Tractor Truck

I have been following the Let there be light thread but I still have a question about the headlight harness. Someone had a problem with the headlights or foglights when shifting the headlights after installing the harness. I have the factory foglights. Has this problem been solved or is it an isolated case? I am looking to buy the harness soon.
Thanks

haloman

Problem hasn't been solved. My truck still has it. My light upgrade is bright enough that I don't use high beams anymore. To fix it you can use the diagram in the following link but use the marker light power wire to trigger the relay.

http://www.classictruckshop.com/club...h/foglites.htm

RowJ

FYI, Was ready to do the HD harness.
But, one of the members on N.TX DTR Group is an Electrical Engineer and he pulled the headlight out and did some testing at our Jan Meet.
Factory Harness (even with it's 20g wire in one place) is only losing .5 volts with my Sylvania Silver Star Ultras! It also DOES draw directly from the battery. This is on the 01's & 02's which may be different on other year models??

Conclusion: Not worth changing the harness unless going to much higher wattage bulbs.

RJ

haloman

RJ,

My 01' had to be drawing the wattage from the switch. My switch was getting hot (smell and touch) after I added new higher wattage fog lights. I added the harness (removing the headlight load from the switch) and my switch doesn't heat up at all now. Doesn't get warm to the touch like it did when I first got the truck and it was all stock.

RowJ

Yeah, Have heard that before?? The service manual we used for wiiring diagrams was my 02. But the truck we tested voltage on was 01 (Big Blues).
It is a late 01, so maybe that is the difference??
Or maybe it's the higher wattage you went to. Would not doubt it. Was shocked to see 20g wire in the factory diagram... but it appeared to work well. All be it, just barely.

Key may be Silver Star Ultras DON'T add wattage. Just thought I would share engineers findings, as a lot of threads seem to imply the HD harness is needed for saftey, even with no added watts.

RJ

haloman

Mine is late 01' (rear disks and what not) I had the higher wattage bulbs for a while but blew one and went back to Silverstars. I do appreciate the findings and I am no engineer for sure. But that harness took a major load off my switch. I think the safety factory is that it is taking the load off the switch not really the extra current draw.

Tractor Truck

RJ,
Thanks for the info. So if I understand right, you just upgraded your bulbs and did not change the harness and it made a difference?

RowJ

Yup,
Sylvania Silver Star Ultras are a big increase in type light and visibilty! Not extra wattage just better and whiter light.

Got mine at O'Riellys Auto Parts.... 2 pak for $46.00. If interested,,, get only the 'Ultras'. They are better (second generation of Silver Stars).
#9004 bulbs.

RJ

haloman

The silverstars made a big difference for me also. Are your headlights housings yellowed "Tractor Truck"?

mopar-or-no-car

i think the best way to upgrade lighting is to put some sort clear housong headlights on like the sport lights or the one piece headlights of of ebay. I just don't see how much light gets through the stock headlight housing.

RowJ

Totally agree.... clear would be big improvement.

I installed LED tail lights and they came with clear backup lens. All of a sudden the factory back up bulb was plenty!

I'd do a factory, single bulb, clear replacement lens (housing) if I could find one. Just don't want the hassle of the sport twin lights.

RJ

AlpineRAM

Today I installed a set of those ebay headlights.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/94-01...spagenameZWDVW

A major improvement! I do wonder why I didn't do this earlier.
They are a bear to aim because I can't get to the adjuster with my bumper on, need to remove the inner fender and adjust from there, and the turn signal bulb is indexed in a way that the light presses against the connector.
Installation is OK, I'll see how they hold up.

Just my 2c

AlpineRAM

Doj Dewd

don't waste money on sylvania silverstars. the only reason they 'appear' brighter is because they filter out the blue light (giving it a whiter not brighter appearance). spend your money on ge nighthawks or philips vision+ instead. (as per daniel stern's website)

i installed the lmc harness with stock housings and it made a HUGE difference (2000 model year) in my lighting.

i installed the clear one piece housings (same as earlier post) and it made an even bigger difference. seems like it lets more light thru plus a more even spread.

i was happy with these two mods but had to have more light so i did a mod to keep the lows on with the highs ('oldblues' told me of a different way to do it if lmc harness is installed). it was like daylight in the middle of the night - that is of course until my dr headlight (just the bulb) blew into pieces and scratched up the inside of my new housings!
i don't think i am going to try the hi/low mod anymore, just not worth the risk and it's a pain in the because now i have to remove the housing and clean it out.

alpine - i didn't see any adjustment capabilities on my new housings, where are they on yours? i ended up using washers on the upper inner mount point to bring them down. do you have an easier/better way to adjust?

Tractor Truck

My lenses have not yellowed yet but I am sure it is probably just a matter of time. I bought a set of the flosser's a month ago but have not put them in yet because I am trying to decide if I should get the harness first.

bridleman

I have Hella 100w/80w bulbs I ran these before I put the HD harness on there has been not one single bit of difference since the HD harness has been put on. I don't know what the deal is but so far I am not very impressed. I guess I'll be going with a new light housing set up.