BOMBed Multifunction (high beam) Switch

[Joseph Donnelly]

Would the third one be in the second place or the third place

 

[Hercules130]

so you get the same effect from installing i fogzilla as you do with 2 brite boxes?

 

[Hercules130]

never mind, i figured it out. i read the install instructions on the brite box website. they said if you hold the switch in the flash to pass position it can cause to much of a load and melt the sytem. is there any validity to this? or are they just saying that to get you to buy there product? if i modify my headlight lever will it have 3 positions or just go from low beams all the way to hi/low/fog postion?

 

[Joseph Donnelly]

I am not an expert on how the lighting works. I do know that Brite Box has its own power from the battery, so it is not using the stock wiring harness for everything and just fooling the computer. Therefore, I expect there is validity to their statement.

 

[bighammer]

I finally posted the picture that shows the raised bump that holds the switch in after the screws are removed. Took me long enough.

 

[Blakers]

I finally posted the picture that shows the raised bump that holds the switch in after the screws are removed. Took me long enough.

I appreciate the pictures Bighammer..... but I just can't make them out. Too dark!

 

[seafish]

Bighammer,

just wondering how this headlight switch mod has worked for you for a few years now-- any problems with overheating using all the hi/lo/fogs for extended periods of time?? It seems like a pretty simple and great mod to do if there have been no strange side effects on your lighting system.

 

[bighammer]

I wouldn't go back for anything. No problems at all.

The only downside I have found is that if you bump the switch and the hi beams are on, you can get out with no chime and they stay on.

 

[seafish]

That's great to know--I am going to do this one of these weeks as I am tired of trying to hold the control lever in and drive on these curvy roads I live on; I will also be installing the Hella ff200 driving lights on my UTE bumper for additional light, but they will be wired through a relay with their own wire to the battery, so that shouldn't heat things up. Just curious what the longestinterval you have driven using all of the lights on with your switch?

 

[Bob V]

I also have done this mod, been over 3 yrs and no porblems. The only wire I would worry about is the ground wire for each light. Each high and low beam for each side has its own relay and wireing. NO current goes through the switch. It is just an input to the computer.

 

[seafish]

Bob V. thanks for the additional info.

About how long did it take you to do??
Did you use Bighammers pix, or just do it yourself?

Any tips??

 

[Bob V]

I didn't know about Bighammers post when I did mine. I posted here

https://www.turbodieselregister.com...-discussions/148135-poor-mans-bright-box.html

 

[seafish]

Finally did it!!!

Just bringing this thread back from the dead, cuz I FINALLY did it today.

Took a few hours, and I DID do the mod on a NEW multifunction switch ($65 delivered) before I took out my old one, so that I could still drive just in case I needed anything while doing the mod. Plus, I can use the old multifunction switch, which still works, to return the truck back to stock if that is ever an issue, or if the new switch goes bad... ...

BUT IT WORKS GREAT !!!!!! Just like Bighammer and BobV said it would.
I can now drive down the these dark and curvy roads using my low beams, high beams AND fog lights on all at once (well OF COURSE I change back to low when someone is coming!!!!) and now I can actually see REALLY well near AND far down the road, instead of just seeing barely at all AND trying to drive down these windy roads while using one hand to hold the switch in the midway (optical horn) position. Furthermore, there are NO Briteboxes to go bad and leave me blind on the road like has happened to some. (NOT badmouthing Briteboxes, just NOT for me)

Anyway, the only tips I have to add to this thread are to:
(1) Buy a second brand new multifunction switch to work on and modify BEFORE you pull your steering cover off and old switch out.

(2) Buy and use a small 1/4" shank diamond point bit set from Harbor Freight (here it is-- 10 Piece 1/4" Shank Diamond Point Grinding Set) to carefully remove and reshape the plastic part of the switch that need to get modified in order to create a center stop/detent that the switch will stay in when you put it there. The bit with the small ball at its head is particularly useful.

