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Wiring Harness- Sport Headlight Conversion
- Thread starter DAWG-1
- Start Date
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here's some help
______________________RELAY________________________________
LUG 30(51?) 86 85 87 & 87A
FUSED 12V+ 12V+ (RUN SWITCHED TO LIGHTS
FROM BATTERY A JUMPER FROM GROUND (FROM
30 OVER TO IT) PRESENT HEAD-
LIGHT WIRES)
9004 SOCKET (STANDARD PATTERN)
PIN “A” (looking at the wire end of the socket, with the flat side up) IS GROUND
PIN “B” IS LOW BEAM
PIN “C” IS HIGH BEAM
9007 SOCKET (STANDARD PATTERN)
PIN “A” (looking at the wire end of the socket, with the flat side up) IS LOW BEAM
PIN “B” IS GROUND
PIN “C” IS HIGH BEAM
______________________RELAY________________________________
LUG 30(51?) 86 85 87 & 87A
FUSED 12V+ 12V+ (RUN SWITCHED TO LIGHTS
FROM BATTERY A JUMPER FROM GROUND (FROM
30 OVER TO IT) PRESENT HEAD-
LIGHT WIRES)
9004 SOCKET (STANDARD PATTERN)
PIN “A” (looking at the wire end of the socket, with the flat side up) IS GROUND
PIN “B” IS LOW BEAM
PIN “C” IS HIGH BEAM
9007 SOCKET (STANDARD PATTERN)
PIN “A” (looking at the wire end of the socket, with the flat side up) IS LOW BEAM
PIN “B” IS GROUND
PIN “C” IS HIGH BEAM
WIRING CONVERSION TO SPORT LIGHTS (2000 FORWARD)
First, you’ll need two more light sockets. Your current sockets/bulbs are 9004, and can be used in the inboard sockets. You will need two 9007 sockets for the outboard lights if they didn’t come with the light units. 9004 and 9007 sockets will interchange on the bulbs, but the bulbs have different internal wiring. The locking tabs also have different patterns, and the bulbs are not interchangeable in the light units. Also, buy two “generic” 30 amp relays. Federal Mogul DF005’s are good and relatively inexpensive. Buy them at any parts store. I buy mine at Auto Zone. I keep some on hand. It seems I’m always monkeying around with the wiring on something. Relays with mating female plugs with wire pigtails are available, but generally have only 14 or 16 ga wire pigtails. A short piece of that ga wire wouldn’t be any big deal, but you just don’t need them, and they are more expensive.
You’ll need several rolls of 12 ga wire, and a couple rolls of 10 ga wire. I suggest you use red 10 ga for the 12v+ hookup to each relay, and black 10 ga for the ground wires from the sockets back to ground. Buy the 12 ga in whatever color you want to use for the headlights. I’d use the same color for the high beam hookup to all sockets, and a different color for the low beam hookup. 14 or 16 ga can be used for the hookup from the current headlight wires to the relays. Again, I’d color code high and low beam hookup.
Get a bunch of crimp on blade connectors, and some large crimp on ring terminals. While you’ll be using mostly female blade connectors, I’d get a small pack of male also, if you don’t have them. Some of the females should be for 10 ga wire (yellow). Shrink wrap, and electrical tape. You’ll need a crimper if you don’t have one. A wire stripper is a big time saver also. Have a good bit of resin core solder and a good soldering iron ready to go. You should get at least 25 feet of plastic loom—probably ½” will work for most of the wiring. You’ll undoubtedly need a test light or volt/ohmmeter also. Get two fused wire hookups. Buy the 30 amp ones with 10 ga wire, and I would use the “weatherproof” ones with rubber caps over the fuses. Also a tube of dielectric grease.
First, disconnect the ground cables from both batteries. It will make life easier if you also remove the left battery and loosen the battery box so that you can lift it up out of the way. The work on the right side can be done with the battery and box in place.
Next cut all the wires to the present headlight sockets. Be sure to leave long enough tails on the sockets to hook up to the new wires. Carefully insulate the truck ends of the violet (left) and violet/red (right) wires. These little puppies are constant 12v+ (OEM). Don’t want them to short and roast a Ram.
2. Splice 14 or 16 ga wire onto the truck end of the red/orange wire that went to the left headlight. Solder and shrink wrap it. This wire will be the HIGH beam “trigger”. Run this wire to the 85 lug on the HIGH beam relay.
