Hey folks, have a couple of general wiring questions concerning my 1969 f100. I bought the truck 5 weeks ago or so and it runs great but there were some wiring issues. The headlights never worked for me, the brakelights worked for a few days then stopped. One day the blinker on the left side just lit up when I started the truck and didn't go off even after I shut the truck off.
So here's what I did. I bought an automotive electrical book and studied it and the wiring diagrams. I then jumped headfirst into everything. I bought an aftermarket six circuit fuse panel, new voltage regulator, battery cables, and about 100 dollars in wire and relays. I was feeling pretty good about just rewiring my headlights and brakelights and switching the fuse panel.
I started wiring in earnest and finally got the headlights working but there is a problem. The headlights a very dim so I searched this site and read up on dim lights, very informative. I want to know if the ground for my lights should be close to the lights or can I just ground them out anywhere. Its raining outside now so I won't get to it for a few hours probably but the ground I have now is on my dash by the toggle switch I used for the lights. I thought I could wire them directly to the old headlight switch but I chickened out trying to decipher where to put my wires and well I was just giving myself a headache in the process. I ended up wiring the lights from the fuse panel, through the toggle switch to the lights and grounded on the underside of the dash. Oh, I also don't have the high beams hooked up at all.
I'm not very good at wiring yet but I needed lights and my budget is pretty low so my goal was just to get the truck so I can drive it at night. Feel free to constuctively critisize my wiring but some help on the ground location and any other ideas on making my project easier would be a great help. Thanks

 

Just a quick update. I also bought a new battery as the old one was really OLD. I have a 55 amp autolite alternator that I took to checker for testing and it's good. I also bought new headlight plugs but the seem kind of flimsy. They were made in Taiwan and were like 3 bucks a piece, not sure if I should go with better quality or not. Also I got a multimeter and test light and a quality crimping tool for my connections.

 

You need to set up some relays, chances are your switches wont be able to put enough juice into the lights to make them very bright. I would just run a ground wire to the core support, usually that is where they are grounded (mine are).

 

Hot wire should come from headlight switch or whatever you are using, to the dimmer switch, usually center post. One wire to low beams, one wire to high beams. You can hook the headlight ground to the first available spot. Relay shouldn't be needed unless running H4's and you are using the proper size wire.

 

I just prefer to use relays / solenoids to keep wires from being overheated. I tend to overwire everything for comfort.

 

A switch will work fine if the switch and the wiring are heavy enough. And you could always upgrade later to relays. If you are just learning about wiring, you might want to try the relays later.

The grounding needs to be thought out just like the power wires. The large negative of the battery usually bolts to the engine block. It's primary purpose is to supply the ground for the starter, which uses a lot of juice. The problem comes though with all the other little stuff like the lights. The engine and tranny are mounted in rubber mounts, so many times this ruins your grounding system. What the factory did in their wiring was to run grounding straps from the engine block to the firewall sheetmetal. They also ran small grounding straps from the floorboards, around the rubber cab mounts, to the frame.

When these trucks get old, you can't always trust the sheetmetal to give a good ground, mainly because of rust problems. What I would do is get a decent sized wire(about 10 gauge) and run it from the negative battery post to a long bolt that is bolted up through the fender or and other convenient metal spot, and has plenty of threads sticking out into the engine compartment. Put the wire under the nut and tighten it down. Then anything you want to ground in the engine compartment like the lights, I would run over, crimp a ring connector on it, and slip it over the threads of the long grounding bolt, and put another nut on it and tighten it down.

 

A switch will work fine if the switch and the wiring are heavy enough. And you could always upgrade later to relays. If you are just learning about wiring, you might want to try the relays later.

The grounding needs to be thought out just like the power wires. The large negative of the battery usually bolts to the engine block. It's primary purpose is to supply the ground for the starter, which uses a lot of juice. The problem comes though with all the other little stuff like the lights. The engine and tranny are mounted in rubber mounts, so many times this ruins your grounding system. What the factory did in their wiring was to run grounding straps from the engine block to the firewall sheetmetal. They also ran small grounding straps from the floorboards, around the rubber cab mounts, to the frame.

When these trucks get old, you can't always trust the sheetmetal to give a good ground, mainly because of rust problems. What I would do is get a decent sized wire(about 10 gauge) and run it from the negative battery post to a long bolt that is bolted up through the fender or and other convenient metal spot, and has plenty of threads sticking out into the engine compartment. Put the wire under the nut and tighten it down. Then anything you want to ground in the engine compartment like the lights, I would run over, crimp a ring connector on it, and slip it over the threads of the long grounding bolt, and put another nut on it and tighten it down.

 

Thanks alot for the info guys. I'll be working on the grounding in the am. Someone down the line of this truck's owners must have rewired things as they went out or when they added stuff like running lights mounted to the bumper. I have found hot wires that are just spliced apart and run into accesories. Lots of wires that I've traced go nowhere or are cut off at both ends. It's kind of frustrating but I think I'm getting a much better understanding of wiring basics. So thanks again and I'll keep you all posted.