OK, so I have spent the last few days going over what I would like to do with my head lights on my truck as far as upgrading them. Currently, I have some clear Ebay housings with stock bulbs in them because my old lights were yellow and cracked up. I would like to put a set of sport headlights in my truck but I am having trouble with figuring out how to go about wiring them.

First, I know that our model trucks have the power go from the battery to the switch then the lights from the factory. I have seen some harnesses that draw power from the battery to the lights directly and the switch only runs a relay for on/off. What, if any, is the best one of these to look into because I plan on having LED or some other bright headlights (Louisiana is pretty easy on our lighting laws) and I know that the factory switch can only handle so much pull.

Second, I have also seen wiring kits (Brite Box and some other off brands) that allow all four lights to be on when my high beams are on. I would like to be able to do this as well so I expect to need the better harness. If anyone has done something like this or has anything to help would be really appreciated.

 

What year is your truck? It makes a difference...

 

dbbd1 It's a 2001.

 

I do believe the newer trucks already have the clearance for the sport headlight housings.... So, you need those, and bulbs, of course.... I would suggest making your own custom harness though. Heavy gauge wire, heavy duty relays, etc. I think you can buy the connectors you need online in various places.....

So, grab power directly from the battery, run it thru the relays, and out to the lights. Ground the lights...... Use the old headlight wiring to supply power to the appropriate relay. For having all four on at once, simply have the high beam circuit from the headlight switch supply power to BOTH headlight relays. You have low draw on the headlight switch, and VERY bright lights.

 

Almost...

Your truck has positive going to your lights (and most everything else), the grounds are then switched by various switches and circuits.

You will need positive to your new relay harness, the truck wiring will provide a ground for your new relays.

And fuse EVERYTHING positive!

Also, as far as the quad on at the same time, you will need a diode between the grounds of your low and high beam relays. So the low only turns on low, high turns on low and high beams.

Otherwise, low will turn on both and so will high.

 

Oops, I'm up on my soap box...

In general, I wire my aux circuits with positive to the relays and/or various items. I then control them in the cab of the truck by switching the ground for the relay. Why? Only one wire to run through the firewall, to the relay/item (a ground can be picked up anywhere in the cab) from my aux switch.

And...

Worst case, the wire gets nicked or otherwise damaged? No sparks, no meltdown, only that the relay/item turns on when it gets shorted to ground.

 

HeyYou: I plan on getting housings and bulbs at some point. Right now I just need help with the wiring setup because I am by no means an electrician. I have a little understanding of running positive power from the battery to a relay and then to the lights but not much else.

dbbd1: Is there somewhere I can get a decent layout of the wiring harness like you described it because it sounds pretty simple. I need positive from my battery to the relay then to the lights with the negative on the relay switched from my stock on/off switch correct? Also, for all four on I would need the stock low circuit to run my low lights and the high circuit to run all four on high?

 

In a few days, I'll try to draw something up and post it.

 

OK, man thanks

 

Alright, see if this helps. Hopefully you have the same color code as in the service manual. You will need to cut you light bulb sockets off of the original wiring harness but, leave enough wire on the socket that you can splice onto. The leftover wiring harness on the passenger side will not be used. Separate each wire and tape them off. From the existing wiring harness on the driver's side, splice the vt/rd wire to your relays, vt/wh to your low beam relay and, rd/or to your high beam relay. You will also need to connect a diode from terminal 86 on your low to terminal 86 on your high, this will give you all 4 lights on at the same time, more on this in a minute. Follow the rest of the drawing, noting the new fuses and sizes. Also note that the vt/rd wire on each socket will need to be grounded now.


Now, back to the diode. If you put it in backwards, you will know, all of your lights will be on, whether in low or high position. Just reverse it then. The silver band on the diode goes towards the high beam relay (unless I screwed up). You will want to find a rectifying diode, I used a 1N4004 for the higher current rating. You could probably also use a 1N4002, 1N4003, or even a 1N4005. Before Radio Shack bit the big weenie, you could have gotten these from there. If you still have one around you, no doubt on life support, run there right now and get one or two. Otherwise, you will need to order one.


If your new housings come with sockets (I would think that they should), you will need to figure out on your own the low, high and ground wire colors (unless you post up a pic, then we could help).




And, as an FYI, this is the same circuit that someone can use to do the "relay conversion" to their headlight system, to re-route the high current from going through their headlight switch (and get mildly brighter lighting). Don't want all 4 lights on at the same time? Don't use the diode.