wiring up rear bumper lights - need some help

[jaeggernaut]

hi all. wiring up a couple of baja designs squadron sports (website says 30.36W) in my rear bumper.

was thinking i'd wire them up to the rear upfitter switch wiring but it's so out of the way in the rear side panel that it's almost opposite of convenient. so i had the bright idea to gang them up with my front bumper squadron sports.

2 questions for you more experienced than I:

1 (electrical): can i put all 4 lights on a 10 amp switch? (30.36x4 /12(volt) = 10.12 amp fuse) or should i move everything to the 15 amp switch?

2 (practical): you think there'd ever be a reason i'd want to have the rear fog and front fog lights on separate switches? I'm sure there are scenarios where i'd want the front or the back ON only but would there be a scenario where i would want the front/back ON and absolutely have the opposite side OFF?

thanks all.

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[jaeggernaut]

additonal question: the wire loom that came with the squadron's is too short to reach the engine bay. can i just replace it with matching gauge wire from the hardware store?

thanks again.

 

[Ducati1098]

I would want the front and rear on different switches, but that’s just personal preference.

As far as wiring, 10 amp switch should be enough since you could realistically divide it by 14v if using the lights while the vehicle is running. Either way, I don’t think you’d have an issue with a 10 amp switch.

And yes, you can extend the wiring with matching gauge wire to make it reach. But once again, I would personally run it to the rear panel aux wiring on a different switch

 

[jaeggernaut]

Awesome. Thanks.

 

[mhorvath1218]

The aux wire in the cargo area is definitely in a tight spot, but removing the panels really is not difficult. You don’t necessarily have to remove everything to get to it, just pop some of the top and front side clips on the passenger side cargo panel. Pull off the small panel section at the top first, then u can grab and pull away the larger section. I would suggest using a trim clip removal tool though because those fasteners can be brittle.

However, if your bronco is like mine, the aux wire was tucked behind some others and my big hands couldnt get to it that way, so I did end up pulling the panel off completely. Its a straight forward process through and i’ve since done it 6-7 times with my stereo install and rattle battles.

This thread has the shop manuals attached for cargo trim removal.

 

[los7883]

Another tip, after you take off the small trim panel you can see two to three of the white fasteners back there. They each have three teeth that grip onto the receiving half of the fastener on the truck, instead of yanking the panel off and hoping the teeth don't break you can get a pick and just pry up on two of the three teeth and it'll pop off without issue. Either way is fine but if I can avoid breaking them I will.

 

[jaeggernaut]

i think you're right. i'm going to try and use the rear aux wire.
still have to figure out where to put my license plates...

The aux wire in the cargo area is definitely in a tight spot, but removing the panels really is not difficult. You don’t necessarily have to remove everything to get to it, just pop some of the top and front side clips on the passenger side cargo panel. Pull off the small panel section at the top first, then u can grab and pull away the larger section. I would suggest using a trim clip removal tool though because those fasteners can be brittle.

However, if your bronco is like mine, the aux wire was tucked behind some others and my big hands couldnt get to it that way, so I did end up pulling the panel off completely. Its a straight forward process through and i’ve since done it 6-7 times with my stereo install and rattle battles.

This thread has the shop manuals attached for cargo trim removal.

 

[jaeggernaut]

K. Using rear aux wire. Getting to it wasn’t that big a deal. BUT, trying to fire out a good way to pass the wire from inside the vehicle to the bumper is proving challenging.

 

[jaeggernaut]

Made a video, for anyone looking for a possible solution.

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