3. Splice another 14 or 16 ga wire onto the truck end of the violet/white wire that went to the left headlight. This is the LOW beam “trigger”. Run to lug 85 on the LOW beam relay.
4. Twist the stripped ends of two 12 ga wires together securely, dip the end in dielectric grease, and crimp securely into a female blade terminal. This goes on 87 of the low beam relay. Run one of these wires to the “A” wire on each of the 9007 sockets—one left, and the other to the right headlight. (With the socket held flat/latch side up, “A” is the left wire, looking at the wire end) Again, solder and shrink wrap securely the connection.
5. Prepare two more wires just like in 4 for the high beams. Put two wires together at the lug/relay end to run to the left lights, and two wires together to run to the right lights. Again use 12 ga wire. The female connectors will go on the 87 and 87A lugs of the high beam relay. On the left, splice one of the wires to the “C” wire on the 9007 socket, and the same on the right. On the 9004 sockets, splice to the red/orange wires only, or to both the red/or and the vt/wt wires. If you connect both the wires, both filaments will light with high beam. Lots of light, but also lots of heat! I suggest you try the red/or wires alone first. If you want more light, go back later and add the vt/wt wires. I used only one wire, and changed the bulbs to Wagner Bright Light Xenons (~$10 ea). Plenty of light down the road on high beam.
6. Run a 10 ga black wire from the middle (“B”) wire on the 9007 sockets to ground. Batt negative is the best ground. On the 9004 sockets, run from the violet/red (right) and violet (left) wires to ground. (If you choose to only hook up one filament, the vt/wt wires on the sockets won’t be used).
7. As I told you, I wired the relays to lie in the space beside the PDC to the right, looking in from over the left fender. Put a large ring terminal on one end of the fuse links (again, dip the bare end of the wire in dielectric grease before crimping). Hook that end to either of the large terminals at the engine end of the PDC. One is direct from batt + (the left, or bigger one) and one from the alt+ (the right, or smaller one). They are fused together by a 140 amp fuse, so it really doesn’t matter which one you use. The bolt on the right (alt) terminal is a bit smaller, and probably easier to use. Splice a piece of 10 ga red wire onto the other end of the link and run to lug 30(51?) on the relay. Before you crimp the wire into the female blade, crimp a 14 or 16 ga wire into the blade connector with it, and use to make a jumper to lug 86 on each relay.
8. Insulate the lug ends of both relays. You can use large hose to slip around the relay or just tape securely. You surely don’t want one of those lugs to short. BIG SPARKS!!!. Most 10 ga blade connectors aren’t insulated on the blade part, but you can put some heat shrink on each and shrink it to better insulate the blade portion.
9. Remove the old headlight units, and install the Sport units. The instructions for removing the side marker/turn signals are in the owner’s manual. If you haven’t bought the factory service manual from Chrysler, I’d highly recommend it. Buy through www.techauthority.com. 90 bucks, and worth it. It has instructions for removing the headlight units. My memory is that there are only two or three screws holding each unit in. There is a “push in” connector at the upper outer corner also, and you just have to pull it forward to get it out.
10. Put bulbs in each socket. 9007’s go outboard (low beam) and 9004’s go inboard (high beam).
11. Hook up the ground cable on the right battery, and check the system to be sure it works right.
If so, replace the left battery box and battery. Loom all the wire, and ENJOY!
DISCLAIMER: IF YOUR TRUCK SHOULD BURN, AND DC FINDS OUT YOU’VE REWIRED THE HEADLIGHTS, YOU’RE SUNK—NO WARRANTY!! Have no fear, though. In reality you’ve just decreased the chances the headlight wiring will cause a fire. They used 18 and 20 ga wire for the headlights—GIMME A BREAK!!
After you’ve done this rewire, you’ll want to rewire the rear lighting and add some REAL backup lights, if you haven’t already. I also suggest you rewire the fog lights, too. I wired mine independent of the low beams, so I can use them on high beam and low beam, or by themselves. The fog light bulbs are 38 watt, I think, and the bulbs can be replaced with 50 watt, I think. I haven’t gotten around to that yet.
EDIT: You will note there is no “schematic” as such. That would entail using an imaging program. Uses a lot of memory. Hopefully you can use this to accomplish what you want to do.
