Rock Lights

Just got 18 Rock lights from a local lighting company (Overkill Lighting) there will be 16 around the truck and 2 in the bed. (2 in each fender, 2 front, 2 back, and 2 down the frame rail)

the rock lights going out side of the truck have 36 individual LEDs and 3100 lumens per rock light. The rock lights in the bed have 24 LEDs and are 1800 lumens per rock light. Both are wired with 20ga.

The Plan:
1st order of business is sealing up the lights for extra protection with clear silicon even though they are rated IP68.

2nd I want all stainless steel hardware so nothing has the possibility of rusting.

3rd is getting all of the extra wire/butt connectors I need. I’m going with marine grade wire and butt connectors and will use extra heat shrink just to make sure everything is as waterproof as I can make it.

I will be running 4 18ga wires off of the control box 2 power and 2 ground. A power and ground down each side of the truck and make junction points. The lights down the frame rail, front, and back will be attached by magnets. I tried them out real quick by hooking them up to a Milwaukee battery, and couldn’t be happier with the light output.

Any tips/input is much appreciated. I’m 17 and this is my first time doing electrical by myself. Where did y’all mount your rock lights in the fenders?

 

After 4 days of install im done… still have a couple little things to do (cut bolts/paint them, add an inline fuse). For rock light mounting I would suggest getting some pretty good double sided tape and spend some time moving them around while hooked up to a Milwaukee battery or spare battery. I will post pics of where I mounted them soon. Ended up running 12ga power and ground from battery to the control box (mounted rear of the CAI. Then 16ga power and ground down each side of the truck. So 9 lights down each side of the truck. I used 10ft of 12ga and 50ft of 16ga with very little left over(1-2ft) also get 50ft of 3/8” corrugated wire loom. 10ft of 1/4” wire loom and 10ft of 1/2” wire loom. Also a boat load of marine grade heat shrink with adhesive also 1/4”, 3/8”, 1/2”. And of course electrical tape and zip ties. I completely removed the fender liners, I couldn’t imagine installing lights with them on the truck. But make sure you have a lot of extra clips.

 

Great work, your wiring looks clean. This is on my son’s wish list, so I’ll let him read this first.

 

If you do this again look into buying weatherpack connectors in place of butt connectors and tech flex for the wires.
Also make sure you have a relay on the switch.

I

 

Hadn’t thought of doing weatherpack connectors, what are the pros/cons of use them compared to butt connectors? I think I might get some tech flex for the engine bay just to make things look pretty. Also im very new to wiring (first time every doing electrical by myself) I was just going to throw an in-line fuse in there, do I also need a relay if I do that. Can I do one or the other? What exactly does a relay do?
Thanks

 

Go with quality lights, you’ll pay more. But you wont need as many to get the outcome you want. And it’s less work when installing. The bigger lights were more difficult to find mounting points for but that was the only “downside”

 

A relay is where the power source connect to the item drawing the current. The switch is used to trigger the relay only which requires minimal current. You don't want all the current going through the switch as most switches aren't rated for such current and can melt or even become so hot they start on fire. Research automotive wiring circuit with switchable relay on Google. You will get it figured out properly, don't be scared, it's simple.

 

Forgot about this, so i’m finally posting where I mounted them at.
Front:

Front fender:


Side(Frame rail):

Back fender:

Bed:

Back(Spare tire carrier):