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ROAM Side Steps light wiring (or any step lights with door open illumination.)

OnlyOne

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Great job Chris!
 

NFRs2000NYC

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Why not just tap into the OEM wiring and bypass the relay, etc. Im assuming the OEM footwell lights are not LED, so adding a couple of LEDs to the circuit shouldn't create any issues. On the JK, you can add lots of LED to the OEM circuit and the fade etc works just fine without any ill effects.
 
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TTEChris

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Why not just tap into the OEM wiring and bypass the relay, etc. Im assuming the OEM footwell lights are not LED, so adding a couple of LEDs to the circuit shouldn't create any issues. On the JK, you can add lots of LED to the OEM circuit and the fade etc works just fine without any ill effects.
OEM footwell lights are LED's. You can try it and let us know how it works out. I personally didn't want to run the risk of overloading the factory wiring.
 

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Mugzzzee

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I am just starting to install the LED lights in the ROAM bumper. First off one LED light was broken. I contacted Anthony at ROAM Offroad, however, he did not know what the LED light brand or wattage was. So I did some research and bought some Yitamotor LEDs on Amazon. Better quality and definitely waterproof. I started today soldering the front two LEDs on each side. So far so good. This is for TTEChris: "The harness will have 3 separate sets of wires that all come together at the relay. You can leave the set with the switch up top for now and run your wiring harness with the red/black connections(Should be 4 total wires) close to the fender and drop them down behind the fuse box." OK, so what are the three sets, one set is to the lights, the second is to the battery and the third set is the switch??? Is this correct? So now should I cut the white and black wires to the switch? So now should I have two red, two black and one blue connected to the relay? I purchased the harness you used. I have never tried anything like this before. Chris' info is great. Thanks again Chris! Cheers
 
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TTEChris

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I am just starting to install the LED lights in the ROAM bumper. First off one LED light was broken. I contacted Anthony at ROAM Offroad, however, he did not know what the LED light brand or wattage was. So I did some research and bought some Yitamotor LEDs on Amazon. Better quality and definitely waterproof. I started today soldering the front two LEDs on each side. So far so good. This is for TTEChris: "The harness will have 3 separate sets of wires that all come together at the relay. You can leave the set with the switch up top for now and run your wiring harness with the red/black connections(Should be 4 total wires) close to the fender and drop them down behind the fuse box." OK, so what are the three sets, one set is to the lights, the second is to the battery and the third set is the switch??? Is this correct? So now should I cut the white and black wires to the switch? So now should I have two red, two black and one blue connected to the relay? I purchased the harness you used. I have never tried anything like this before. Chris' info is great. Thanks again Chris! Cheers
You are correct, only the single blue wire will be your "trigger" wire. The other two wires in that one strand are for the switch you will not need. The longer strand of wires(Black/Red) go to the lights, and the strand with the fuse goes to the battery(Also black/red).
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B018IAZPTY/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Those work great, my only complaint is the black bezel has turned a bronze color in the short time I've had them.
I also had one faulty LED, but it was partially my fault since I attempted to tighten the nut behind them and I guess "overdid" it since the thread separated from the actual dome portion of the light. They offered to send me a replacement, but with those I could have them the next day and have plenty of spares to use as rock lights etc...
Hope that helps, if it makes life easier and for a quicker response PM me and I will give you my phone # so that you can send me pictures etc if you happen to get stuck.
 

Mugzzzee

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You are correct, only the single blue wire will be your "trigger" wire. The other two wires in that one strand are for the switch you will not need. The longer strand of wires(Black/Red) go to the lights, and the strand with the fuse goes to the battery(Also black/red).
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B018IAZPTY/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Those work great, my only complaint is the black bezel has turned a bronze color in the short time I've had them.
I also had one faulty LED, but it was partially my fault since I attempted to tighten the nut behind them and I guess "overdid" it since the thread separated from the actual dome portion of the light. They offered to send me a replacement, but with those I could have them the next day and have plenty of spares to use as rock lights etc...
Hope that helps, if it makes life easier and for a quicker response PM me and I will give you my phone # so that you can send me pictures etc if you happen to get stuck.
Hi Chris, I won't bother you again unless I run into a problem. But, thanks for the quick response. I am waiting on waterproof connectors but I may continue tomorrow soldering the lights in the steps.

If anyone wants extras of the original LEDs PM me and I will send them to you. Cheers to all!
 

