the trigger itself will be on (12vdc) for possibly hours, I was told 12vdc to the base would fry it, so to put a 10k ohm resistor at the base in series from the trigger. And to maintain the timer function of the 555, the trigger pin #2 has to be pulsed I guess, so I was told to put a coupling capacitor w/ resistor before the collector.
The load is really not a load imo, its to close a circuit that isn't to a load but a 10 second pulse to a ECU to turn a function off, so I thought the relay was overkill.
Thanks
edit.