most orange wires are warm,
warm as in have juice when ignition is on, and none when ignition is off,
also havent checked fuse box on the pat, but there is usually 1 or 2 active slots on the fuse box where you can tap into.

 

so orange wires are guaranteed to be the wire i want right, giving power when ignition is on. its guaranteed to be an orange wire then??

 

read the fine print



not responsible for shock, electrecution, oops, ouchs, dangs,

no guarantee but would be the first wire i would try.
have installed about 5 cbs, in jeeps, and dodges,
3 were to orange wires, 2 were directly to fuse box,
anyone here read the schematics on the Pat?

 

If you are talking about needing to route this wire inside the cabin the easiest way would be to tap into the pink/white wire at the ignition switch under the steering column. That is what I used for my alarm system. I think the one for the radio is connected through the canbus which allows it to stay on when the ignition is off so I don't know if that would be a good idea or not. I also don't know how well it would like adding more draw to that line since the canbus is kind of funky that way and knows what the draw should be from each component. It may not even matter though. All I know is the pink/white wire works fine.

 

You could tap into the wire for the cig lighter
It is 15 amp feed and is switched

Also you are only using the switched 12v source to power a relay, not power the lights

 

the pink and white wire under the steering column, that would then be powered only with the key in the ignition in the on position right?
do i open up the screws under neath the steering wheel itself or literally go under the dash?

and if i do open up the steering wheel, i just hope that airbag doesnt go off lol

it would be easier if i do that then because i wont have to open up the dash in the middle, but i might have to anyway because i want to put the switch for the lights in the same row as the buttons for the esp and hazards. i have 3 empty spots. gonna use 1 for the light switch. its a black switch will look stock.

 

No need to open the steering wheel. The panel under the steering wheel comes off via two screws at the bottom edge and then the top just pops out. From there you can see the harnesses plugging into the steering wheel area and can easily tap into the wire from there. If you look at the picture below you will see the panel in question removed and you can get to the plugs/wires just under the rubber piece under the steering wheel. If you want to you can even remove the plastic panel under the one shown removed in the picture. It's just held on with 4 screws. But if you look closely you can see the wires in the opening right there between the rubber steering wheel piece and the inner plastic panel.

Also if you want to remove the center bezel to mount your switch in you can follow my navigation install thread for how to take those pieces off. It's pretty easy.

 

Chad, what is the switch on the left panel used for?

Good explanation of how to get to the wiring...

 

it looks like aftermarket power mirror switch

 

my mopar off road driving lights are installed and running fine i decided to install them using the red/orange wire under the dash.

http://www.the12volt.com/installbay/forum_posts.asp~TID~98370

pics will be up soon