Headlight Modification: Relay Installation interest?
12-30-05, 04:57 AM
#76
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kentetsu: keep in mind youll be dissipating more than 100W of energy inside a TINY little halogen fixture, while bumping the living **** out of it and exposing it to thermal shock (cold rainwater, snow, deer guts, etc.)
i wouldn't expect a combo bulb (hi+low) to last very long with both filiments lit. time to go four-lamp like a camaro. yeee haw!
i wouldn't expect a combo bulb (hi+low) to last very long with both filiments lit. time to go four-lamp like a camaro. yeee haw!
12-30-05, 05:24 AM
#77
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Originally Posted by Kentetsu
Excellent work John64! Sorry to start this question, then leave everybody else to do the work... Still dealing with a death in the family. Company coming tomorrow too, so looks like I'm done for at least until after the new year. 
Aussie, you shouldn't have a problem with running your fogs like that. That's pretty much how I did mine....
Now I'd like to see someone add another relay that will let you run your brights and dims at the same time. Easy enough to do. Have you ever played around with your light stalk, to try to get it to stick between dim/bright? Sometimes you can get it just right, so you will have both on at the same time. Pretty impressive difference. Wiring this up with a relay and a switch would be pretty simple to do...
Aussie, you shouldn't have a problem with running your fogs like that. That's pretty much how I did mine....
Now I'd like to see someone add another relay that will let you run your brights and dims at the same time. Easy enough to do. Have you ever played around with your light stalk, to try to get it to stick between dim/bright? Sometimes you can get it just right, so you will have both on at the same time. Pretty impressive difference. Wiring this up with a relay and a switch would be pretty simple to do...
You DO NOT want FOG lights hooked up woith your brights. Driving lights yes, but not fogs.
The point of a fog light is to shine light way down low near the ground where there is much less fog. High beams defeat this purpose and infact hurt you vision in the fog because they just reflect off of all the water particles. With fog lights you would actually want them on a separate switch and turn your headlights (hi & low beams) OFF for best vision through thick fog.
I cannot stress this enough.
If your extra lights are driving lights and not fog lights then yes, hook them up with the high beams, but if you want effective FOG lights put them on a separate switch.
also, you can modify the combo switch to have that mid point you are talking about. There's a white plastic piece inside that moves the contacts back and forth. Grind this down a tiny bit and then the overlap will be bigger between when the highs come on and the lows go off. It works really well.
But like SparkienSuggah said (and I have read many time before) you do not want both high & low beam on at the same time since it will cause the headlight housing to get extra hot and then the bulb inside will burn out a lot quicker. so far mine seem to be holding up okay, but I've only had it like this for 3 or 4 months.
I don't use them both very often since usually when you have high beams on its because you're going faster and looking far ahead of you. Thus you don't want bright light shining close to you and hurting your night vision.
Kentetsu, hope I'm not comming off like an ***, just want to clear up a few common misconceptions about lights.
12-30-05, 09:27 AM
#78
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Yeah, meant driving lights rather than fog lights. Daniel Stern includes instructions on how to run both high and low beams at the same time, so longevity and heat might not be a problem. Anyway, just throwing out some options...
12-30-05, 01:53 PM
#80
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good to know guys.
Definitely a good idea to hook them up to the high beam circuit then so you go on less switch to fumble for.
Another idea is to use a 3 way switch (on-off-on) for the driving lights. Hook up one of the ON positions so that it goes through the highbeam circuit, and hook up the other ON position to be fully manual so they can come on whenever.
Definitely a good idea to hook them up to the high beam circuit then so you go on less switch to fumble for.
Another idea is to use a 3 way switch (on-off-on) for the driving lights. Hook up one of the ON positions so that it goes through the highbeam circuit, and hook up the other ON position to be fully manual so they can come on whenever.
01-04-06, 03:18 PM
#83
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I believe that what you are referring to are just the beefed up plugs. These were needed in some cases when going to the "silverstar" bulbs (stock plugs were getting hot and melting, causing fires). I would say stay away from that stuff. If you install the relays, all of the power is running straight from the battery, through the relay, then to the headlights. This is much better than stock because stock sends the juice through all of the small gauge wiring of the switches and then to the lights, which really cuts down on the actual amount of juice that reaches the lights. The relays also take all of the strain off of the small wiring and the headlight switches. This is the way that it should have been done at the factory, but unfortunately nobody seems to care when actually building cars. As far as what bulb to use, stay away from anything blue. I'm using (I think this is right) Phillips X-tra vision bulbs and they are awesome. Hope this helps.
01-04-06, 05:28 PM
#84
yeah it helps big time cause i was about to do this for my moms car too besides mine and was going to spend 20 a piece for both. I have seen the set up from daniel s and i heard there is 1 from vb too , but i dont see it in my book, can someone show me pic of it and if therre is a diff between both of these from vb and ds
01-05-06, 06:12 PM
#91
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50cents each for two generic 25amp relays with pigtails at the local surplus store, plus some misc wiring & solder that I had laying around. I reused the stock plugs & some wiring as they are more than adequate for any street legal halogen bulbs.
oh, and this is canuck $$$ too
no sense buying some bling bling setup when I can make it all myself.
oh, and this is canuck $$$ too
no sense buying some bling bling setup when I can make it all myself.
01-05-06, 06:51 PM
#93
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Big Ern I would greatly appreciate it if you would post some of your pics of your altenator set up. Aren't the GM altenators cheaper and put out more amps than the second gen altenators?
01-05-06, 06:54 PM
#94
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yes, they are usually a lot cheaper since they are much more common, and put out more amperageas well.
I will dig up the pics I took of my install and do a write-up tonight. I'll post a link to the thread in here when I'm done
I will dig up the pics I took of my install and do a write-up tonight. I'll post a link to the thread in here when I'm done
