any interest in a writeup for high watt headlight harness?

[sinhumane]

hi, i've been lurking here for a little while, had a 2004 xlt, traded it in, regretted it and just recently picked up a 99 EB.

light output is lacking in this thing, and i have a set of 80/100w light bulbs i used with a harness in my thunderbird.

i am planning on building another harness with relays for the expy, and would be willing to take pics and put together a short writeup for anyone else interested in doing this.

the difference in light output is amazing, its much safer to run a relay harness (no chance of overheating your stock switch, since the only current going through them will be for your relay trigger wire) and you can customize it to your liking (fogs on with the high beams, etc.)

the basic structure of it is a pair of oem ford 5 prong relays (theyre EVERYWHERE in junkyards... i have a handful of them laying around at all times)

a pair of 80/100w 9007 bulbs (they can be had on ebay fairly cheap)

some heavy gauge wire (you're going to be using a bit more wattage than stock here, wouldnt want to melt your headlight switch....)

two bulb socket pigtails (unless youre comfortable hacking up your stock wiring)

miscellaneous spade connectors, ring terminals, splices, and a couple wire taps to grab a trigger from your stock harness.

 

[Thermo]

sinhumane, if you are after more light output and you are going through that much trouble, look into some 50W HID bulbs. These will emit twice as much light as the 100W halogen bulbs. The thing I will tell you though is not to use them for your low beam lights. that is a ticket waiting to happen. But, for your brights, go for it.

I am looking to upgrade the high beams in my Jag to get some more light at night on the country roads around my place. I just have to add in the relays (twin 30 amp units) since each of the 50W HID bulbs have an initial draw of 30 amp to get the bulb going. But, once the bulb is working then the current drops to about 4.5 amps.

If you have the time and want to do a write up, we are always willing to have something like that. I just did a similar project today on the wife's 2010 Fusion where I upgraded the stock bulbs to 35W 6000K HID bulbs. The car is so much nicer with those bulbs and the focused headlights.

 

[Captain Morgan]

Second that, no comparison. I even converted my 100w spotlight to HID.

 

[omegalita]

The most common reasone for a poor headlight is because there is not the full power of 12V on the bulb , caused by bad wiring, bad cables...


Here is my part...

Material needed:

4 Relays (30 A - 40 A)
4 Fuse holders
4 Fuses (10 A)
16 Pinch connector 6, 3 mm, approx. 10 connector, 2 round eyes
Cable 10² to the relay
Cable 6² to the lamp and for mass

Required tools:

Multimeter
Screwdriver
Cable compressor pliers
Wire stripping pliers


Schematics and construction:



First, search the correct cables on the headlight bulbs for low- and high beam.

Check what cable in which position of the switch (low / high beam) takes power.
In the measurement with the meter, you can see the are not 12V on the bulb.

Now, disconnect the ground of the battery, so that the vehicle can not burn ....
A fuse (or individual backups) need to be included in the cable which comes and goes to the relay from the battery.
Now cut the low beam wire from the plug before the lbulb (let stand about 4 inch cable) and the ending, which comes from the vehicle wiring, terminals connected to terminal 86 of the relay.
Now, pull a cable from the battery (with a fuse) to the terminal 30 of the relay.
The cable (which is still on the bulb mount) on the PIN 87 of the Relais.
The first circuit is ready...

Then the high beam is built on same way.

You must build this circuit each 2 x per side/headlight (right / left). 1 x and 1 x for main-beam headlamps.
So total 4 circuits.

Then connect the ground cable to the battery.

If you have no errors, then it's a nice bright light....


(Sorry...translating help by bing... )

 

[sinhumane]

Thanks for the input. The hid lights are a great option, but there's two reasons why I choose this setup at the moment.

1. Cost. We all know there are tons of cheap hid kits on eBay, I bought one myself and had it on my Lincoln Ls. Light output was fantastic, but it was still a cheap kit (relatively) these tend to crap out early, and still cost a considerable amount more than this setup.

2. Headlight lenses. Without swapping to a headlight that doesn't have a diffuser molded into the lens, the light put out by an hid bulb is going to be EVERYWHERE. The fluted lens design scatters light something fierce, and without projectors or some way of focusing the beam, they're going to get you in the same amount of trouble as 80w lows will.


Now, properly set up and aimed, these have great output, maintain an OEM appearance, and won't get you into any trouble. Aiming your lights properly is the key to this. On my bird I drove around with highs only and never once got flashed.

I just finished updating the stock sub and amp, that was my weekend project. May get to building it tomorrow night or Thursday morning. I'll take tons of pics along the way, and hopefully it will be less cryptic than reading a schematic in Swedish....

Thanks a bunch for the welcome guys!

 

[Big White]

Can't stand HID's in reflector housings, it is a Bart Simpson mod as far as I am concerned. The glare to oncoming traffic sucks. I curse at everyone of them heading towards me. HID's are meant for engineered housings that support them, or retrofits w/ projector lens.

I put a relay harness on my '11 Mustang, and it helps quite a bit.

 

[GAINMOB]

i dont have a problem with them when i see someone with them...and havent had anyone approach me to include cops on one lane each way traffic...day or night...i have blinded a coulple of ppl at red lights...they just sit lower than me though

 

[Big White]

I have used these in the past. No write up needed, it is a simple, easy, plug and play setup.
PUTCO® 239006HW - 100W Heavy Duty Harness & Relay (9006 Bulbs)
For the highbeams:
PUTCO® 239006HW - 100W Heavy Duty Harness & Relay (9005 Bulbs)

Both of these will increase output of the halogen lights about 20% due to higher voltages available at the bulbs. The typical factory wiring intentionally lowers (by using lighter gauge wire) the voltage at the bulb to approximately 12.5 to 12.9 volts when the source is 13.8 with the engine running. Voltage drop using the harness is almost nil, and the difference is noticeable.

 

[Big White]

i dont have a problem with them when i see someone with them...and havent had anyone approach me to include cops on one lane each way traffic...day or night...i have blinded a coulple of ppl at red lights...they just sit lower than me though

If I was across from you at the light, I am sure I would be cursing you. After the light changes and I go past, my vision will be significantly reduced while my retina readjust to night lighting. Not very cool at all.

If I were a LEO, it would be my pet project to pull over people putting hid's in reflector housings and hassle them to every extent possible. I know of two people personally that had this happen to them, and one of them I *****, he was given the option to get his car towed or park it for the night. Plus an equipment ticket. He went back to the stock configuration while he reconsiders his options like a real retrofit.