headlight wire upgrade harness: checking interest

[old_skool_noma]

after building 2 headlight wire upgrade harnesses as discribed in the the 2 threads about it, ive been thiniking about building them to sell, they would upgrade the wire to 10ga, and will most likely be for high and low beams, it will also include the quad beam mod for the high beams, and to top it off, it will be a plug and play harness, just plug it into the old headlight plugs and connect to the battery and then connect the headlight bulbs, i can also do them for sealed beam to composite conversions.
as of right now the price is looking to be in the range of $75-$90

i want to know what the damand for somthing like this would be?

[old_skool_noma]

sorry for the garbled up first post in the thread, i was at work on lunch trying to rush to get it typed.

It will be a plug and play harness, i would be able to make them for sealed beam as well as composite lights, or even conversion harnesses to go from sealed to composite or vice versa (for you phantom grille people)

simply mount your relays, plug in the relay sockets, connect to the battery and connect your grounds/headlights/and plug into your old harness and you're done, my estimate for an install time is 15-30 minutes,

i will get pictures as soon as prototype is done since im still waiting on some parts to get here, although this one will not have the relay sockets everything else will be about the same.

As for price, im thinking $75-$90 will be pretty close to what i will be asking, for those of you thinking im crazy to price them this high, I took into consideration how much these can be built for buying most of the components in small quantities both locally and online, (basically my prototype harness) When its all said and done it would cost in the ballpark of $60-$70, so I don't think my 75-90ish is unreasonable at all, especially when the harness from painless sells for $160+ and you just saved about 3-4 hours of your time, and have a very clean looking harness.

I would like to make a test run of 10 harnesses, but, im not going to spend the money on building them if no one is going to buy them. (mods please dont take this as an advertisement, as of right now this is all hypothetical)

[comics22]

seems crazy high but when u have no pieces of it lying around (i had everything but ran outa spade connectors lol) it is about $50-$60 to build. (wire crimpons relays connectors, etc)

I word of advice dont make the sealed beam the quad bulb, will burn out the bulb in no time. (since both filaments are in the same glass, it will melt the glass)

ive already done this and is a noticeable increase in light brightness.

you plan to have ring connectors to connect the + and GND ?

[old_skool_noma]

Quote: Originally Posted by comics22

seems crazy high but when u have no pieces of it lying around (i had everything but ran outa spade connectors lol) it is about $50-$60 to build. (wire crimpons relays connectors, etc)

I word of advice dont make the sealed beam the quad bulb, will burn out the bulb in no time. (since both filaments are in the same glass, it will melt the glass)

ive already done this and is a noticeable increase in light brightness.

you plan to have ring connectors to connect the + and GND ?

yes I do plan to use ring terminals, but I am open to suggestions as well if anyone has a better idea, also I plan to solder every terminal to the wire, I hate crimps, I always have a problem getting them to crimp properly, and all the insulation that comes on them looks cheap, and solder is overall a better connection.

also thanks for the info about the quad beam mod on sealed beam lights, the price difference is negligible so, I may just make it an option.

[comics22]

yea only diff is 1 like 10 cent diode... where are you going to get the positive battery power from for the lights? directly from the battery terminal? If you do id make a recomendation to cut a notch in the red rubber terminal bolt holder thing (have no idea what it would be called) so you can screw the terminal down straight and tightly with the ring terminal under it. (dont ask how i found out lol)

i can take a pic to explain that better tommorow if your confused...

ive considered getting power from that distribution box on the passenger fender (least it is on my 95 s10) would just need a simple ring terminal and screw it down

[Mr.woodscrewsNbondo]

probably not worth the time, a few people would buy them but the people who cant do it themselves would most likely only shop at best buy or auto zone

[evanspears1]

^^^ thats kinda what I was thinking... the people who couldnt make their relay harness, and stuff probably could care less about it...

I think a better way to market it, would be to the e-bay crowd, and not only for s10's, offer "custom" upgrade harnesses, where they tell you their bulb type, and whether its a single filament or dual filament bulb, and go from there. The only difference in a s-10 only kit, and a "custom for anything" kit would be the terminals that plug from the factory harness, and then that go from the new harness to the bulb... and sell it for 100 just because its "custom made for the customer"...haha

but yeah, I think an s-10 only marketed harness will fail for you, because basically anyone who is interested can look at beandips article on how to do it, and if they cant do it with as detailed a write-up as his, they should not do anything... not even breathe...haha

[orangesonoma]

funny i was going to do the same thing a few years ago...same shit you wanted to do...but never got around to building it.

