2nd Gen Non-Engine/Transmission Headlight Rewire--turn both Lo & Hi Beams on at same time

[rrausch]

I got tired of driving with lousy visibility when using the High Beams--I wanted the Low Beams to come on at the same time the High Beams were on without burning up my headlight switch! And I didn't want to spend the money for one of those "boxes"... so this is what I did.



OK... I bought a Bosch 30A relay and also a wiring harness for it. Pep Boys or Auto Z. probably don't have this stuff. Napa might. Any good relay will work, and you don't have to have a wiring harness for it, but it helps simplify things.



Or you can order the Bosch Relay and a Wiring Harness for it from a place called M. A. D. Enterprises. They are a speciality 12Volt Wiring place for car nuts. The relay & wiring harness are more expensive through them, --but they also sell an Insulated Terminal BLock which makes the job go a lot easier. They sell the Terminal Block for $5. (I got a few of them) Their phone number is (559) 539-7128 their website is Madelectrical.com



First I scouted a place to install the Relay--I picked a place near the driver's side battery and drilled a small hole into the sheet metal to take a screw to hold the Relay. I also drilled another small hole nearby to hold the Terminal Block.



I needed a source for 12 Volt +. I used the MadElectrical Terminal block, and ran 12V+ to it by soldering a 10 Gauge wire into the Positive Battery Cable and then running the 10 Gauge wire to the Terminal block. (The Mad terminal block has plenty of room to safely add other electrical wires to it if needed for future additional electrical goodies. ) I suggest you also install a fuse in that 10 Gauge line.



In addition to the + Batt Cable, there are 2 other places where I stripped insulation from existing wire and soldered another wire into it. At these solder joints, I used Liquid Electrical Tape on it, and after that dried, I also used 3M electrical tape to keep the elements out.



Ok... now for the wiring:

The idea is to use the High Beam current-flow to trigger the Relay so that the Relay turns on the Low beams at the same time. Then, when you hit the multifunction switch and dim the lights back to Low Beam, no current goes through the Relay and the High Beams stay off. All this without adding any appreciable current load to the Headlight Switch.



So you will have to determine which wire sends current to the High Beams, and which one sends current to the Low Beams. I used my Service Manual wiring diagrams, and confirmed which wires were which with a tester. I had to pull some of the tape off the Headlight Wiring Harness, which runs below the Radiator. I separated out both the Low Beam & the High Beam wires and MADE SURE they were the correct ones with the tester.



Then I stripped some insulation off of each wire, I soldered in 2 lengths of 12 Gauge wire--1 onto the High Beam Wire, another onto the Low Beam Wire, long enough to be routed back up to where my relay was installed near the driver's side battery.



Then I wired the Relay. I ran 12 Volt + from the Terminal Block to the wire for the #30 connector, and I ran the Low Beam Lead to the wire for the #87 Connector. I wired the High Beam Lead to #85, to trigger the Relay and Grounded #86. That did it! I tested it and I'm driving happy at night now!

 

[Bob Wagner]

http://www.dodgeram.org/tech/mods/electric/headlight.htm

 

[y-knot]

Stylin Concepts sells a kit to do the same thing for $19. 99.



Also Summit Racing now has a kit that allows full voltage to get to the headlights. This kit takes all the load off the factory head light switch, and only uses it to activate the relays. It is complete and plugs in. Very nice look way to go, for only 39. 95

 

[rrausch]

Thanks Bob Wagner! I gave that page a quick read and it is basically the same idea I came up with. It sounds like he used crimp-on tabs to splice into the wires. I don't trust those crimp-on tabs for something like the headlights, that's why I soldered mine. But to each his own!



y-knot, I wonder what you get for 19. 99? I paid about that for the stuff to do mine.

 

[ceastmen]

Geno's Garage has an item called a Brite Box that does what you

want, it plugs in to existing harness. The heat generated

by turning both on at the same time stays in the Box not the light switch. It is more expensive than what your spending.

 

[Joe G.]

This mod has been around for some time. I could not find the oldest thread about it. Buried in the archives I think. All you need to do this is a relay (Radio Shack about $5) , some wire, and solder. Total cost less than $8. If you get a project box to put it in you still have to work at it to spend more than $15. I've had mine like that since '96. No problems at all. If you want problems then use wiring short cuts like t-taps. Solder is the only way to have trouble free connections for wiring mods. Mine is wired so that my 100W running lights come on with the high beams as well as the low beams. No extra load on the light switch for this mod.

 

[rrausch]

Thanks, Joe G. , I know this mod has been around for awhile. The way I describe it is the way I thought it out and installed it--I'm sure someone else has thought of doing it the same way, it is an easy mod for someone with skills and a brain. I posted it because I referred to it in another post and immediately got 5 P. M. 's asking me for particulars.



