The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay head light update

what would be a good way to update my 12 volt head lights in my 52,,,,any kind of those hi-power ones that I can just replace bulbs from my stock,,,may need a little more light if I can make the drive at night to Riverside,mo,,,never had a need before as I dont drive at night that often and most of it has been on a lit freeway...........thanks.....Fred

Fred, Buy some sealed beam halogens. See this thread:
Head lamps

Thanks,,Fred

Hey, Joker

Check out my tutorial HERE

Thanks to the thread here (noted above) I had great success with new halogen headlights ... and a better (proper) switch for my tail lights, too!

Alan, thanks for your response also,, are these replacement just a matter of taking out and plug in the new ones, also inregard to relays, I get confused with my old truck when people talk about this, because I have no fuse box that I know of, have one on the fire wall for the brake light, I forget the other in it, all my wires end up block terminals mounted on top of engine compt. fender well , my radio and electric wipers and directional blinker switch have in-line fuse,, I have driven at night with all as is and never experienced any dimming of lights,, the truck does have a 12 volt conversion,, I think I just said a lot about nothing but anyway being that I have not had any problem with the lights during the almost 8 yrs of drivin it,,, is the relay needed? thanks for your time,, always enjoy your site and your truck..Fred

Hey, Fred

Yup ... all I did was take out my old headlights and plug the new ones in. Easy as pie.

As far as the relays go, who knows? Put the halogens in and see if you think you need relays. If you think you want them, all the info you'll need is at my site.

A relay could keep your light switch from becoming incendiary due to drawing a lot more current than it was designed for, but otherwise not necessary.

Baldy

Just plugging in halogens "should" work ... but beware of electrical gremlins!

Several years ago I switched from sealed beams to halogens in one of my trucks ... and the results were completely unpredictable. I was never sure what would light up and what wouldn't. As you can imagine, hitting the dimmer switch was a real adventure. None of the guys in the shop - not even the shop foreman - could figure out what was going on. (I was turning wrenches professionally at the time.) After trying everything we could think of, I finally switched back to the sealed beams.

That was what I did not want to hear,,,what yr truck and make................

Me too...I think I'll just adjust mine

well it is a 12 volt so I dont see how it would hurt anything,,that is why I was asking....I mean like 12 volts is 12 volts,,,where is hotrod lincoln.

I agree ... 12 volts is 12 volts.

Putting new halogen headlights in your truck is not going to create problems. Having 50-year-old wires and who knows how many unknown patches and disconnected wires hiding here and there ... that will create gremlins, for sure.

Putting halogens in my truck has been nothing but a blessing. But then, I did that after rewiring the whole truck.

it's not so much a matter of frying your truck as it is of getting the most out of the lights - when you're thinking that the new halogens are brighter than the old 12V bulbs, also be wonderin if they're as bright as they should be - remember that I=E/R , and there's a lot of R in the original circuits

Bill

thanks for all the very good ideas and thoughts, guess I should just install some and see what happens, I think the wiring has been update by po some 9 yrs ago. at least under the dash it looks new.Fred

Plugged them in my 48 7 years ago with stock wiring but cleaned the grounds. They are bright as all hell. Highbeams are way past the speed i would be driving so they work good. Headlight switch runs cool as can be.
Good investment. I also painted the inside of the tail lights with silver paint and run 2057 bulbs,much better now too be seen.

I change any truck I get over to halagens. Much better light for an old man. On my 70 stepside I ran a jumper wire from the battery to the headlight with them on & it got brighter yet so I wired in relays. One for high beam & one for low beam. It takes the load off the switch. The original wires were not large enough for the added curent draw.

If you're dealing with a system that was originally 6 volt, and the wiring is in good shape, the wires should carry the halogens just fine. Generally, 6 volt wiring was a gauge or two bigger than the wire used on 12V systems. Good-condition 12V wiring will work, as long as it doesn't get warm to the touch anywhere.

HOWEVER- - - -if the old rubber-insulated wiring is deteriorated, or you've got corroded connections everywhere, and/or a dirty dimmer switch, all the gremlins will come out to play when those halogens start drawing extra amps. Do a thorough inspection of the system, from the ammeter terminal to the headlight switch, to the dimmer switch, to the lights, and then wring out the ground side, what we used to call an IRAN inspection in the military (Inspect and Repair As Necessary). Once everything is up[ to snuff, you'll wonder how you ever got along without all that bright light.
Jerry

Joker don't you have dual spots on your truck? Just point them down the road and go..... everyone will think your a cop and get out of the way. If anyone ask I never suggested this, wasn't me, Nope not me!

If it were me I would go halogens, you don't have to worry about finger prints!

Hey, I live in KCMO and work just a couple of miles from Riverside. Drop me a line if you are coming this way.
dave