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4 headlight mod


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FirehawkNS
10-21-2004, 09:58 PM
Has anyone tried to do a 4 headlight mod to a 2000 model Silverado? I did it too my Z and want to do it to the Truck. For those that don't know, when you turn on your highbeams, the low beams cut off. With the 4 headlight mod, the low beams stay on with the highbeams!! Just curious if anyone knew off the top of the head which wires to jumper on the truck too make this work.

silveradoman
10-21-2004, 11:07 PM
There was some info on this on another thread, someone said the bcm cuts the negative wire to the low beam only, but I haven´t verified it, for fear of frying the bcm

walbern1
10-22-2004, 10:36 AM
1) Open hood

2) Remove brace from firewall to Driver's side fender.

3) remove top of Circuit panel

4) unhook the snaps from the passenger and drivers side of the cover...look hard they are there!

5) Roll entire circuit board over towards the passenger side.

6) Locate the Grey connector...there is only one.

7) at location D3 (3rd down 4th to the right) is a light gauge yellow wire. It is the only yellow wire in this row.

8) Tap this wire and ground it to the Light ground on the firewall. Follow the lead from the Hood mounted light, and you will find it ...just to the left (YOUR OTHER LEFT!!!) of the Master Cylinder.

9) Put your stuff back together...you are done...arent you glad you kept that cover?

Enjoy your new quad headlights!

I cut and pasted this from another forum but have done this and it works great. There is another way to do it using a relay but this is alot easier and since your working on the power side and not the dround you don't need a fuse. The lights themselves are fused on the power side of the circuit

gtmud
10-22-2004, 12:57 PM
This doesn't overload the power wire, running both lights? What about the heat factor of having both lights on int he housing?

vnotaro
10-22-2004, 10:52 PM
This doesn't overload the power wire, running both lights? What about the heat factor of having both lights on int he housing?

I often thought about having all four lights on at the same time but always wondered about the heat it would generate too.

chuck16
10-23-2004, 12:52 AM
Walbern. Any pics to go along with this????

silveradoman
10-23-2004, 01:24 AM
Does the kit they sell at styling concepts do this same thing?

walbern1
10-25-2004, 11:24 AM
I didn't take any pics of mine when I did it and haven't found any pics of this mod in any of the forums. I have done it this way and with the relay to switch the ground and haven't notice any increased heat due to it. Because all you are doing is grounding a circuit to which power is already supplied you shouldn't have any additional heat (you aren't supplying power to both lights through the same circuit only grounding both at once)

quaddriver
10-25-2004, 11:42 AM
your best bet is to use 2 relays and isolate the low beams during high beam operation

I do this on my 88 (which is altogether different wiring)

when the lights are negatively switched, you have a fused (not breakered) relay connected to the highbeam ground, this relay then fires 2 additional relays, one isolates the low beams from the constant power and attaches to a different breakered power source, the other relay isolates the factory ground and supplies one.

If the highbeams are positively switched, you dont need the first relay, the high beam power can be tapped to fire the 2 isolation relays.

you CAN do this with big to3 cased power transistors, but the voltage drop across the pn junctions will lower the voltage to the headlights.

the beauty of this isolated system is, if any relay fails, the truck reverts to factory operation.

why do this? the main supply circuitry can really only handle the current of 1 set of headlights without risking failure.

gschretter
10-25-2004, 02:50 PM
You hit the nail on the head.

I added two hella 140watt lights to the front of my truck.

I used a relay and the trigger is the high beams.

So when I hit the high beams boom day light.

Powerwagontim
10-25-2004, 07:25 PM
8) Tap this wire and ground it to the Light ground on the firewall. Follow the lead from the Hood mounted light, and you will find it ...just to the left (YOUR OTHER LEFT!!!) of the Master Cylinder.I need clarification on this point. By "tap the wire" do you mean disconnect it from the board, or splice another wire into it? or something altogether different?
Thanks, Tim

walbern1
10-26-2004, 11:41 AM
Splice another wire into it.

Lucky519
10-26-2004, 10:23 PM
Is there a way to dot his on my 1994 Z 71? Is the wiring more similar to the 2000 or the 89?

silveradoman
10-27-2004, 12:23 AM
cAN YOU PUBLISH THE DIAGRAM?

walbern1
10-27-2004, 04:10 PM
Here try this. This guy took pictures of the entire process.
http://chevytruckworld.tenmagazines.com/mygallery.ten-id-6170-album-12221
Or this is the other way;
Wiring the Relay 99-02 trucks
Wire up the relay as follows:

- 85 Purple wire

- 86 Either orange wire

- 30 Any metal bolt (negative battery terminal) True vehicle ground, negative battery terminal

- 87 Yellow wire

You only need to perform this mod on one side for it to work with both of your headlights. It doesn’t matter which side.

