The light bars are illegal? I can understand headlights, but flood/spot/work lights should be a different story depending on if they have been installed independently of the headlight circuits. A lot of guys who've bought those monster LED bars are going to be disappointed - the clear lenses on them oxidise pretty quickly... already seen some turn straight out yellow.Originally Posted by tortron
They can be set up as work lights. Fog and spot need to have correct beam pattern
So I ran into a snag tonight. My new ebay H4 headlights aren't a straight swapThe rear extensions on the headlights won't pass through the centre of the headlight buckets, so I've started flaring the shelf out with a pair of pliers as opposed to grinding/cutting them out. First one done and it's a snug fit. Now for the retaining/trim ring. The "feet" in the corners of the headlights are a little too protrusive so I'll have to take maybe, 2mm off them to get the trim ring to seat properly. I was hopeful these headlights came with T10 wedge parking lights but no luck on that. I am considering blowing some holes in the casings and DIYing them. They were considerably cheap so I am not gonna complain about what I have to do to get them to mount up. I'm still waiting on the 4 ceramic socket harness to make it all operational. Then I have to integrate the lot into my new relay/fuse block. Man I do love wiring
So here's my cheap ebay headlight upgrade -
P1010003.jpgP1010002.jpg
I should've taken pics of how much I needed to flare the headlight buckets (it was a few mm all round) and how much I needed to shave off the corner locators on the headlights themselves. I'll need another 2 socket harness to add full headlight function as a 4 socket harness would've only run the inner headlights on high beam. Once the auxiliary harness is in, I'll add independent switches to control the second harness.
Last edited by geezer101; 01-13-2019 at 02:02 PM.
Looks good geezer��. Can't wait to see. Finished output.
thanks maxdsm. I decided to go with that grille as it looks like it ties in with the new headlights better than the plain black grille would've. Might still make a custom grille yet. I know the blue tinted halogen bulbs are going to suck a bit when it comes to output so I am prepared to try a few different options like LED COB fittings or xenon gas charged bulbs. I have a rats nest of wiring to make sense of before I can bench test them and the new relay box is going to be a stand alone module. One 8 pin plug and I'll be able to hook up all the forward ancillary stuff in one hit (headlights, A/C and a pair of thermofans)
I need to upgrade my light output, but want to stick with halogen. Thinking about replacing the sealed beam piece-of-crap that I have on with a set of these:
https://www.amazon.com/HELLA-0034272.../dp/B0002M9QRE
And then putting on some bright H4's on them, maybe these:
https://www.amazon.com/OSRAM-Night-B...g=bulbfacts-20
Which get good grades here:
https://www.bulbfacts.com/halogen-bulbs/chart/
Anyone have any first hand experience with the conversion headlamps, or the bulbs?
You can't go wrong with Hella. They've been making them since the dawn of time. You may be trying a number of different globes for them. The Osrams are brighter but at the expense of longetivity (read the reviews under the link on Amazon) Remember the globes may be affected by how good the electrical system is in your truck - not enough amps going through it and you may not be getting the best out of them. Either way, replacing the sealed beams with a H4 semi-sealed means replacing a dead headlight is easy and cheaper than trying to get a sealed beam off the shelf somewhere.
Great, thanks. I think I will go ahead and give it a try. I'll try to get some good before/after pictures when I do the switch.
Heard on the short life issue with these brighter bulbs, I'll keep the bulbs that come with the headlights (I think it's a standard Hella HB2) in the truck in case the Osrams go out while I'm out and about.
How do I check for electrical output of the truck, to make sure I'm getting enough amps?
EDIT- follow up question: can I use higher wattage bulbs in these headlights, or will pieces melt? I know that they are technically "off-road" only, but I'm curious if they can be used anyway. Would the truck's electrical system be able to handle the extra load?
Something like these: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Flosser-900...yEH8:rk:1:pf:0
Last edited by MrPaco; 01-22-2019 at 11:24 AM. Reason: A
The stock alternators are barely adequate (Gen 1's have a measley 40 amps). The rating is on the alternator somewhere. The wiring harness isn't great either as power goes from the fuse block under the dash all the way out front. I've bought an auxiliary headlight harness with ceramic sockets to handle the extra heat and draw power straight off the battery. They're cheap to buy and easy to rig up. They have separate 2 relays for lo/hi and an inline fuse. Literally plug'n'play.
