Headlight upgrade, Has anyone upgraded to high output lights? Options

[mettelman]

My night vision isn't what it used to be. Any suggestions for more powerful headlights. Are wiring upgrades required?

[Dave_Darling]

Yes, if you go with anything that has decent output.

All the current for the lights runs through the ignition switch. It won't live a long and happy life if you double the current going through it by upping the headlight wattage significantly.

You will want to use a relay to offload at least the high beams. Depending on the amount of current and the size of relays you find, you may want one per side or just one total. And if you're putting a lot of power out on low-beam, you'll want another relay for the low beam circuit.

With either, it would probably be best to run a decent-sized wire up to the relay from the battery. (Put a fuse in the wire near the battery so you don't burn up your new wire.)

If you don't "get" relays, I'd bet Google can turn up some pages on how they work. Or howstuffworks.com .

--DD

[Jeff Hail]

Try aiming your headlamps with proper equipment. (not the garage door or a wall)
You would be amazed when headlamps are aimed correctly what the beam pattern actually lights up even on older vehicles. For the eyes; carrots... lots of them.

[matthepcat]

J.W. Speaker LED headlights pull less voltage than stock and provide far superior lighting. Only downside is price.

[Dasnowman]

Buy a new pair of glass's or get some night vision glass's or put a Rigid 20" light bar like I did on my truck turns night into day.

[RickS]

I have 58 year old eyes and also wanted more light. I installed Hella H4 lamps with 100/85 watt bulbs with a special fused wiring harness which included relays. I had to splice in additional wire to make it all work, but the system works beautifully and the light is fantastic and the high beams are awesome. Let me know and I can look up the name of the company who sells the harness kit. the H4s and bulbs are readily available from a ton of sources on the internets - just use 'the Google'.

[michael7810]

I'm thinking about a headlight upgrade as well. Do you route the new wire from the battery through the tunnel? Does anyone tap the existing (40 year old) wires from the battery to fuse panel BEFORE it goes through the ignition switch? Thanks.

[RickS]

I ran a dedicated heavy gauge wire through the tunnel, which was fused next to the battery. More experienced electricians might have a more elegant approach from the fuse panel.