I guess you’ve realized by now that these installments aren’t really in any logical order. This time around, I’ll introduce you to the various parts that will come together in wiring the auxiliary lighting on the Subaru.
There’s a lot of stuff going on up there. Let’s have a look, shall we?
1. This is an old portable hard drive case that has been kicking around my basement for a while, on its way to the scrap metal pile. This is a pretty great size for housing the relays and fuse holder, so it will be repurposed for that.
2. Terminals! Lots and lots of crimp-on terminals. Some of these I bought just for this project, and some are leftovers from other projects. Princess Auto is a great place to get anything up to 10 gauge terminals, but the uninsulated 8 gauge terminals took a bit more sleuthing to find. I ended up picking them up from a specialty electronics supplier. This project will use a few female disconnects, but mostly ring terminals.
3. This is another one that took a lot of sleuthing. I needed a connector that could be easily connected and disconnected but would be able to handle the amperage that 300 watts of lighting would require. I thought of the battery disconnects that are used in electric equipment (like forklifts) but found out that when searching for “battery disconnects” the prices proved prohibitive. The same thing, called an “Anderson connector” instead of a battery disconnect, was much, much cheaper. I picked up a few of these on Ebay for this and another project, and some red rubber covers for when they’re disconnected.
4. Fuse holder. I don’t really like the idea of using three different types of fuses in my car, but it will work. This was modified slightly by adding a bus bar to the terminals on one side so that all four fuses can be connected with one wire. Here it is closer up:
5. Relays (with one relay holder which I ended up not using)
6. These are junkyard-scrounged Subaru ABS connectors and will be used to connect the fog lights. They have nice, big wires (10 gauge, I think) that can handle the current required, and they’re insulated and should be good for the more weather-exposed location in the bumper.
7. Powerpole connectors. These are a relatively cheap and ubiquitous way to have a quick-connect power source. I had originally thought to use these on the fog lights as well, but the ABS connectors will better keep the water out. I’ll use a pair of these for the magnetic spotlight connector and have a buttload of spares for other projects.
Speaking of the magnetic spotlight, here it is:
Also, some beefy wires:
The big 4 gauge wire was scrounged from a junkyard car that apparently once had quite the stereo system. It came with an inline fuse holder that will also be used. The ring terminals are for the huge 4 gauge wire.
Most of the other wires will be strung from these 8 gauge spools. 8 gauge is overkill for everything except the 300w of spot lights, but since I have the wire I might as well use it. Not pictured is my box of odd wires which will be used for the relays and switches. I decided that 8 gauge was the biggest wire I would need by consulting this handy chart.
Speaking of switches, here they are:
One of these things is not like the other. Yeah, that right side switch was from an earlier Subaru than the others. It’s the same fitment, just a little different in shape. The odd one out will be the seldom used high beam disable switch.
All of these things plus the light bar and fog lights will be coming together into a nice, neat, professional package. Did I mention that wiring would be more difficult and time consuming than the light mounting? It certainly is.
There’s a lot of stuff going on up there. Let’s have a look, shall we?
1. This is an old portable hard drive case that has been kicking around my basement for a while, on its way to the scrap metal pile. This is a pretty great size for housing the relays and fuse holder, so it will be repurposed for that.
2. Terminals! Lots and lots of crimp-on terminals. Some of these I bought just for this project, and some are leftovers from other projects. Princess Auto is a great place to get anything up to 10 gauge terminals, but the uninsulated 8 gauge terminals took a bit more sleuthing to find. I ended up picking them up from a specialty electronics supplier. This project will use a few female disconnects, but mostly ring terminals.
3. This is another one that took a lot of sleuthing. I needed a connector that could be easily connected and disconnected but would be able to handle the amperage that 300 watts of lighting would require. I thought of the battery disconnects that are used in electric equipment (like forklifts) but found out that when searching for “battery disconnects” the prices proved prohibitive. The same thing, called an “Anderson connector” instead of a battery disconnect, was much, much cheaper. I picked up a few of these on Ebay for this and another project, and some red rubber covers for when they’re disconnected.
4. Fuse holder. I don’t really like the idea of using three different types of fuses in my car, but it will work. This was modified slightly by adding a bus bar to the terminals on one side so that all four fuses can be connected with one wire. Here it is closer up:
5. Relays (with one relay holder which I ended up not using)
6. These are junkyard-scrounged Subaru ABS connectors and will be used to connect the fog lights. They have nice, big wires (10 gauge, I think) that can handle the current required, and they’re insulated and should be good for the more weather-exposed location in the bumper.
7. Powerpole connectors. These are a relatively cheap and ubiquitous way to have a quick-connect power source. I had originally thought to use these on the fog lights as well, but the ABS connectors will better keep the water out. I’ll use a pair of these for the magnetic spotlight connector and have a buttload of spares for other projects.
Speaking of the magnetic spotlight, here it is:
Also, some beefy wires:
The big 4 gauge wire was scrounged from a junkyard car that apparently once had quite the stereo system. It came with an inline fuse holder that will also be used. The ring terminals are for the huge 4 gauge wire.
Most of the other wires will be strung from these 8 gauge spools. 8 gauge is overkill for everything except the 300w of spot lights, but since I have the wire I might as well use it. Not pictured is my box of odd wires which will be used for the relays and switches. I decided that 8 gauge was the biggest wire I would need by consulting this handy chart.
Speaking of switches, here they are:
One of these things is not like the other. Yeah, that right side switch was from an earlier Subaru than the others. It’s the same fitment, just a little different in shape. The odd one out will be the seldom used high beam disable switch.
All of these things plus the light bar and fog lights will be coming together into a nice, neat, professional package. Did I mention that wiring would be more difficult and time consuming than the light mounting? It certainly is.
- mounting the fog lights
- building the removable light bar
- wiring part 1: new bulbs in OEM foglight switches
- wiring part 2: the plan (wiring diagrams)
- wiring part 3: switches (more diagrams)
- wiring part 4: parts and pieces
- wiring part 5: under the dashboard
- wiring part 6: fuse and relay box
- wiring part 7: prepping the lights
- wiring part 8: final connections
- wiring part 9: aiming the lights
- wiring part 10: updates and fixes
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