I like switches!

[Wulfthang]

This is the panel off out of my Trail Rail. It used to be covered with carbon fiber patterned vinyl wrap but it showed dirt and dust like crazy. I'm doing a major upgrade on it so I redid the panel. Hopefully, this will look cleaner! The indicator lites are all LED's.

This little panel is neat. My shifter is a Hurst style with a wide flat bar. This little panel is slotted so it fits around the shifter just under the T type shifter. I can keep my hand on the shifter and reach all of those switches with my fingers.

My rail is street legal so I have to have running lites, head lites, horn, etc. etc. etc. I put all of the most used switches on the little shifter panel and the others on the big panel. It has a spring loaded one for the horns/lite alert plus starter, kill, turn signals, Super Cooler and Throttle Kicker.

The Super Cooler and Throttle Kicker are all ideas first used on my 69 Bronco build. My engine is water cooled and does sometimes get pretty warm after a long uphill pull. The Super Cooler is one of those self contained windshield washer bags with the pump inside. The idea is to spray water into the blades of an electric fan blowing air thru the radiator. Instant cool down.

The Throttle Kicker is an off road cruise control only for clutched vehicles. It uses an Idle Solenoid to kick the throttle up so you can take your foot off the gas pedal. Low speed cruise control. It's also good for warm ups on cold mornings. It really does make for a smoother ride because your foot's isn't bouncing on the pedal.

[wwwben]

Oh wow .. you sure got a lot of switches man

[Wulfthang]

[PhillipM]

I spent days reducing all my switches down to the bare minimum to declutter and keep things neat and reliable, OP's here fitting switches to turn off the stove at home when he's out

Someone just had a surplus of switches they wanted to use

[Wulfthang]

[PhillipM]

I leave the running lights on because they don't need to be off when it's running, they come on with the main power - my cooling systems are automatic and speed controlled, my headlights are on an pod that's mounted when needed and they're also automatic with a light sensor, just plug 'em in and forget about 'em.
Fortunately I don't need turn signals on this one but I just used a normal stalk control the last time I needed a road legal buggy, way easier than reaching away from the wheel for toggles.
I have one extra I don't really need and that toggles the electric power steering on and off to save power but that one is now speed controlled and idles itself with no load so I could ditch that one too.

[Wulfthang]

Hmmm! Ok, that's fine for you but do you ever explore off road at night? It helps to be able to select which set of lights you have on. Plus, you only mentioned one set of front lights. I have four separate sets. Different terrain at night requires different lighting to get the best view. Yeah, I've looked at a shadow and wondered if it was a dip in the trail or the end of the trail.

Yeah, my three separate cooling fan circuits are automatic with thermostats. I just like having a backup manual override switch to turn on any one or all of them when I want to. Like, to get a jump on cooling if I see a long uphill climb coming up or if a thermostat fails. I like having back ups. Where I ride for fun, breakdowns can mean death if you're not prepared. I choose to be able to manually turn on a cooling fan instead of watching the gauge go up because the thermostat failed.

My car has two steering brake handles and a shifter. My right hand is hardly on the steering wheel anyway, especially off road. Besides, all of the most used switches are on the mini panel and I can reach all of those with my finger tips. For anything on the main panel, I'll just pull over.

Automated systems are fine but I've seen to many have to switch to manual operations because the system failed. In the summer, it can hit 120 degrees (49 Celsius) here in Southern Arizona in the low desert mountains. I choose to have some way to easily bypass the automated system. I choose not to have total reliance on automated systems.

All of those switches do something important....for me.My car is about half sand rail and half Rat Rod. I built it for me. It suits me. Even the Ford V6 engine doesn't have a computer. Call me old school!

Lights that you can't turn off? Why?

[PhillipM]

No I have a bonnet pod with HID's it seems fine up to about 130mph in the trees so far
My fans are tied into the ECU temp readings so not much of a worry there, and they default to a half speed mode on a sensor failure, I made a control box for 'em.

Running lights - well they come on when the car is running, no real need to turn them off for me.
They're LEDs they use like 5w each, not even a noticable load really.

I get the manual thing though - I used to do that for everything just because I didn't trust a lot of automation and old style bimetal temperature sensors, etc, were flaky - but I soon learnt the hard way that the least reliable electric things in a rail exposed to the elements and vibration are switches, relays and the connectors to the back of them all.
And now temp and pressure sensors are solid state for anything modern they're pretty much bombproof.

So, I purged as many as I could, and the switches and relays I have now are IP65/66 rated, are rated to 1 operation per second continous instead of the 1 every 10 seconds that's usual for rockers and relays, and to 30G of vibration instead of the usual 5G, was worth the extra few dollars.

I hate having to disturb good wiring looms which always seemed to be the case before when a switch, brake switch, toggle, etc, failed, so I made it bulletproof, stripped out and simplified as much as I could instead to get rid of so many connections.

There definately is something satisfying about flicking on a whole row of toggle switches though, it's like being in an old WWII fighter, I get why.

[Wulfthang]

I think we're talking about two different types of lighting requirements. You're going fast on village roads and farm tracks turned into a marked out race track. Pedestrians know to stay off the track and race officials are spaced along the distance. You only need lights straight ahead.

