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It's time to change my bulbs as they are probably still the originals and getting a little dim and was just wondering what the general consensus on what the best ones are?also does the whole light have to come out to change them?
Depend on what you have stuffed in there and how small
your hands are. You can change them with the assembly in
place if your careful. Keep fingers off the bulb glass.
One other thing to check is the socket. Are/have they turned
brown? If so you have want to also change them while your at it.
Reason I say that is as they heat up the contacts loose there
spring force and don't hold the lamp pins as well and heat up even
faster. They there is the chance that they have started to get some
oxidation on the contacts and that will also cause some heating.
If you do replace then and can get the ceramic sockets with copper
wire they should hold up much better. The top end of the options
list without replacing the lamp type would be to use a relay system
so that you don't have any voltage drop with the smaller wire that
Ford used in the OEM build. Be sure to use fuses and good relays to
do that. There should be a writeup on the how to.
There are a ton of upgrade options, but for something easy and you WILL see a difference, I've just done Silverstars or their equivalent bulbs... Actually I haven't done that yet in the truck yet, better put that on the to-do list...
I got Sylvania Silverstar Ultras in the headlights and fog lights on both of my trucks. I am very happy with them and they work great for a regular halogen style bulb. IMO they're some of the better ones to use if you don't want to upgrade to LED bulbs or a HID/projector setup.
As far as the the bulb setup it depends what you want. There are several levels of Silverstar bulbs and the variance is brightness vs length of service. Per Fed and SAE rules, your supposed to be limited in wattage (more then just that but let's go with this) so Silvania plays with brightness but for a brighter bulb the filament will be used up quicker. And the brighter bulbs cost more.
With these versions I have done the diode trick to keep both filaments on during hi-beam use, but you have to be very careful due to the high heat. There are also higher wattage bulbs out there like 80/100 which I have also used but don't anymore. With those you can't even think of keeping both filaments in play.
As far as the the bulb setup it depends what you want. There are several levels of Silverstar bulbs and the variance is brightness vs length of service. Per Fed and SAE rules, your supposed to be limited in wattage (more then just that but let's go with this) so Silvania plays with brightness but for a brighter bulb the filament will be used up quicker. And the brighter bulbs cost more.
With these versions I have done the diode trick to keep both filaments on during hi-beam use, but you have to be very careful due to the high heat. There are also higher wattage bulbs out there like 80/100 which I have also used but don't anymore. With those you can't even think of keeping both filaments in play.
That looks really close to how my 1988 Ranger was setup. 80/125 H4 metal reflector glass lamp housing
from Hella. Really good for off road. I don't think I ever used high beams on the road. Low beam was more
than enough to light the road. BTW lamps were pointed down and I did not get flashed driving and still had
no problem seeing. Fog line was glow in the dark white
Low beam was 5.9 Amp per side and high was 9.25 Amp per side. And yes they could get quite warm when
on. if you were not moving.
U found this little tool on the web if you don't know how to use ohms law to get all the numbers. Ohms Law Calculator
Nu,bers are rounded up.
I think I recall the derating info for a DC relay. 75% of the rated value or less.
So lets say if you draw 20 AMPS for 2 lamps you want a relay that is good for at least 26A.
You may find that using a 15 A for each lamp would be a little less of a pain to find.
Then you get to the fusing. You can pick from a fuse block,Inline fuse or a fusible link < yuck and not easy to fix on the road.<
A fuse block will need a space to place it. I like the inline fuse. Keep the wire between the source and the fuse as short as you can.
I would ground as close to the lamp as reasonable, Gives you a shorter circuit.
#12 copper wire would be what I would pick for this along with a high temp
ceramic lamp socket. For the coil side #14 would do the trick. If you do the
Bright Box type mod you will need to come up with new sizing numbers for
the ground side wire because you will have the current from both of the filaments
on that one wire.
Then you will need some fuses to keep it all safe and flame free.
USCG has some good info to work from. I know that you not building a boat
but it is a good place to start. WIth a boat you just can't jump out anywhere.
You could be jumping into shark filled waters. Same with out trucks. You don't
want to jump into Prius infested lanes.
There are some better sources for sizing wire but 12-14ga gets this done. I used circuit breakers rather then fuses as I'd rather have on-off flashing with some light while trying to get to the side of the road. But fuses are good too.
I've used standard 12vdc relays that used be be as easy to get as your local Radio Shack, an option not as available as they once were. But the relays are easy to diagnose and replace. This harness has been in use now since 2001 without any faults.
Hella is one of my favorite lamps sources over the years, and I still have a couple of the very old 550FF lamps that have not been produced for more then a decade. I first used them on my '86 Ranger with the front grill guard and they were amazing with a tight line cutoff but with great side spread. For me running on the back roads in the Pinelands of NJ I need to make sure I get a glance of tan fur as soon as possible. Three hits are enough during this lifetime.
