dodge sport headlight

[drwish62]

wire harness

The Patriot, they look pretty easy to use , do they just plug in to the mani harness. What I don't understand is what the relay for.

 

[Rob Thomas]

He probobly uses relays 'cause the way he has it set up is to have all 4 bulbs burnin' at the same time ,keeps from havin' a meltdown.

 

[drwish62]

Wire harness

10-1 ramthis1, I wonder if the headlight bulbs that i have now would still work i have xenon blue, I've had them since I had my 99 gasser with no melt down the wattage is 80 low 100 high,I was think of getting another set of the same wattage.

 

[Rob Thomas]

Good question,I also have those bulbs,at $37 a pair I'd like to re-use them if I could. They're cool!

 

[redneckdr]

80/100 w bulbs

these should be no problem with 10-12 ga wire, and 30 amp supply to 30 amp relays.

 

[Rob Thomas]

Cool!Now I only have to buy 2 bulbsOo.

 

[jsimpson]

Sport headlights come with bulbs.

 

[The patriot]

Originally posted by RAMTHIS1

He probobly uses relays 'cause the way he has it set up is to have all 4 bulbs burnin' at the same time ,keeps from havin' a meltdown.

Well, not really. The way it works with the harness, is the stock wiring just controls the relays. It takes all the amperes off the factory stuff.

The relays are actuated by the factory wiring, so all the load is off the factory stuff.

Makes the factory stuff into a switching circuit.

Eric

 

[drwish62]

Eric, thanks for the insite that what iwas look for.

 

[redneckdr]

lights

what the patriot said. any of you rewiring should remember that DC would most likely use that as an excuse to "skate" if your truck burned, and DC could figure out you had rewired the headlights. in actuality, if done carefully, the rewire makes things much safer. the only load on the OEM switch and high low beam switch is the load of the relays... ... prolly less than 1 amp.

 

[Rob Thomas]

Yea, thats what I figuerd when I said "MELTDOWN".

 

[Chipstien]

Coolbulbs HD harness is fine

For those who are skeptical of the coolbulbs heavy duty harness because of it using 14 guage wire... . don't be. 14 guage wire is rated for 20 amps of current. 100 watt bulbs use 8. 333 amps of current each, being two would be 16. 666 amps total which is well under the rated ampacity of the wire. The bottleneck is in the headlight switch anyway. You could use a harness like the coolbulbs with phone wire and it would probably work better just because of the relays.

PS. My truck came with the sport lights so I have two separate harnesses. If you were to design your own harness to incorporate all four bulbs than you would need to use #10 AWG wire. #10 is rated for 35 amps and four 100 watt bulb use 32. 3 amps. #12 wire is rated for 25 amps which would be a good recipe for Meltdown like previously discussed

Also I do not currently use the coolbulbs harness but have been looking for an aftermarket harness other than the APC puny-duty pathetic harness for some time now. I will have to try these.

 

[The patriot]

Chip, it came in a package marked APC.

 

[Bigramguy]

If your looking for the connector to plug into the truck side of the headlamp harness,try a truck outfitter or snow plow shop. Most plows are installed with these type of connectors for a "plug and play",or spliceless installation.

 

[The patriot]

Chipstein, I have APC part#'s 50. 9104 for the 9004 harness, and part# 50. 9106 for the 9007's.

Maybe you could find them cheaper somewhere else.

HTH

Eric

 

[Un-Hemi]

Who or what is APC?

 

[Chipstien]

APC, YIKES!

Who or what is APC?

APC is a company that specializes in Import accessories and also makes the trick european taillight lenses you see on alot of cars and trucks. Can't say what the other product they sell are like but the harnesses apparently have a horrendous return rate. The type that when you plug them in they cause a meltdown of the factory harness. Or they just don't work right or don't work at all. One Offroad shop in area quit selling them due to the failure rate. Of course this was 5months ago so they might have improved them since but I won't buy the APC harness untill I know for sure that they are better



Patriot, did you say the the Coolbulb harness are APC Product. Have you had any problem with them. If they are working now then I wouldn't worry about them. There is really nothing that can go wrong as long as they were wired right. Apparently its getting one that is right that is the hard part.

 

[Un-Hemi]

I can see where these harnesses might cause a problem. Most older vehicles use a switched 'hot' headlight system. Later Rams use a switched ground headlight system. Does the manufacturer of these harnesses recognize this, and include installation instructions for BOTH systems???????

 

[Chipstien]

Actually your typical 30 amp relay will work on switched ground. A relay has a small coil in it that pulls the circuit closed. It will not work with either the + or the - hooked up alone. But once you hook up both... .

 

[Un-Hemi]

Yes, it will, but the 'pre-wired' harness must be wired differently to allow for the type of switching, either 'hot' or 'ground'. That's the point I'm trying to clarify. That could be why Patriot had to mess with his harness, and why he's still having some high/low switching issues.