Trappistmonk

Good Afternoon Folks,

I am thinking about adding two (2) 7" KCs to the front and maybe five (5) 5" KCs to the roof. How far can I go with this before I have to upgrade the alternator? I am really curious about how much the stock system can handle in terms of lighting before a stronger battery and new alternator are needed. Would seven lights be pushing it? They would only be used offroad when the vehicle is running (as opposed to parked lighting up a fishing hole).

holmes4x4

This is an awsome question cause I,m thinking about adding more lights to mine when I get the front/read bumpers. I know with the six I have now it doesnt put to much strain on the alternator, but that is what I was also told it could be wrong. I run my lights the same way offroad only and the occasional dark Maine road!! Would love to know the answer.

ferdis

I'd like to know about this too, im currently running no aux lights on my 07 jk but im running a 1000 watt amp and my jeeps been bugging out hard... everything dims so i just have it at about 1/4 power, id also like to see what you guys chose as your new alt/batterys, dont mean to steal from op, just a serious problem ive been running into lol

Trappistmonk

Great suggestion...ty!

shockwaveaz

I had the same problem and a Optima yellow top took care of it. I also thought it was the alternator. But, I lucked out.

Sent from my SPH-P100 using Tapatalk

holmes4x4

What about if your running a winch and 8+ lights do you need an alternator then or will the dual battery set up work?

shockwaveaz

You shouldn't be bumping your stereo while winching. Why would you have your stereo on full blast while driving in a situation when you would need that many lights on? You wouldn't. Same for winching, you don't want to run lights like that while winching either. You can with a solid pair off batts though.


Sent from my SPH-P100 using Tapatalk

Ryan0260

As said I would look at the battery first. You would be surprised at the difference a good battery like an optima can do for this problem

hombredelassrtas

Yup optima yellow top.

Additionally, this may just be a tuner fix but a decent enginebay grounding setup can assist (i received a minor but visible improvement on a stock setup on a different car. Headlights no longer dimmed when blinker on). Just get a spool of 4awg and some ends then ground everything. It is cheap and cannot hurt.

JK-Ford

Different people have tried to work this out before. With enough research, you should be able to find some good info. Bottom line, Take the rated output of the alternator. Subtract about 60 amps for the Jeep OEM circuits. The remainder is about what you have to play with.