Ok, good point. What do you think about putting in an HID bulb in these lamps? Something like this one, which comes in H4 configuration:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01CJ711YK...language=en_US
Does the stock alternator have enough power for this? I'm not familiar with HID's, not sure if it requires a lot of power or not. If they do, what about LED bulbs?
Thanks
Hmm. They seem bright as all get out but not only are they pricey, you have to contend with ballasts in them. They can be temperamental but you might get lucky (maybe part of that relates to how they're installed - don't know) and they're offering a lifetime warranty (again that may depend on who installs them). The kit is showing 35 watts so that is below what most premium halogens pull - a safe bet your alternator can handle that no problem. I'm looking @ LED COB inserts as well but that's a mixed bag (poor lifespan, light pattern is a bit funky, not great for output...)
I think I'm going to get in the Hella conversion lamps, with the standard bulb, and see how much of an improvement that is over the sealed beam. If that's not good enough I'll do some more research into these. Curious to hear about your experience with the LED's once you get those on.
On a somewhat related question, do you know if there's a way to set it up so that the lights go off when you turn off the truck and remove they key? I keep leaving the lights on, on my previous vehicle they just turned off when the keys were removed and I got used to it.
I'm wondering if something can be done with the fuses or some simple wiring adjustment...
Thanks
hi-beams.jpg
Get a pair of these babies.
Mits_bmw.jpg
I run the only 4 headlight Mitsubishi Mighty Max around, lol with a BMW grill.
If you are going for an upgrade, get a separate headlight harness and instead of running it live off the battery and headlight switch, run it off the ignition circuit. Will only take rerouting a wire to the relays from the active ignition circuit (hmm not a bad idea, might have to do that myself...)
And Brad, those headlights are sealed beam and look like maybe a B size - much too small. I'm more of a H4 double kind of guy
Probably don't have enough amps for those...
Sounds like it's doable, great. If you do do it yourself, would you mind sharing pics of the procedure?
An alternative to adding an auto-shut off device is to wire the door buzzer to sound when the headlights are on and the door is opened. It’s a simple change and virtually free. Solved my forgetfulness, but admittedly, I haved locked the keys in the truck a couple times since the change. But that’s easier to deal with than a dead battery at a trailhead or other remote location.
I'd have to create a wiring diagram and it'll only be based on the Gen 1. I'm building an ancillary relay/fuse block and taking a pic of the inside of that won't help anybody due to how much I've packed into it so far (it runs 2 relays for lo/hi beam + a shared fuse, 2 relays for the A/C which has the compressor and thermofan + another shared fuse, the main engine cooling thermofan + a fuse and the main relays fuse is being relocated into it) The main power wire to the relay/fuse block is using a bridged fuse connector, so the lot comes from a single power source which I can either run off the battery or from the live ign/alternator circuit.
I have an add on harness that plugs into one of the headlight sockets and has separate relays for the low and high circuits that connect directly to the battery. Geronimo has been running that for over 20 years now...
Hmmmmm, yeah that sounds like way above my level of understanding/skills
I won't attempt it, but would love to hear if it worked out for you. Thanks
This sounds interesting, and maybe (?) something I could attempt, with my very limited electrical skills... Any chance you could include a an explanation of how this is done?
On a related note, and I guess something I should fix even before attempting this, the buzzer that goes off while the door is open and the ignition is on is not working. Could this be a defective fuse? Or maybe something the previous owner disconnected? Where can I look to see if there's a faulty or missing connection?
Same thing with the buzzer that' supposed to go off until the seat belt is clicked on.
Actually, with the aftermarket headlight harness it's dead easy. It's designed to literally plug'n'play into the existing headlight socket and bridge the power from the battery (this part you have to do yourself but it's 1 wire...) Plug it in, route the new harness and and secure it. It uses the voltage coming from the headlights as the relay triggers like a second switch. Instead of the battery, find a solid location to connect from the live IGN circuit in the engine bay and there's your idiot proof headlightsHmmmmm, yeah that sounds like way above my level of understanding/skills
I won't attempt it, but would love to hear if it worked out for you. Thanks
This is the 2 socket harness I've used (I've ordered another one to run my inner headlights and yes it's says 4 socket but the vendor got it wrong) Otherwise a pretty good quality harness... Easy to set up out of the box and cheap as!
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