I am gathering up parts for some repairs and changes in the headlights and grill parts.

I recall people talking about this harness found at LMC LMC Truck Parts - Page 62 I was wondering if anyone had used it and had comments good or bad. It seems like it would help the lights be as bright as possible getting juice direct from the battery but maybe it doesn't make a difference.

 

I don't have one nor have I used one but its been on my list for a long time. The headlights don't get full battery voltage (I have measured it) so it will help them be brighter!

 

If you are comfortable with wiring, you can make your own relay heavy duty headlight harness for about 1/2 of what LMC wants.

Here is an article that gives one version of this upgrade.


Whiter Whites, Brighter Brights .: Articles

Even if you go to the battery to get the power supply, the heavier wires give you brighter lights.

When I did this upgrade to my 86 I used 8 and 10 AWG wire instead of 14 and 18 gauge.

8 AWG for any wire that had more than one light on it, 10 to each light filament and as a ground circuit from each light.

 

I use them and Im agree with them, but as Dave said you can DIY cheaper if you are confortable with wiring.

 

It's a nice, simple product with no wires to cut. Simple, easy. The neat thing is this harness has a male plug that connects into one of the factory harness female headlight sockets. Two other sockets go onto the headlight bulbs, instead of the factory sockets. Connect red wire to battery positive, black to ground, and you're done. One of the factory harnes headlight sockets then is unused. You can install this thing in under 10 minutes, and the only tools you need are for a battery terminal and ground screw.

Did I say I like the simplicity?

The result is that your stock headlight switch and harness control the relays in this thing, and the relays switch fused high current to your headlights. The headlight switch only switches low current to control the relay, rather than the 10 amps or more of the headlights. The switch should last longer, especially if you're using higher-wattage bulbs. And since no wires are cut, the wiring is readily traceable, and you can easily go to back to factory configuration.

I can't talk to brightness, since I didn't measure voltages getting to the bulbs under both configurations and I replaced my lenses and shells with the clear version from LMC at the same time.

 

Thanks for the input. I wouldn't have a problem with DIY, it is that I seem to never get around to getting the DIY stuff done lately. These projects always seem to be stuck in "Ill get to it pile" forever and I never get to it. At this point I'll just pay for it and get it done for once.