Mugzzzee

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Success! I completed the wiring for the LEDs in my ROAM steps yesterday. A big thanks to TTEChris for his DIY instructions. I would have never tried this without his insight. Since one LED was damaged upon receipt I ordered the ultra thin LED lights per the link below. They don't stick out like the LEDs that came with the steps and they are waterproof. I can also confirm the correct wire in the footwell is indeed the yellow/blue..


https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07CWPCVVM/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
 

Dynomite1371

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If I were to do this a second time I would probably change things around a little, and most likely make a full wiring harness rather than purchasing one off Amazon and cutting it up.
If you see some things that need to be changed feel free to let me know so I can alter the list. I am by no means an electrical/wiring expert, and had to learn a few things along the way.
Attempt at your own risk :like:

Parts Needed:
LED light harness (Or wiring to make your own.)
I purchased this harness with relay off amazon(I ended up having to get rid of the relay, I will explain why later)
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00EZ9Y33W/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Wires to extend the harness from one side of the Jeep to the other (I had 16 gauge wires in the shop, so that is what I used.)
Shrink Tubing for covering the soldered wires
Weatherproof Connectors(Optional)
Conduit to cover the wires going from one side of the Jeep to the other(I used long shrink tubing.)
Electrical tape
Tie Wraps
Quick splice connector(to tap into interior lights unless you prefer to solder that as well.)
Solid State Relay (Mechanical relay included with the harness will not work with the dimming lights without modifications.)
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01M1RSU48/ref=cm_sw_r_em_api_i_oZB9AbB4V862N

Tools Needed:
Basic wrench/socket set
Soldering iron (Or crimp connectors, but I'm not a big fan of those.)
Solder
Wire Strippers
Scissors, or something to cut the tie wrap ends/wires.
Heat gun or lighter for shrink tubing

First off my Roam steps came with pigtails for each individual light, so I removed them from the vehicle and set them upside down so I could easily work on wiring them together. You will want to have all the wires come together close to the middle mounting bracket so that you can pass the wires through from one side of the Jeep to the other. This was probably the most time consuming part. Be careful with the wires on the LED lights, they are very thin and I found that it was easier to strip the conduit off with my fingers rather than the actual wire strippers.
I had enough slack in the cable to tie the three rear most lights together. I then soldered my 16 gauge positive/negative wires to those and ran them to the front where I tied the front most LED, 16gauge wire, and my weatherproof connections together. I had the weatherproof connections from a previous job I did, and I wanted to be able to easily disconnect them if I ever had to remove the steps for other work. The LED harness comes with butt connectors that you can use instead.
I used shrink tubing on all my solder points to keep it as water tight as possible. I zip tied all the wires to the posts on the steps so that they wouldn't move around.
I also put electrical tape/conduit/shrink tubing over any loose wires so that they could not easily be seen(Red wire is an eyesore if you don't cover it up.)
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Once you have the wires for the steps run you can now re-install them on the Jeep(In the pics below the steps are still off, but I would put them on so you have a better idea of how to run the supply wiring)
With the steps installed you can now focus on running the LED harness or wires from the battery terminal to the steps.
I pulled the fuse out of the harness and first connected the positive/negative to the battery terminals so I could figure out how much slack I would have without the possibility of shorting something out.
The harness will have 3 separate sets of wires that all come together at the relay. You can leave the set with the switch up top for now and run your wiring harness with the red/black connections(Should be 4 total wires) close to the fender and drop them down behind the fuse box. If you have a second person lay down behind the front tire and lightly push the fender liner forward. You should easily be able to see the harness being dropped down. Gently pull it while the other person feeds the wire down making sure it doesn't catch on anything. Leave a little slack up top and tie wrap the harness so that it doesn't move around too much behind the fender liner. Run the harness towards the center of the Jeep where you have your wire ends that you previously made for the steps. Try to keep it as high and out of the way as possible. I ran mine above the step mounting brackets and tie wrapped them in place. Once you get to the middle mount you should be able to use to short end of the harness to make your connections(The harness comes with butt connectors, but I chose to use the weatherproof connectors I had.)
If you have excess wire just tie wrap it together and out of the way.
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Now you will need to extend the longer portion of the harness to make it to the other side. I cut the connectors off, and soldered the 16 gauge wire I had to the ends. I then took a rough measurement of how much wire I needed to make it to the other side and added a foot or two. Before I ran the wires through the cross member I used heat shrink tubing to compress the wires together proceeded to feed them through the cross member. There are a few spots where the wire can hang up, but most of those spots have small openings where you can manipulate the wires. Once you get to the other end you should be very close to where you terminated the wires for your steps. I now cut the wire the length I needed and soldered on my connector(Or use the included connectors.) You can now connect it to the steps you have mounted on the other side.

