Rock Lights - Walmart Platinum Burner Installation Write-Up

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
While we don’t usually make it a habit to purposefully go wheeling at night, there are many times that getting off the trail before dark is inevitable. And, on those occasions, there’s nothing worse than trying to spot a Jeep with it’s headlights blazing in to your eyes. Of course, the driver of the Jeep need to have some kind of illumination to see where they are going so, what do you do? Install a set of rock lights!

Rock lights are essentially small lights that you can mount under your fenders and behind the grill so that they can effectively illuminate the ground immediately in front of your tires but without blinding your spotter. Right now, LED lights seem to be all the rage but, most are either cheap and unreliable or, are way too expensive for my taste. And, even the more expensive ones suffer from putting out way too little useable light. And, that’s why I decided to install a set of Walmart Platinum Burners.

At about $18 a pair, the Platinum Burners are cheap, easy to find just about anywhere, are super simple to install and work surprisingly well. More than any other rock light I have seen, these things put out a really nice spread of very usable clean light. Of course, if one goes bad, replacing it just requires you to located a nearby Walmart. I have been running these on Moby Dick (our white JK) for a little over two years now and have love them. Of course, the write-up below details the installation of a set I put on Nemo.

What you will need
• Platinum Burner Series Lights
• 10mm Socket & Wrench
• Ratchet
• Wire Stripper/Cutter/Crimpper
• Ring Terminal Connectors
• Wire Coat Hanger
• Masking Tape
• Daystar Switch Panel
• Daystar Switches (optional)
• Utility Knife
• Trim Pry Tool

Instructions
This is a shot of what the Platinum Burner Series Light box looks like. In addition to the pair of lights, it also comes with wiring, a fuse, a switch, mounts and miscellaneous pieces to help you to complete your installation.
main.php


1. Begin the installation of your rock lights by removing the bolt securing the grill support to the sub-structure of your JK’s body.
main.php


2. Using a 10mm wrench, remove the 2 bolts securing the Platinum Burner light to the mount.
main.php


3. The ring terminals leads provided are too small and so you will need to cut the black ground wire next to the connector plug as shown.
main.php


4. Strip the black ground wire and then, using a solderless connector crimp tool, attach a ring terminal to the end of the wire.
main.php


5. Slip the ground wire ring terminal onto the sub-frame bolt and then insert both through the Platinum Burner light mount as shown.
main.php


6. Using a 10mm socket, install the Platinum Burner light mount onto the sub-frame of your JK body.
main.php


7. Using a 10mm wrench and the bolts that came with the kit, install the Platinum Burner lights onto the mounts.
main.php


8. Connect the shorter pre-terminated wires provided with the kit onto the leads extending from the Platinum Burner lights.
main.php


9. Connect the 2 white wires extending from both Platinum Burner lights into the coupling attached to the long white wire provided as shown.
main.php


10. Open the passenger side door and remove the air vent baffles by rotating the outer ring and pulling it out as shown. Set the baffles aside. If you have a 2011 or newer JK, you will need to skip this step.
main.php


11. Reach through the air vent hole and push out the side panel of your dash as shown. Remove the panel and set it aside. If you have a 2011 or newer JK, simply use a trim pry tool to remove this panel.
main.php


12. Push a straightened out wire coat hanger all the way through the foam filled hole located on your JK’s firewall next to the door jam as shown in this pic.
main.php


13. Tape the opposite end of the long white wire on to it as shown and then pull the coat hanger back through so that the wire comes inside the cab of your JK.
main.php


14. Reverse steps 12-13 using the red wire with inline fuse provided so that the longer end of it ends up inside the engine compartment of your JK.
main.php


15. Cut off and attach a new larger solderless ring connector to the end of the red wire so that it will fit onto the positive battery terminal bolt.
main.php


16. Cut off and attach a new larger solderless ring connector to the end of the last remaining black ground wire provided with the kit.
main.php


17. Using a 10mm socket, remove the ground nut located on the passenger side foot well as shown. Attach the black ground wire with ring connector to the stud and then secure it in place using the factory nut.
main.php


18. If you are using a Daystar Dash Panel, use a utility knife to cut out one of the light switch ports.
main.php


19. The switch that comes with the kit is on the narrow side and will not fit in the Daystar Switch Panel ports. So, I bought and installed a new switch that would fit.
main.php


20. Connect the pre-terminated red wire with inline fuse attached to the (+) terminal, the black to the (-) and then white wire to the one in between.
main.php


21. Using a 10mm socket, remove the nut on top of the positive terminal on your battery, attach the red wire ring connector on to the stud and secure it back in place using the factory nut.
main.php


22. Flip the switch to the on position and check to see if your lights are on. If they are, you are done. If not, double check your ground wire connections.
main.php


That’s all there is to it, your Jeep JK Wrangler is now equipped with rock lights and you’ll now be able to spare your spotters eyes as you play on the rocks at night.
 

Sharkey

Word Ninja
Don't you run multiple lights on Moby? How can I get them all to work with just 1 switch ?

Option 1: Use OHM's law to determine the proper electrical requirements and then connect each set of lights to one main appropriately-sized power wire, run the power wire to your relay, make sure you have the right sized relay and fuse for the load and, voila, you can use one switch for multiple lights.

Option 2: with just two sets of burners (4 lights), you should be fine running the power from each set into a SPDT relay. Again, make sure to fuse the relay appropriately.
 

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
Option 1: Use OHM's law to determine the proper electrical requirements and then connect each set of lights to one main appropriately-sized power wire, run the power wire to your relay, make sure you have the right sized relay and fuse for the load and, voila, you can use one switch for multiple lights.

Option 2: with just two sets of burners (4 lights), you should be fine running the power from each set into a SPDT relay. Again, make sure to fuse the relay appropriately.

Yup, what he said, you need to run a relay and wire it up properly.
 

rtguy1

New member
great write up. i will be doing this soon. can someone tell me the wattage of these platinum burner lights? i can see it on the box in the pic but i cannot make it out...maybe 35w each? thanks
 

TheDuff

New member
Anyone know the wattage if factory fog lights? My bumper doesn't accommodate my fogs and was curious if I could just use that circuit to power 2 of these instead:)

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using WAYALIFE mobile app
 

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
Anyone know the wattage if factory fog lights? My bumper doesn't accommodate my fogs and was curious if I could just use that circuit to power 2 of these instead:)

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using WAYALIFE mobile app

It is lower and it is important to use the same wattage if you wish to use the factory switch. If you don't, the lights will not work.
 

TheDuff

New member
Guess I'll do plan B for now and mount the factory fogs to act as my temp rock lights

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using WAYALIFE mobile app
 

OverlanderJK

Resident Smartass
Guess I'll do plan B for now and mount the factory fogs to act as my temp rock lights

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using WAYALIFE mobile app

You can pick up the rugged ridge a-pillar mount for like $50 with the switches. That's what I have.
 

ttfhell

New member
Thanks that looks great. Their pic I saw online looked gray but this will work. Already have too many holes in my pillar and need another.


Sent from my iPhone using WAYALIFE mobile app
 

TheDuff

New member
You can pick up the rugged ridge a-pillar mount for like $50 with the switches. That's what I have.

Yea, got my funds tied up with other purchases and prepping for TDS. So free route for now

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using WAYALIFE mobile app
 

kyle521

Member
Do the little lights on the daystar switches always stay on even when the jeep is off? If so is it enough draw to risk draining the battery?
 

OverlanderJK

Resident Smartass
If the switch is powered then the light on said switch will be on. But if the switch isn't powered then the light won't be on.
 
Top Bottom