Llittle_Llama Posted December 2, 2008 Report Share Posted December 2, 2008 does it matter WHERE you place the relays? i was wanting to do them under the dash so i could hide all the wires, but i wasn't sure if it would be better to have them closer to the headlight. also, what gauge wire do you recommend, and where do you get it from? only stuff i can find is alright, but from autozone, so..... Quote Link to comment
Llittle_Llama Posted December 2, 2008 Author Report Share Posted December 2, 2008 little help here? lol Quote Link to comment
moparvwfreak Posted December 2, 2008 Report Share Posted December 2, 2008 no it doesn't matter BUT i would run 14 guage MINIMUM from the relays to the lights. also the closer you are to the lights the more power will transfer to the lights. Quote Link to comment
Llittle_Llama Posted December 2, 2008 Author Report Share Posted December 2, 2008 what would be the max you would run? Quote Link to comment
DanielC Posted December 2, 2008 Report Share Posted December 2, 2008 Ideally, you want to put the headlight relays as close to the battery, or alternator, and the headlights as possible. Front of the car. they also need to be put somewhere they do not get water on them, and if you get the kind with mounting tabs on them, tab up, relay down. You may also need to improve the ground wiring side of the headlights. All the way back to the battery, and the alternator. Big wires on the grounds are good. Do not depend on the contact of the metal alternator body to the engine block to ground the alternator. Run a separate wire. Run a separate heavy wire from the body to the frame of the truck, from the engine to the frame of the truck, and from the engine to the body. For wire size, it depends on how much current (amps) go through the wires. 16 gauge wire, 10 amps 14 gauge wires, 15 amps 12 gauge wires, 20 amps 10 gauge wires, 30 amps These are conservative ratings, you can get away with a little more for short periods of time. Just as important as wire size, is the number of connections, and how good they are. Try to keep the number of connections to a minimum. Carefully soldering the wire end to the wire is a good idea, but do not let the solder go way up into the wire, it makes the wire brittle, and increases the possibility of the wire breaking at the terminal. Put fuses in the wire, before the wire goes very far from the source of power. The wiring for the control side of the relays can be small. 16 or 18 gauge is fine. Many installations also just use the stock headlight wiring to trigger the coil of the relay. Quote Link to comment
banzai510(hainz) Posted December 2, 2008 Report Share Posted December 2, 2008 could have just bought a H4 harness and its already done Quote Link to comment
Jester Posted December 3, 2008 Report Share Posted December 3, 2008 Hainz, Where does a person get one of those H4 kits? Quote Link to comment
Cuts metal like mad Posted December 3, 2008 Report Share Posted December 3, 2008 http://www.victoriabritish.com http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/CheapTricks/Headlights.shtml http://www.ebay.com Quote Link to comment
Llittle_Llama Posted December 9, 2008 Author Report Share Posted December 9, 2008 I still have not done mine, think i might get one of those kits and be done with it..... Quote Link to comment
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