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Who says these trucks don't have headlight relays stock?
For whatever reason, I was lead to believe these trucks don't have relay switches for the headlights, but while I was working on putting in a relay harness today, I noticed my fuse box has a relay for headlights. 1993 Pickup. Now, the fuses are only 10 amp and the wiring is thin, but for some reason I thought the full load of the light went through the headlight switch.
Am I just stupid and imagined hearing that these trucks don't have headlight relays? Sure, the wiring is not great for high watt bulbs or direct fit for LED because of ground switching, but I did verify that the HEAD relay in the fuse box does indeed activate when the headlights are on.
Regardless, I did install a parallel set of relay harnesses, one for each headlight. I used 100 watt bulbs and left them on high beam for a while and didn't get much heat at the plugs and wires, so looks I'm good to go.
On a separate note, here's a much more elegant solution for those looking to install LED lights, over using a relay harness. Use two of these, one on each headlight and it swaps the polarity from double ground to double positive. The stock wiring and relay are plenty beefy enough to handle the load from LED lights, which are usually 35 watts or less. Around 2.5 amps, which is nothing. Stock bulbs are 35/60, so well within the safety margin. I would also argue that this method is less prone to failure of both lights at once compared to a single relay harness upgrade, since the two systems remain independent.
Yes, all these trucks have headlight relays. The relay closes and provides battery to the headlamps when they are turned on. But the switched-ground (to go from low to high beams) goes through the headlight switch. As you point out, it isn't a ton of current, so for most of us it has worked fine for decades.
I can't tell from the web-site description of your Lumawerx device if it removes (most of) the current from the headlight switch, or if it just "reverses" the polarity so you can easily use polarized headlamps.
Yes, all these trucks have headlight relays. The relay closes and provides battery to the headlamps when they are turned on. But the switched-ground (to go from low to high beams) goes through the headlight switch. As you point out, it isn't a ton of current, so for most of us it has worked fine for decades.
I can't tell from the web-site description of your Lumawerx device if it removes (most of) the current from the headlight switch, or if it just "reverses" the polarity so you can easily use polarized headlamps.
Ah, got it.
The product I linked to does indeed only fix the switching and does not provide any benefit for going to higher watt lights or to reduce the load from normal lights. Since LED lights are all far under the max capacity of the wiring system, it's all that is needed for going LED and is likely more reliable, IMO, than relying on a single extra relay harness that is controlled through just one of the existing headlight sockets.
Jan 9, 2021 | 02:24 PM
