AMP Powerstep and possible remote operation if I can find a reverse ground signal

[Timmy]

Hello All,

Thought I'd turn to the community on this one. I installed new AMP powersteps so my kids and wife can get in the Jeep easier since it's a good jump up without them. They work great, fast, quiet, etc. etc. Well, take the doors off, and of course they don't work. Kids want the doors and top off 24/7 (I'm so proud of them.)

So I got thinking, the signal for the steps that comes from the door is just a ground loop signal. I'm hittin' the button on my key fob to "unlock" the car (even though there are no doors on) and the dome lights come on and stay on for a short time. LIGHT BULB!!! If I wire the door signal for the steps into the interior lights somehow, then I can extend the steps when I hit the key fob as I walk up to the Jeep, and they'll retract when the lights time out or I start the vehicle. In addition, I can turn on the interior lights and they will extend, which would work nicely if I pull up to a gas station and peep's need to get out, I just turn on interior lights, they extend, turn off lights after they are out while they run into gas station, then repeat when they come back.

Long story short, I contact AMP Research and ask if this is possible, would it hurt anything? Joe Ledezma responds back promptly, says go for it, won't harm the system, worst case is you'll blow the fuse. So, I get access to the footwell LED light and hold the wire to the hot on LED light, and steps extend. Hmmm... Turn interior lights on, and the steps retract. Wait a minute, right idea, wrong order. Obviously holding to the ground wire just extends them permanently. I think I know what is going on here and email Joe back to confirm. Sure enough he confirms, "the steps actually lower with a ground signal and raise when it loses ground. You would need to find a relay that reverses the signal at the switch." Okay, not sure how to resolve that one. Is there some nifty little gizmo/diode/whatever I could put inline that would flip/flop the signal on the hot wire to the LED lights? Is there a different wire I could tap that would accomplish the same goal that is located down in the footwell? It would need to be a wire that I can easily take off and put back on to the wire for the door signal when I put the wires back on. It needs to be a signal like the lights that stays on for a while so you can get in (ie. not like a door unlock wire that is just a one shot thing.)

Anyone got any ideas?

[Timmy]

Doing some research on solutions, I'm not REAL technical, but is this where a relay comes in to help? Is that what I need to put in line on the hot wire to the LED light, and then the other side of the relay connects to the powerstep signal wire and then to the ground wire of the vehicle?

[JeepLab]

Good Video

[WhiteRavenRR]

I'm not sure on the relay. It might work but even if it did, would turning on the dome lamps while driving down the road cause the boards to lower? Do they have a power cut-off when the engine is running? That would be a cause for concern if they lowered while traveling. You might want to check into that.

[Timmy]

Yeah, if I can run to the auto store some time today, I'm going to try and grab as simple of a small relay as I can find (ie. one with only 4 poles on it) and try it out, unless someone replies back with another solution before then that has me go in a different direction. I was trying to think if I had any electronic equipment laying around the house that might have a simple relay in it that I could borrow real quick to test out, but nothing is coming to mind. Any chance the Jeep has some relays that are easily accessible that I could pull real quick for a test? My gut tells me this will work and it's probably a very cheap part at the auto store.

[Timmy]

Hmmm, aren't all the gray boxes in the fuse panel relays? I could probably just pull one of these for a quick test, right?

[Timmy]

I'm not sure on the relay. It might work but even if it did, would turning on the dome lamps while driving down the road cause the boards to lower? Do they have a power cut-off when the engine is running? That would be a cause for concern if they lowered while traveling. You might want to check into that.

I had thought of that as well. Granted, if they lower while traveling with a 4" lift and 35" tires, unless off-roading, I doubt it would be an issue. Even when they are extended they are still within the width of the tires of the Jeep, and they are certainly still very far from the ground. In addition, I was thinking I could run a bi-pass switch to the dash, which I was going to do anyway like the Step-Slider rocker guards come with from Rock-Slide Engineering, so that even if I did have doors, I could prevent them from extending if I was off-roading.

[Timmy]

That would be a cause for concern if they lowered while traveling.

BTW... I wasn't entirely truthful in my desire for this option. I actually have heat seeking missiles located in the steps and I need a way to extend them while traveling so that I can blow up the stupid drivers in front of me, and then retract them so nobody will know where the missiles came from

[WhiteRavenRR]

BTW... I wasn't entirely truthful in my desire for this option. I actually have heat seeking missiles located in the steps and I need a way to extend them while traveling so that I can blow up the stupid drivers in front of me, and then retract them so nobody will know where the missiles came from

Now that's plausible deniability!

[Timmy]

Moooooo hahahahah, I have done it. Two $5 generic relays from the auto store and some wiring, and the steps now extend when I press the key fob unlock button and retract as soon as the dome lights go off.