New halogen Headlights in truck

[RedRamAndy]

Hello all, haven't been here in awhile. I thought I'd stop in and share some of my headlight experiences so that others don't make the same mistake I did. The old 6054 headlights in my truck had lost all their silvering and were fogged inside. Time for new lights. A few months ago, I bought some cheap cool looking headlamps from a popular online auction site. The said they had bright blue-while halogen bulbs and glass lenses. I got them in the mail and was just thrilled at how cool they looked, and they did have glass lenses too. I happily put them in and anxiously waited for darkness. Night came along with some serious disappointment. These things did not light the street further than 20 feet in front of the truck! Didn't matter if on high or low beam either. Bottom line was a very poorly shaped reflector that made them more of a flood light. Now in the past week I ordered up a set of Hellas. Got them from Carparts dot com for 40 bucks a side. They are DOT approved and have a 60/55 watt hi/lo so as not to overheat any headlight switches. I am just thrilled with the spot they put on my garage door in the daylight! I taped the top-center of each headlight spot on the door. Look at the pictures if you want. I just had to post them since I wanted to warn people of too-good-to-be-true deals. One warning I will offer about the place I got these lights from is that the free shipping offer did not work. Currently they are working to resolve that. We'll see.

 

[pepecat]

Makes me want to go full tilt and install the off road only nuclear fire beams in the trucks, however relays will be necessary...

 

[rumblefish]

ill second the awesomeness of the hellas. i had a set of the cheapo conversion housings in my old 85, they were ok. i invested in the hellas when i got my ramcharger, and they were much better and brighter. figuring i couldnt have too much of a good thing, i then stuck the silver star bulbs in them, and they were even better! i highly reccommend them if you havent tried them.

 

[RedRamAndy]

Wow! Just took the truck out and I'm thrilled! I was sitting behind a small car at a stop sign and felt kinda bad. :-laf I just saw a brightly lit bank on the other side of the road with a small shadow of that car in the middle. I'll have to remember those silver star bulbs, Rumblefish. If they're brighter, I need shades. Woo Hoo! I can seeee!

 

[JLEONARD]

I had silver stars in mine. . awsum

 

[BGore]

I upgraded mine a while back to just plain-jane GE halogens, and those were enough extra draw to cause me to lose a headlight switch. So I just put in the relays, and now they are even brighter since I don't get voltage drop on the extra wiring to and from the switch.

I recommend the relays for everyone if you can. They are pretty inexpensive.

 

[MMeier]

What is the part number on the Hella's? Have you ran out on an empty road at night yet with them?

 

[Firstgenfanantic]

Part Numbers

What is the part number on the Hella's? Have you ran out on an empty road at night yet with them?

Question X2... ... ... ... . I am also interested in knowing the exact Hella part number for 1st gens. What part# do you use for the Silver Star bulbs?

 

[hammersley]

In my opinion the Silverstar are a POS!

I had silver stars in mine. . awsum

I mean my oldest son - kept askinh me if my headlights were on ????? There must be something better than these.....

 

[hammersley]

Do they make something for the 2nd generation trucks????

I need some better lights... ... ...

 

[sdstriper]

You can get the conversions here and/or bulbs, legal or non legal



Hella Headlamp Upgrades and Conversion Kits



There is very good info regarding lighting wiring, relays etc. there as well.

 

[RedRamAndy]

The HELLA factory part number for these gems is 003427291. You can google that if you want and then go from there. I'm thrilled so far, but have not been on a long straight level dark road yet. I was on a hilly dark road and they were great. These beams have flat tops to them on low beam so there is a crisp cut-off line at the far reaches on low. On high, they shift way up and to the left. I had no straight stretches more than 2/10 mile or less and these babies lit well. My driveway is 700 feet long and highs lit the whole length. I am a very satisfied customer after squinting for so long. As far a sliver star PN, someone else may have it. I haven't used these bulbs yet. I'm running the lights that came with these. Oh, and these HELLAs are the type without the foo-foo city light in them.

 

[hammersley]

I called that site.....

You can get the conversions here and/or bulbs, legal or non legal



Hella Headlamp Upgrades and Conversion Kits



There is very good info regarding lighting wiring, relays etc. there as well.

