Lighting

[ArdWrknTrk]

The replacement relay from JBG appears to be non-standard as well. It is a shame that the vendors and making them that way since it suggests you might want to carry a spare. Otherwise you could drop into any parts store and buy a Bosch-style relay if you needed one.

But, I guess that's a small price to pay. You could buy this Painful harness for $150 and it appears to use standard relays.

That's really outrageous.

I bought this Ford blower relay kit with probably 24" of heavy sleeved harness, mounting tab socket, hardware and a genuine Bosch relay for $7.71 from U-techcenter.

[Gary Lewis]

That's really outrageous.

I bought this Ford blower relay kit with probably 24" of heavy sleeved harness, mounting tab socket, hardware and a genuine Bosch relay for $7.71 from U-techcenter.

Two of those kits =$26, plus two headlight sockets @ $2 each and you are now in the ballpark of the LMC & the JBG. But you'd have good relays.

But the thing I see missing in these kits is a fuse or, as I like to do, an auto-reset breaker.

[ArdWrknTrk]

Two of those kits =$26, plus two headlight sockets @ $2 each and you are now in the ballpark of the LMC & the JBG. But you'd have good relays.

But the thing I see missing in these kits is a fuse or, as I like to do, an auto-reset breaker.

U-techcenter combines shipping... so only the basic $4.95.

As you know my lights are fused and relayed through my mini PDC.

I've sent my LMC harness, 3G Megafuse, random relays and a pair of LED backup lights off to Frank Wyatt in Tennessee.

I'm not sure if I could fit one of my Bussmann breakers into the fuse slot area under that lid, but I'm going to have to look into it.

Edit: actual Bosch relay is about $6. No way I could buy the socket and wiring for $1.71.

Not trying to compete with China. This is a real quality kit by an a American contractor with a Ford part number...

[Machspeed]

That's really outrageous.

I bought this Ford blower relay kit with probably 24" of heavy sleeved harness, mounting tab socket, hardware and a genuine Bosch relay for $7.71 from U-techcenter.

Thanks for the information fellas. I'll look this over and make a decision later today.

Have some more problems, see my post on fan shroud and broken bolt......it never ends

[FuzzFace2]

My tombstones don't seem to come apart and the brass contact goes all the way around, from one pin to the other. Looks like they put it together and glued it, but even if I could get it apart I think the contact wouldn't work if I cut it in two. Plus, there's no way to connect to the 2nd contact as there's only one hole for a wire.

And yes, I did see the bulbs are directional. I'm cutting out the ballast and will wire all of them in so the bulbs all point the same way.

On the headlight relay harness, yes I'd buy one in if I were doing it today. (That's not 100% true as I just recently built my own for Big Blue, but it was in conjunction with all the other wiring and I wanted the relays in the power distribution box, which an aftermarket harness wouldn't do.) This one from LMC should work fine, although some have said it uses non-standard relays so if one goes bad you'll have to get a replacement from LMC. This one from JBG would also work.

All this talk of tombstones and cutting wires, removing ballast and rewiring I think is more work than I want to put into changing them all out.

Dave ----

[Gary Lewis]

All this talk of tombstones and cutting wires, removing ballast and rewiring I think is more work than I want to put into changing them all out.

Dave ----

Got my first pair of LED replacement bulbs in the shop. Took a bit more than I expected as the tombstones I bought aren't an easy fit. Here's a shot showing how I had to modify the bracket to accept the new ones. You can see where I've cut one side out and marked the other side to cut.

As for how bright they are, let me say BRIGHT! But, I can't prove that via the camera, as you'll see below. If you look directly at the LEDs they hurt your eyes, but the fluorescents don't. Maybe it is because the LEDs are point sources and the fluorescents aren't.

The LEDs are very white and crisp. I really like them, and given the improvement from this I want to convert more of them, soon.

Here's the best pic I could take, but that doesn't show what my eyes see:

[ArdWrknTrk]

Got my first pair of LED replacement bulbs in the shop. Took a bit more than I expected as the tombstones I bought aren't an easy fit. Here's a shot showing how I had to modify the bracket to accept the new ones. You can see where I've cut one side out and marked the other side to cut.

As for how bright they are, let me say BRIGHT! But, I can't prove that via the camera, as you'll see below. If you look directly at the LEDs they hurt your eyes, but the fluorescents don't. Maybe it is because the LEDs are point sources and the fluorescents aren't.

The LEDs are very white and crisp. I really like them, and given the improvement from this I want to convert more of them, soon.

Here's the best pic I could take, but that doesn't show what my eyes see:

That's looking good, Gary!

But I don't really understand why you have to go through all that.

When I've used the Hyperikon "tubes" they swapped right into the existing tombstones.

Did you buy T-8 style bulbs when you had T-12 fixtures???

Otherwise, I've just snipped the wires, left the ballasts bypassed, put the reflectors back on and popped the LED's in.

I was back at my buddy Theo's house yesterday, where I installed seven of those Wal-Mart fixtures.

I didn't think to take a picture....

[Gary Lewis]

That's looking good, Gary!

But I don't really understand why you have to go through all that.

When I've used the Hyperikon "tubes" they swapped right into the existing tombstones.

Did you buy T-8 style bulbs when you had T-12 fixtures???

Otherwise, I've just snipped the wires, left the ballasts bypassed, put the reflectors back on and popped the LED's in.

I was back at my buddy Theo's house yesterday, where I installed seven of those Wal-Mart fixtures.

I didn't think to take a picture....

These particular tubes take non-shunting tombstones. All of my tombstones are the shunting style, which means that the tombstone connects the pins together on that end.

Instead, these tubes want positive and ground to come in on the same end, and there are no connections to the other end. So I have to change out the tombstone on the end to which there will be power.

Perhaps I bought the wrong style tubes? Perhaps there are shunt-style tubes where you put power on one end and ground on the other? That way I'd just have to snip the wires as you said.

[ArdWrknTrk]

These particular tubes take non-shunting tombstones. All of my tombstones are the shunting style, which means that the tombstone connects the pins together on that end.

Instead, these tubes want positive and ground to come in on the same end, and there are no connections to the other end. So I have to change out the tombstone on the end to which there will be power.

Perhaps I bought the wrong style tubes? Perhaps there are shunt-style tubes where you put power on one end and ground on the other? That way I'd just have to snip the wires as you said.

Thanks for the explanation.

I've never had to do that.

But again, I've stopped doing it entirely.

It's been 4 years or so.

[MarkF100]

That's looking good, Gary!

But I don't really understand why you have to go through all that.

When I've used the Hyperikon "tubes" they swapped right into the existing tombstones.

Did you buy T-8 style bulbs when you had T-12 fixtures???

Otherwise, I've just snipped the wires, left the ballasts bypassed, put the reflectors back on and popped the LED's in.

I was back at my buddy Theo's house yesterday, where I installed seven of those Wal-Mart fixtures.

I didn't think to take a picture....

The Walmart Hyper Tough fixtures are impressive. As of now there are four of them hanging in the barn. The barn is 40x50. They light the place up. The floor is dirt at the moment so, not very good reflection. In two weeks the cement will be poured. Should really brighten the place up. I'll never go back to florescent. I hate Walmart but, can't beat the price.