Light Bar Switch Recommendations

Hi all,

I'm planning on installing the Diode Dynamics TRD pro style light bar. For those of you that have installed this what kind of switch did you use? Also I'll be installing this on my hybrid and if you have done the same how hard was install?

Thank you!

 

I installed an Auxbeam 8-gang switch. Cheap. Super easy install. Took maybe an hour, and most of that was fishing a wire through the firewall - use a metal coat hanger to poke it through.

 

I just swapped out my sPOD switch panel for a Switch Pros 9100. The sPOD is easier to install and wire up your lights since it already has a terminal block and negative bus built in. The Switch Pros will take more time to install and will require you to buy a terminal block and bus bar if you want to make the install cleaner and easier to remove/install accessories down the road. You'll also need to buy or come up with your own mounting solution. That being said, Switch Pros is more work but operates better in my short time with it vs the sPOD.

Here's what I did the other day on my 24. Ignore the ground that isn't properly seated. This was taken before I finished the install. lol

 

Do you have any blank spots on the panel left of the steering wheel? Air on Board switch in one of those holes?

 

I used the OEM TRD Pro lightbar switch (which is a momentary switch) with the DD lightbar. I shoved an ESP32 & small relay into a project box. The switch sends a signal to the ESP32 which closes/opens the small relay. That closes a much larger relay in my engine bay which turns on the lightbar & indicator light. Will be adding a CAN reader so that the bar can also come on automatically w/ high beams but still building the CAN reader (which will be a separate ESP32).

 

More details on canbus reader - kit or homebrew?

 

Homebrew setup using an ESP32 and SN65HVD230. I'm doing non-contact CAN sniffing with twisted pickup wires wrapped around CAN_H and CAN_L, then capacitive-coupling those into the transceiver. ESP32 handles decoding via the TWAI interface in listen-only mode. Simple, cheap, and fully passive - no T-tapping the CAN system.

 

Thanks. I new world I'd like to explore.

 

Once I get it up and running I'll share a write-up. ChatGPT makes it even easier to learn & code.

 

I'm running an sPOD BantamX with the CANM8 IDR8 for triggers.

Super happy with the set up.

No tapping into CanH or CanL with the CANM8, you just run route those wires through the device that wraps around them.

 

Yeah, I was originally going to buy the CANM8 but I couldn't justify spending $200+ USD for a device that I could build for ~$12 (literally)