Turn headlights on. Your low beams should now stay on with your high beams!

http://tinypic.com/em24g

Under a stock configuration the head lights will work as follows:
Low beam:
Yellow wire – at resting state “off” is 12V+, drops to ground when turned “on”
Orange wire – remains at 12V+ constantly

High beam:
Purple wire – at rest “off” is 12V+, drops to ground when turned “on”
Orange wire - remains at 12V+ constantly

chuck16
10-27-2004, 04:24 PM
Wow, that makes it look easy enough. I might just have to try it. Good find Walbern.

chuckwi11
10-27-2004, 08:10 PM
How much differnet/more difficult is the mod for 2003/04 Silverados?

silveradoman
10-27-2004, 08:18 PM
Ah!! of course! positive is always fed through the switch, high beam negative is the control circuit for the low beam, thanks a lot!

FirehawkNS
10-28-2004, 08:59 AM
Good stuff guys!!! Thanks!!

walbern1
10-28-2004, 10:02 AM
Apparently the 03/04 have gone back to a standard "switched positive" instead of a "switched negative" like the 99-02 but I'm not entirely sure. I'll check around and see what I can find.

walbern1
10-28-2004, 10:41 AM
This is a cut and paste from another site but all the feed back seems positive

Keep in mind this is on a 2003 GMC - other years may be different, even 2003 chevrolet may be differant although I would think it would be the same. For all lights on with high beams:

The bcm is under the steering column, I had to remove the dash panel to get to it. There are 3 larger 24 or so pin connectors on it. The one I am referring to is the 24 pin on the left side.

This connector has 2 rows of 12 pins, one above the other. There are pin numbers associated with them but they were hard to read so I'll explain it like this:

Top row: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 -we'll call T

Bottom row: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 -we'll call B

T1 is black-white and is High beam control- tap into this and solder a diode with the band ends towards the T1 wire. I used 1n4005 diodes. Now for the other end of the diode you will solder a short length of wire on and tap into B4- it's pink and is the low beam control.

When you're done make sure to insulate the ends of the diode and wire and everything else. Start the truck,turn the headlights on if it's not dark, you're low beams should work as normal. Flip to high beam and everything should come on. All we're really doing here is operating the relays under the hood that turn these lamps on normally. There should be no problem with power as they are still getting power the factory way. My only concern is the grounds on the headlamps, I'm hoping they don't run too warm running both lamps at once, and I don't know if both lamps are grounded together or if they have individual grounds. I may have to upgrade the grounds if they give trouble. Hope this is somewhat understandable!

Further note- if you are testing with the ignition switch off the DRLs will not come on at all, that's why I said start you're truck in the testing.

chuck16
10-28-2004, 10:58 AM
Cool and all but, that looks like a lot more work than just sneaking in under the Electrical Center...

FirehawkNS
10-28-2004, 06:55 PM
1) Open hood

2) Remove brace from firewall to Driver's side fender.

3) remove top of Circuit panel

4) unhook the snaps from the passenger and drivers side of the cover...look hard they are there!

5) Roll entire circuit board over towards the passenger side.

6) Locate the Grey connector...there is only one.

7) at location D3 (3rd down 4th to the right) is a light gauge yellow wire. It is the only yellow wire in this row.

8) Tap this wire and ground it to the Light ground on the firewall. Follow the lead from the Hood mounted light, and you will find it ...just to the left (YOUR OTHER LEFT!!!) of the Master Cylinder.

9) Put your stuff back together...you are done...arent you glad you kept that cover?

Enjoy your new quad headlights!

I cut and pasted this from another forum but have done this and it works great. There is another way to do it using a relay but this is alot easier and since your working on the power side and not the dround you don't need a fuse. The lights themselves are fused on the power side of the circuit


This worked great. Just got finished doing it. THanks a lot!! :smokin:


Do you think it would be the same on a 2004? Got a buddy that I would like to do this for as well. I guess it would be a matter of looking to see if it is the same setup!!

walbern1
10-28-2004, 08:15 PM
No. 03-04 are different look at the post I made above on this page.

FirehawkNS
10-28-2004, 09:54 PM
Sorry, I saw it the other day and forgot!!

Thanks!!

chuck16
10-29-2004, 03:26 PM
Just did the mod and it's super easy; took me all of 20 min. Thanks again Walbern. So, far so good, this truck has been a real treat to work on.

