help with new lights/light bar

[jodom15sc]

i tried the misc. electrical forum but i figured i post here to possibly get more notice

I want to install 2 lights in front of my grille and 2 lights on the 3rd brake light of my ranger...my question is, how hard would these be to install do you think? and most importantly how bad will it affect my battery? Would i need a switch or fuse? if so how hard to install these?

on the side note, i heard there is a light bar for a f250 that attaches/screws onto the 3rd brake light, idk what year but i was told it works cause the cabs have the same curvature, i have a 99 ranger xlt 2wd, so is there such a thing? and how hard would it be to wire this to the battery? i preferably wouldn't want to wire into the brake light

on... reasons i ask is i hate doing anything electrical work and only reason i want to install some lights is because i go wheeling/hunting in the woods with friends and need some extra lighting, nothing expensive, fairly cheap will do. I figure 2 on the grille facing forward and 2 on the high mount facing backwards will help good enough

 

[Sunk]

Well you'll need a positive lead to the battery or relay on the fender, and a ground. You'll need a switch (or 2 if you want them separate) unless you want your lights on 24/7, and a fuse somewhere on the positive side.

 

[dgndngrngr]

the Blazer off road lights at walmart (square ones) are around $20 and include a switch and wiring and instructions. I would pick up a couple spools of 16 gauge wire because the lights never come with enough wire. If your not sure about the wiring, lay it out on the ground before you start hooking things up. Its fairly straightforward if you go by the instructions it comes with but definitely post on here if you get stuck!

 

[jodom15sc]

kind of looking for something like this for high mount brake light, found it on another thread

 

[BigJohn76]

on my 150 have two lights on top of the bar behind the cab. they are the 10 dollar round ones at wal mart. i have a spot to mount the third but dont have it on yet. they dont light up as much as i thought but they are good to have when working on stuff outside at night. with my all 110 watts on i can see it drain the battery on the meter but they are not wired properly. i would like some in the grille but im broke right now. to do what you want you might want to run a second battery or alternator. have them wired properly and not connected to the cigarette lighter.

 

[Chris.S.]

As long as they're wired properly (with a fuse/relay) your current battery should have more than enough juice (as long it's in good shape) unless you want run them with the truck off for long periods of time...

 

[oughtsix]

Jodom, who sells that? I've never seen one of those. Would be quite interested.

 

[jodom15sc]

i have no clue who sells it, i saw it on another thread, called something like, show me how you mounted your lights, something to that effect, but yea thats what i want to know, cause i think it looks pretty badass and i would definitely buy one

but unfortunately i got my tuition bill from college today, what part my scholarship/loans didn't pay for i owe 700 bucks, so lights will have to wait till next paycheck

 

[feellnfroggy]

yall should check out GO-LIGHTS. Im not sure if that is the brand name, but it is the spotlights we used in Iraq on the humvee's. Its wire-remote, motorized and bright as hell. only one mounted on teh roof is really neccessary cuz it rotates 360 degrees.

 

[Ruffinit]

If you don't already know, the formula for figuring out what you are pulling in amps is by dividing the number of watts by the voltage. If one light is 55 watts, divide that by 12 volts and you get 4.6 amps, so two of these 55 watt bulbs (lights) will need a 10 amp fuse and so on.
Your battery will drain at 9.2 amps (for the 55w bulbs) and a small car battery is ~45 amp/hours (not CCA), so if you are running the lights with the truck off: 45ah / 9.6w = 4.5 hours til dead battery. I would classify your Ranger's battery pretty close to the 45 ah rating. Remember that you shouldn't discharge your battery at more than more than 10% of the amp/hour rating for best service (with the truck off). Some of the bigger truck batteries are 100ah.

These formulas are also useful in Christmas tree lights (why do I always blow the circuit breaker) or any other electrical uses. You just make adjustments for the voltage and load. Most homes have s 15 amp circuit breaker on a bank of wall outlets.

Best to use the switch/wiring/relay as they have already pointed out above.