Headlight Relay Harness

[tomd]

Finally got around to making a headlight harness, so figured i'd throw some pics up. Next up will be attacking the mess of wiring underhood haha.


Picked up some ceramic headlight plugs


And some relays and pigtails


Mounted the relays behind the front valence


Voltage at battery while engine is running (now we'll show why i did this)


Voltage at Passenger headlight with stock wiring (Passenger since its furthest in the harness)


Voltage at Drivers headlight with new relayed wiring (Drivers since its furthest in the harness)


Kept original wiring as a backup for now so zip tied new loom along the stock one

Works great, haven't actually driven it like this but the numbers show a significant benefit! Let me know if you guys have any questions

Next project

[dbabicky]

I did the same to mine except I cheated.................I bought mine complete for $29 from LMC.

[tomd]

Originally Posted by dbabicky

I did the same to mine except I cheated.................I bought mine complete for $29 from LMC.

Hehe i thought about doing that but i have enough other wiring to work on i figured it was a good start

[serehill]

A lot better than the chinese single relay junkers. I had nothing but trouble with them. The double relay allows redundancy. The single relay chinese ones when the relay goes out your're done. Try to find one LOL. The relay goes out on the one you still have lights. Replacement at any Mc parts store. Besides the better light from this set up.

[Lindel]

I did that with my TJ last week, along with the E-code/H4 upgrade. An amazing difference in the amount of light.

I eventually plan to do it with the waggie too.

[tomd]

I have ordered up some H4 housings and bulbs too, excited to see the difference between setups

[dbabicky]

Originally Posted by serehill

A lot better than the chinese single relay junkers. I had nothing but trouble with them. The double relay allows redundancy. The single relay chinese ones when the relay goes out your're done. Try to find one LOL. The relay goes out on the one you still have lights. Replacement at any Mc parts store. Besides the better light from this set up.

Th one from LMC is the dual relay, USA made. Very well constructed.

[Jeep'rs Creep'rs]

Originally Posted by dbabicky

I did the same to mine except I cheated.................I bought mine complete for $29 from LMC.

care to expand on this statement? i only see chevy, ford, dodge and gmc on their website...

[tomd]

Originally Posted by Jeep'rs Creep'rs

care to expand on this statement? i only see chevy, ford, dodge and gmc on their website...

A headlight harness is going to be fairly generic, but i would be curious what model was used.

[serehill]

Originally Posted by tomd

A headlight harness is going to be fairly generic, but i would be curious what model was used.

What seperates the toys from the good ones are good wiring ,relays that are quality & good porcelain sockets. There's no doubt that this is an area where getting what you don't pay for can burn you. The newer lights get really hot Plastic sockets don't last long. They get very brittle. Maybe with stock lights you can get a few years out of them they should at the very least be bakelight.

The wiring burnt up on one of my harnesses at the bulb from what looked like the metal connector became loose from the bulb terminal. The socket melted & eventually blew the fuse. That happened with silverstar bulbs. That melted the socket & about 8" of the wire before it shorted.

An important point to make is I use my headlights a lot probably average usage would be less of an issue. After sitting in Panama Florida waiting for a parts place to open. I decided No more cheapies. That was my 3 rd harness. I 'm now approaching the building of 200 of these without issue. I know what a good one would cost.





Tomd has the right stuff.
Super duty fuse holder/ Actually circuit breaker in this case. Beats nylon inline fuse holder.
Right wire size
High quality accessible relays
Porcelain sockets


How much do you have in your harness tomd ??

I'm sure these are not the exact ones because these are not H-4. I couldn't find them but they probably have them. With shipping would probably put cost nearer the 40 dollar range.
http://www.lmctruck.com/ICATALOG/DE/full.aspx?Page=61

[dbabicky]

Originally Posted by Jeep'rs Creep'rs

care to expand on this statement? i only see chevy, ford, dodge and gmc on their website...

I used the one for an 82 Chevy K30 with just the 2 headlight system. There all pretty generic as stated above. If the harness is built for a 2 headlight system it's gonna work. I origanally had installed it on the 82 K30, but sold the truck before I completed it. I had purchased the J-10 and removed the harness off the K30 before I sold it and installed it on my 75 J-10.

[tomd]

Originally Posted by serehill

How much do you have in your harness tomd ??

About $23 plus shipping for the parts i ordered from Rockauto, and a couple more bucks for ring terminals/heatshrink/solder.

My dad questioned if i considered these relays accessible, and while it requires the removal of the headlight bucket to change them (if my grille is on), i feel thats acceptable for my usage. I'm trying to clean up some of the underhood clutter.

Drove the jeep last night and holy crap thats an improvement! Ordered up some inexpensive H4 housings and bulbs as well so should be set for a while

[serehill]

It's the best place for the relays. 23 in everything is way cheap. Does that include everything wire ETC????

I'm using the best of everything & spending more than that in volume.

I suppose they are as generic as a kia & a lexus are cars.

[tomd]

Originally Posted by serehill

It's the best place for the relays. 23 in everything is way cheap. Does that include everything wire ETC????

eBay stuff:
$6 Relays and pigtails (I bought extras for other projects)
$6.29 Cermamic Headlight Plugs
Rockauto stuff:
$2.45 20A Bussman Breaker
$2.01 12gau Red 12ft
$2.01 12gau Yellow 12ft
$2.01 12gau Black 12ft
+ shipping
Lowes stuff:
$2.60 Split loom
$.90 Self drilling Screws

Wire was on closeout on rockauto and i had over half of it leftover.

[serehill]

Originally Posted by tomd

eBay stuff:
$6 Relays and pigtails (I bought extras for other projects)
$6.29 Cermamic Headlight Plugs
Rockauto stuff:
$2.45 20A Bussman Breaker
$2.01 12gau Red 12ft
$2.01 12gau Yellow 12ft
$2.01 12gau Black 12ft
+ shipping
Lowes stuff:
$2.60 Split loom
$.90 Self drilling Screws

Wire was on closeout on rockauto and i had over half of it leftover.

U did good

[tomd]

And i ordered up http://www.ebay.com/itm/300792076687... 4.m1497.l2649 We'll see how i like 'em, if i don't, i'll save 'em for another project. Obviously the blue bulb is going away.

[serehill]

Originally Posted by tomd

And i ordered up http://www.ebay.com/itm/300792076687?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p398 4.m1497.l2649 We'll see how i like 'em, if i don't, i'll save 'em for another project. Obviously the blue bulb is going away.

Just throw the blue mini bulbs away. same housings I have with HIDs

[tomd]

Serehill, are those stone guards on them? Where did you get them if so?

[joe]

Originally Posted by tomd

I have ordered up some H4 housings and bulbs too, excited to see the difference between setups

With H4's if you go higher than stock wattage I'd recommend also swapping the plastic plug for a ceramic one. Avail where ever to buy the lamps.

[tomd]

Originally Posted by joe

With H4's if you go higher than stock wattage I'd recommend also swapping the plastic plug for a ceramic one. Avail where ever to buy the lamps.

Yep, if you look in there they are ceramic plugs with orange boots on them.