Thanks!!!
:D

walbern1
10-29-2004, 05:09 PM
Which way did you do it Chuck? Just so everyone else knows which ones work.

chuck16
10-29-2004, 09:14 PM
This is the way I did it; it took no time at all.


Originally Posted by walbern1
1) Open hood

2) Remove brace from firewall to Driver's side fender.

3) remove top of Circuit panel

4) unhook the snaps from the passenger and drivers side of the cover...look hard they are there!

5) Roll entire circuit board over towards the passenger side.

6) Locate the Grey connector...there is only one.

7) at location D3 (3rd down 4th to the right) is a light gauge yellow wire. It is the only yellow wire in this row.

8) Tap this wire and ground it to the Light ground on the firewall. Follow the lead from the Hood mounted light, and you will find it ...just to the left (YOUR OTHER LEFT!!!) of the Master Cylinder.

9) Put your stuff back together...you are done...arent you glad you kept that cover?

Enjoy your new quad headlights!
:smokin:

FirehawkNS
10-29-2004, 11:21 PM
Same way I did it!!

jsalaki
11-30-2004, 10:05 PM
my 00 headlights have quit working problems is in the ground wire feeding the brite and dim sw. does anyone know what color this wire is and where it grounds? thanks for any help

jeverett
12-01-2004, 07:21 AM
Is the mod worth the time? Does it make that much difference at night?

chuck16
12-01-2004, 10:00 AM
Jayson, Takes a bit of getting use to but, now I couldn't imagine not having the mod. It's great because I found that when you flicked to High Beam, in the stock setup, you lost a little bit of close vision. Now, after the mod, you get what's close and what's really far away.

I wired it easily enough so that if I didn't like it I could just de-Jumper what I had done.

jeverett
12-01-2004, 11:54 AM
Hmm. I just might give it a try.

kenny-1907
12-08-2004, 08:03 PM
I had mine apart/tapped/grounded/back together in 15 mins.

kenny-1907
12-09-2004, 07:26 PM
What i like best about this mod is the added brightness. I have screwed up eyes ,my left eye is near sighted and my right eye is far sighted and each eye sees the same thing at different levels. This makes driving at night on the highway with brights on a little tuff because my right sees great at distances with the brights, but my left which focuses closer and lower sees blackness and this really gives a screwy feeling especially when both eyes try to focus on the same point. With this mod it allows my high and low beams to be on at the same time, making both eyes happy lol, not to mention makes it safer. Oh and you all cam breath a sigh of relief, i have never been in an accident and i do not get this sight problem with just the low beams on lol.

thoot12
12-13-2004, 06:41 AM
Can something like this be done to keep the fog lights on when the high beams are on?

Trey

chuck16
12-13-2004, 09:08 AM
OK before I get burned. Somebody pointed this out to me that the Fog lights may be programmed to stay on with the High Beams but, it must be programmed at the dealer.
To avoid that. Throw out your stock fog light switch and put in an aftermarket one. Then wire your fogs with a relay to come on whenever you want them too. I've got mine wired to a S/W'd 12V source so that as soon as the Truck is in the run position I have full control over my Fogs. Trouble is they don't throw a lot of light, I'm shopping for better replacements the moment they burn out...Can't believe I spent $145 (CAN) on such crappy lights...

sparrbq
02-01-2005, 05:15 PM
Sounds good, I think I'll try it when we get a warm day.
This voids out the warranty I guess right?

jrn5898
02-03-2005, 09:15 AM
Has anyone tried to do a 4 headlight mod to a 2000 model Silverado? I did it too my Z and want to do it to the Truck. For those that don't know, when you turn on your highbeams, the low beams cut off. With the 4 headlight mod, the low beams stay on with the highbeams!! Just curious if anyone knew off the top of the head which wires to jumper on the truck too make this work.



I did this with my 94 and painless & summit make a kit that runs about 20 Bucks it comes with relay and wire & wire diagam it take about ten min.

silveradoman
02-04-2005, 09:41 PM
I think this is for everybody´s benefit....
http://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech/bulbs/Hid/disadvantages/disadvantages.html

ryanszpara
02-05-2005, 09:36 AM
hey guys, sorry to be a dumbass but i did the mod and it woked for like a day....then quit.

I checked my ground and it seems to be okay....im goin to use solder this time instead of a wire tap.....anyone else have this problem??


THanks

-Ryan

ryanszpara
02-05-2005, 01:17 PM
so i found my problem, bad wire tap. I soldered instead, works extremely well, and i love it .....

