headlight relays
 

I finally got around to wiring in my headlight relays. I took awhile to round up all the parts I needed because I wanted it to be pretty heavy duty. The topic has been covered in a couple of FAQs, but I found a part I wanted to share. Napa carries a H4 headlight connector part number ECH LS6235
http://www.napaonline.com/NOLPPSE/(S...235_0179940797
It has 14 gauge wire and really nice sandwich type connector lugs that slip on really nice and don't get stuck on the headlight. They're $5 each, but really high quality.
http://www.americanasportswear.com/i...ightsocket.jpg

I also found a great dual relay setup for just $8 on ebay that works great and is simple to mount. It's already got the power and ground wires crossed over and was easy to wire up.

http://cgi.ebay.com/OEM-Style-HD-DUA...742.m153.l1262

I brought a 10 gauge wire from the power block near the battery through the plastic harness shield on top of the radiator support over to the driver's side of the radiator and attached it to a 30 amp universal breaker from Napa. I mounted the relays on the support, just above the horn and used 14 gauge wires to rebuild the headlight portion of the harness and wire in the new headlight connectors. The two wires for the passenger side headlights were run through the harness shield, as well. Everything went well and worked fine. A noticable difference in the brightness of both the headlights and the dash lights. Yea...

I've already got some Hella Conversion headlights to add this weekend. Should be throwing a serious beam by next week!

http://store.summitracing.com/partde...5&autoview=sku

Thanks to everyone else who did install faqs on the headlight relay upgrade. It's a GREAT upgrade for these trucks and should save my headlight switch from a major meltdown, as well. :metal:

Re: headlight relays
 

Here's a shot of the connector:
http://www.americanasportswear.com/i...connector2.jpg
Here's a shot of the install. Horn on lower right, driver's headlight on left with new connector. I still need to clean up this setup, but wanted to stub it in and make sure everything worked. This weekend, I'm going to try to find a junction box to put it all in.
http://www.americanasportswear.com/images/install.jpg

Re: headlight relays
 

Nice info on the wiring parts.Looks like it Came out well.I plan on this mod soon.Let us know if you find a junction box and where.

Re: headlight relays
 

next up, get rid of that external regulator

Re: headlight relays
 

I'm sure I'll get a lot of flack on this, but is this better than the relay kit at LMC? it runs @$29, I've used it in the ford Superduty to replace a bad wire and am thinking of getting it for the 72 (once its on the road)...

Re: headlight relays
 

you shouldn't get flack for that... that's what this whole board thing is all about.
The LMC unit uses very cheap relays, that i know... and i suspect the whole thing is chintzy.

Re: headlight relays
 

I had heard the LMC setup get mixed reviews and I wanted to use a breaker anyway so I'd have a chance at lights if something happened. It seemed pretty easy to build and once I found the headlight sockets in the heavy duty version, it became a no-brainer. I'm sure the LMC setup would be fine if someone didn't want to mess with the wiring.

Re: headlight relays
 

Yeah, that's on the list. I'm hoping to do a serpentine setup soon for the a/c compressor and to upgrade alternators.

The next project on the list is a MSD 6A, small-cap HEI and new wires. My current big-cap HEI is so tight to the firewall I can barely get the cap off. Had to build a special flat blade screwdriver with nothing but a wrap of tape for a handle... ;)

Re: headlight relays
 

Thanks for this. What a great addition to the mod! It's one of the best things I've done to my truck, but I'll be using this on my Camaro and new truck.