

Read thru this thread

 

My switch came with a plug as well but after finding one of those plugs that did everything, I just used that instead. I think Toyota wired all the accessories but didn't provide the switches. I was surprised to find them live and it made the install so much easier.

The way the plug was wired was exactly what the new switch was looking for. Then I just had to figure out the one connection that I ran out to the relay. I see that the BD lightbar has 2 control wires for different modes. Are you going to run a separate switch for the laser mode?

 

No, I dont care about the laser whatever. I just want the lightbar to work.

 

Try your switch on one of the extra plugs and see if it lights up with the truck lights. Then you are halfway there.

 

It didn’t with the one I tried.

 

I picked one to the right side of the pack.

 

I did too. Lower right.

 

No luck. I read through all the threads. I tapped that last remaining green wire from the switch into what I thought was a hot wire (going to a factory dummy switch), and the same hot wire used in several YT vides, and no luck.

I also moved my switch to another dummy location with a harness that fit and got no power.

Unfortunately I can’t get the probes of my multimeter into one of those tiny wires, nor into the harness, so I can’t tell if my factory wiring going to the dummy switches have no power, or if I just got a dud switch. Or if my wiring sequence is just wrong.

Again, from the switch I have both white and black negatives connected with black (neg) from the light bar. Then I have the red from the switch (positive) going to white (positive) on light bar. Then blue on the switch (power out to relay) to the blue relay wire coming from light bar relay. Then the remaining green wire (positive) tapped into a power supply from the factory dummy switch (or so I thought). What am I doing wrong? Simple terms please.

Is there a chance I have my positives mixed up? Does the green on switch need to go to the white on light bar? Then the red on switch need to tap into factory power supply going to dummy?

 

The green would be the constant power and the blue goes to the relay control. Ultimately, you would want this switched so it turns off when the truck is off.

The other ones are for the LED backlight in the switch.

When looking at the wiring diagram I can see how it wouldn’t make sense. It looks like you are to connect the B and C positives to the blue wire coming from the dash switch. But then they talk about a green control wire??

 

I think you have only half of the picture so maybe I can help.

You need to establish if there is voltage on the Green #4 pin in the (Toyota pinout) diagram. It could be fused and maybe there is no fuse for that dummy function as it is not in use.

You can ignore the wires connected to pin C on the Baja connector. They are for a function (backlit) that you don't intend on using. That being the case disconnect the Baja Green C wire from anything.

1) The Black wire on pin A of the Baja connector should go to chassis ground not to the ground on the switch. I believe that the wires on the Toyota switch are not rated to carry a load so shouldn't be used for grounding the lightbar.

2) The #2 Blue (Toyota pinout) wire coming from the switch should be connected to the White wire on pin B of the Baja connector which should go to the coil side of the lightbar relay. This provides a pick path for the relay in the lightbar from the switch.

3) The Blue lightbar (Baja diagram) wire on the lightbar is fed a fused 12 volts from a fuse panel, NOT from the switch. It will end up connected to the Normally Open side of the lightbar relay.


Ignore the other connections in the switch until you get the lightbar going.

A dressmakers pin can be your friend when measuring connectors that are too small to access with a voltage probe.

Good Luck

 

Ok this is progress. Thanks. I had #2 wired wrong. I had blue to blue. I need to go blue from the switch to white from light bar it sounds like.

in #3, what does “connected to the Normally Open side of the lightbar relay” mean? Where does the blue from the light bar end up connected at the switch?

That blue wire on the light bar side comes from the relay included with the light bar harness. Leaving the light bar itself, there are only the black and white wires. (I’m not using C/green). From there it splits off to the relay and then switch, and to constant power (red/pos, black/neg) directly to battery, with a fused link in the hot wire.

 

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To recap ... the White wire on pin B of the Baja connector goes to the coil side of the lightbar relay. When voltage is applied to this wire the relay will pick.

When the relay picks the #3 Normally open connection closes and applies the +12v from the fuse panel to the lightbar and Presto! it illuminates. The Blue lightbar (Baja diagram) wire on the lightbar is fed a fused 12 volts from a fuse panel, NOT from the switch.

