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Put headlites on relays.

383man

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A few weeks ago I was checking my headlites on my 63 Sport Fury and I realized my inner ones were not working on high. So both had power and ground and I replaced both inners and they lite now. But I checked my voltage at the headlites and found only about 13.1 volts with the car running when the hot post on my firewall from my battery in the trunk was at 14.5 so I have over 1 volt of drop at the lites. Well from working at a Dodge dealer for 24 years I have saved a few relays and decided to go and wire my headlites to relays. So I cut the harness open near the rad on the inner driver fenderwell where it goes out to the lites and I tapped and soldered the wires in there to my two relays for low and high. I ran grounds for the relays and took my hot feeds off my hot post on my firewall which I fused. And they work great and even look brighter with no voltage drop now. I should have done it years ago and took the load off my 50 plus year old headlite switch. Ron
 
They have been asking about you at Moparts...
 
A few weeks ago I was checking my headlites on my 63 Sport Fury and I realized my inner ones were not working on high. So both had power and ground and I replaced both inners and they lite now. But I checked my voltage at the headlites and found only about 13.1 volts with the car running when the hot post on my firewall from my battery in the trunk was at 14.5 so I have over 1 volt of drop at the lites. Well from working at a Dodge dealer for 24 years I have saved a few relays and decided to go and wire my headlites to relays. So I cut the harness open near the rad on the inner driver fenderwell where it goes out to the lites and I tapped and soldered the wires in there to my two relays for low and high. I ran grounds for the relays and took my hot feeds off my hot post on my firewall which I fused. And they work great and even look brighter with no voltage drop now. I should have done it years ago and took the load off my 50 plus year old headlite switch. Ron
I did that to my 65 with great results, only I went further. I switched to halogen lamps and upped the wiring to 12 ga and put in ceramic lamp connectors (heat protection).
Mike
 
I did this on both of my Mopars. Besides the headlights being brighter you're taking a load off of the headlight switch.
 
I always run my lights through relays. Ensures max voltage all the time but I run separate relays for bright and dim.
IMG_5942a.jpg
 
I did this on both of my Mopars. Besides the headlights being brighter you're taking a load off of the headlight switch.
Not to mention the amps you are no longer running through your bulkhead connectors.
 
That connection is probably where most of the resistance occurs.
Mike


I also thought the headlite switch itself make have coroded contacts after 50 some years. But you can beat using relays since you take both of them connections out of the headlite circuit that feeds the lites. Ron
 
Since I been of facebook alot I lost my pic hosting as you dont need it to post pics there. So let me see if this link works as I posted two pics on facebook. Ron

(3) Facebook
 
That connection is probably where most of the resistance occurs.
Mike

Ah yes, the infamous bulkhead connector. Ron, now would be a good time to go after that. If your light issue was caused by the bulkhead connector, chances are there are other connections that are in need of attention.
 
I have JUST completed the same sorta deal with mine in my 65 this past Saturday. I bought a pre-made kit (from someone I thought I found on this forum) over a year ago and then went through the moving outa state deal but cannot find the notes I made (after moving) nor the email in which I talked to the guy about the kit (new hard drive in computer) But all in all the install of the harness went well and seems to work well. Its made with prewired relay bases and relays, new quality wire and shrink wrapped with new ceramic sockets. My only question is, it calls for the hot (Hi & Lo) to be wired directly off the alternator post (see diag) and idling with Hi beams, I could hear it whining. Also, headlights get brighter when up from idle. Night driving last nite was Mine is not the Hi-Output alternator by far but was contemplating getting the Alt conversion kit with new reg and harness from Dante's but am not sure about the kit. Anyone use it?

NEW H-L Wiring Diag.jpg
 
I added relays to my 69 GTX but I really need to do it to my 62 Belvedere.
 
Wanting to put halogen lamps in my 1965 AFX Coronet . Have found the needed bulbs and wiring harness for the four bulb setup . It has two relays and all the wiring needed for the extra voltage needed for the system . How do you wire up the rest of the system ? Light switch and dimmer switch . Thanks for any help John
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You need a source of ample 12v power (starter solenoid, etc.) and the wires from the dimmer switch have to connect to the relay input power connections. OK?
Mike
 
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