Adding Driving Lights to DRL-Equipped Patriot?

Hello, folks,

I would like to add driving lights to supplement the high-beams on my wife's 2011 Jeep Patriot, which has the Daytime Running Lights enabled. She works a 12-hour shift and does most of her driving at night, and we have lots of deer here in the mountains. The driving lights will have to have their own switch to cut them on and off as needed, but they can only be on when the high-beams are on. Since hers is not a "Trail-Rated" model, it uses the high-beam headlights at a lower, pulsed (PWM) voltage to serve as DRLs.

I have done a lot of searching and reading, and have never found a definite, "clean" solution to this problem. I understand standard relays and wiring them, and of course would be using a relay to supply the driving lights with power from the battery (with an in-line fuse, of course), but getting a signal to activate the relay is problematic since the same wire/bulb serves two purposes at different voltages. I also understand that the power going to the DRLs is a pulsed, low-voltage signal, and I have also read that the power coming from the steering column multi-function (high-low) switch is not 12 volts either - it is supposedly a lower voltage that just sends a signal to the computer to tell it to activate the high-beams.

Has anyone come up with a solution that I have missed in my search? Is there a relay out there that can use the low-voltage signal from the multi-function switch to energize the coil (assuming that someone knows which wire it is and what that voltage actually is)? Or better yet, is there a way to rig a simple circuit that will "ignore" the low pulsed voltage to the DRLs, but pass the voltage to the relay when it is a full 12 volts or more? That would seem to be the simplest way to do it, then I could tap the high-beam headlight wire directly for the driving light relay signal. The problem is I don't know enough about electronics to figure out what circuit or components I need to interrupt the low voltage, but pass the voltage to the relay only when it is 12+ volts.

Does anyone have any solutions, ideas, or input?

I didn't put this in the lighting section since it is more involved than basic lighting circuitry, and the same for the relays section, so I hope this post is acceptable here in general discussion. If not, I would hope someone would move it as deemed appropriate.

Thanks very much!
Regan

Switch relay fuse etc. simple and safest.
Alternative us for instance a 5 volt relay, Farnell etc. to control (you would have to measure the voltage to work out what switching voltage you'll need).

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Amateurs assume, don't test and have problems; pros test first. I am not a free install service.
Read the installation manual, do a search here or online for your vehicle wiring before posting.

Thanks for your reply. Yes, it would be simpler to just use a switch and relay, but the driving lights must turn on and off with the high beams to be legal.

Anyone know where would you obtain a relay with a 5-volt, 7-volt, etc. coil in the US? Or one that will work with a PWM trigger source? Is there not some sort of choke, filter, or other component that will only pass current once it reaches a designated voltage (ie, not pass 9 volts, but will pass 13? Please pardon my technological ignorance!

Thank you,
Regan

What you might think of as 12 Volts only are available from 3-240V; again Farnell they are a US company.

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Amateurs assume, don't test and have problems; pros test first. I am not a free install service.
Read the installation manual, do a search here or online for your vehicle wiring before posting.