Thread: Some advice on wiring etc on 4wd vehicle

A little while ago after feeling a it dejected not wanting to hurt my ute up the Avoca and Wilberforce rivers I decided it was time to purchase an older, but more capable rig for rattling up rivers and into hunting spots. I am now the proud(?) owner of a gen2 LWB pajero.

The previous owner had done a bit of 4wd'ing with it and had set it up not half bad so I thought it would make a good base for a hunting rig.
I'm going through a few things and first up is the light bar. When I got the vehicle the wiring had been disconnected as I was told it wouldn't pass wof with the lightbar able to be used whilst low beam headlights were on, ie: it needs to be wired in such a way that it will only turn on whilst high beam is on and not blind someone off the road when headlights are dipped.
Currently it's wired direct to the battery (it does have a fuse in the line) and has a switch on the dash.
The truck has been converted to run two 12v battery's, one as a start only battery, and everything else runs off the "house" battery. The headlights have been rewired completely and run off replacement bosch relays.


I'd like to run the lightbar through a relay and my very basic understanding has come up with the following plan:

1. Switch on dash draws 12v from the 12v supply on high beam relay (this way the switch will only actually activate the light bar relay if high beam is on... If I'm correct?)

2. Relay is wired up normally other than drawing switch power from the high beam relay.

Is this going to work? (and hopefully be legal?) Maybe I'm not making sense but it seems to work in my head. I don't want to melt shit.

I had also thought about moving the light bar to sit on the winch bar itself instead of up on the bull bar part. I'm thinking maybe it was mounted high like that for a reason? Plenty of light if crossing water and headlights are dipping below the surface? See over scrub etc?

I've been in a few trucks with the lights mounted on the roof racks or roof basket and it's bloody horrible throws light onto the bonnet and is worse than not having the lights fullstop.

I believe to get a wof your "worklight" must be independently switched and not conrtrolled by the headlights ie turns on on full beam and off on dip.
Might pay to tripple check (i had to remove mine to get a warrent) gonna be replaced by 2 spotties eventually to avoid that discussion next time.
Good Choice of truck, they are very very underated

https://vehicleinspection.nzta.govt..../led-lightbars

This might save you some trouble.

Tl;dr - you can’t have a single lightbar wired up to being activated by your headlight switch. You can have a pair wired in to your high beam, but not a single, must be a pair.

For just one light bar, it has to be on its own independent switch, meant for offroad use only (in theory anyway..) as a ‘work light’.

Originally Posted by mikee

I believe to get a wof your "worklight" must be independently switched and not conrtrolled by the headlights ie turns on on full beam and off on dip.
Might pay to tripple check (i had to remove mine to get a warrent) gonna be replaced by 2 spotties eventually to avoid that discussion next time.
Good Choice of truck, they are very very underated

I'd agree with that, very underrated and very stable, not much front end travel but a heap in the bum.
Only selling mine as I'm sick of fixing the C.Vs.......

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if it has 2 batteries then I am guessing its an import?? Manual or auto? does it have rear diff lock button?

The easiest way to sort your light drama is 2 spotties

find a tame auto sparky....pay him some of your hard earned $$$$ and then you KNOW it will be right. a lightbar on roof works IF you take it back far enough it wont light up bonnet...a spotlight on T Bar is far more useful.... the lightbar would be VERY useful if mounted on rear of roof rack facing backwards...reversing in dark shitty place would be a breeze...so would unpacking shit from rear into hut etc... towing cow from bog,hooking on trailer....

Originally Posted by mikee

if it has 2 batteries then I am guessing its an import?? Manual or auto? does it have rear diff lock button?

The easiest way to sort your light drama is 2 spotties

Yea it's auto and has diff lock, has the 4H, 4H centre diff lock, and 4L centre diff lock and then rear diff lock on a button. I was under the impression that it's been "converted" to run two batteries rather than factory as all the relays etc in the truck are aftermarket units so seems like someone's done quite a bit of work in that regard but could be wrong if it was an option on some of them. I had a short wheelbase one when I was a young fella and it only had one battery

to get a wof with my light bar it has to be switched independently from the headlights but after its been for its wof its a simple case of swapping a wire and it works off high beam again

Originally Posted by Ryan_Songhurst

Yea it's auto and has diff lock, has the 4H, 4H centre diff lock, and 4L centre diff lock and then rear diff lock on a button. I was under the impression that it's been "converted" to run two batteries rather than factory as all the relays etc in the truck are aftermarket units so seems like someone's done quite a bit of work in that regard but could be wrong if it was an option on some of them. I had a short wheelbase one when I was a young fella and it only had one battery

Yeah I reckon your right probably put in to run the winch as that will drain one real quick.

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Originally Posted by Ryan_Songhurst

Yea it's auto and has diff lock, has the 4H, 4H centre diff lock, and 4L centre diff lock and then rear diff lock on a button. I was under the impression that it's been "converted" to run two batteries rather than factory as all the relays etc in the truck are aftermarket units so seems like someone's done quite a bit of work in that regard but could be wrong if it was an option on some of them. I had a short wheelbase one when I was a young fella and it only had one battery

nz ones had one battery but every japper i have seen have 2. They are nearly unstoppable in Lo range with rear diff lock on and auto is even better. I have even seen them fitted with small tractor tyres (off road use only)
Mine is SWB and the only fault I can find is dog has to sit on the deer on way home (I permanantly removed the rear seats in mine) I would buy another in a heartbeat

where you based ryan ???

Originally Posted by gonetropo

where you based ryan ???

Waaaaay down south

bugga!! otherwise would have done it for you

If i lived close id do it for you. If you get stuck i could talk you through it on the phone its prerty easy