need recommendation for brightest low beam headlight

[dougo]

I would like to swap out the low beam headlights on my GMC burb for the brightest lowbeam lights without changing the harness. trying to go this route before figuring out a light bar that i can take on/off for back county trips). dark nights are brutal....i cant see much. i searched the archives....did not see anything (no pun intended).

[mud.man.rj]

I bought HID's for my last truck a 79 Bronco, went HID for low beam only and standard 100watt for high beam, it all plugged in and no big deal, beautiful light and I never used high beam again. My 71 Gm is going to get them after I do a few other things. It came as a seal beam (diamond cut) and bulb kit and fit in as factory would. Think I paid around the $300 mark.

[67swb72klb]

u can get an h-4 conversion kit and also wire in a relay that will realy help u see the light
u can do asearch for the relay wireing diagram

[Blue72slab]

I highly recommend that you install relays to power your lights - it will make a HUGH difference. Use the wires that run to the lights now to switch the relays on so you can send 14V to the lamps from a full power source. I did that and put in halogen lamps and they look twice as bright.

[dougo]

thanks....good recommendations. i hope to do the swap before next road trip in feb to the high desert

[lowrollin70gmc]

I have Hella H4 conversions and relays on my 63 and they are nice and bright at night. I believe they also make a 5 3/4 version for 4 headlight setups.

Also, lights from a 90s BMW 7 series are projectors behind glass lenses that look nearly original. They call them e30 or e32. I ran a set on my donor dodge to pull my 68 home and rarely needed the high beams even in the middle of nowhere. Does take some work to fit them in, but this is what I'll be doing on my 70 once I"m home.

[Street Smart]

I always liked the way the BMW headlights looked, are they 5 1/4 ?
I`d like to use something like that in my GMC as long as it can be clean install.

[dougo]

anyone one have recommendations on where to purchase the headlight relay upgrades? I'd prefer to buy from a board sponsor... and/or someone that can offer a plug-in and go option (looking for easiest and most cost effective with minimal mods - like the stock look, just want to go brighter).

Thanks,
Doug

[lowrollin70gmc]

I wired up my relays myself and there are a few write ups on here, but for originality I don't know of a kit, maybe Wes at Classic Heartbeat, Brothers, or GMCPauls.

The BMW ones are 5 3/4 and here is where I got the idea, but I just wired some up on my tow rig and they have different connectors so it's best to grab some from a junkyard and clip wires. I plugged with blades into the stock connectors for a quick solution.

66 Chevelle w/ BMW Lights

[Street Smart]

Originally Posted by lowrollin70gmc

I wired up my relays myself and there are a few write ups on here, but for originality I don't know of a kit, maybe Wes at Classic Heartbeat, Brothers, or GMCPauls.

The BMW ones are 5 3/4 and here is where I got the idea, but I just wired some up on my tow rig and they have different connectors so it's best to grab some from a junkyard and clip wires. I plugged with blades into the stock connectors for a quick solution.

66 Chevelle w/ BMW Lights

Great info, did you have to trim the radiator support at all to make them fit?

[dougo]

I had a email exchange with Paul Jr. at GMCPauls... thought his comments would be well suited for this thread.

Paul Jr.'s Comments:

First off you should make sure that the headlights are properly positioned its amazing how much more efective the lights are when pointed correctly. One way to increase light output while not having to change anything is to clean all the terminal contacts at the headlights and make sure that the ground wires are clean also, doing this I've seen light output increase tremendously. If you are still running a alternator with a external regulator then you should switch to a internally regulated alternator for improved lighting at lower engine speeds, externally regulated alternators do poorly at low engine speeds causing dim or flickering headlights. You can also replace the current high beam only headlights with high / low beam bulbs and then source a couple of headlight connectors for high / low beam in the Do It Help section of your local auto parts store and then splice them into the low beam side so that all 4 headlights are lit on low beams and when you hit the high beams they still are all lit. This method allows a significate improvement for a low cost and still keeps you legal by not exceeding the original bulb wattage allowed on low beams.
The federal government has begun cracking down on the states not enforcing headlight requirements and its actually against the law to increase the wattage output of the bulbs themselves beyond the original stock wattage. So if you go to a higher wattage bulb you risk being ticketed for excessive light output.
Hope this helps!!
My Best Regards
Paul Jr @ GMCPaul