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Baja Designs A-Pillar Sport Lights Dead?

Shocktrooper392

Shocktrooper392

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Hey guys, so I got the Baja Designs A-Pillar Sport Ram XL light kit way back when CJC had their Black Friday sale going.
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I installed them a few months ago and they worked great! Took a little while to adjust the lights to where I wanted them, but otherwise awesome!

A couple weeks ago I noticed one night at my girlfriends house that they were kinda flickering when the truck was off. I checked all the connectors, they were all good, checked the switch and came to figure out the switch wasn't fully getting good contact when clicking to OFF.
Pulled the switch just a hair out of the trim panel it's mounted to and left it alone. No more flicker.
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So alright the switch needs to be mounted better. I got a different switch with a mounting collar/bracket that should give it more threshold against the trim panel to where it can completely click OFF for good contact.

Well go to change the switch out yesterday and new switch will light up red in the ON position but the BD lights won't turn on.
Checked the fuse, fuse is good. All my connections are good. Put the old switch back on and same outcome, old switch lights up red but the BD lights won't turn on.
So the switch is getting power but I guess the lights aren't.
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Is it possible the BD lights got burned out by the switch? Is it possible I blew the relay?
One thing I haven't tried is disconnecting the power supply wire & ground wire from the battery to try to "reset" the lights, but I wouldn't think that would change anything?

I don't have a power probe but I'd guess that'd be my best bet? Just curious if anyone else has had issued with the BD harnesses they supply with the A-Pillar lights.
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Haven't had time since Saturday/Sunday to mess with it, I did try the switch last night just to see what would happen.
The switch did light up, and the BD lights did flicker a little with the switch on...
The switch wiring and fuse are both good, I honestly wonder if it's just because it's a cheap ass Chinese switch.
The one on the BD harness as well as the one I replaced it with looks like one of these:
Screenshot_20250429_093429_Amazon Shopping.jpg
I plan on borrowing a multimeter/test light for this weekend to mess with it.
BD did for some reason give me an extra light harness I believe so I could always change out the entire harness if I figure out its a bad wire.
Just kind of annoying because I don't want to jump to something expensive (but understandably high quality) like a switchpro for one set of lights... I do plan on running more lights on the truck down the road but that's after I get a bedrack and some other things done that are higher priority.
 
If you don't have a better switch to test with you can always just touch the two wire terminals together for a test. If you don't get flickering you know it's the switch. If you do get flickering (and you're keeping the terminals touching solidly) then it's something else.
 
Dinky503 said:
I second by pass the switch and just test lights directly to the battery. Just make sure your keep a fuse inline. I wouldn't imagine the BD lights both went dead and if they did BD warranty is awesome.
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I agree BD warranty is awesome. I sent a pair of SAE fogs back and had them swapped to sports. Easy process and they took good care of me
 
$535 for that????

LOL, no.

BajaDesigns has ALWAYS been stupid priced for the same spec'ed kits you can get on Amazon for fraction of the price.
 
TruckinThumper said:
$535 for that????

LOL, no.

BajaDesigns has ALWAYS been stupid priced for the same spec'ed kits you can get on Amazon for fraction of the price.
Click to expand...

I used to say the same thing until you actually have a set and use them. 90% of amazon specials don't live up to what is spec'd TONs of videos on YouTube. There are some that do perform and other named brands that outperform BD but BD is consistently the same quality and a reason they are one of the top dogs.
 
jsalbre said:
If you don't have a better switch to test with you can always just touch the two wire terminals together for a test. If you don't get flickering you know it's the switch. If you do get flickering (and you're keeping the terminals touching solidly) then it's something else.
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Like, touch all 3 wire terminals together?
I know one is ground, one should be power from the battery, and the other is power to the relay(?) or power to the BD lights? I get that the switch completes the circuit but with 3 prongs idk if that's okay to do?

Electrical is not my Forte, much rather work with hard parts.
 
Shocktrooper392 said:
Like, touch all 3 wire terminals together?
I know one is ground, one should be power from the battery, and the other is power to the relay(?) or power to the BD lights? I get that the switch completes the circuit but with 3 prongs idk if that's okay to do?

Electrical is not my Forte, much rather work with hard parts.
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Do not connect the ground, that is just for the indicator light in the switch, connect the other two together
 
Turns out it was the relay... I thought it was good but played around with it some more today and figured out that the loom was collecting water (rain, truck wash water) and it was running down into the connector for the relay and corroded the relay prongs and the female connector on the harness.
I cleaned out the female end of the connector with electronic cleaner and replaced the relay and wah-lah BD lights are back!
I also rerouted the harness so that the relay is straight up with the connector down so water can't run into it anymore, for extra protection I packed all the connections with dielectric grease.
 
Shocktrooper392 said:
Turns out it was the relay... I thought it was good but played around with it some more today and figured out that the loom was collecting water (rain, truck wash water) and it was running down into the connector for the relay and corroded the relay prongs and the female connector on the harness.
I cleaned out the female end of the connector with electronic cleaner and replaced the relay and wah-lah BD lights are back!
I also rerouted the harness so that the relay is straight up with the connector down so water can't run into it anymore, for extra protection I packed all the connections with dielectric grease.
Click to expand...
Yep I’ve seen plenty of relays get cooked because of their orientation. Unless they are in a totally dry location, they should be vertical , wires out of the bottom.
 
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I really like those lights but the price, even the discounted price, was too rich for my blood. I went with the Harbor freight lights mainly because they also have the side shooter lights that completely light up both sides of the road. I like to drive my camper at night to avoid traffic, but deer around where I am driving always seem to be an ever present danger. These have been working out for me with a high and low setting and colored lenses included at a much better price. Had them almost a year and would recommend them to anyone looking for a lower cost alternative.20241007_171605.jpg
 
Gray0369 said:
I really like those lights but the price, even the discounted price, was too rich for my blood. I went with the Harbor freight lights mainly because they also have the side shooter lights that completely light up both sides of the road. I like to drive my camper at night to avoid traffic, but deer around where I am driving always seem to be an ever present danger. These have been working out for me with a high and low setting and colored lenses included at a much better price. Had them almost a year and would recommend them to anyone looking for a lower cost alternative.View attachment 85486
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They are even better priced then when I bought them. Getting the optional wiring harness, I feel, is completely necessary to have a proper working clean installation.

 
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