[neo71665]

I've made a few and to keep the cost down where people will buy them you damn near gotta do free labor. Most people are not gonna care about anything but hey I can get the same thing on e-bay for $20 why is yours so high.

[old_skool_noma]

Quote: Originally Posted by neo71665

I've made a few and to keep the cost down where people will buy them you damn near gotta do free labor. Most people are not gonna care about anything but hey I can get the same thing on e-bay for $20 why is yours so high.

thats what me adding up all the prices came out at, i have no idea how the ones on ebay are so cheap. i can barely buy a roll of wire for that price, the relays im using are 3 bucks each, and the headlight plugs end up being about 4-5 bucks a pop, thats 20 bucks right there

after i saw the other kits on ebay i pretty much gave up, there is no way in hell i can keep up with those kind of prices

[old_skool_noma]

Quote: Originally Posted by comics22

yea only diff is 1 like 10 cent diode... where are you going to get the positive battery power from for the lights? directly from the battery terminal? If you do id make a recomendation to cut a notch in the red rubber terminal bolt holder thing (have no idea what it would be called) so you can screw the terminal down straight and tightly with the ring terminal under it. (dont ask how i found out lol)

i can take a pic to explain that better tommorow if your confused...

ive considered getting power from that distribution box on the passenger fender (least it is on my 95 s10) would just need a simple ring terminal and screw it down

i know what your talking about, its just been a while since ive had factory battery terminals on my truck

also the diodes im using are .44 each, i figured its only a few cents more to go WAY overkill on the power handleing, why not. 1000v 6A, and i think you only need 1/10th of that to switch on the relay

[neo71665]

Quote: Originally Posted by old_skool_noma

thats what me adding up all the prices came out at, i have no idea how the ones on ebay are so cheap. i can barely buy a roll of wire for that price, the relays im using are 3 bucks each, and the headlight plugs end up being about 4-5 bucks a pop, thats 20 bucks right there

after i saw the other kits on ebay i pretty much gave up, there is no way in hell i can keep up with those kind of prices

I was getting the wire free, was using the high heat plugs ($10 a pop) and had the relay connectors already. People don't care about what you have to spend or your time in it they only care about what they gotta spend.

[old_skool_noma]

Quote: Originally Posted by neo71665

I was getting the wire free, was using the high heat plugs ($10 a pop) and had the relay connectors already. People don't care about what you have to spend or your time in it they only care about what they gotta spend.

yep, thats why i pretty much gave up on it, i was getting the delphi plugs un assembled same with the relay sockets

[old_skool_noma]

heres the "prototype" and after this probably only doing them custom order prepay only and ill only do them per request, if i even do them at all.

[neo71665]

I know it drives the price up but relay connectors look much better than exposed spades.


No offense but the mess at the bottom of those relays is not worth what you were gonna ask. The rest looks top notch with heat shrink and wire sleeve but that alone just ruins it.

[old_skool_noma]

Quote: Originally Posted by neo71665

I know it drives the price up but relay connectors look much better than exposed spades.

yeah, i had the piggy back connectors bought and everyhting so i used them, but i was planning to use sockets for anything else i build, and with the spade connectors right now i have the flexability to move my wires around easily if i got anything wired wrong, i after i finish getting the wires sorted out tomorrow i might go get the sockets just becasue the spade connector mess is irritating me.

[neo71665]

The wire terminals can be moved around in the connector, just requires a control screwdriver, icepick, or something small to undo the latch. The simply slide out after and slide right back in.

It does look good. I wish I woulda wire sleeved mine when I made it but instead I shoved it in the factory wire loom that runs along the front.

[old_skool_noma]

Quote: Originally Posted by neo71665

The wire terminals can be moved around in the connector, just requires a control screwdriver, icepick, or something small to undo the latch. The simply slide out after and slide right back in.