Like BobV pointed out, this procedure is NOT for the faint of heart who have trouble putting things with small parts back together again, BUT by working on a new switch instead of first dismantling your truck, it removes almost all of the stress factor... if you mess up for some reason and break something, you are out only $60, NOT your whole truck. Also, note that in BobV pix on his thread, he actually took apart more of the switch then necessary... at least for me I was able to grind away on the plastic without removing the interior of the multifunctiuon switch and all of the tiny sliding metal contacts taht make up its innards...

Here is the gig... ALL you have to do is:

(1) remove the 2 screws which hold the plastic "clamshell" together behind the steering wheel (torx bit)

(2) Remove the steering wheel up/down lever (pull back towards the driver seat)

(3) Pull the top half of the clamshell up and the bottom half down, spreading it out around the ignition switch

(4) Disconnect the wiring harness from the switch by pulling back the red locking tab and then sliding the plug towards the front of the truck

(5) Remove the 2 phillips screws which hold the multifunction switch to the steering column (they are on the left side top and bottom,just next to where the switch stalk joins the switch body... NOTE--a right angle phillips screwdriver is REALLY helpful here). Then, depress the little grey tab in the center of the switch body while pulling along the stalk, strait towards the drivers door... it WILL slide right out.

(6)Once the switch is out, the hardest and most intricate part is slowly chewing away at the plastic to make the center detents that will allow the switch to stay in the midway position. . , but slow and steady with the diamond point bits AND with lots of pulling on the stalk to see how it is working, did the trick just fine. Once you have made the center detents, you DO need to remove more plastic behind them towards the back of the switch in order to recreate the ramp that allows the switch to move into all 3 positions. Note that by removing the plastic, you are changing the springiness of the switch, so that instead of having it return forward after you pull it back into high beam mode, you will have to pull and push it to select the mode you want. But if done carefully and right, it still pulls and pushes EASILY and STAYS where you want it. It is little differnt from the cars and trucks I used to drive where one pushed forward for highbeam and pulled back for low beam (I think it was my first Toyota truck?!)
NOTE:While it does seem as if removing part of the plastic will weaken the switch, on closer inspection, and if done right, I see NO problems wirh this mod--you are only removing a portion of the thickness of the switch framing only at the top of the frame (see arrows in their pics) and the switch frame remains thick and strong BELOW the little bit that you are taking away.

(7) Reassembly, using the modified switch, is simply the reverse of the above steps.


Sorry I did NOT take pics, but Bighammers and BobV's pics will do the trick. I printed out the important part of their instructions and pictures, and then just took them down to the workshop to do the deed. Took about 3 hours overall, including taking out the old and putting in the new switch that I had already modded.


Finally, HUGE thanks to Bighammer and BobV for pioneering the way so that others CAN SEE THE LIGHT!!!!!! :-lafOo.

 

[scottmcd]

I think I will order the parts and do this and remove the Brite Box. One of the headlight harnesses has crack and wont hold a bulb.

 

[seafish]

I think I will order the parts and do this and remove the Brite Box. One of the headlight harnesses has crack and wont hold a bulb.

I DO want to point out that there is one possible minor drawback to this mod... .

Since the "spring loaded action" of the high beam switch is incapacitated by this mod, the forward/back motion of the switch is chosen MANUALLY. Push the stalk forward, it STAYS forward, and you are in regular low beam mode... Pull the stalk back, and it STAYS back, and you are in high beam mode, with the EXTRA ability to be able to run your fog lights and low beams at the same time (just like in the "momentary" oem pulled back position. All of these positions work really well, BUT there is one caveat--

IF the switch is LEFT in the pulled back/high beam postion, the high beams WILL stay on, The blue highbeam indicator light WILL be lit and the high beams will STAY on EVEN IF THE HEADLIGHT SWITCH IS OFF, EVEN AFTER THE ENGINE IS TURNED OFF AND EVEN AFTER THE KEY IS REMOVED... until the switch is MANUALLY returned to the forward position.

