H4 Headlight Conversion Issue

[Dr Zoidberg MD]

So last week I completed a H4 headlight conversion using the headlights from those military guys:

http://www.thosemilitaryguys.com/h4-head-light-conversion-dot-approved/

Install was simple. I gave the lights a quick test on low beam and high beam. Works great... onto next project.

Tonight was my first time driving since the install. I noticed that the high beam indicator light now stays on when using low beam, and gets brighter when the high beams are activated.

Any ideas?

 

[dmetalmiki]

"Snap" Mine (on two trucks) does that..but the main beam indication is still discernible. Another worked properly after changing the intermittently faulty flasher relay.

 

[AMGeneral]

I had the same problem with the kit I got from them,If I remember correctly,I had to switch the ground and high beam wires around on both supplied harnesses.

I will check and make sure and repost here.

Ok,I checked,check the harness as described below,

The top terminal on the back of the bulb should be connected to wire #18 (low beam), the bottom right to wire #17 (high beam), and the bottom left to wire #91 (headlight to ground).

 

[Smokinyoda]

I also have this issue with a set I bought from them. And also bright is nice and bright dim is very dim, in fact dimmer than the original lights i took out. Guess I know why now.

 

[Dr Zoidberg MD]

This is all making a lot of sense now. I was thinking my low beam is definitely a bit dimmer than it was prior to install. The high beam was awesome, though. I'll give it a whirl and report back.

 

[DatGuyC]

 

[Dr Zoidberg MD]

Making more sense. Here is the incorrect diagram as provided with the lights:

 

[Dr Zoidberg MD]

I had the same problem with the kit I got from them,If I remember correctly,I had to switch the ground and high beam wires around on both supplied harnesses.

I will check and make sure and repost here.

Ok,I checked,check the harness as described below,

The top terminal on the back of the bulb should be connected to wire #18 (low beam), the bottom right to wire #17 (high beam), and the bottom left to wire #91 (headlight to ground).

Switched around #17 and #91. Problem solved. Low beams are bright and no high beam indicator light on with the low beam. Thank you for the help!

 

[AMGeneral]

Switched around #17 and #91. Problem solved. Low beams are bright and no high beam indicator light on with the low beam. Thank you for the help!

No problem,glad it helped!

 

[Scar59]

Has this tech issue been relayed back to "Those Mil. Guys"? I had quality issues with a set of head light guards, they took them back a fixed this weld issue. I was about to order a set of their H4 conversion bulbs.

 

[Dr Zoidberg MD]

Has this tech issue been relayed back to "Those Mil. Guys"? I had quality issues with a set of head light guards, they took them back a fixed this weld issue. I was about to order a set of their H4 conversion bulbs.

Yes. I dropped them an email with a description of the issue as well as a link to this thread.

Now that they are connected up proper, I would definitely recommend them. I just spent about a 1/2 hour driving with them and they are a VERY big improvement over the sealed beams. My visibility, especially on low beam, was greatly improved.

 

[Predator42]

I'm interested in knowing how these H4 lights compare with the 24V LED models. My LEDs are not the latest trucklite offers, they look like this. and I find their pattern to be patchy and coverage not spread out well. Has anyone else gone from the 24v LED to the H4 and seen significant improvements? if so I will jump to those.

 

[Scar59]

I have the Truck lite LEDs on a M35A3, work great, no issues. However due to cost of the Truck lite units, the H4 conversion is the next step.

 

[TonkaT]

Dr. Z,
Can you confirm the lens are glass? Also, do they come as a pair or singles?

Does anyone know a NAPA number for standard bulbs and the 3-wire connector?

TonkaT

 

[Dr Zoidberg MD]

Dr. Z,
Can you confirm the lens are glass? Also, do they come as a pair or singles?

Does anyone know a NAPA number for standard bulbs and the 3-wire connector?

TonkaT

They are sold individually for $70 each and include a bulb and the ceramic plug with the packard connectors. So you wouldn't need to buy those parts separately.

And yes they are glass lenses.

 

[tim292stro]

TMG sells AutoPal brand headlights like what I bought for my M1009 (different model of course). They are glass lenses with a metal reflector bowl. Very durable.


I recommend OSRAM Truckstar Pro bulbs over the AutoPal/Hella H4's that are more common in the USA - have to import them from the EU, but they have a tighter filament wind accuracy and tighter beam at 24V as a result - about the same price too.



A standard 7" round halogen sealed beam is an H6024.

The TMG conversion is a full kit - packard to H4 plug conversion cables (2x), two 7" round fixtures (x2), and 12 or 24V H4 bulbs (2x).

 

[Dr Zoidberg MD]

I ordered a few sets of the OSRAM Truckstar Pro bulbs from the UK almost a month ago that have yet to arrive. So for now I used the bulbs that came with the lenses and those were a significant improvement. It will be interesting to see the difference between the two if they ever show up.

 

[Robus1022]

Im curious to if this problem will occur when I hook up Jw speaker evo 2's. Sounds like an easy fix.

 

[tim292stro]

Im curious to if this problem will occur when I hook up Jw speaker evo 2's. Sounds like an easy fix.

J.W. Speakers are polarity protected - if the wiring is not correct, you will have no light (not reduced light). It's pretty easy to build up a harness to convert the packard plugs to the H4 plug - the one blade slot that is horizontal (perpendicular to the other two slots) is always the low/dipped beam positive. The other two slots are high-beam and ground, if you have a multimeter and the truck handy when you build the harness you can just measure out what produces a +12V with the high beams hooked up and that leaves only one wire for the low beam (and that would be a very obvious slot)

I ordered a few sets of the OSRAM Truckstar Pro bulbs from the UK almost a month ago that have yet to arrive. So for now I used the bulbs that came with the lenses and those were a significant improvement. It will be interesting to see the difference between the two if they ever show up.

I've been ordering from Ace Parts in Kent, UK - mostly due to convenience. They are not an eastern Europe country so they don't get the extra DHS scrutiny on incoming shipments for some reason, they sell on Amazon and eBay if that's your thing, and they ship Royal Mail in a bubble pack (UPS/FedEx/DHL can take longer with customs than mail BTW), takes about a week and a half to the S.F. Bay Area including customs. If the shipper doesn't prepay customs like you do with the mail, it will get stopped at the border and you have to wait for the shipping company to either hold it and send you a bill (UPS/DHL unless you have an account) or they trust you and send you a bill (FedEx did this with my kilt from Scotland).

I'm putting an hour meter on my headlight harness so that I can more accurately measure the run time(s) - I have a spare Hella 24V H4 I'll be dropping in to one side so I can do my own scientific field evaluation and report back to the general forum.

 

[Dock Rocker]

I can confirm the diagram above is incorrect. Wire 17 and wire 91 need to be swapped. I worked mine up as instructed and the low beam was really dim but bright was fine. I made the swap and now both work correctly.