NOTE!! THIS WILL NOT WORK ON A CANADIAN TRUCK, OR ONE WITH FACTORY DAYTIME RUNNING LIGHTS. ALSO, THIS IS FOR 2000-2002 TRUCKS WITH SWITCHED GROUND CONTROL OF THE HEADLIGHTS. E-MAIL ME BACK IF YOU ARE GOING TO CONVERT A 1999 OR OLDER TRUCK, AND I’LL E-MAIL YOU THE INSTRUCTIONS FOR THOSE TRUCKS WHICH HAVE SWITCHED 12V+.
Herb
First, you’ll need two more light sockets. Your current sockets/bulbs are 9004, and can be used in the inboard sockets. You will need two 9007 sockets for the outboard lights if they didn’t come with the light units. 9004 and 9007 sockets will interchange on the bulbs, but the bulbs have different internal wiring. The locking tabs also have different patterns, and the bulbs are not interchangeable in the light units. Also, buy two “generic” 30 amp relays. Federal Mogul DF005’s are good and relatively inexpensive. Buy them at any parts store. I buy mine at Auto Zone. I keep some on hand. It seems I’m always monkeying around with the wiring on something. Relays with mating female plugs with wire pigtails are available, but generally have only 14 or 16 ga wire pigtails. A short piece of that ga wire wouldn’t be any big deal, but you just don’t need them, and they are more expensive.
You’ll need several rolls of 12 ga wire, and a couple rolls of 10 ga wire. I suggest you use red 10 ga for the 12v+ hookup to each relay, and black 10 ga for the ground wires from the sockets back to ground. Buy the 12 ga in whatever color you want to use for the headlights. I’d use the same color for the high beam hookup to all sockets, and a different color for the low beam hookup. 14 or 16 ga can be used for the hookup from the current headlight wires to the relays. Again, I’d color code high and low beam hookup.
Get a bunch of crimp on blade connectors, and some large crimp on ring terminals. While you’ll be using mostly female blade connectors, I’d get a small pack of male also, if you don’t have them. Some of the females should be for 10 ga wire (yellow). Shrink wrap, and electrical tape. You’ll need a crimper if you don’t have one. A wire stripper is a big time saver also. Have a good bit of resin core solder and a good soldering iron ready to go. You should get at least 25 feet of plastic loom—probably ½” will work for most of the wiring. You’ll undoubtedly need a test light or volt/ohmmeter also. Get two fused wire hookups. Buy the 30 amp ones with 10 ga wire, and I would use the “weatherproof” ones with rubber caps over the fuses. Also a tube of dielectric grease.
First, disconnect the ground cables from both batteries. It will make life easier if you also remove the left battery and loosen the battery box so that you can lift it up out of the way. The work on the right side can be done with the battery and box in place.
Next cut all the wires to the present headlight sockets. Be sure to leave long enough tails on the sockets to hook up to the new wires. Carefully insulate the truck ends of the violet (left) and violet/red (right) wires. These little puppies are constant 12v+ (OEM). Don’t want them to short and roast a Ram.
2. Splice 14 or 16 ga wire onto the truck end of the red/orange wire that went to the left headlight. Solder and shrink wrap it. This wire will be the HIGH beam “trigger”. Run this wire to the 85 lug on the HIGH beam relay.
3. Splice another 14 or 16 ga wire onto the truck end of the violet/white wire that went to the left headlight. This is the LOW beam “trigger”. Run to lug 85 on the LOW beam relay.
4. Twist the stripped ends of two 12 ga wires together securely, dip the end in dielectric grease, and crimp securely into a female blade terminal. This goes on 87 of the low beam relay. Run one of these wires to the “A” wire on each of the 9007 sockets—one left, and the other to the right headlight. (With the socket held flat/latch side up, “A” is the left wire, looking at the wire end) Again, solder and shrink wrap securely the connection.
5. Prepare two more wires just like in 4 for the high beams. Put two wires together at the lug/relay end to run to the left lights, and two wires together to run to the right lights. Again use 12 ga wire. The female connectors will go on the 87 and 87A lugs of the high beam relay. On the left, splice one of the wires to the “C” wire on the 9007 socket, and the same on the right. On the 9004 sockets, splice to the red/orange wires only, or to both the red/or and the vt/wt wires. If you connect both the wires, both filaments will light with high beam. Lots of light, but also lots of heat! I suggest you try the red/or wires alone first. If you want more light, go back later and add the vt/wt wires. I used only one wire, and changed the bulbs to Wagner Bright Light Xenons (~$10 ea). Plenty of light down the road on high beam.