Since I myself tend to go through a "shut down"/cockpit check, this has NOT been a problem for me, and the advantages of running low,high and foglights to obtain excellent forwrd lighting while driving when no one els is driving towards me, is priceless, particularly since potentially there can be zero cost to this mod, as well as NO Britebox to go out and potentially leave me without any lights at all, as has happened to others on occasion.

All that being said, on ONE occasion, I looked out from my house to check on my truck and saw that the headlights were left ON, which I never do, particularly since the oem ECM turns them off in case I forget to :-laf .
I was very surprised, and walked out to the truck and the multifunction switch was pulled BACK, thus activating the high beams, wth NO WAY for the ECM to turn them off. I realized that ealier in the day, when I had gone to my truck to get something from the cab, as I had leaned in to grab the itme from the center console, I had ACCIDENTLY moved the stalk switch to the BACK postion, where it stayed until I noticed the problem later. This in no way affects my LOVE for this mod. It has happened once, with no ill effects since I caught it well before the batteries were discharged, and now I am careful to check the switch postion before I leave my truck, even when I only lean in to get something !!

 

[bighammer]

I DO want to point out that there is one possible minor drawback to this mod... .

Since the "spring loaded action" of the high beam switch is incapacitated by this mod, the forward/back motion of the switch is chosen MANUALLY. Push the stalk forward, it STAYS forward, and you are in regular low beam mode... Pull the stalk back, and it STAYS back, and you are in high beam mode, with the EXTRA ability to be able to run your fog lights and low beams at the same time (just like in the "momentary" oem pulled back position. All of these positions work really well, BUT there is one caveat--

IF the switch is LEFT in the pulled back/high beam postion, the high beams WILL stay on, The blue highbeam indicator light WILL be lit and the high beams will STAY on EVEN IF THE HEADLIGHT SWITCH IS OFF, EVEN AFTER THE ENGINE IS TURNED OFF AND EVEN AFTER THE KEY IS REMOVED... until the switch is MANUALLY returned to the forward position.

Since I myself tend to go through a "shut down"/cockpit check, this has NOT been a problem for me, and the advantages of running low,high and foglights to obtain excellent forwrd lighting while driving when no one els is driving towards me, is priceless, particularly since potentially there can be zero cost to this mod, as well as NO Britebox to go out and potentially leave me without any lights at all, as has happened to others on occasion.

All that being said, on ONE occasion, I looked out from my house to check on my truck and saw that the headlights were left ON, which I never do, particularly since the oem ECM turns them off in case I forget to :-laf .
I was very surprised, and walked out to the truck and the multifunction switch was pulled BACK, thus activating the high beams, wth NO WAY for the ECM to turn them off. I realized that ealier in the day, when I had gone to my truck to get something from the cab, as I had leaned in to grab the itme from the center console, I had ACCIDENTLY moved the stalk switch to the BACK postion, where it stayed until I noticed the problem later. This in no way affects my LOVE for this mod. It has happened once, with no ill effects since I caught it well before the batteries were discharged, and now I am careful to check the switch postion before I leave my truck, even when I only lean in to get something !!

That's a really good point. Because it's a spring-loaded switch, the ECM thinks you're sitting there holding it for some reason and and will keep the hi beams lit until the battery gives out.

That being said, I wouldn't go back to stock for anything.

 

[seafish]

That being said, I wouldn't go back to stock for anything.

I totally agree !!! Thanks again for helping to pioneer this simple but effective mod !!!

 

[thashane]

Not to zombie this post, but

Can anyone direct me to a link with photos? The ones in this post dont work for me, and all my searches keep redirecting me back here.

 

[bighammer]

I don't think I have the photos anymore. I do have an extra switch that I could modify and take new photos of. (or just put it in a box and mail it to you)

 

[thashane]

Thanks, not necessary, I have a switch was just trying not to reinvent the process if i could find another post with pics. Hopefully ill figure it out once i have it apart.

Ive seen the pics in the past, just finally getting around to doing this after my door latch broke and i needed mopar parts.