Head Lights to LED conversion.

[MrMarty51]

My truck has been converted to the 4 bulb 4”x6” headlight system from a 1988-1989 pickup.
I think that with all four bulbs being lit up on the hi and low beam bulbs being ignited all at the same time is taxing to the 30 amp main fuses in the under the hood fuse box when the heater blower and AC is all running at the same time.
When I first got the truck there was one of the fuses blown, but, the PO had also installed a 50 amp fuse in one of the slots and left the other slot to the factory 30 amp fuses, well, this time both fuses burned out, stalling the truck 50 miles from home.
I had two 30 amp fuses along so installed those and the truck was good for the fifty mile drive the rest of the way home.
So now I would like to do the LED conversion to lighten the amperage draw load but I dont know, or understand the differences in the LED bulb systems.
So, from ebay which would be the better unit to convert to ?
1:

Pardon Our Interruption...

2:

Pardon Our Interruption...

OR
3:

Pardon Our Interruption...

 

[dbrannon79]

I would go with the first one. that way when the LED bulb fails you can replace and not have to replace the entire assembly. most of the LED bulbs now have little fans to help with cooling.

if you go with one of the others and one goes out, now you need to replace both only because you can't find the exact replacement 1-2 years down the road. with housing that have removable bulbs, you can just swap in a new bulb and be on the way with less hassle.

 

[Twisted Steel Performance]

Sounds like something may be wrong...
I have a "all on" headlight also, only it's not the cheap stuff some are selling now. Mine is a complete wiring harness with 2 relays that are connected to the battery not the light switch like OEM or some other harnesses.

I can and have run all lights, a/c, everything that pulls amps at once and nothing gets hot or blows fuzes...

And I also have the same 4 bulbs you have and don't need or want led's..

 

[MrMarty51]

Sounds like something may be wrong...
I have a "all on" headlight also, only it's not the cheap stuff some are selling now. Mine is a complete wiring harness with 2 relays that are connected to the battery not the light switch like OEM or some other harnesses.

I can and have run all lights, a/c, everything that pulls amps at once and nothing gets hot or blows fuzes...

And I also have the same 4 bulbs you have and don't need or want led's..

Yup, I’m on the two relay system also. Home made wire harness and all high quality with plenty heavy wiring.
I’m going to run it for a while and see what happens.
It did go the rest of the way home with no problems, wasnt running AC but had the heater on and fan running on high and it didnt blow any more fuses.
I think that the reason that the PO had a 50 amp fuse in that one slot is that there is a GP over ride push button switch that He had been using. I have never used that over ride system.

 

[Will L.]

Before buying any headlights- go to a YouTube channel called “Headlight Revolution”. They do actual comparison testing on all different headlights.
There are MANY types sold that although have better advertised numbers do horrible. Some that are even worse than just stock headlights!

Adding a bigger fuse than stock but not replacing the wires that go to and from that fuse is always a mistake. The electrical load determines the size of wire. Then a fuse is used to protect that wire. The fuse doesn’t protect the device. The wire will actually handle up to a certain point and then before it turns into a fireball, then the fuse will pop. When a larger fuse is in place, the wires will melt and ignite before the fuse blows. This is the same thing with breakers in your house.

Get the right fuse back in there asap.

If the load of the glow plugs is too much for the fuse sustained- it is too much for the wire feeding it. The “fix” of using the stock wire to control a relay which is using much larger wire to carry the load is an acceptable modification- just like done on your headlights or liftpump…

 

[jrsavoie]

Before buying any headlights- go to a YouTube channel called “Headlight Revolution”. They do actual comparison testing on all different headlights.
There are MANY types sold that although have better advertised numbers do horrible. Some that are even worse than just stock headlights!

Adding a bigger fuse than stock but not replacing the wires that go to and from that fuse is always a mistake. The electrical load determines the size of wire. Then a fuse is used to protect that wire. The fuse doesn’t protect the device. The wire will actually handle up to a certain point and then before it turns into a fireball, then the fuse will pop. When a larger fuse is in place, the wires will melt and ignite before the fuse blows. This is the same thing with breakers in your house.

Get the right fuse back in there asap.

If the load of the glow plugs is too much for the fuse sustained- it is too much for the wire feeding it. The “fix” of using the stock wire to control a relay which is using much larger wire to carry the load is an acceptable modification- just like done on your headlights or liftpump…

I think whoever, may have made my headlight harness to be plug and play. It's what I was after at the time. I did not want to cut and splice anything.
It definitely takes a load off the light switch on vehicles that don't have a headlight relay

 

[Twisted Steel Performance]

Mine was a p&p harness that replaced the stock harness that plugs into the firewall socket.

 

[MrMarty51]

Before buying any headlights- go to a YouTube channel called “Headlight Revolution”. They do actual comparison testing on all different headlights.
There are MANY types sold that although have better advertised numbers do horrible. Some that are even worse than just stock headlights!

Adding a bigger fuse than stock but not replacing the wires that go to and from that fuse is always a mistake. The electrical load determines the size of wire. Then a fuse is used to protect that wire. The fuse doesn’t protect the device. The wire will actually handle up to a certain point and then before it turns into a fireball, then the fuse will pop. When a larger fuse is in place, the wires will melt and ignite before the fuse blows. This is the same thing with breakers in your house.

Get the right fuse back in there asap.

If the load of the glow plugs is too much for the fuse sustained- it is too much for the wire feeding it. The “fix” of using the stock wire to control a relay which is using much larger wire to carry the load is an acceptable modification- just like done on your headlights or liftpump…

Yup.
I was surprised when I looked at the fuse diagram and seen that both fuses is suppose to both be 30 amp units.
When I first pulled the cover and seen one was a 50 amp unit I was in a sort of a panic because all I had in the jockey box was two 30s.
Then checking the diagram under the cover lid I seen both is suppose to be 30s I thought, good to go here.
And so I now have 4 thirty amp fuses for spares in the jockey box.
No more 50s will be packed.
My night driving is very limited. I would rather drive at night just to avoid most of the traffic. Maybe if I had reason, and could afford to, I’d do more traveling and choose to do the drives at night and make an attempt to tax the electrical systems then see if it might blow more fuses.