Few years ago I replaced my headlights with some aftermarket lights and it was improvement over the yellowed E99 headlights. The headlights had the look I was looking for. BUT the poor 10 yr old Chinese boy making the reflectors was not very good at what he did for a living. I got them from Andy's Auto Sport and they had great customer service and sent me a new set. The next set the reflectors were better but still not as good as the OEM ones that are made in Mexico.



So to get the best light down on the road I had tried a few different brands of bulbs. None really any better then the other.
But I did find that 5000k to 6000k in color worked best. 6k isn't to my liking I think it makes my truck look stupid. Starting to get to blue for me.

So I made the jump to 9007 80w/100w Low Xenon Super White bulbs that are for "Off Road Only". These bulbs are NOT DOT approved !! But they are still closer to being as legal as some HID's. Personally I do NOT want anything to do with HID's. Now I am a huge fan of Projector HID's. But that is an other animal all together.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ABL-9007-100-80W-x2-High-Low-Xenon-Super-White-Replacement-Light-Bulbs-B9-/181907013959?hash=item2a5a80c147They are cheap Fleabay bulbs and they were no brighter than the stock wattage bulbs but I found the the 80w/100w Low Xenon Super White had a 5000k color that I was pleased with.
[Now for test purposes ONLY I drove it on the street with these bulbs.]
Alot less eye fatigue driving at night BUT I still can't see far enough down the road. With the high beams on everything was to my liking.

Which is what brought me to the point of doing the headlight to direct battery power by means of relays. I didn't want to hack up my wiring harness. So I looked into kits that are already made up. There are a few of them out there some made in China and a couple in American. Here is the 2 American made ones I found.
HL282 Upgraded Headlamp Wiring Harness for Conventionally Switched Systems | Rally Lights
Now the kit from Rallylights has one 12awg battery feed and 40amp relays
http://www.ebay.com/itm/9007-Heavy-Duty-Headlight-Harness-USA-Wire-Seller/331269820878?_trksid=p3693.c100102.m2452&_trkparms=ao%3D1%26asc%3D20140212121249%26meid%3Dba99462cf3f9446aa5f2fcc5a8f5168d%26pid%3D100102%26Now this one has High Temp sockets and has two 14 awg battery feed and 30amp relays and cost about $30 less.
Mind you both of these kits do not use waterproof relays and eyelets for the battery are cheap ones. I will address them issues on my harness down the road. Hopefully before they become a problem.

So I went with the Ebay kit. It was nice there was only 2 butt connectors in the whole harness and that was at the fuses. Both High Temp sockets are well built and they are wired from pin to pin. Signal wire from stock harness to relay was 16 awg and the factory wires at the sockets looked to be either 18awg or maybe 16 awg. All other wire was 14 awg. the Relays say 20/30 amp which I am not sure what that means??? Relays and relay plug are NOT the waterproof design. So let's hope that does not become a issue. Hella makes a really nice waterproof relay/ plug set up maybe down the road I'll de pin that plug and install a Hella set up.

Long story ...SHORT.... The upgraded wiring harness really made a difference with the 80w/100w bulbs. So far I have only drove it once at night and it is at least a 15% improvement. I need to realign the headlights and get some more seat time to be able to give the real results. So when I do I will post up with results.

The power feeds to the battery did not have wire loom tubing on them lucky for me I stock some.

I mounted the relays to the core support in an area I hope they will stay dry and easy to get at. I was also limited on where I could go with them due to socket wires. Also I wanted to stay on the main battery since that is the battery feed by the alt.

Finished !! I routed the fuses to battery and routed the left headlight harness underside of the battery lead and wired tied to keep from rubbing on Rad/ IC. It turned out a nice clean install.

 

Something to keep in mind, Turning down your dash & gauge lights will allow your pupils to dilate more allowing more light to enter your eyes and you will be able to see the road better.

