HID and LED Lights Install - GMT-400

[700 sportsman]

Good news, now I gotta get me a capacitor and get it wired up too.

Thanks again guys for helping, and Matt for being the guinea pig and posting all these diagrams

 

[nubuilder]

Good news, now I gotta get me a capacitor and get it wired up too.

Thanks again guys for helping, and Matt for being the guinea pig and posting all these diagrams

That's the beauty of forums. They're there for everyone to help others and for everyone to get help from others.

I'm glad that someone will use this information.

 

[Bernie]

Don't forget the switch to manually disable the quad beams, and I'd strongly advise using a little silicone caulk to "stick" the capacitor to something so that vibration doesn't break one of the leads.

 

[nubuilder]

I don't think I'll put a switch in. To me, the quad beams are so that the low beams never get the shock of turning off and on fast. I just don't see myself wanting to disable them. -- I'll think about it some more.

I'll stick the capacitor to the backside of my relay rack if I can.

 

[700 sportsman]

Went to radioshack and got me a capacitor, and I just got it put in, and it works like a charm.
Thanks alot guys.

 

[nubuilder]

Went to radioshack and got me a capacitor, and I just got it put in, and it works like a charm.
Thanks alot guys.

Glad to hear. .

What is your setup? You bought the relay harness didn't you?
Could you elaborate a little more for those, unlike me, that buy the harness.

 

[700 sportsman]

I'll try to get a pic some time. DDM's harness has 2 wires going to each pin on the relay, all 8 wires are on a plug, that plugs into the relay, so I unplugged the wires from the relay and simply bent the anode and cathode around and into the proper parts of the plug, and then plugged the relay in, and that secured the capacitor in to the plug.

 

[drperry]

Glad it's fixed!

Told you!

 

[Bigredmariner]

I gotta tell you guys this is one of the better threads in a while around here. I went back through this thread and deleted a few posts so that the flow of information continued along in case someone runs across this thread needing help or ideas. Nice work by all of you that pitched in and got Matt all squared away.

 

[nubuilder]

Thanks for the re-organization J-rod!

Whenever I actually get the capacitor installed and my wires tidied up, I'll take a pic of the relay rack - which may be Sunday or Monday.


Now, moving on to the LEDs......well, eventually whenever I get time.

For those that don't know, I've purchased some LED lights from Advance Auto (here). These lights are to act as a sort of DRL and parking lights for at home - they are by no means a replacement for a headlight; they are merely so that I can save wear and tear on my HIDs and not blind my neighbors at night while moving the truck around.

Check out my thread about them (post #13 has where they will be going; post #17 has what they look like at night/how much light they put out)

I'll get to work on the LEDs in maybe a week or two, but I need to get it done by the 28th because I'm going out of town with the truck for the weekend.

So the wiring plan (for now at least):
I'll get my signal from the parking lamp wire on one of the front parking lights (not the flasher so I'll have to determine which one; Scotty says brown so I'll check that first) and run the signal to a relay. I'll have a rocker switch in the cab so that I can over-ride the LEDs to keep them off when the parking lights are on.

Here is a post from that thread on the wiring:

No, they won't flash with your turn signals if you hook 'em into the park lamp circuit. Two different circuits involved there. Just hook the power to energize the relay to the parking lamp circuit and then use the N.O. relay contacts to switch power from the AUX post to the LEDS. Put a switch in that line between the LEDS and the relay and you'll have an "off override" that will keep them off no matter what.

Where might I find the park lamp circuit? - I take it it involves more than just hooking onto one of the bulb's wires then.
What are the N.O. contacts on the relay? - I'm gonna have to get my relay and look at it so I get this all straight.
Which wire goes to the off override switch: power or ground?

Oh, and I forgot to mention he should put a fuse between the relay and the AUX connection, just in case. 2.5 amp would be plenty, but they can be hard to find, so maybe a 5 amp (more common).

I already have a fuse to put in line, but I'm glad you said where to put it.


I realize I'm asking a lot of questions, but that's why I'm here and I don't want to screw this up and burn my truck down.


EDIT:

here is what my relay says (the cardboard backing)
30 - terminal for lights
85 - terminal for relay ground wire
86 - terminal for switch -- I'm assuming this is the wire from the park light circuit?
87 - terminal for power source

So if I'm reading this correct, I need to run a wire from 30 to the LEDs, 85 to a ground, 86 from the park light circuit (where ever that may be), and 87 to an inline fuse then to the AUX post on my fuse box.
Where does the swich in the cab fit into this mix?

Yup, you got it right. Put the switch in the cab between terminal 86 and the park lights. That way, with that switch "off" the relay does not get power. Finding the park light circuit is easy, just turn on the park lamps and see which wire going to the parking lamp has power. That's your park lamp circuit. You want to put the fuse between 87 and the power source. And N.O. stands for Normally Open, meaning the terminals on the relay that are normally unconnected when the relay is not powered.

So, to recap, wired the way I've described, in order for the LEDs to be lit you will have to have the parking lights on and the switch in the cab. Without the parking lights being on the switch in the cab won't do anything.

So we'll see how this goes whenever I actually get time for this. The hardest part will be making a bracket for mounting. Don't worry, since I love pics VS words, lots of pics will be included for this one too.