:2cents:

Sonny01
02-05-2005, 03:15 PM
I installed a set of factory fog lights but then found out that it's 100.00 for the dealer (spits on floor) to program then into the computer. Is there a way to just have them come on with my high beams?
Sonny01

silveradoking
02-05-2005, 09:03 PM
Is it $100 dollars (spits on floor again..) to program the foglights to work or to program them to turn on with the high beams?

ryanszpara
02-06-2005, 09:50 AM
i really have no clue what im talkin about, but it seems to me that you could ground them allong with the hi-beam ciricut couldnt you?? Maybe after some hard work looking through some wire diagrams......

:2cents:

Ryan

rabt
02-06-2005, 10:10 AM
the high beams in a 1999 - 2002 are one ofthe few things that switch on the positive wire with out a relay ..... i would put a relay in so the fog lights would come on with your high beams

Sonny01
02-07-2005, 12:35 PM
Silveradoking...the 100.00 is to tell the computer that fog lights are installed. All plugged in with all factory wiring and switch nothing happens when you turn them on.

BlenderWizard
04-16-2005, 10:51 PM
Here try this. This guy took pictures of the entire process.
http://chevytruckworld.tenmagazines.com/mygallery.ten-id-6170-album-12221


Wow, thanks a lot for that. Seems very easy and makes a lot more sense now. Also, by using a wire tap it seems very un-doable should the need arise.

BlenderWizard
04-17-2005, 12:18 PM
Chuck, Firehawk, Walbern, or anyone else who has tapped the ground, what gauge is the "yellow wire?" I'm about to do the mod, but I want to make sure I get the right gauge tap.

99redsilverado
04-17-2005, 02:01 PM
its a 16 guage i beleive, but lemme tell you right now dont waste the time with the relay, just tap into that yellow wire and ground it good, by far the best mod yet, ive done...took all of 5 minutes

BlenderWizard
04-17-2005, 02:19 PM
its a 16 guage i beleive, but lemme tell you right now dont waste the time with the relay, just tap into that yellow wire and ground it good, by far the best mod yet, ive done...took all of 5 minutes

Yep, it was 16 gauge, and I just did the mod. Looks and works good.

catcluber
04-22-2005, 02:19 PM
Does anyone know how to do this on a 99 Tahoe?
The circuit panel looks different and the relay described is for the horn, and there are no yellow wires.

BlenderWizard
04-22-2005, 03:03 PM
Does anyone know how to do this on a 99 Tahoe?
The circuit panel looks different and the relay described is for the horn, and there are no yellow wires.

Did you check the Tahoe section? Someone in there is bound to know.

Marmots
09-01-2005, 07:24 AM
I want to do this mod this weekend. Before I start tapping wires, I want to verify the correct yellow wire.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v229/finlost/Pickup%20Wiring/Pickupwiring003Small.jpg

I am assuming it is the yellow wire in the upper right corner on the grey-white block. Someone please confirm.

Marmot

jethro_3
09-01-2005, 08:55 AM
Yes, simple and cheap. That is the correct yellow.

BlenderWizard
09-01-2005, 04:34 PM
Yeah I tapped mine with yellow wire and tucked it into some conduit on the way to the grounding nut/stud... barely noticeable untill I get behind you and blind your ass!

chuck16
09-01-2005, 04:40 PM
I wonder if the 2005/6 models will offer this feature. It seems silly to me to not have this as a standard feature. For something so easy it should be standard. Such a great mod....

BlenderWizard
09-01-2005, 04:44 PM
Hey, Chuck, what did you have to do to keep your fogs on with your high beams?

jethro_3
09-01-2005, 07:34 PM
My '05 does not stay in the 4 light mode. If you pull it for passing it will go to all on but pops off when you let go. I beleive the '04 and up is the reverse polarity switched and thus takes different wiring to make it happen.

chuck16
09-01-2005, 10:51 PM
Hey, Chuck, what did you have to do to keep your fogs on with your high beams?

Threw away the stock Fog Light switch. Well Actually I kept it but, I wired the Fogs on my own wiring. I used all the factory wiring from my relay to the lights so that it looks pretty stock. Then I wired a switch in just below the blank spot where the Cargo Switch is. My Truck didn't come with the fog lights so I bought them after wards and wired them my own way. I also wired them so there was never any chance of leaving them on by accident.

I was sadly disappointed that they don't throw a lot of light. I had Bosch Pilot Driving lights on my last vehicle and I miss them. I can't wait for these to burn out or somebody who wants them cause I'm ready to chuck'em.

Think I'll go with some Piaa's or something like that...
Hope that helps.

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