It does look good. I wish I woulda wire sleeved mine when I made it but instead I shoved it in the factory wire loom that runs along the front.

yeah, its just a but im worried about having one high and one low on at the same time, so i need to sort those out and im worried about having the diode in backwards. once i get that sorted out, i will probably do the sockets, im just having problems finding them locally since it may be installed this weekend

as for the wire sleeve, i dont really like how its semi transparent, so if i make any more i think i will use split loom under the expandable sleeve

[neo71665]

The diode should be labeled which way it flows.


The arrow line thing should point to what you want power to and the line will be connected to what you want it blocked from back feeding. Ignore the rest that just what I had on hand.

Good luck finding them local for a good price, I get mine from ebay in bulk uncrimped so I can connect my wire straight to source without any splices.

[old_skool_noma]

Quote: Originally Posted by neo71665

The diode should be labeled which way it flows.


The arrow line thing should point to what you want power to and the line will be connected to what you want it blocked from back feeding. Ignore the rest that just what I had on hand.

Good luck finding them local for a good price, I get mine from ebay in bulk uncrimped so I can connect my wire straight to source without any splices.

well my problem is that with the last diodes i used i thought i had them right going by the mark and it ended up being backwards

and if i get anything with pigtails i always pull the connector out and re solder my wire to the terminal and ditch the old wire, but yeah, i know what you mean on price, but its one of those i dont want to wait on shipping if i can help it, had i been thinking straight and not set on using the piggyback connectors, i would have ordered them from parts express when i ordered everything else

[evanspears1]

like everyone else said, it looks really good expect for the relay connectors, but like you said, its a prototype... would be worth the money for the attn. to detail you have put into it... hope it works out for ya, and you can make a little cash off of it...

I still think an ebay custom type kit would be most profitable for you, but I dont know if it would be worth the hassle of having to look up every cars lighting system, and also keeping a stock of electrical connectors... something to think about though...

[old_skool_noma]

Quote: Originally Posted by evanspears1

like everyone else said, it looks really good expect for the relay connectors, but like you said, its a prototype... would be worth the money for the attn. to detail you have put into it... hope it works out for ya, and you can make a little cash off of it...

I still think an ebay custom type kit would be most profitable for you, but I dont know if it would be worth the hassle of having to look up every cars lighting system, and also keeping a stock of electrical connectors... something to think about though...

most everyting is the 9005/9006, or the 3 prong so thats not a problem, but, i looked online at the price to but an upgrade harness and i dont think i could sell them for what some of the other prices are on ebay, hell i cant even come close to building them for that

[evanspears1]

true, its hard to beat a warehouse full of china-children on their labor costs...haha... us americans and our expensive tastes, and high wages, lol

[old_skool_noma]

Quote: Originally Posted by evanspears1

true, its hard to beat a warehouse full of china-children on their labor costs...haha... us americans and our expensive tastes, and high wages, lol

i know, damn it all for the price those china kids sell them for i can only get a couple relays and maybe the wire, the real money that gets sunk into these is in the connectors, plugs and fuse holders

[comics22]

another thing to think about is to use the mini blade fuse holders, since thats what the truck uses theres always a few spares in the fuse door

[old_skool_noma]

yeah, but must people doing this will likely have an aftermarket stereo as well and most amps use the same type of fuses

to be honest, its hard to find mini blade fuseholders anywhere, and the fuses that ive used are pretty much the standard for anything aftermarket

[evanspears1]

I would agree with you on that, I have literally hundreds of regular blade fuses, but I dont have any extra mini-blades... come to think of it, I should prolly invest in a couple extra's, haha

[old_skool_noma]

much to everyone's relief, the relay sockets should be here today, the wiring mess was bugging me too


correction, they are here

[evanspears1]

good, now fix it, and report back for evaluation..haha, j/p

[comics22]

another thought: could make an upgrade harness for the headlights and factory foglights.

[ridinlow]

Quote: Originally Posted by old_skool_noma

heres the "prototype" and after this probably only doing them custom order prepay only and ill only do them per request, if i even do them at all.

I just did this upgrade tonight using 12 ga instead of 10 and only spent like 30 bucks for everything and i can tell a big difference even with the 12 ga wire.