The net of it is that the relay in the lightbar is acting as a switch. The switched actuator of the relay is fed +12 volts from a fuse panel. This provides power to the LEDs in the lightbar.
The relay coil is energized via the #2 Blue (Toyota pinout) wire coming from the switch should be connected to the White wire on pin B of the Baja connector. When the switch is turned on it feeds +12v to the White wire on pin B of the Baja connector and energies the relay which picks and the normally open connection becomes closed and the LEDs come on.

I'm not sure that I have explained this clearly. If someone else can chip in please do so.

When you get this far and the LED's in the lightbar function then we can look at the indicator led's in the switch.

Keep in mind that this is best effort based on somewhat limited information.

 

I'm following you 50%. Thanks for your patience. "#2 Blue (Toyota pinout) wire coming from the switch should be connected to the White wire on pin B of the Baja connector." Got it.

But now the blue wire from Baja connector, where does it go? You say it doesn't go to a switch, but if I use the Baja Designs supplied toggle switch, that blue wire from the lightbar does in fact connect to that switch.

 

Does the BD switch have 2 on positions? Does it run the lasers and then another click to get the full lights on?

It may be that you could run the entire switch wiring into the cab and then use the wires for power and ground that BD provided.

I think the 2 red wires in the supplied harness close the low power loop for the coil on the relay. One red is hot and the other one is switched. Then you can move these wires to your new switch with an addition of a fuse to protect the switch.

 

No, the BD switch is just a simple illuminated (when on) rocker switch. I may just use it as it doesn't require all these mental gymnastics. I was just trying to avoid cutting a hole.

 

Sorry that this isn't working as smoothly as it should! Seems rather challenging to get something so simple and tested to work. In my install, I couldn't believe how easy it was to get everything working. It came down to just connecting one wire!

 

Is it just me - or does it sound like OP is trying to wire the light to the switch instead of wiring the light and the switch to the relay?


Switches I use from cruiser heads have four wires, pos and neg for dash illumination, + from the battery and a wire to the relay. If you use an accessory power wire source instead of a battery wire your light won’t work without the ignition on.

 

In the pin out diagram the blue wire is not noted except where you have written it in.

I believe that the lightbar has two +12v sources. One is from the switch and when the switch is made that +12v energies the relay coil. This is a low amperage connection.

The other +12v source comes from the fuse panel or the battery and it goes to the relay armature. This is a heavier gauge wire that can handle the load of the lightbar LED's.

When the Toyota switch is turned on the power energies the relay coil. The relay picks and the armature applies +12v to the lightbar LEDs and the lights come on.

Is there any other wiring diagram that came with the lightbar?

 

Thank you, Yes I believe that you are correct.

 

No. That was the only diagram from Baja designs.

Ok, lets go downstream starting from the lightbar so you understand what I'm talking about... Coming directly out of the lightbar, there are only two wires, black and white. Those two go to the relay. Then coming out of the relay, there are two "branches" of wires: two wires (standard red and black) go to the battery, with a fusible link. And three (black/white/blue) go to the switch.

This part is not my doing. It comes all self contained and pre wired from BD.

 

No, see the dowstream wiring description above. The light bar harness is all pre-wired to the relay. That part is already done. I'm just trying to connect to the switch, which once I get the sequence right, will be wired into the relay.

 

I don’t know where the confusion lies because you shouldn’t have three coming off the relay to the switch unless it’s a two way switch. (High and low for example). If it’s just on on/off type light, it would be two wires - 12v and a trigger for the relay.

what light bar is it?

 

Ok to try to eliminate confusion: Pic one shows the factory wiring from the Baja Designs lightbar kit, a 3 wires going to the relay. Pic two shows the wires coming off of the back of the switch harness from Air on Board.

Then there is the Toyota OEM wiring harness with the tiny wires that was plugged into the back of the dummy switch. All this is what I have to work with. And the two diagrams posted above.

 

The Toytota part won’t be used - so disregard that. The BD harness has a ground wrapped in since it didn’t use an illuminated switch. So you’ve got ground, 12v, and trigger. Just need illumination.