For relays I was thinking a automotive style one do to the ease of replacement.
Do to Rat Shack doing such a dive in the items that they sell. I would not send
even a Dodge owner there.
Sticking with an automotive type relay would let you stop in at any
parts store. Now if you want to get fancy 4 FICM relays would do it
and give you a backup or 4.
Now here is my issue with a breaker. If it's in the cab that adds a lot of wire
to the circuit.Now if you do stick it under the hood you still have to get out
and hit the reset. Then there is the why did it trip issue.Plus with two low and
two high beam and the relays. That gives you 4 fuses that would have to go POOF.
You could use a master breaker but I would still place that close to the supply.
The ideal thing would get a 4 relay and 5 fuse block that you could mount and
wire from that point.
I very much agree that seeing the tan before you hit it so that you have the time
to slow down and let the stupid thing cross the road or so you can stop get out load
the gun and strep far enough off the road to be ok with the law is also good.
I have gotten two deer with a truck I was driving. First was a full size Bronco and the
other was with an F250. First was a large buck and he left horn marks in the grill of the
Bronco. The next one was a malformed one about the size of a Great Dane. It had part
of a horn and one of the rear legs was deformed. Ran right into the side of the truck. I thought
I had killed it so I stopped and backed up to put lights on it. Got some gloves out to drag
it off the road and just about then the cops show up. Then the silly thing got to it's legs
and hobbled off into the woods to feed the coyotes.
Now what is the problem with the wiring chart I used? The others I have are not in digital
and takes a bit of knowing just how to use them to work it out. That and you need the total
circuit length.
You could use #14 for the for each so long as you do home runs for each or a #12 for
common master fuse then branch off from there with #14. I would not use any tined
wire just copper wire and a good crimping tool. Good meaning not the crap you pickup
at an auto parts store. At the minimum Klein crimper and no soldering. But if you really
want good crimps then go with DMC (Daniels Mfg Corp) or Astro Crimp tools,In this you
really get what you pay for. Not just good but BEST.
The circuit breakers I have auto reset and retake a look at the pictorial I posted, they are located under the hood and close to the battery source so no long wire layout. I'm using one breaker for highs and one for lows. A third is there for the fogs, also on a DIY harness. One relay per circuit is fine. In the 14 years I've only had to replace one relay and that was after using the 100w off road bulbs probably due to some arcing at the make-break transition.
We could go with any sized relays that we wanted to above the needed size, but we only really need the common units as you say are available from any of the now numerous auto parts stores. If you did want to go up to a 50a style that fits for the FICM then I would not buy them as Ford units due to the pricing, but would get them from Waytek as the Hella 70a units for $7.44 each (you just have to buy enough product to get over the min price handling charge order). Hella sells these to the German car makers for high current applications just like what Ford (Bosch units I believe) uses the 50/70a in, so they are good quality with tinned lugs, something all underhood connections need. I guess we will disagree here as I think all auto wires and connectors should be tinned to prevent corrosion, and SAE backs that up. (The problem with unplated copper wire is there can be corrosive erosion under the insulator not seen, leading to shrinking wire size and subsequent hot spotting.) Any selected components should of course be from well known sources like Hella, Bosch, Cooper, etc.
While at Waytek you can also get the circuit breakers mentioned for under $3 to bring up the cart price, and pickup a ton of very good connectors, etc for future use. It's a great store.
The chart and other charts are fine. I've just had it with the variations chart to chart have as many don't state what voltage drop they are using for their sizing, 10%, 5%, etc. BlueSea's charts at least give you the drop but you only need the first three lines for most auto work. I'd rather use the calculation apps from Wire Barn or Bulk Wire, but as you note, you need some familiarity. But if people are going to make a good DIY harness or install some electrical accessories they should already have some knowledge beforehand or get busy getting some.
Ok, so here is what I did, and I think you are going to like it.
Change headlight bulbs, which are H13 hi and low beam to PIAA Extreme bulbs. Change driving lights to hi beam bulbs, from the 9145, using PIAA Extreme as well. I believe a 9005 bulb. It is tricky to get them to lock, take your time, once they are in, they are good.
Then you add a Brite Box for your model year truck. This will allow low beams and driving lights, when you turn on high beams, it allows BOTH low and high filaments in the H13 to be lit AND it lets you keep the driving lights on. (Normally on high beam, driving lights go off)
And the wiring of the Brite box takes power from the passenger battery and sends it to the passenger headlight and driving light. This gives you less voltage drop and the bulbs are their brightest this way. The drivers side is powered from the drivers side battery.
I have been using this setup for 6 years and I have yet to burn out a bulb and the light is much better than stock. Be sure to buy the correct Brite box with the low high and driving lights for your model.
