The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay Head Lights

I have a twelve volt system in my 1955 2nd series. My head lights are halogen and don't work for a darn. I'm hoping someone can tell me about a LED light that might work without costing an arm and a leg. Thanks

This thread may be helpful to you....Headlight conversion

Part of headlight upgrade is what gauge wire you currently have.
Original older 6 volt vehicles were larger gauge, which should be fine. Later 12V vehicles reduced the gauge. If the harness has been replaced, it's probably 16-18 gauge, so a bit small for bright headlights.
I really don't like the LEDs with sometimes they are obnoxiously bright and wrong, with most LED bulbs that go into H4 housings don't focus the light properly. They just shoot light all over the place. That makes them bright but obnoxious to everone else.
I've run Hella H4 housings and Sylvania Silverstar bulbs in all my vehicles for years. The good Hellas are about the same cost as those futuristic looking LEDs(which personaly don't fit the older truck look). Hellas look stock, and are european DOT designed, not Chinese knockoffs. If you have small gauge wire, a high current relay setup is recommended. I put that in my '91 GMC, to boost current using 12 gauge from the battery. That factory is 18-20 gauge, so not much current flow.
Both of my dads '58s have very dim headlights, and I've been trying to do the relays and Hella on them, but he wants the total stock look, including dim lights until the RPMs get high enough.

I put a set of these in my 58 and they are nice and bright to see by, but not blinding to other vehicles (assuming they are aimed correctly).

Amazon Headlights

I think you are barking up the wrong tree switching to LEDs.

Ol' Roy is 6 volt, and uses Phillips halogen sealed beam headlights and they are more than adequate for 50mph+ night time driving.

I believe your problem is not with the bulbs but that your headlights are improperly aimed.

Aim your headlights and test them at night before switching.

PS; Make sure your wiring is up to the task. I replaced all the wiring from the lamps to the dimmer switch with 12ga wire and good connectors.

If your wiring is original, it may be worn out, corroded, or whatever.

Make sure that you have a good ground for the headlights. Not sure about Task Force trucks, but I suspect that they are grounded to inner fender sheet metal. That's a lousy way to ground headlights over a long period of time, but it does work as long as the fender isn't corroded where the ring terminal gets screwed to it.

The TF trucks do ground to the inner fenders. I ran ground wires to my junction block at the firewall.

I would recommend doing something like that if you are updating your wiring.

The biggest source of voltage drop in a headlight system is the dimmer switch. It carries the full current draw of the bulbs and it lives in a very hostile environment- - - -under the floorboard. Run some heavy wiring from the battery cable at the starter to the radiator support and use two Bosch type relays to carry the headlight current. Then use the dimmer switch to turn the relays on and off. Be sure to run a heavy ground wire from the core support to the engine block to complete the circuit.
Jerry

Just what Jerry said. Relays are your friend with this old (and very challenged) switch design. Good luck.

Good morning Otto!

I have been following this post and have been thinking about your tip on replacing the wiring from dimmer switch to headlights. I was wondering if you replaced the pigtails also when you did this. So, some time back I had posted about my headlights being dim and I replaced the dimmer switch and it seemed to help some but not enough. I run them on bright but when meeting another vehicle, their headlights will wash mine out.

My truck has been completely restored but I believe the previous owner replaced the wiring harness with one for 12V, which is lighter gauge wire. I am looking at running 12G wire as you did.

Thanks!

Kevin

I can't speak to what Otto did, but I replaced all the pigtails on my truck when I rewired it and I strongly recommend doing so.

If you can’t find heavy gauge replacements ,the origional sockets do come apart and the conectors can be reused they are quite heavy duty to solder them back on with heavy gauge wire.

I did replace the pigtails. I just ordered ready-made ones with the sockets attached.

I also installed a new junction block on the inner fender as it was when new. All that mess with the black tape and dime store connectors was what I replaced. Previous owner had done a less than stellar re-wiring job.

I also initially replaced the dimmer switch as you did but it didn't help. As it turns out, the original dimmer switch was probably perfectly fine. I discovered that the previous owner - who had dyslexia - mixed up the hot wire and the high beam wire on the dimmer switch. When I turned on the headlights they only worked on high beam. Whn I pressed the button to go to low beam, they went off completely.

When you complete your headlight repair, I strongly recommend buying Sylvania sealed beam halogen lamps (if they're available). I have Phillips lamps on the truck and they are excellent. I have have Sylvania lamps on my Cadillac and I believe them to be superior.

It's also important to make sure that your headlamps are aimed properly. You'll know right away when you drive at night if they need adjusting.

Thanks for the response Otto,

Everything on my truck was replaced new, along with new junction blocks but as mentioned, I believe the PO used a 12V wiring harness so, I will be running 12G wire soon. And I remember you stressing the importance of properly adjusted headlights.

Once I have replace the light gauge wire, I will definitely be checking the adjustment!

Kevin

When I rewired my 54 3100 I couldn't get the headlights working.. so I put in dedicated ground blocks and grounded the headlights and running/turn signal lights to them.. everything worked fine then.

If in doubt ground and ground some more.. I heard that here a couple time when I posted my problem and seems to be a universal truth in these old rust buckets.

Doug.