bigger headlight wiring question (1 Viewer)

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It's way cheaper to build your own. You can also make it so that you can have extra relay spots for additional accessories. 12 gauge is more than plenty for headlight wiring. If you are going with LED. You shouldn't even need to upgrade the wire very low current draw. I also have mine connected to waterproof connectors and built a set of h4 to waterproof connectors so if my LEDs go out I can swap a set of halogens in on the trail
 
If you are going with LED. You shouldn't even need to upgrade the wire very low current draw. I also have mine connected to waterproof connectors and built a set of h4 to waterproof connectors so if my LEDs go out I can swap a set of halogens in on the trail

Good point about the LEDs not needing beefier wiring.

Just curious which waterproof connectors are you using? EasternBeaver sells a lot of great connectors.
 
@coldtaco , makes no difference whether a system is negatively or positively switched, you should leave that wiring circuit in place and take the relay trigger for the new circuit from the existing positive wires going to one of the bulbs.

i originally upgraded my wiring to 10 AWG, was a big difference, 12 AWG would probably have been enough, but then changed to the trucklite LEDs. I have since gone back to using the original wiring only, as it made no difference whatsoever with the LEDs.
 
@coldtaco , makes no difference whether a system is negatively or positively switched, you should leave that wiring circuit in place and take the relay trigger for the new circuit from the existing positive wires going to one of the bulbs.

i originally upgraded my wiring to 10 AWG, was a big difference, 12 AWG would probably have been enough, but then changed to the trucklite LEDs. I have since gone back to using the original wiring only, as it made no difference whatsoever with the LEDs.

Thanks.
 
Ok, trying to get this to work. I wired up like the first picture, I got nothing. I used trigger wires from original plug R-G and R-Y for the low and high, per factory wiring diagram, second picture. I am wondering if I have to do something with the R-L wires going to/from the fuses to the headlights.

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So in order to run a higher amperage circuit, I think what you would need to do is replace the headlights with two relays in the factory diagram (one for high and one for low), where the R-Y and R-G wires connect to the 86 terminal on the respective relays, and the R-L (fused ground) connects to the 85 terminal.
Then a new circuit of heavier wire would be made to run the headlights, bringing fused power to the 87 terminals and then to the respective high and low beam connections on the headlights, with a new set of ground wires as well.
 
So in order to run a higher amperage circuit, I think what you would need to do is replace the headlights with two relays in the factory diagram (one for high and one for low), where the R-Y and R-G wires connect to the 86 terminal on the respective relays, and the R-L (fused ground) connects to the 85 terminal.
Then a new circuit of heavier wire would be made to run the headlights, bringing fused power to the 87 terminals and then to the respective high and low beam connections on the headlights, with a new set of ground wires as well.
If I follow your description I tried that this morning and no go.
 
Ok finally figured it out. On my truck you can't use the left headlight socket/wiring for the trigger. I had to use the right one. For some reason they are not the same. I figured it out by plugging both bulbs in first to verify that everything works as it should. Then I removed the left bulb and tried the lights and the right light still worked. Then I removed the right bulb and installed the bulb in the left one and the bulb did not work. So I used the right headlight socket to use as the trigger.

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Well I finished upgrading the headlights with Hella H4 reflectors and the Hella 130/100 wiring loom and everything was a plug and play except for the high beam light.
After a bit of research on the net I discovered the toyota wiring needs to be complete so after adding a spare globe to the old left h4 plug I now have my blue high beam indicator back.
Hope this helps overs with there headlight upgrade.
 
The final puzzle getting the Hella relays fully sorted was this circuit completer from brightlightautoparts.com.au $25. It completes the headlight circuit giving the blue high beam light back on the dash and stops both high and low coming on together when on high beam. The Hella harness plugs into the existing left headlight and harness and the completer plugs into the right side off the harness.
The Hella relay harness turns night into day. :)

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Hella h4 headlight harness 002.JPG


Hella h4 headlight harness 003.JPG
 
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That's just the angle of the pic it plugs into the headlight.
I'm running Hella H4 reflectors with 55/65 Osram high output bulbs with the Hella 100/130 twin relay loom. I brought a set of Phillips 90/100 globes but find the Osrams good enough
The light output has doubled compared to the old lights and wiring so it was well worth the investment. :)
 
I've built my own harness for another vehicle but there really is no savings when you consider your time. Wildhorses4x4 sells a nice harness for $35 bucks. It runs high beams and low beams. Total plug and play. About 1 hour to install.

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Read the thread. New lights for sons bj dinner table talk tonight. Coincidence or what. His is a 24v any recommendations? Should I just upgrade his stock ones ie replace with h4 55w lo100w hi? Or leave as is and add LED.
 
Read the thread. New lights for sons bj dinner table talk tonight. Coincidence or what. His is a 24v any recommendations? Should I just upgrade his stock ones ie replace with h4 55w lo100w hi? Or leave as is and add LED.
I think you having 24V system bigger wiring will not be needed, I think. When I had my 86BJ-70 (Canadian) I think I just upgraded the bulbs. Been too long ago to be able to remember 100%.
 
I believe the head Lites are 12v while all else is 24. That's what I was told by the po, but he told me he fixed the front seal oil leak. Wrong about that. I'll have to do more research. Ie test voltage at Lites. The po ran a Wire off a tap blok from head lite to licence plate lite to supply power to a 12v lite as the 24v stock one was all rusted out. One of many special idiosyncratic home repairs he did.
 
I believe the head Lites are 12v while all else is 24. That's what I was told by the po, but he told me he fixed the front seal oil leak. Wrong about that. I'll have to do more research. Ie test voltage at Lites. The po ran a Wire off a tap blok from head lite to licence plate lite to supply power to a 12v lite as the 24v stock one was all rusted out. One of many special idiosyncratic home repairs he did.
All I remember is that I had to use 24v bulbs In mine.
 

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