Ok i have an 87 f-150 with the dimmer on the floor, im having a hard time with them because of the fact that im burning them out, about every 3 days, i have silverstar bulbs but thats not the issue there stock out put and the fueses arent blowing, but i only lose high beam?? is there something i can do or maby i should try a diffrent switch, the switches that have burned out are wells, and i lost one friday night and another about 20 minutes ago on my way home, any input would be nice.

 

Aftermarket, cheaply made switches.

Been there, done that. Get the motorcraft switch if its still made, its worth what they charge for it.

I went through that for about 5 years (though mine lasted about 3 months) in an old 69 Ford XL convertible. Finally, I got the motorcraft switch and never had the problem again.

Looked the same, felt the same, I couldn't tell the difference other than it was twice the price and the box said Motorcraft on it, rather than "hi beam switch, made in china".

But obviously there is some difference.

 

well if its twice the price it will be worth the 7 bucks, im only paying 3.49 a swith, but i bought the local parts store out of them because of the problem, they had like 4 i wanted them all, so i still got a couple left but what a pain.

 

I don't remember exactly what it was, I was just trying to say its more expensive

Was a long time ago, I sold that car back in 97, I think. I do miss it.

Anyway, I've learned the hard way that certain parts just should be ford parts. The floor mounted switch was one of them.

Like you, I hate replacing stuff 10 times just to invent new swears.

 

yeah im gonna give it a try it just dosent make much sense, the cheap switch was in there fo like 3 months then it blew out and the new one died in like 2 days or something like that, it allows me only to have low beams the high beams dont work.

 

Another option is to swap the later year steering columns, and get the switch on the wiper, turn signal staulk.

I've been looking for one for a while, just to get tilt.

 

i think i have figured it out, the black plastic plug that plugs onto the dimmer was melted on the high beam wire, the plug seems to have no resistance to it therfore bad connections, so i cut off the plug and put on new soderless terminals, crimped them good, and made them so they go on really tight, ill give this a try, but i think it was just bad connections, because the dimmers i thought were junk, are all good, oh well now i have 2 spares,

 

Cool, glad it worked out for ya. Wrap in electrical tape or use heat shrink tubing just to be sure they don't hit anything!

 

they are sheilded heat shrink ends,
there almost 70 cents a peice, and the shrink around the wire, there really nice, i use all heat shrink connectors, there worth the money, but it sucks when you mess one up and have to through it out. and i ran the truck for awhile and it seems to be the issue. and to think i put oll the blame on a cheap swintch when it was the pplug, but the odd thing is is that the plug has been replaced before?? so this must have been a problem before.

 

Probably from cheap switches overheating

I love heat shrink tubing, i use it on every wiring harness I've made in the past 18 years, bumper to bumper. I'll use electrical tape for "testing" situations, or where I'll be making adjustments in a short time (typically, less than a month) but for anything permanent, the heat shrink tubing it is. I have several spools in the garage to pull from.

I think I've probably made 10-12 engine bay harnesses, and probably 3-4 body harnesses in my life, plus the engine run stand plus the ECM test bench.

 

well i took a look at the plug and the thing that got me is the terminals were cheap and had spred and loosened up giving me a bad connection, i think this is why the plug got so hot.