My truck was ordered originally with sealed-beam halogen headlights. In '82, halogens were optional, and a huge upgrade from the regular incandescent lamps. However, they're still not that great. Their light output is still marginal at best, and it's effectively unfocused. You get two more-or-less white blobs of light and hope that they shine on stuff you want to see.
My truck has also always been a black hole that cannot be filled with enough headlights. It has a tendency to eat them. Over the years I've gotten used to replacing a lamp about every six months if I drive it regularly. The amount of driving has dropped in the last several years since I had other cars to drive, but it was still annoying. I blame the small-gauge wiring running the halogen lamps in an undercurrent situation. Halogens do NOT like to be underpowered.
To that end, I finally decided to do something about it. I had known about Daniel Stern Lighting for a good ten years, and I finally decided to contact Mr. Stern and see what he had to say. After some email exchanges, I bought the following parts:
Here is a picture of the contents of the kit:
A close-up of one of the headlamps. The picture isn't great -- bad lighting, and no flash because of the glare -- but it shows the markings on the lamps:
The relay kit comes with a lot of pieces. Two relays, two relay sockets, two H4 headlamp sockets, and two male plugs to plug your new harness into your existing lighting wiring. The kit does not come with wire (you supply that). The total was $224, plus about $10 shipping.
I have not installed the kit yet -- we're still reassembling the truck after painting it -- but once the kit is installed I'll update this page.
the S-10 page
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Vessels-Clan.com