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Now for the tricky part, that took me some time to figure out. The factory dome light circuit has a dimmer anytime you open/close the doors. This increases the voltage as they illuminate and causes the included Relay to "chatter" and the lights to flicker as they turn on/off. After some research I decided to get a solid state relay which fully activates at a much lower voltage and doesn't have the mechanical parts inside to cause that "chatter."
I ordered the 25amp solid state relay from Amazon(Link above.) It's overkill for the current setup, but if I ever decide to wire in some rock lights it gives me the flexibility to do so.
So if you got this far like me without making your own harness and running all the wiring you will have to take off the relay and cut the wires going into the connector.
Before cutting any wires make sure you have the fuse pulled from the relay harness. At this point you could actually disconnect the positive/negative leads since the rest of the wiring is already run and you know you have enough slack.
On the switch portion of the harness you will only need the blue wire. You can cut the connector off that goes to the switch, pull the conduit off and just leave the single blue wire that used to go to the switch(The others are for the illumination of the button which we won't be using here.)
This should leave you with 5 total wires. One positive from the battery, a ground from the battery, a ground going to the lights, a positive going to the lights, and your blue "trigger" wire which we will run/wire in the next step
You can mount the relay any way you like. I happened to have a bracket that fit it perfectly laying around and I mounted it next to the battery.
You may need to pull off a little of the black conduit that surrounds the wires to be able to extend them to each side of the relay.
If I were to do this again I would probably make a whole harness, but that would be even more involved. It would however offer a "cleaner" finished product.
For the Relay
#1 + Red wire going to your lights
#2 + Red wire going to your battery/fuse
#3 + Blue trigger wire that will get power with the interior/door lights
#4 - Two black ground wires, one from the lights and the other going to the battery

If wired correctly in the next step when we connect the blue wire the relay will illuminate red when activated(Doors open/Dome light on.)
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Now for the trigger wire I chose to go to the light in the passenger foot-well that illuminates when you open the door. Your blue wire has enough slack to reach this point without needing an extension. To get through the firewall I pushed a coat hanger through the inside rubber portion of the main wiring harness that comes in to the Jeep. You have to get through two layers. May sure you do it far enough towards the outside so that you do not get into the actual harness. I pushed the coat hanger from the inside while my wife was watching on the outside(pull back the fender liner where you ran the wires earlier and you will see it) Once I had the coat hanger through I dropped the blue wire down like we did with the other wires and used electrical tape to secure it to the coat hanger. I then slowly pulled the wire back through the rubber grommet. From there I used a splice connector to connect to splice the blue wire into the light in the footwell. On my wifes Sport she only had two wires, a power and a ground. I just looked on my Rubicon and I have three wires(One I'm assuming for the separate mood lighting.) I'm not next to her Jeep now, but from the pictures it looks to be the Yellow wire with a brown stripe(Rubicon also has a Yellow/Blue.) If you are unsure use a test light and see which wire gets power when you open the door.

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Don't forget to put your fuse back in, now go and open your doors and see if everything works properly. If the relay is triggering like it should, there will be a red LED illuminated. If you close the doors don't be alarmed if the lights don't turn off right away. By default there is a 30 second timer if the key is not in the run position for them to turn off.
I'm sorry if I left anything out, I feel like I just wrote a book.....

20180506_160553_resized.jpg


Excellent write up its so good that if I get these boards I'm gong to need some help!! Wiring is my weakest subject.... Anyway, I'm still torn between Roam and ACE (real world problems) I can't decide!
 

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2wheelz4me

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Just to confirm, when wiring the actual lights together, do all red go together and all black together? It do you start on one end and go black to red and so on? I'm by no means good at this electrical stuff!!
 

GoGators353

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Mine don’t arrive until tomorrow so I can’t say for sure on the steps but I’ve never come across a project where you could mix the colors. I would keep all the reds together and all the blacks together.

Just to confirm, when wiring the actual lights together, do all red go together and all black together? It do you start on one end and go black to red and so on? I'm by no means good at this electrical stuff!!
 
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TTEChris

TTEChris

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I just did this again for a customer today, and rather than purchasing the harness I listed on Amazon I purchased 16gauge wire(Red/Black Wire in one shielded strand.) It made for a cleaner install, but yes you are essentially taking all the red/black and putting them together from the steps up to the relay. From there you take a separate red wire from a post on the relay(Refer to the pictures/writeup for which terminal #) to the battery with an inline fuse. All the Grounds(Black wires) go to one terminal on the relay(Including the battery ground), and the fourth terminal on the wire is the trigger wire(Whichever color you want) that goes into the cabin and connects to the yellow/brown wire on the footwell lighting.

I like to have the steps on a bench or set of stands so that I can wire all the lights together first and put a connector to make removal easy if you ever have to. Here is what I purchased for the quick connectors
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01A6LTK44/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s02?ie=UTF8&psc=1

By far the worst part of the job is dealing with the wires on the lights in the steps..... They are so thin/fragile and I have a hard time not snapping the wires with just my fingernails as wire strippers or keeping them together long enough to solder them :angry:
I have found you can twist three of the red/black wires together from the rear most lights and then run a set of wires to the front to connect them together.

Refer to the #'s on my writeup for the relay wiring. I had to do it the second time around as well :blush:
 
 



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