halogen headlight upgrade

[Russ]

I upgraded my 66 Mustang to 60W/40W Halogen headlights today. I had planned to use dedicated relays to avoid running a possible higher current draw through the existing headlight switch/wiring. The parts store employee and another person told me they had made the same upgrade without relays - just plugged the new lamps in and had no ill effects.. I installed the new lamps today without relays and don't seem to have any problems so far. Has anyone done it this way and have you had any problems over time?
Thanks

 

[addo]

It's one of those things like 6V into Pertronix - it will work, but isn't ideal. You are placing greater current demands on wiring almost 40 years old. Using the existing wiring to switch a relay or two is the simplest means to ensure fire risk is down, and brightness is optimum.

The halogen install is a good one for better vision at night!

Cheers, Adam.

 

[66Sprint6]

had some in there almost a year, maybe more now, NO problems what-so-ever.....yet at least. Hopefully thing will stay that way!
Matt

 

[Anonymous]

also np here , working great aspecialy in night ! now almost for 2 years . did had to do the upgrade for the APK , because the orginal lamps did not have a EU mark on them ! every year my car go,s to the APK [ some control job every year for getting a licinse to drive the car ! and that the car is stil in good shape ! ] the only did see this , no EU mark on the lamps , they not even see the park lamps [ orange ] that is not alloud here ! but the little smal EU marks missing on the headlight ,the y did see !
realy great update , the halogen lamps ,aspeccialy when night driving !

 

[Anonymous]

Yet I did that to a 86 Mustang and had to change headlight switches, the old one kept overheating and then I had no lights, maybe the Fox bodies skimped?

 

[Falcon62]

While this will work, the question you have to ask yourself is, are you really getting the max benefit from the upgrade? Also, don't you wonder whether the 40-year old wiring will continue to handle it, or will it self destruct when you least can afford it? Remember, current draw is still limited by the gauge of the wire as well as the quality of the conductor. In this case your lights may only be whiter (difference between standard bulb and halogen), not brighter. Here's a couple links for some good articles:

http://www.ford-trucks.com/articles/delanty/brighter_lights.html

http://www.ford-trucks.com/articles/april2002/bronco78relay.php

You will have to subscribe in order to view the articles, but that only takes a few minutes and you should find the info very useful.

 

[Anonymous]

My stang has halogens that were put in by a previous owner, and after about 15 min of being on hi-beams it overheats and turns off, i've found that low beams dont ever quit, but driving home in the mountains is an eye strainer w/o high-beams. I've changed out the brights switch and the lights switch and still no progress, I guess just old wiring...

 

[XFlow_Fairlane]

I did it and I put in 130/80 lights on teh outers and with jsut those it would trip if I had the brights on...put 60/40 in the inners and ran relays fo rit all. on the fairlane the harness for the lights unplugs so I made small shorter ones with my relays and plugged it all in. works great and man are they bright

nick

 

[twentyover]

With 60/40's your not pulling any significant more amperage than the stock I'm guessing 55/40).

Putting ht rod headlights in (55w dips, 130 +100w on mains on the truck's quad system requires relays or the voltage drop through the switch and worong start to affect output

Probably OK with the standard switch and wiring, but put in a relay set and get some real headlights- 55w dip and 130-200 watt mains. You'll be surprised how that combined with a well ground lense will light up the night

 

[Silver Shadow]

It's late and I'm tired so instead of telling about how I did mine and how they worked go to this page.
http://fordsix.com/forum/viewtopic.php? ... highlight=

 

[MustangSix]

Even if the wiring and switches can handle the load, there is sometimes a significant voltage drop at the headlight connector. Sometimes you will be lucky to get 10-11volts to the headlight. Using relays to directly power the lights eliminates all the resistance in the wiring harness.

 

[BIGREDRASA]

Although I don't do much winter driving in my Stang, I've had halogens for at least 8 years with no probs. My local parts/restoration guru told me to get the '69 Stang headlight switch, since it was designed for 4 headlights. It's still in the trunk.

 

[Falcon62]

Even if the wiring and switches can handle the load, there is sometimes a significant voltage drop at the headlight connector. Sometimes you will be lucky to get 10-11volts to the headlight. Using relays to directly power the lights eliminates all the resistance in the wiring harness.

That's the gist of the brighter lights link I posted. I think I may have posted that link on FordSix before, but it was a long time ago.

 

[Anonymous]

I don't understand all of the myths about halogen lights drawing more current. 12 volt lights that are 55 or 60 watts will draw about 5 amps when they are on. They do get hotter. Granted the wiring harness could be deteriorated. But there is no significant change in amperage draw using DOT approved lights. Off road lights are rated at 100 watts and will draw much more current.

That said, the switches do deteriorate with age. Dirt and burning of the contacts may cause additional resistance resulting in lower power delivered to the light. Another problem is that there is an internal circuit breaker in the headlight switch that weakens with age. It may weaken and trip easier. My 65 Lincoln did this one morning at about 5:00 a.m. in the middle of a turn. Anyway, a replacement switch took care of the problem.

 

[Anonymous]

clear and bigg enough to read ?