Gen III High-beam Foot Switch?

[Alphamacaroon]

Because of somewhat poor planning on my part, I forgot to wire up a switch for the fog lights on my dash. Not a big deal (I can always find a place for a switch), but to keep my dash as clean as possible I'm considering rewiring my current high-beam switch to my fog lights and moving the high-beam to an old-school foot switch.

Curious if others have done this on a Gen III frame? Is there enough room in the footbox, or is it always getting in the way? Where is the best place to mount it? Other thoughts, ideas, considerations? Thanks!

[John Dol]

If you get the Russ Thompson turn signal you can wire the high beams to the signal stalk button. It’s a great upgrade to begin with and would solve your issue as well.

John

[edwardb]

Obviously I don't know your driving plans, but over 10+ years and thousands of miles with Roadsters and now the Coupe, we haven't done a ton of night driving. Add to that, it's not too normal (or courteous) to use the high beams much. And on top of that, the footspace in the Coupe, including the Gen 3, isn't overly generous. I personally wouldn't want to deal with the switch in the footbox for how little I'd use it especially if it's something I have to move my foot a lot to find or gets in the way the rest of the time. I'd put the switch on the dash. If you have the Russ Thompson turn signal, agreed the momentary switch works great. That's how I have mine set up. The wiring and relays to do it can be a little intimidating or complicated if wiring isn't your thing. I have an electronic controller (no longer available unfortunately) so it was easy to mine wire that way. If I were doing another one today, I'd use this. Several connections and done. https://www.summitracing.com/parts/idt-3100006040.

[P100DHG]

My suggestion is wire in your fog lights to turn on with your headlights. Don’t even need a switch. Just have it trigger the relay. Dash is clean, check that box. Yes you don’t have separate control but on my all my cars I just leave the fog light switch on all the time so when the headlights comes on so do the fog lights. Obviously this is personal preference but that would be my approach. If you’re using the Russ Thompson turn signal switch you have that extra button on the end In my build thread I talked about how to turn a momentary switch into an on off switch using a latching relay. If that’s something you need help with I can reexplain it. Paul’s item is great but overpriced and can be achieved for $3. You use a lower draw latching relay to trigger a relay that is capable of a higher draw. That’s all that summit part does. Very simple and inexpensive solution they are putting a huge markup on for its slightly smaller form factor. I completed my latching relay circuit on a test bench to confirm it works it was $2.95 for the relay. You can get a pack of six of them for 10 bucks from Amazon shipped if you need a wiring diagram happy to provide that for you. Also it keeps with the clean look you want to achieve.

Let me add this to it, you don’t even need a low beam switch when you pull on the headlight switch it should automatically turn on the low beams. This would be the normally closed position on the relay and when you want the highbeams you switch them on using the latching relay thus turning off low beam activating the high beams. An entire switch eliminated altogether. If you have your fog lights turn on with your low beams using the same latching relay well you’ve eliminated two switches for an even cleaner look which is what I’m doing.

People love switches and so do I but if you’re trying to achieve a certain look this is the ultimate solution

[Alphamacaroon]

Thanks all for the great ideas. I think I probably will not consider a foot switch at this point. Although I'm not a huge fan of the Russ Thompson stalk, so I probably won't go that direction either.

Tying the foglights to the headlights is an interesting idea, although I do wonder if that might be a problem during inspection? I guess I'll have to check my state laws. Also, not sure if there might be some driving conditions where that could be annoying or unsafe (my fog lights are the amber KC LED lights).

The latching/bi-stable relay is a really interesting idea, but maybe rather than connecting it to my headlight switch, I'd connect it to my high-beam switch and be able to turn the fog lights on/off with a quick flick of the high-beam switch. It might be a little awkward, but at least it would give the ability to switch them on and off. Definitely something to consider. Thanks again!

[JohnK]

Some states only allow the fog lights to be on when the low beams are on, so you'd need to trigger the fog light relay off the low beam circuit only.

[Papa]

Here's how I did my hi-lo beam wiring:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=126719&d=1587241103

I used a foot operated switch, but any switch that could provide the +12v trigger to the relay will work. In this circuit, my low beams are on by default when the headlamp switch is activated (powers the blue feed wire) and the foot switch switches the relay from the NC pin 87a to the NO pin 87 to power the high beams. If the foot switch fails, I still have low beams.

[Alphamacaroon]

I used a foot operated switch, but any switch that could provide the +12v trigger to the relay will work. In this circuit, my low beams are on by default when the headlamp switch is activated (powers the blue feed wire) and the foot switch switches the relay from the NC pin 87a to the NO pin 87 to power the high beams. If the foot switch fails, I still have low beams.

Thanks Papa! Appreciate the wiring diagram, but do you have any pictures of where you mounted the foot switch in the footbox, or general comments about how it feels down there? Wiring should be pretty simple on mine— I'm using the KC Gravity LED lights which are 40 watts total (for both) so there really isn't even a need for a separate relay in the circuit— 40 watts at 12 VDC should be safe and easy for any standard automotive switch.

[Papa]

Thanks Papa! Appreciate the wiring diagram, but do you have any pictures of where you mounted the foot switch in the footbox, or general comments about how it feels down there? Wiring should be pretty simple on mine— I'm using the KC Gravity LED lights which are 40 watts total (for both) so there really isn't even a need for a separate relay in the circuit— 40 watts at 12 VDC should be safe and easy for any standard automotive switch.

If you start with post #196 in my build thread, you will see how I did the switch:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?24916-Papa-s-MKIV-Roadster-Build-9115-(Graduated)&p=293666&viewfull=1#post293666

It is a bit of a challenge to activate it while driving the car, but it is doable. If I were to do it again, I'd have probably mounted it directly to the floor vs. against the front panel of the foot box. Like Paul mentioned, it isn't a feature that is used much on these cars by the average driver, so I haven't been motivated to change it.

Dave

[Alphamacaroon]

If you start with post #196 in my build thread, you will see how I did the switch:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?24916-Papa-s-MKIV-Roadster-Build-9115-(Graduated)&p=293666&viewfull=1#post293666

It is a bit of a challenge to activate it while driving the car, but it is doable. If I were to do it again, I'd have probably mounted it directly to the floor vs. against the front panel of the foot box. Like Paul mentioned, it isn't a feature that is used much on these cars by the average driver, so I haven't been motivated to change it.

Dave

Much appreciated. Looks really elegant, but also good to know how you'd have changed it. Lots to think about.

[cnutting]

Very nice install Papa. I just drilled and tapped the 2" vertical tube, screwed in the switch and called it a day. Easy to access and acts as a foot rest so long as i don't press to hard. :)