[old_skool_noma]

Quote: Originally Posted by comics22

another thought: could make an upgrade harness for the headlights and factory foglights.

i kind of have that on my truck, i need to clean it up like this harness, but it done, although i don't have factory fog lights, i added some and have their relay run off my low beams although im thinking about running them off the parking lights, basically what they replaced so i can turn them on without my headlights

[old_skool_noma]

and heres pics with the relay sockets, i also had a couple holes burnt in the sleeve from heating the heat shrink, so i fixed that while i was at it and made cable pants of sorts.

[fatphatboy88]

So how much would you charge for a kit just like in the last pics for high and low beams with quad beam option for a 99 S10?

I would do it myself, I just dont have the time right now with work, school, and a girl taking up all my time. So a plug and play would help me out a lot.

[beandip]

Looks really good!

i should have used that wire sleeve for mine instead of shoving it into the factory wire loom. hmmm...maybe i should redo mine since it was a "prototype" when i did it

it is a good idea making these and selling them to people who cant do it, or dont have the time. im sure you will sell a couple to the s10 community but i dont know how high the demand is.

ohh and since you used my how-to i gotta have 5% of your profits

[comics22]

haha i gotta clean mine up ALOT. between that upgrade, the efan, alarm system, and aftermarket foglights its like a wiring nightmare under there...

it all works and safe just i really need to take apart the front end and rewire it all. possibly using distribution blocks and such

[evanspears1]

That looks ALOT better, looks like an actual "comercial" kit, not just a diy with spade connectors...lol... excellent looking quality...

I will take 2 harnesses, for free... you know for testing purposes and junk...

[VTsonoma]

I really like how nice and neat that looks. How much would charge for that for a kit for a 00 Sonoma with factory fogs?

[old_skool_noma]

i dont really want to comment on price right now due to advertising restrictions and such, and id also like to check the voltage drop on 12 ga versus 10 ga, the 10 is pretty hard to fit into the relay socket, and its also a tight fit in the headlight plugs as well, and ive heard from someone that the 12 works well for him.

the other good thing is that the 12 ga would save you some money if the voltage drop is negligible.

as for testing, well, im sure youre joking, but these things are FAR from cheap to build

and as far as factory fogs are concerned i need to find out what plugs i would need.

[evanspears1]

yeah, DEFINETELY joking, I personally a way to save a lil money, would be to have 10Ga to the socket, and 12Ga fromt the relay to the light, that short of a distance probably wouldnt matter... thats the way my truck is.. Only b/c I ran out of 10Ga though... They are still a huge improvement over that factory wiring...

[old_skool_noma]

that was my plan, squeezing 2 pieces of 10ga into one of those sockets is near impossible, but i can get one in

i think i will run a couple pieces of 12 on mine to my lows to check since i have the 12 and no sockets on mine and get the voltages

[old_skool_noma]

for those of you that asked about harnesses, i havent forgoten about you, im waiting to hear back about some parts before I get you prices, Please contact me for harnesses VIA PM since i don't want to get this thread closed. since its mainly to see how many people would be interested, judging by a couple people in the first couple days after showing pics of the completed harness, i might have something here

[evanspears1]

hope it turns into a profitable little venture for ya... looks like tip top quality work! I'd buy one if I hadnt alreay made my own.

Any news on the V-drop difference between 10 and 12 Ga. wire?

[old_skool_noma]

not yet, i have had a chance with work

[neo71665]

Quote: Originally Posted by evanspears1

hope it turns into a profitable little venture for ya... looks like tip top quality work! I'd buy one if I hadnt alreay made my own.

Any news on the V-drop difference between 10 and 12 Ga. wire?

Its gonna depend on the length and amp draw of the light itself. With 14.4 volts its not really gonna be that big of a difference. I can figure out the exact calculations but just guessing I'm gonna say somewhere around .2 maybe .3 with the short run from battery to the drivers side headlight.

[old_skool_noma]

i was guessing that it would be close, there isnt a whole lot of diferent in the current carrying abilities of 12 vs 10, i think 10 is rated for 40 amps, and it seems like 12 is rated for 35, and given that you will only have about a 5-10 amp draw max per wire, you should be way in the clear and have very little drop between the two.