6. Run a 10 ga black wire from the middle (“B”) wire on the 9007 sockets to ground. Batt negative is the best ground. On the 9004 sockets, run from the violet/red (right) and violet (left) wires to ground. (If you choose to only hook up one filament, the vt/wt wires on the sockets won’t be used).
7. As I told you, I wired the relays to lie in the space beside the PDC to the right, looking in from over the left fender. Put a large ring terminal on one end of the fuse links (again, dip the bare end of the wire in dielectric grease before crimping). Hook that end to either of the large terminals at the engine end of the PDC. One is direct from batt + (the left, or bigger one) and one from the alt+ (the right, or smaller one). They are fused together by a 140 amp fuse, so it really doesn’t matter which one you use. The bolt on the right (alt) terminal is a bit smaller, and probably easier to use. Splice a piece of 10 ga red wire onto the other end of the link and run to lug 30(51?) on the relay. Before you crimp the wire into the female blade, crimp a 14 or 16 ga wire into the blade connector with it, and use to make a jumper to lug 86 on each relay.
8. Insulate the lug ends of both relays. You can use large hose to slip around the relay or just tape securely. You surely don’t want one of those lugs to short. BIG SPARKS!!!. Most 10 ga blade connectors aren’t insulated on the blade part, but you can put some heat shrink on each and shrink it to better insulate the blade portion.
9. Remove the old headlight units, and install the Sport units. The instructions for removing the side marker/turn signals are in the owner’s manual. If you haven’t bought the factory service manual from Chrysler, I’d highly recommend it. Buy through www.techauthority.com. 90 bucks, and worth it. It has instructions for removing the headlight units. My memory is that there are only two or three screws holding each unit in. There is a “push in” connector at the upper outer corner also, and you just have to pull it forward to get it out.
10. Put bulbs in each socket. 9007’s go outboard (low beam) and 9004’s go inboard (high beam).
11. Hook up the ground cable on the right battery, and check the system to be sure it works right.
If so, replace the left battery box and battery. Loom all the wire, and ENJOY!
DISCLAIMER: IF YOUR TRUCK SHOULD BURN, AND DC FINDS OUT YOU’VE REWIRED THE HEADLIGHTS, YOU’RE SUNK—NO WARRANTY!! Have no fear, though. In reality you’ve just decreased the chances the headlight wiring will cause a fire. They used 18 and 20 ga wire for the headlights—GIMME A BREAK!!
After you’ve done this rewire, you’ll want to rewire the rear lighting and add some REAL backup lights, if you haven’t already. I also suggest you rewire the fog lights, too. I wired mine independent of the low beams, so I can use them on high beam and low beam, or by themselves. The fog light bulbs are 38 watt, I think, and the bulbs can be replaced with 50 watt, I think. I haven’t gotten around to that yet.
EDIT: You will note there is no “schematic” as such. That would entail using an imaging program. Uses a lot of memory. Hopefully you can use this to accomplish what you want to do.
NOTE!! THIS WILL NOT WORK ON A CANADIAN TRUCK, OR ONE WITH FACTORY DAYTIME RUNNING LIGHTS. ALSO, THIS IS FOR 2000-2002 TRUCKS WITH SWITCHED GROUND CONTROL OF THE HEADLIGHTS. E-MAIL ME BACK IF YOU ARE GOING TO CONVERT A 1999 OR OLDER TRUCK, AND I’LL E-MAIL YOU THE INSTRUCTIONS FOR THOSE TRUCKS WHICH HAVE SWITCHED 12V+.
Herb
I got mine thru suvlight. tripod.com. My 96 already had the sport lite conversion when I bought it, but the wiring was butchered badly and their harness plugged right in.
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Issue 128 – Digital Version
Digital Magazines
FREE!
TDR Test Drive - Digital Edition
Renew
Subscribe
Gift Subscriptions
Back Issues
Subscription Status
Address Change Form
Buyer's Guides
Ram Diagnostic Trouble Codes
The Perfect Collection
The Perfect Collection Vol. II
TSB Updates
Dodge/Cummins Historical Overview
Cameron Collection
What Makes Us Tick?
Product Showcase
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