Uh. I’m not sure if youre trolling. Wire up the lights to your battery, a relay and a switch to the interior. Done.

 

Not trolling I assure you! In Australia by law, the light has to be wired into and engaged by the dip switch and separately switchable in and out of this circuit to disable it from the high beam circuit. The 2 auto elecs have been unable to find a wire to trigger it, the thinking is that the whole lot runs through a "canbus"( whatever that is) . So if anyone with some knowledge of wiring up this way would really appreciate the help.

 

CANBUS is where I think this is. You would likely need to add a microprocessor to listen to instructions on that network for high/low beam switches. Or just tear into one of the front housings and see if there is a way to monitor the high beam shutter controller.

Another option would be if the light bar has the same rules as the fog lights would be to use the power there to control them. I know in the US we can't have fogs on with the high beam. Think there is a BCM setting to allow both on at once though so that may be a market dependant restriction.

 

If I were to wire in a light bar I would want it working only with the highbeams! Aussi rules are set up so you can either blind oncoming traffic with your highs or your light bar???

 

Correct. You guys don't have to put up with brainless 110 kg macropods jumping out in front of you on the back country roads like where I live, so every lumen you can get is handy. ( macropod = kangaroo). I doubt very much whether you could blind an oncoming car with my high beams as delivered , they are absolutely woeful.

 

We've got these guys. Up to 800 lbs (360 kg). Really hard to see at night until they are right in front of you. The perfect height for coming through windshields.

 

There is a vernacular or terminology issue here, for me at least.

You said that aftermarket lights need to be rigged to the dip switch. Does that translate to the high beam switch? Or something else?

 

Dipped/main = low/high beam in North America. So, yes.

 

Thanks! Many countries separated by the same language.

How about tapping into the gauge cluster? It lights up a 12v light to display that the high beams are on.

 

Good thought! Will look into this for sure. I might have to look into the lightweight wiper blades to offset the weight of the additional wiring though!:chargrined:

 

So is there a reason you can't just tell the legal people to suck it and wire it up the simple, non-code-compliant way? Will it fail a regular inspection or something?

 

I like this plan.

How about wiring your light bar to an old school 80s style foot activated button.

Then when the fuz gets overly curious you can fake using your dip/highbeam switch while sneakily poking the floor mounted button?!

 

Yeah, looks like we both agree on the "if nothing else works" last resort. May need to double check the voltage if the indicator, if a 5V LED may need to use a small relay to control a 12V signal. I really have no idea what they are using in these new dashes.

 

With the right light bar you wouldn't need your high beams as well, right?
I would wire it up to the fog light circuit if possible, there is a convenient in-cabin stock switch! You could even run a relay off the Fog light bulb circuit because the trigger side of the relay wouldn't be drawing any extra amps. That wouldn't technically satisfy the law but our stock headlights don't actually add any extra lumens when you switch from low to high beams. the projectors just emit light in a different direction (to over simplify it).
with a base of knowledge in computers and controls systems it would *probably* be pretty straight forward to listen to the canbus and output a signal for the low/high beams but you would still need a custom microcontroller like @ControlNode said... If it hasn't been done before it would be a serious hassle... but you could sell them after you make it!! =] i'd buy one

It is worth checking the focus ST and vanilla focus forums as well, there are a LOT more of those owners and MAYBE one of them has solved this problem already!
I want to do something like this eventually but currently my car is too new. The idea of drilling holes in it still gives me anxiety.

 

Just returned from 3rd auto electricians with a working light bar YAY!.... But not wired up as required by Australian regulations ie: is activated by headlight circuit, switched in and out by a separate switch, but not controlled by the high beam dipper/ hi low switch whatever the local term is for it. It does however shutdown when the "follow you home" aspect of the lighting comes into play. There is NO way that an Australian spec car can be made to take aux. lights through the BCM, it just shuts down! If only Ford had put decent lights on these cars with appropriate reach and brightness instead of all the bull**** so called adaptive lighting I would not have had to go through all this drama. Putting 60kph lights into a car with a potential top speed of 4 times + that is ludicrous. Try driving in a country area like I live in with stupid kangaroos leaping out at you constantly and see what I mean. Lesson here........ next car I buy will be only after a night drive, would not have bought this one if I had been able to do this instead of ordering 12 months ahead off the catalogue.

 

What about triggering a relay tapped from the xenon high beam shutter?

 

That would be nice wouldn't it, BUT the minute you put in any additional electrical load like that to trip a relay for instance the BCM shuts it all down. This week had car at a very highly regarded auto electrician for 2 days, on top of a day week before for some initial investigation and they had the local Ford Dealer service manager in to consult . The verdict is, with the existing setup the way it is it cannot be done to Australian regulations. Toyota have a similar setup apparently on the Landcruiser Prado current model, Toyota have had to devise a loom with 3 special relays to overcome this same problem, as a spare part $$$$$$$$$ , can't see Ford doing this for us in Australia with the small number of cars sold here.

 

Maybe this

http://www.extraljuskungen.com/brochure/extraljuskungen-brochure-2017

 

Ok I’m trying to follow you on the description is to how it has to be wired.

If I am reading this correctly I seems as though it has to be able to act almost like
your fog lights.

Something like this:

Low beams = lightbar ON
High beams = lightbar OFF

Lightbar also needs to have a switch on its on to be able to shut it off correct?

I feel like regardless they should be able to tag the physical wire at the connector to be able to get the signal for the relay.

I see what you’re saying that if the vehicles senses it is drawing too much power it will shut the lights off but what kind of relay are they using? They may be able to use a micro relay which has a lower draw than you’re tradition relay.

Once that’s said and done you can use your switch to open that signal wire with a toggle switch.

Id also like to see how it’s mounted. Been thinking about adding one on mine for a while but haven’t gotten a chance to see how others have done it.

 

Wrong way round...

Aussie aux driving light (distinct from fog lights) law requires:
Standard operation for hi/lo beam with aux lights turned off by a separate secondary switch to the hi/lo switch.
Secondary switch enables the aux driving lights when hi beam ccrt is active and when the headlights are switched to low ccrt the aux lights turn off simultaneously (even when the secondary switch remains on).

Means aux driving lights are optional for hi beam but will switch off always on low beam. The hi/lo switch automatically turns aux driving lights off when hi beam is dipped to low beam.

 

Here in the States where I'm allowed to wire my own and be respoonsible for when I use them..

That's my wife's Mini at the end of the driveway bathed in nothing but light from the light bar

 

Oh wow that seems silly. Here if your lows are on the fogs (aux) can be too, if you turn you Highs then the auxs turn off regardless of switch position.

Haven’t look at it too much bit this is why people turn on “Bambi mode” with FORScan. Allowing the aux lights to not have any restrictions.

 

So is the highbeam/main shutter controlled with a bcm or is it a direct wire?

 

I don't know exactly how the BCM works. The high beam shutter has it's own wire going to it's own pin in the main headlight harness/plug, though I would imagine the BCM plays a role in sending power to it.

I'm familiar with it shutting systems down if it recognizes too much load, but a relay trigger wire shouldn't, and in my experience doesn't, draw enough to mess with the BCM. I've shut down the reverse lights on an F150 with too much load, but it was an easy work around by tapping the trailer harness instead. And in that scenario I wasn't using, and didn't want to use a relay.

 

I just bought a "box of smoke" to check the CANBUS system for High Beam. I'll be shoe horning a slimline LED bar in just below the number plate. I'll let you guys know how I go.