Spotlights (front Driving Lights) Wiring.

April 30, 2007

I just fitted a double A (bull) bar on my Rav4 GX, and fancy some spotlights (driving lights) on it.

Can anyone tell me if there is any pre-wiring already in the loom for these and if so where do I find the end of it at the front.

Also, there is a BLANK plate next to the rear fog switch on dashboard, is this for a spotlight switch, and is there any wiring behind it? :help:

Cheers, Procky

May 1, 2007

I just fitted a double A (bull) bar on my Rav4 GX, and fancy some spotlights (driving lights) on it.
Can anyone tell me if there is any pre-wiring already in the loom for these and if so where do I find the end of it at the front.
Also, there is a BLANK plate next to the rear fog switch on dashboard, is this for a spotlight switch, and is there any wiring behind it?
Cheers, Procky

I've a '94 GX which has an original bull-bar fitted from new when I bought it 13 years ago. Having had a rush of blood to the brain for the first time in my life, I fitted 6 Cibie spots and fog lamps to the front. Not finding any spare wires in the harness as such, I wired up as follows:

1. I used 2 RAV4 fog light switches (bought new at £38 each) and fitted them below the radio in 2 blanks. Not ideal but then the spots are each 100W halogen so illegal for road use, which means I need to make an effort to switch them on. Although the fog light switch is a Toyo part, in daylight its difficult to see whether the switches are on.

2. I took a 12v feed from the harness coming from the lighting stalk to ensure that the floods would only light if at least the sidelights were on; and wired this feed to each of the 2 switches.

3. From the switch I wired up 2 wires to 2 hefty relays in the relay box under the bonnet and in front of the Battery box. The other side of the relay circuit then goes to ground.

4. One relay does the 4 spots and the other relay does the 2 fogs

5. I installed a new fuse-protected fairly hefty wire feed from the Battery to the activated side of the relays, and then ran 2 switched wires down to the lamps, taking care to fix the cable to avoid damage/chafing.

6. I finally ran an earth back to the Battery as well as the body.

7. Given the weight of the Cibies, I used steady ties to the bigger ones, fixing back onto the bumper.

8. If you drill the bullbar, remember to paint and seal the holes to prevent water getting in and to ensure the drain holes at the base of the bar are clear.

The end result has been good (obviously). I must admit in the early days following fitment, I'd been aligning them and had forgotten I had left them switched on. Packed up the car and drove to the Lake District in absolute record time with no hold ups. (It was a murky kind of day so I switched on the dipped headlights for safety.) Even cars seemed to move to the side when I came up fast behind them..it wasn't til south of Kendal that I realised that the full set of spots were on !!

Anyway, the RAV is going into the local speed shop next week to have a turbo'd 3SGTE engine fitted along with much upgraded front brakes to handle both the speed and the front end weight!

Hope this helps.

May 1, 2007

And I thought the lights in the Aberdeen sky was the Aurora Borealis - now I realise Bothy's turned his lights on!

May 1, 2007

bothwell_buyer -

Many thanks for your reply, although it answers my question in the negative as it seems there is nothing pre-wired in the loom.

You are much more capable than me, I couldn't possibly do all the stuff you did. I was just hoping to find some wires near the front end, and wires in place for a switch. I'm partly lazy and partly useless.

Enjoyed reading your story about Kendal though, they all probably thought you were police on an emergency or something. Good for a laugh though. :lol: