Questions for the headlight upgrade - The 1947 - Present Chevrolet & GMC Truck Message Board Network

71meangreenc10 · 02-27-2005, 05:10 PM

Im thinkin of changin mine over to H4 lights here are a few questions for anyone who has done this......

1. Does the light kit come with the wiring harness for the new bulbs?
2. Anything special needed to make this work or is this plug and play?
3. Would it help to add light relays? Whats the difference if you have or have not the relays?

Any information will help...

Thanks
Smitty

71swb4x4 · 02-27-2005, 05:13 PM

I did the converstion to mine. The new bulbs should plug into your existing wiring harnes.
I added relays to mine. I wanted to be certain I was getting all the juice I needed, and I didn't want to fry the original wire, I stepped up to higher wattage bulbs.
There may be an FAQ on this that will give you better info. If there isn't - you should make one when you do your swap

71meangreenc10 · 02-27-2005, 05:19 PM

Thanks,
So your bulbs pugged into the factory harness? Im thinkin of using the 50ish /65 watt bulbs, Everything I have read says the harness should be fine..

72BLAZERDUDE · 02-27-2005, 06:22 PM

H4 bulbs have the same 3 prong plugs as stock headlights. My son did the conversion from Ricks. It was plug-n-play. They were better, but he has since changed to those really blue bulbs ( that what 16 yr olds like) and they work great. He never did do the relays and they seem to be okay.

**Stocker** · 02-27-2005, 06:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 71meangreenc10

Thanks,
So your bulbs pugged into the factory harness? Im thinkin of using the 50ish /65 watt bulbs, Everything I have read says the harness should be fine..

Yup, H4 bulbs are plug & play. "Standard" 55/60W bulbs are all I've ever used and are plenty bright IMO, and shouldn't require a relay if your wiring is in good condtion. A relay will be somewhat better, just as it will be with standard sealed beam headlamps.

71meangreenc10 · 02-27-2005, 06:52 PM

Thanks for the input, my option now is who to buy from, I found an article on wiring up the relays and a guy who has the right connectors, I want to do this right, I dont want to hack up my harness.....

4x4Poet · 02-28-2005, 01:22 AM

Done right, the headlight relay harness does not require cutting the factory harness. The tough part is finding the one connector that allows for one factory headlight connector to plug into the back of a connector that also plugs into one headlight, usually the one closest to the alt. madelectrical.com has good relay harness info, but I just noticed they've exceeded their bandwidth. Prolly because another headlight thread with mad linked came to the top today.

02-27-2005, 05:10 PM	#1
71meangreenc10 Its a Truck Thing...... Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Sierra Vista, Arizona Posts: 3,159	Questions for the headlight upgrade Im thinkin of changin mine over to H4 lights here are a few questions for anyone who has done this...... 1. Does the light kit come with the wiring harness for the new bulbs? 2. Anything special needed to make this work or is this plug and play? 3. Would it help to add light relays? Whats the difference if you have or have not the relays? Any information will help... Thanks Smitty __________________ 71 C10 283/3SPD Full Resto 71 GMC 1500 Sierra Grande http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=518599 70 C10 Suburban Former military GSA truck. 72 Chevy Blazer 4X4, Sloppy Jo, Mountain Climber. Wife says no more trucks. http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=707378 72 GMC 1 Ton Motor Home, wife said no more trucks until she saw this one. Gen 3 6.0/4L80E 4.10 http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=761110 68 GMC Suburban was 3/4 ton, now 1/2.Wife shook her head 71 C30 Wrecker 71 C20 Scott-Bilt As weird as it gets..BB Cheyenne AC Truck 68 GMC Long Stepside. They keep following me home 71 C20 Longhorn/Ole Yellor 69 C30 Former Motor Home, Flat Bed time

02-27-2005, 05:13 PM	#2
71swb4x4 Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Brookings, SD Posts: 10,497	I did the converstion to mine. The new bulbs should plug into your existing wiring harnes. I added relays to mine. I wanted to be certain I was getting all the juice I needed, and I didn't want to fry the original wire, I stepped up to higher wattage bulbs. There may be an FAQ on this that will give you better info. If there isn't - you should make one when you do your swap __________________ Some people are like slinkies, they aren't good for anything, but you can't help but smile when you see one tumble down the stairs.

02-27-2005, 05:19 PM	#3
71meangreenc10 Its a Truck Thing...... Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Sierra Vista, Arizona Posts: 3,159	Thanks, So your bulbs pugged into the factory harness? Im thinkin of using the 50ish /65 watt bulbs, Everything I have read says the harness should be fine.. __________________ 71 C10 283/3SPD Full Resto 71 GMC 1500 Sierra Grande http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=518599 70 C10 Suburban Former military GSA truck. 72 Chevy Blazer 4X4, Sloppy Jo, Mountain Climber. Wife says no more trucks. http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=707378 72 GMC 1 Ton Motor Home, wife said no more trucks until she saw this one. Gen 3 6.0/4L80E 4.10 http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=761110 68 GMC Suburban was 3/4 ton, now 1/2.Wife shook her head 71 C30 Wrecker 71 C20 Scott-Bilt As weird as it gets..BB Cheyenne AC Truck 68 GMC Long Stepside. They keep following me home 71 C20 Longhorn/Ole Yellor 69 C30 Former Motor Home, Flat Bed time

02-27-2005, 06:22 PM	#4
72BLAZERDUDE Registered User Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: WATAUGA,TX Posts: 660	H4 bulbs have the same 3 prong plugs as stock headlights. My son did the conversion from Ricks. It was plug-n-play. They were better, but he has since changed to those really blue bulbs ( that what 16 yr olds like) and they work great. He never did do the relays and they seem to be okay. __________________ 72 2wd 307/AT/AC/TILT WHEEL 78 JIMMY HIGH SIERRA

02-27-2005, 06:52 PM	#6
71meangreenc10 Its a Truck Thing...... Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Sierra Vista, Arizona Posts: 3,159	Thanks for the input, my option now is who to buy from, I found an article on wiring up the relays and a guy who has the right connectors, I want to do this right, I dont want to hack up my harness..... __________________ 71 C10 283/3SPD Full Resto 71 GMC 1500 Sierra Grande http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=518599 70 C10 Suburban Former military GSA truck. 72 Chevy Blazer 4X4, Sloppy Jo, Mountain Climber. Wife says no more trucks. http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=707378 72 GMC 1 Ton Motor Home, wife said no more trucks until she saw this one. Gen 3 6.0/4L80E 4.10 http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=761110 68 GMC Suburban was 3/4 ton, now 1/2.Wife shook her head 71 C30 Wrecker 71 C20 Scott-Bilt As weird as it gets..BB Cheyenne AC Truck 68 GMC Long Stepside. They keep following me home 71 C20 Longhorn/Ole Yellor 69 C30 Former Motor Home, Flat Bed time

02-28-2005, 01:22 AM	#7
4x4Poet Registered User Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: "Under Montana skies." Posts: 1,836	Done right, the headlight relay harness does not require cutting the factory harness. The tough part is finding the one connector that allows for one factory headlight connector to plug into the back of a connector that also plugs into one headlight, usually the one closest to the alt. madelectrical.com has good relay harness info, but I just noticed they've exceeded their bandwidth. Prolly because another headlight thread with mad linked came to the top today. __________________ '71 GMC K20 Suburban, '71 GMC K10 Suburban, '72 Chevy C10 CST Suburban, '72 Chevy K20 clunker pickup.



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