OK I searched for a solid hour trying to find an answer to this question, so I apologize in advance if it's out there somewhere.

I hooked up the ARB Deluxe Bumper to the JK today and I can't figure out the indicator light wiring to save my life. I have a few questions:

1. If I (eventually) get the indicator lights hooked up, does that mean that the factory lights will not work? Is it "one or the other" or are they both supposed to work?

2, Is the relay end of the wiring harness actually supposed to plug into anything? All the directions say is to "wire tie to the relays to the vehicle wiring loom" next to the battery

3. Is is possible to hook up the ARBprovided lights as a running light AND a directional or is it "one or the other"

Hope these questions make more sense than the wiring directions did.

 

Those lights are running lights only, have no capabilites of flashers.

I'll have to refresh my memory on the hookup as I never bothered with the running lights. I was sort of considering putting in another set of fog lamps in them being as they face the edges of the road. (for off-road of course)

 

The arb instructions want you to do some super complicated wiring harness using 2 relays and about 1000 feet of wire. I would bet 10 to 1 that if you just spliced straight into the indicator lights they will be fine.

Personally I wish those lights were not added. All of the lights on the front of the JK are round and they added rectangles? I did not wire them in and I am thinking about just spray painting them black.

I read in a few places that if they are wired to be constant on they can melt the plastic. not sure if that is true or not.

 

I think I will just splice them into the running lights and call it a day. Wasted a good 2.5 hours trying to hook those things up according to the lame directions. What a PITA.

 

My shop wired mine to be running/marker lights. I've also heard of them melting but I've been running this setup for a couple months (and I drive with a combo of the fog/marker lights on) & had no melting issues. I'll keep checking as we get into the summer months.

 

I am wiring the rectangular lights on my ARB bumper as marker lights as well. In case anybody searches for this info later I tapped power from the center wire on the stock round marker/turn signal lights and tapped the ground from the black. The bulbs that came with the ARB lights were 21 watts which is high for a marker light. I went to auto zone and picked up some Sylvania 1003 lights which are 12 watts and are still plenty bright and fit fine. I am hoping by reducing the wattage the chance of melting the lenses is minimized.

 

You're probably right by switching those bulbs. After a few hours of fiddling around with the relays/wiring myself I gave in and emailed ARB customer service. Long story short after a few more hours of trial and error going back and forth with them, I determined the relays simply do not work at all. I was able to tap into my factory lights easily to determine the bulbs worked fine.

The ARB rep said the lights are indicators, not markers and wiring them as markers will melt the lens. He also said the low current harness is necessary to avoid screwing with the existing circuits, which could cause the lights to work incorrectly or maintenance lights to start coming on. In the end when I insisted it was the relays that were faulty he asked me to check and see if it was a 24v or 12v relay and of course is was 24v..... so he's sending me a 12v which I'm sure will work fine. What a monumental PITA!!!!!!!!!!! Who would of thought bolting on a 95 lb bumper would be infinitely easier than wiring two lights?? I can say this though... ARB customer service was nothing but patient, helpful and quick to respond in troubleshooting this disaster.

 

I just checked my wiring harness with relays and they were 12V. I really did not even consider using those lights as turn signals, my personal preference is they look better as running lights. If I had my choice, I wish ARB would have just left those lights out. I also have to sing the praises of ARB. When I got my bumper, one of the shackle mounts had come through the box and was badly scratched up. I called ARB and they sent out some paint and threw in a third light mount for free as I said I needed one.