I have a 96 Cherokee and I put a Light bar on it started wiring (16 gauge) 2 inner lights on a switch/ 2 outters to another switch and I have a ground from the battery to each switch. Well the ground wires keep getting crazy hot. Any wiring experts able to give me a rundown of a good way to wire 4 55w lights.

 

Yes run relays

 

Pretty easy to do

 

I used 12g wire for my light bars

 

First off I use 5-90's wiring kit (member here) for my base setup a must IMHO and remember to clean all the grounds very well down to bare metal. Starting at the battery all grounds then to alternator on. Then I used a large fused Anderson Power Pole connection (fused) hooked directly to battery 12 connections. All add on electrical connections ran to the PP connector (all wires crimped and soldered to Anderson Power Poles).

Lights on front bumper and rack are ran through relays using 12 ga. wire. Note all my wire is high quality communication grade. Rear work/backup lights I ran 10 ga. wire due to the length of the run, you must always keep that in mind.

My winch has a direct connection to the battery.

 

I'd start with verifying your grounds and wire continuity. Next I'd use heavier wire from the lights to the RELAYS and ground.

 

You might need to go up a gauge, but that depends on length. As also suggested, make sure your grounds are in top shape.

Use this chart to help you. To get amps total up your watts and divide by volts, in your case 12. In your scenario each pair of 55 watt lights is going to pull 9.2 amps under ideal conditions. Be aware that you need to size your wire based on the ENTIRE length of the circuit from power source to light, not just one junction to the next. Ground wires, even if shorter, should match the gauge of main power wires.

I'd also suggest looking at LED lights down the road.