ditch the stock lights??
#1
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Joined: May 2007
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From: used to be so. cal. now Indy
ditch the stock lights??
i have bad stigmatism in booth of my eyes, i passed the eye exam without reading glasses(of course with good lighting), but at night it's a whole different story. i can't read the overhead freeway signs 30 feet away without my prescription glasses. so i always want bright driving lights. my stock headlights are so dim, i just want to ditch them once for all. what i'm planning now is to tap into the low beam with a pair of cheapo ProComp lights, so when i turn the headlights on, they will be up, not the stock lights. if they broke, i have another pair of Hella 500's as backup. and i have a pair of highend PIAA driving lights, 9.5" x 3" each, i want to turn them into high beams, but keep them covered only use them off-road.
where i work there are FEW building material plants/landfills around, dirt haulers are running sometimes 24/7. windshields, headlight lenses got dinged up pretty quickly. i dont want to put on expensive lights just to have them cracked up.
do you think it's possible? i have a tubebumper on the way, if i mount the two light directly in front of the factory lights on the bumper, is it legal in Kalifornia? will the factory wirings stand the load? and i have no idea how and where to connect the wires. any pictures and diagrams would be a big help.
thanks.
where i work there are FEW building material plants/landfills around, dirt haulers are running sometimes 24/7. windshields, headlight lenses got dinged up pretty quickly. i dont want to put on expensive lights just to have them cracked up.
do you think it's possible? i have a tubebumper on the way, if i mount the two light directly in front of the factory lights on the bumper, is it legal in Kalifornia? will the factory wirings stand the load? and i have no idea how and where to connect the wires. any pictures and diagrams would be a big help.
thanks.
#2
You might first consider upgrading the factory wiring for the headlights. Easy to plug in a relay harness to do that, you might just be surprised at the improvement:
- http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/CheapTri...#WiringHarness
If that is not enough, swap to an H4 headlight housing and then drop in some brighter bulbs. I run some 55W low, 100W high beams and they work fine. I do run stone shields in front of the lamps, or you can get the clear plastic film to put on them for protection.
Adding driving lights is possible. I have a buddy with a '94 pickup with the PIAAs up front. He keeps them covered most of the time, uncovered for off-road use at night:
- http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/CheapTri...#WiringHarness
If that is not enough, swap to an H4 headlight housing and then drop in some brighter bulbs. I run some 55W low, 100W high beams and they work fine. I do run stone shields in front of the lamps, or you can get the clear plastic film to put on them for protection.
Adding driving lights is possible. I have a buddy with a '94 pickup with the PIAAs up front. He keeps them covered most of the time, uncovered for off-road use at night:
#3
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Joined: May 2007
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From: used to be so. cal. now Indy
roger, i've been reading your site extensively. many good stuff. the previous owner(from Colorado) had an accident last year, some frontal damage which have been fixed by a reputable bodyshop. but they didn't go a great job on the lights, they are kinda lose and i couldn't adjust the low beam to project farther than 20 feet. i can live with it, but don't feel good about it. that's why i want just get rid of it at all.
i've thought about the H4 conversion for a long time but i have 3 sets of off-road lights already, why not to use them.
from the picture on your site, if i just buy the blue colored harness, plug it in to the stock wiring harness, and use the lose wire to connct to the off-road lights as hi/lo bean accordingly, will that work? point is, with the blue harness, i don't need to splice the wires, no relay no switch to install in the cabin, plus i can switch back to factory setup in a snap.
i've thought about the H4 conversion for a long time but i have 3 sets of off-road lights already, why not to use them.
from the picture on your site, if i just buy the blue colored harness, plug it in to the stock wiring harness, and use the lose wire to connct to the off-road lights as hi/lo bean accordingly, will that work? point is, with the blue harness, i don't need to splice the wires, no relay no switch to install in the cabin, plus i can switch back to factory setup in a snap.
#5
roger, i've been reading your site extensively. many good stuff. the previous owner(from Colorado) had an accident last year, some frontal damage which have been fixed by a reputable bodyshop. but they didn't go a great job on the lights, they are kinda lose and i couldn't adjust the low beam to project farther than 20 feet. i can live with it, but don't feel good about it. that's why i want just get rid of it at all.
i've thought about the H4 conversion for a long time but i have 3 sets of off-road lights already, why not to use them.
from the picture on your site, if i just buy the blue colored harness, plug it in to the stock wiring harness, and use the lose wire to connct to the off-road lights as hi/lo bean accordingly, will that work? point is, with the blue harness, i don't need to splice the wires, no relay no switch to install in the cabin, plus i can switch back to factory setup in a snap.
i've thought about the H4 conversion for a long time but i have 3 sets of off-road lights already, why not to use them.
from the picture on your site, if i just buy the blue colored harness, plug it in to the stock wiring harness, and use the lose wire to connct to the off-road lights as hi/lo bean accordingly, will that work? point is, with the blue harness, i don't need to splice the wires, no relay no switch to install in the cabin, plus i can switch back to factory setup in a snap.
That harness would give you a new set of connectors for the stock headlights. If you wanted to use it to control the new lamps, they you would need to splice some place, since the new harness would take up one of the old connections and give you two new ones and you would need 4 connections for the 2 headlights and 2 driving lights. You could wire up your own relay for the driving lights, many of them come w/ relays and wires already.
#6
i have similar vision problems and updated to hid on my bmw with projectors and its awesome! i got prjector lights (running h4 now) in the 4runner as upgrades and will be swapping in hid soon. i also run a pair of hella 500 driveing lamps with amber bulbs and amber vinal film over them for rock protection and run with them in the city and frwy during rain, fog or even just at night and no one flashes me. big improvement.
#7
If I was you, I'd consider making sure that your lights are properly aimed, and maybe get some Sylvania Silverstar headlights. Just use the stock wiring. I have those, even though they are no longer aimed properly, they are VERY bright.
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#8
You should be upgrading your eyes, not your lights.
Consider getting a pair of glasses for driving at night. Just keep them in the truck. Trust me, you'll have a lot more driving comfort when you can see properly.
Consider getting a pair of glasses for driving at night. Just keep them in the truck. Trust me, you'll have a lot more driving comfort when you can see properly.
#9
It's easier, and cheaper to upgrade your lights, rather than your eyes. But I see your point. Some people just can't see at night time. I don't quite know if lazer eye surgery can fix that, or not.
#10
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Joined: May 2007
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From: used to be so. cal. now Indy
i do wear my prescription glasses while driving no matter day or night, also i have a spare pair in the glove box just in case i forgot. saftey is way more important than comfort. i've talked to a lasik surgeon few years back, stigmatism is not quite easy to treat than near sight/ far sight. and did anybody mention it's kinda expensive
for me, pardon my ignorance, seems a plug-in harness is just easy solution.
#11
i do wear my prescription glasses while driving no matter day or night, also i have a spare pair in the glove box just in case i forgot. saftey is way more important than comfort. i've talked to a lasik surgeon few years back, stigmatism is not quite easy to treat than near sight/ far sight. and did anybody mention it's kinda expensive
for me, pardon my ignorance, seems a plug-in harness is just easy solution.
for me, pardon my ignorance, seems a plug-in harness is just easy solution.
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