Standard Sealed beam to H4 Halogen conv.

[Killion22]

A little help here please..... I have a 1987 Ranger XLT and I bought a set of H-4 Halogen headlights from ebay. They worked great for about a year, then on my way to Portland, I had smoke rolling out from around my steering column. $460.00 later, I got it back from the dealership, after they had to replace the dimmer switch, and the wiring harness, because the H-4s were drawing too much power from the factory wiring harness. I've been told, from some of my rally buddies who have the same ones on their older rigs, that I can add in a relay or in line fuse to prevent this from happening again. For now I've just gone back to my sealed beams. Any Ideas and/or advice on how I can put them back in, but not have to wory about it melting wiring again?

 

[flyingbrick]

Check out LMC Truck, they sell a heavy duty headlight harness kit, or if your any good with electrical you can make a harness for not too much money.

http://www.lmctruck.com/icatalog/fr/full.aspx?Page=57

 

[fastpakr]

What wattage H4's were you using? I can't imagine burning the stock wiring with the standard 55/60 watt bulbs.

 

[Killion22]

What wattage H4's were you using? I can't imagine burning the stock wiring with the standard 55/60 watt bulbs.

They were the H4 60/55W P43T... Below is the link to them on ebay:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/83-84-85-86-87-88-FORD-Ranger-CLEAR-Head-lights-lamps_W0QQitemZ170330188284QQcmdZViewItemQQptZMotors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories?hash=item27a87869fc&_trksid=p4506.c0.m245&_trkparms=65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C72%3A1171%7C240%3A1318

 

[Sasquatch_Ryda]

I would just add a relay to the high beam and another relay to the low beam side and be done with it.

 

[AllanD]

The 60/55 had NOTHING to do with your failure becasue it is exactly the same as the stock sealed units.

if you had 85/55 or 100/85's I could see it, but...

You need to understand the headlight switch and the multifunction switches
incinerate themselves without needing to blame it on the bulbs.

My truck has never seen a night with sealed beams.
My friend who bought the truck new installed the H4 bulbs
in my driveway the night he bought the truck and we spend
the first hours of darkness aiming them.

that same truck now has 407,000 miles on it and though it's had atleast four main headlamp switches and half a dozen multifunction switches in that time I never thought to blame headlamps with the SAME power rating as the stock lamps for the switches failing.... I just thought it was because the switches were CRAP.

AD

 

[AllanD]

BTW, after the first switch failure I had my brother the master mechanic riding with me and he commented "Ya think those aux lights might affect your switch life?"

I replied "only if two relays can strain a headlight switch..."

And I told him: "f you EVER again suggest that I'm that poor an engineer I'll make you walk home."

AD

 

[Dusty_Ranger]

ive been running the same setup with some piaa ion bulbs without any issue for a good year and a half now

 

[Smurf Mobile]

Those older switches really leave a lot to be desired with their crap tacular design. My 94 used to go through them every 7 - 8 months or so (6 month warranty) I got really good at replacing them by the time I sold the truck. Saddly I don't know of any upgrade other than putting relays for both the high and low beam and crossing my fingers.

Andrew

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Those older switches really leave a lot to be desired with their crap tacular design. My 94 used to go through them every 7 - 8 months or so (6 month warranty) I got really good at replacing them by the time I sold the truck. Saddly I don't know of any upgrade other than putting relays for both the high and low beam and crossing my fingers.

Andrew

Replacement switches are rarely as good as the original too.

 

[Scrambler82]

Make sure the harness is the type with the power for the headlights comes from the battery to the relay AND use the existing wiring for switching the relays on and off only.

Another thing is to make sure the wiring for the main power is at least 12 ga wire and run a ground wire back to the battery fusing both the power and the ground wires.

A bad ground wire can cause excesive resistance in the system, overheating of the wiring and may be the cause of the burn up.
Run the extra ground wires (12 ga) from the light to the battery or a common grounding point near the battery, just to be on the safe side.

Luck,