Running down an Arizona desert Wash is a little different. There are more things to watch for. A one inch drop can look like a gorge while a real gorge is invisible, depending on your lighting. How many Mule Deer have tried to climb into your cockpit with you? Ever had a Coyote snarl into your face from two feet away? Ever drove thru a big patch of Jumping Cholla Cactus? (Me either on that last one because I saw it in time!)

I have lights on top that shine out at 45 degrees so I can see to the sides to keep stuff from sneaking up on me. I have 100 watt headlights for normal light up front and a set of driving lights to help see changes in the trail surface. I also have a set of amber fog lights to help see in the dust if I'm behind another vehicle.

Just as important as having the right lights pointing in the right direction, is being able to turn them on or off at will. Sometimes, a certain light will make things worse or perhaps a certain combination works best, etc, etc. I like having the choice.

As far as the fans being tied in etc, etc. Mine are normally triggered by thermostats. There is no computer anywhere in my car for them to tie into! My engine is a hot rodded Ford V6 breathing thru a Holley 4412 carburetor. Old school like me! No injectors. No computers.

The only automation in my car is the thermostats for the fans and they have back ups. The only other automation in the car, is me deciding which lights would work better to see the trail. Do they even make an automation for something like that?

[PhillipM]

Oh no, we have pedestrians and are on public roads too, it's not just stages, but I do get what you mean, although yes, had a few deer, and cows and sheep. They're faster than you think!
Not as fast as the French farmers had one skinned and on a BBQ after we clipped one once, mind.

Lights are done on steering angle and road speed, corner lights when the angle is over about 30* either way, full beam when the speed picks up past 30mph (and the sensor in the pod doesn't pick up oncoming lights), dipped and driving lights below that.
Much trickier without an ECU talking to everything though.

[Wulfthang]

Whatever works for you on your car. Also, it should be noted that although my area has more hazards, I don't drive it at the same speeds that you do either! Not even close! I'm cruisin' and lookin' not racin' and pacin'. I have time to switch switches to select what I want and not have to rely on fast automatics.

Headlights that dim themselves? Really? What if you want to flash the high beams? Do you have a switch for that? What if it's an emergency like a toddler on the road at night? How do you alert the oncoming driver? What if you want to laser blast that so and so's eyeballs out? Can you?

[PhillipM]

Self dipping headlights are pretty standard fit on most cars over here, have been for a couple decades, dip themselves for oncoming traffic or highly lit areas, point around corners at low speeds, etc.

If there's something in the road then the high beams will be on if you're going fast enough to need them and there's nothing coming the other way to silhouette it with their lights.

Can't even remember the last time I needed to switch about with lights away from the auto modes, unless it was on my older manual controlled cars.

[wwwben]

I do love the level of control all this gives you.. must have taken some serious time and effort to set up!

[Wulfthang]

Yeah, it took a lot of work but the most tedious was taking all of the screws out of the switches. Six per switch. I prefer solder connections for switches.

As far as not even being able to dim or blip the headlights: I wouldn't give up that level of control on anything I drive. It's a safety issue. I need to see to be able to asses the situation to determine what actions are required at that moment. When I want high beams, I want them now! I am a very courteous driver and would not use high beams for oncoming traffic but if I need them, then I want them now! Not when some automation decides it's ok for them to be turned on by it.

In fact as part of my wiring system, I have a switch (LOL!) that when switched to the "All" position, causes all of the frontal lites on my rail buggy to light up when I hit the hi-beam button on the floor. Both low driving floods, both low amber fog lights, 2 x 100 watt high beams and two top mounted floods aimed at 10 and 2 o'clock. When I flip those hi-beams on, it's all at once.

No, the electrical system has no problem handling it. It's not a store bought harness. I built it for this rail. Maximum reliability, maximum simplicity, maximum on the trail repair=ability, zero computers or automation.

[Wulfthang]

Hey PhillipM: Is that light dimmer thing only in the UK or all over Europe? I spent some years in Germany going to school and remember a thing in cars called a "Light Horn". It was on the column and you could flick it to blink your lights. It was considered a courtesy for passing at the time. No more?

[PhillipM]

You can still flash full beam if you want but that's generally all of the EU cars are automatic lights these days.

[Dale M.]

Just keep in mind that every switch is just another possible failure point....
_________________
“Fear The Government That Wants To Take Your Guns" - Thomas Jefferson.

"Kellison Sand Piper Roadster" For Street & Show.
"Joe Pody Sandrover" Buggy with 2180 for Autocross (Sold)
============================================================
All suggestions and advice are purely my own opinion. You are free to ignore them if you wish ...

[Dale M.]

[Cubey]

Someone who had my 64 baja did too. Most of the switches and LEDs do nothing. The only useful one is the on-off-on one in the middle, and the 2 outer LEDs to the sides of it. That's a rigged up turn signal switch and the LEDs are the turn indicators. Maybe the rest did something at some point as far as extra lights that were stripped off? The purple rocker switch is wired up as the alternator warning light though, and the top center red LED is the oil warning light.

[Wulfthang]