And ceastmen, I just didn't want to spend a hundred bucks for a Bright Box when I could do the same thing for less than $20 and have some fun working on my truck.



By the way, I also have my Clearance lights running through a Bosch Relay. I put a switch in the ground wire on that relay so I can switch the lights off-on while running!

 

[johncameron]

Why don't you just buy a set of Hella 500 driving lamps. It comes with the relay, switch and wires required. I found them for 63. 00 at www.4x4connection.com



Item on LIHE76110.



My . 02$

 

[y-knot]

The best fix is through a kit offered by Jeggs. They have a complete plug in kit that takes all the load off the stock light switch and replaces the small factory wiring with new. The old wiring ends up with only the load on the relays on it, and the lamp draw is taken directly from the batteries. This results is brighter lights without the worry of a switch overload.

 

[Joe G.]

I've got driving lights plus high beams plus low beams on at the same time. Sometimes I still have close calls with deer on US101. If it was legal I would put more light on than that.

 

[mainer]

Gee, you learn something everyday! I spent an hour cutting bungee cord to get just the right tension so it'd hold the switch lever in just the right spot! ... ... just kidding

 

[grtescpa]

Originally posted by rrausch

I got tired of driving with lousy visibility when using the High Beams--I wanted the Low Beams to come on at the same time the High Beams were on without burning up my headlight switch! And I didn't want to spend the money for one of those "boxes"... so this is what I did.



OK... I bought a Bosch 30A relay and also a wiring harness for it. Pep Boys or Auto Z. probably don't have this stuff. Napa might. Any good relay will work, and you don't have to have a wiring harness for it, but it helps simplify things.



Or you can order the Bosch Relay and a Wiring Harness for it from a place called M. A. D. Enterprises. They are a speciality 12Volt Wiring place for car nuts. The relay & wiring harness are more expensive through them, --but they also sell an Insulated Terminal BLock which makes the job go a lot easier. They sell the Terminal Block for $5. (I got a few of them) Their phone number is (559) 539-7128 their website is Madelectrical.com



First I scouted a place to install the Relay--I picked a place near the driver's side battery and drilled a small hole into the sheet metal to take a screw to hold the Relay. I also drilled another small hole nearby to hold the Terminal Block.



I needed a source for 12 Volt +. I used the MadElectrical Terminal block, and ran 12V+ to it by soldering a 10 Gauge wire into the Positive Battery Cable and then running the 10 Gauge wire to the Terminal block. (The Mad terminal block has plenty of room to safely add other electrical wires to it if needed for future additional electrical goodies. ) I suggest you also install a fuse in that 10 Gauge line.



In addition to the + Batt Cable, there are 2 other places where I stripped insulation from existing wire and soldered another wire into it. At these solder joints, I used Liquid Electrical Tape on it, and after that dried, I also used 3M electrical tape to keep the elements out.



Ok... now for the wiring:

The idea is to use the High Beam current-flow to trigger the Relay so that the Relay turns on the Low beams at the same time. Then, when you hit the multifunction switch and dim the lights back to Low Beam, no current goes through the Relay and the High Beams stay off. All this without adding any appreciable current load to the Headlight Switch.



So you will have to determine which wire sends current to the High Beams, and which one sends current to the Low Beams. I used my Service Manual wiring diagrams, and confirmed which wires were which with a tester. I had to pull some of the tape off the Headlight Wiring Harness, which runs below the Radiator. I separated out both the Low Beam & the High Beam wires and MADE SURE they were the correct ones with the tester.



Then I stripped some insulation off of each wire, I soldered in 2 lengths of 12 Gauge wire--1 onto the High Beam Wire, another onto the Low Beam Wire, long enough to be routed back up to where my relay was installed near the driver's side battery.



Then I wired the Relay. I ran 12 Volt + from the Terminal Block to the wire for the #30 connector, and I ran the Low Beam Lead to the wire for the #87 Connector. I wired the High Beam Lead to #85, to trigger the Relay and Grounded #86. That did it! I tested it and I'm driving happy at night now!

I used two 30a relays. I took all the load off the light circuit. I did the same thing leaving a junction box for future loads.

 

[Extreme1]

I did what grtescpa did when I added sport headlights. I used an old headlight as the male connector to plug into the stock harness (just like Brite Box does), no cutting of the harness here! I power the low and high beams when the brights are on and the difference between this set up and the non-sport set up is amazing.



I added another whole circuit under the hood so that the lights get powered with larger wires and only go through the relay, not the switch. I used another old headlight base to block off the other stock harness connector to keep it clean and useable if I ever update or sell the lights.