Talked to a Man named Greg..... wow - what a great source of information... ... I would strongly recommend giving them a shout... .

 

[rumblefish]

the hellas, and every other conversion housing ive seen, use a 9003 or h3 model bulb. either will work, but the h3 is more vibration resistant for use on motorcycles iirc.

 

[rvaughn801]

I'm sick of my crummy headlights

I was driving last night and thinking about this post. Every car on the road has better vision than I do.



I ordered the illegal Hellas with the higher wattage H4 bulbs. I am on my original headlight switch, so I better upgrade to relays. I checked out the Painless 30815 relay kit. It is a nice set up, but after spending $100 on head lights, I probably shouldn't.



I came up with this wiring diagram and list of parts. Everything but the headlight connectors is from Radio Shack. I am going to check the auto parts store for H4 connectors.



When I get finished I will post the updated diagram with the Dodge wire colors and some pics.



Does anyone know of a DPDT relay that is easy to get? It would be nice to use one for low beams and one for high beams, not two each.



Am I missing anything? I would like to get this assembled so it is ready when my new Euro spec headlights show up.

 

[BGore]

You only need two relays total, not one for each mode for each bulb ... unless these bulbs draw a LOT of current! In that case they would be really inefficient for this use.

Assuming you want to use the OEM switch, high/low beam switch, and wiring, here is what I did on mine and suggest:

Use relays designed for vehicular use. I didn't look up the Radio Shack part numbers, but using ones designed for other purposes may lead to problems in the future (moisture/corrosion). You can get standard automotive plug-in relays nearly everywhere, and they're not terribly expensive. These types are used in many newer vehicle electrical systems and are very common. Usually they are rated at least 30 AMPs.

You can also get sockets for your relays, which makes them easier to change if one of them goes bad. These sockets should be available almost anywhere you can get the relays. Don't forget to use dielectric grease on your connections to keep them from corroding.

Get your high or low beam signal from the wire harness connecting to your headlights. There will be one wire for high, another for low. Connect this to one side of the relay coil (that causes the relay to activate). Connect the other side of the relay coil to ground. On the relays I have, these are labeled 85 & 86.

Then use the Normally Open contacts of the relay to pass power from a FUSED 12 volt source through the relay to the headlight when power is applied. This way, when the relay gets power from the headlight switch and low or high beam switch, it closes it's contacts and passes power through and you get the appropriate beam. If your relay is an SPDT unit BE CAREFUL to put your power in on the side that doesn't connect to the other output when relaxed, otherwise you will have an unused hot lead when the lights are off, which could cause trouble for you. If labeled like mine then you want to connect the 12 V source to pin 87. I'm not sure where these numbers came from, but they are a little funny. The relays I have have a label with the numbers 87 and 87a or something like that for the Normally Open and Normally Closed outputs. You might have to experiment a little to make sure you get connected to the right 87. If the lights are on when the switch is off, you need to change to the other one!

Connect the wire to your headlights to pin 30.

Some of these relays have SPDT contacts, but remember when the relay is in it's relaxed position (not powered), it will still feed power through to the relaxed position contacts, so your lights will be on all the time!!

Size your fuse to whatever current level your headlights draw, then add a little. Since fuses are generally available in 5 amp increments, if your headlights draw 15 amps then you can use a 20 amp fuse. You only need a high enough amperage rating for ONE beam of the headlights, since only one will be on at a time -- unless something is broken. Make sure you size your fuse for the beam that draws the most current. Also keep in mind that generally 12 Gage wire is only good up to 20 AMPs, and 14 Gage is only good for 15 AMPs so make sure your wire is sized correctly. If you are drawing 30A, you should use 10 Gage. Otherwise you will have an unwanted heater under your hood!

I went directly from my fuse to the battery for my 12 V source.

I don't have any fancy drawing software handy right now, so I'll try my best with what I can do here:
_____________
-- High or Low Beam signal (+12 V)- == 85 |
| |
-------- Ground (-) --------------- == 86 |
| |
-------- Fused 12V Source -------- == 87 |
| |
--- To Headlight (NO Connection) -- == 30 |
| |
----- Unused (NC Connection) -- == |
| |
_____________


Duplicate for each beam, high and low.