FWIW: I've had very good success with the ZXE Bulbs.
SYLVANIA 9007 SilverStar zXe High Performance Halogen Headlight Bulb, (Pack of 2) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B005KDOA9Y..._NcSUwbP84A5H2

 

Your first post above, HL282 is what Barney uses on his. He buys those same bulbs from them also. He had said in the pass they live longer then stated and really like the bulbs with that harness. Been meaning to change mine out to. I had lots of help at Andy's house years back installing new head lights, they did it all, and I 've had the same problem with not that much light from them. Had them adjusted three times. I plan on buying new ones, maybe 1A auto, and the harness and bulbs. Let us know how you like them after more testing Ed.
Chet

 

This is great information, I have added the harness and bulbs to my spring modification list.

 

How easy is the harness to install, I can see its mostly plug and play (ebay) and what appears to be I guess a battery terminal and ground? does anyone have any install pics of the harness?

 

I don't have any pics but the hardest part was mounting the relays on the header panel, if that tells you anything lol. Really it was very easy to install & like you said everything was pretty much plug & play.

 

i cant believe no on on FTE has instructions to make a harness

 

I could make one, but don't have the ability to make like factory connections/crimping so I'm opting for ready made here

 

Being old fashion,I would solder all connections using quality terminals.

 

it seems really simple, the current harness triggers the relays which are direct connected thru fuses to the battery then tripped to feed the lights directly 12v via relay.

 

I'm sorry I didn't do a step by step of how to install it. It is very simple plug and play and hook up 2 ground wires which I decided to connect them too straight to the batteries and hook up 2 positive wires to the battery. Like CJ said it took longer to mount the relays and wire tie things up.

Now as far as making your own harness it could be done without any real problem other then get all the connectors, rolls of different color wire, relays/ sockets, pins for socket. So by the time you chase down parts and the time it takes to put it all together it isn't worth it.

Chet I first got the idea from what Barney & Jason had said about the wiring upgrade. When Barney said he was using the 80w/100w years ago I made a mental note.... OK I am lying I just put them on my Wish list. I forget what day of the week it is.
I haven't seen Barney around but then again I am not around much. I wonder how he is doing. If you talk to him please tell him I said Hi.

Now I still haven't got around to re aligning the lights and drive it some more.

Now I had said I do NOT like HID's but I am a huge fan of projector HID's. Projector HID's are the real deal when it comes to upgrading your headlights but it is costly to do it right and to use quality parts. Here is a very nice write up about them by Evan P.
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...right-way.html

 

the reason i would like to make my own isnt to save money its to use better wire and components that i can trust.

 

Search "brighter brights whiter whites" to find the post I used to make the harness on my dent side. I used 10awg for the power and a nifty twin relay unit for a Chrysler I found at Napa.

Reps on ya for the writeup Badkuzz! But like where's your turbo? I don't see it.

 

If I were to make one I would use marine rated wire (tinned copper), shrink wrap eyelets, High Temp sockets, waterproof relay/ socket. So I see your point I just wanted to spend as little in time and money to see if it is even worth the trouble.
Honestly it is a upgrade worth doing.

10 awg that is a little bit of overkill...But I like it !! I hate when you look down and see little dinky wires going to the headlights. Now before I bought the one I did I checked to make sure that 14 awg would carry the load. Well 100w was 8.3 amps per headlight and 16 awg would have got the job done. Since I mostly work on boats I use this by Blue Sea to see what wire is needed for what job. It comes in handy. Because ABYC is a higher standard then SAE it really isn't the same since marine wire actually carries about 10% higher load then SAE wire of the same awg. But it will get you in the ballpark.
Circuit Wizard - Blue Sea Systems

Where's the turbo?? It's there if it wasn't for the 1.0 turbine housing you might not see it at all in those photos. Are you making fun of my poor old E99 ?? LOL

 

Do you have any pictures of the ring terminals connected to the battery posts? Did you just remove the clamp bolt and put the bolt through the ring or did you use an add a terminal post of some sort? I would have to ensure that the wires were well routed and secured to the terminals before I could be happy with the install.