Do yourself a favor, don't buy Summit Racing/APC wiring harness

[DDiMarco]

I recently purchased and installed the Summit Racing/APC wiring harness for improved headlight brightness and after 4 hours of playing, troubleshooting and wringing out the harness, I have concluded it is junk and NOT COMPATIBLE with 3rd Gen trucks. The harness is wired wrong, the harness headlamp bulb connectors are not compatible with the DC configuration and the 3gen computer does not like relays. The center tap of the factory configuration is GROUND, the aftermarket harness is not. The aftermarket connector forked prong that engages the bulb connector peg is too short to engage properly and the relays cycle at approx once per second when they see and input from the computer (turn the headlights on). I emailed Daniel Stern of the very fine web site http://danielsternlighting.com and he agrees that the computer needs a parallel resistive load across terminals 85 and 86 in order for any relay to work with the 3rd gen computer. I will post again when I try it. Meanwhile, don't waste your money, see Daniel's website for quality parts.

 

[Forrest Nearing]

you can't spell "crap" without APC

 

[ROCKJEEP]

Nobody belives Joel. The third gens are computer controlled. You can't just rewire it. Pony up the money and do it right. I love my brighter lights. I have the bright boxes and silverstar bulbs for the headlights and 9005 piaas for the now flood lamps. I live in the boonies and can see great. The stock lights suck. I'm going to put on randy ellis's light bar and a piaa lights. The center pair will be pencil tip and the outer pair will be flood lights. Hid of coarse.

Kory

 

[Joel - BAA]

Rammers,



Just a quick note regarding this subject . . .



The installation of relays with a resistive load added (IF they work) WILL disable the headlight monitoring system ("lamp out" light warning in dash) that is built into every 3G truck. I'm sure every court in the land will consider this to be a safety feature of the truck, and if you bypass it, you must be willing to accept the consequences. Get into an accident, and any attorney that finds out you bypassed a safety item will nail your *** to the wall! Of course it is YOUR truck and you can do whatever you want to it. Don't want to sound like a broken record, but you must be willing to pay if you play.



In most vehicles, adding relays to brighten the headlights is a no brainer. Obviously the 3G Ram IS a different animal.



Respectfully submitted,



Joel Toy

Baker Auto Accessories

970. 879. 4200

bakerautoaccessories.com



P. S. The Brite Box applications we make for these trucks are 100% compatible with the above mentioned lamp out warning system.

 

[DDiMarco]

Thanks for the advice.

 

[WStoops]

In most vehicles, adding relays to brighten the headlights is a no brainer. Obviously the 3G Ram IS a different animal.



I tapped into the high beam wire of one of my headlights, used that lead to close the relay and wired a pair of H3 Halogens to the relay. No codes, no warnings, seems to work fine???? Are we talking about something different here like wiring into the fuse block?

 

[Joel - BAA]

Our experience with these vehicles has shown that tapping into the high beam wire in the manner described by WStoops causes the lamp out light to malfunction or causes the lights to flicker in SOME vehicles, but not others. Why? Most likely differences in relay coil resistance and slight differences in computers. Yes, we have found the computer to be THAT sensitive. Case in point is the well documented false alarm of the lamp out light due to SLIGHTLY loose tail light sockets in these trucks. If WStoop's truck does not flicker, and his lamp out light never comes on, is all well?



The big question is "Does this eliminate the functionality of the lamp out light on the filament the relay is tapped into?" I don't know for sure, but I suspect it might for the following reason . . . the computer looks for a break in the filament. If it sees current flow through the filament, all is well. If current does not flow it turns on the lamp out light. Does the coil of the relay provide a constant path for current flow, so it always looks like a live bulb to the computer?



Please be aware that the computer monitors each high and low beam filament separately - in another words, it can tell right high beam from left high beam (same for lows). In WStoop's case he may have sacrificed his computer's ability to sense a fault on the high beam filament he tapped into.



Further experimentation on a large cross section of trucks would provide the answer since what works on one truck in a seamless manner causes other side effects on others. I took us well over a year and 4 different designs of the Brite Box to get the product where it now works seamlessly with all the trucks.



Regards,

Joel Toy

Baker Auto Accessories

970. 879. 4200

bakerautoaccessories.com

 

[WStoops]

It did disable the lamp out warning as removal of the bulb does not activate the warning. There is no flickering or anything like that going on. Nedt time I'd go

Brite Box for sure as I still feel the need for more light and the fogs on with the low beams is a sure fire solution.

 

[Joel - BAA]

Readers of this thread should note that tapping a relay into the high beam in the manner done by WStoops not only eliminated the monitoring of the health of the high beam filament, but also that of the low beam! With the headlight bulb removed, there was no low beam filament, so the lamp out light should have come on.



Not to be a salesman, but we do build special Brite Boxes with an isolated output to run a driving light relay.



Joel Toy

Baker Auto Accessories

970. 879. 4200

thebritebox.com

 

[DDiMarco]

I agree with OCLV; I think the computer is ultra-sensitive. The crappy Summit relays are 98 ohms and the wiring harness taps into both low and high beams and uses two seperate relays. According to wstoops, it should have worked but it didn't. The relays just sit there and cycle once per sec. In addition, I could distinctly hear something click when I opened the drivers side door during my troublshooting; not sure if it was the Summit relays or an existing truck relay under the fusebox. Regardless, a BriteBox is in my future.

 

[WStoops]

Readers of this thread should note that tapping a relay into the high beam in the manner done by WStoops not only eliminated the monitoring of the health of the high beam filament, but also that of the low beam! With the headlight bulb removed, there was no low beam filament, so the lamp out light should have come on.



Not to be a salesman, but we do build special Brite Boxes with an isolated output to run a driving light relay.



Joel Toy

Baker Auto Accessories

970. 879. 4200

thebritebox.com

High and low beams are seperate bulbs, not dual filament single bulbs. The relay was from an aftermarket driving light kit, not summit engineering. Still, Brite Box for me on the next one. No substitute for Highs, Lows and Fogs all at once. Will it work on the 05 Durango and the 1500 Gasser??

Wayne