

| Subject: | Re: Wiring for inner headlights |
| From: | tolga |
| Date: | Fri, 26 Nov 2004 13:34:44 -0500 |
Thanks Joel! I appreciate the detailed response. I take it you made the switch to the south african grill too? I'm still curious how the OEM inner lights on the 4 headligh models (86 and up?) are wired if some late model owner could chime in. >i would recommend NOT daisy chaining the inner lights. to do so would >lessen the output of all four lights. it would be best to run new >wires to the inner lights AND maybe (your choice) put a switch inline >to them. so you can flip the switch and have both the high beam >(outer) and the inner lights on ... or flip the switch the other way, >and NOT have the inners come on with the high beam outers. just more >choices. ;) > >and you DO want to run the inners on a relay if you decide to run them >separately. just safer and you get better power to the lights. > >you can run the wires a couple of ways ... straight from the battery >(a little harder to do, and you need to put a fuse inline as well), or >get a voltmeter and nose around on the backside of the fuse box and >find a power source amongst those unused connectors. what you want is >a SWITCHED source ... the connector shows 12volts only if the ignition >key is in the ignition switch and turned to the ON position (not >START). this will mean the inner lights cannot be on if the ignition >is not on, like the normal headlights. >by contrast, the parking lights are UNSWITCHED ... you can turn them >on anytime ... key or not. > >if you need to get wires outside, where the headlights are, from the >inside, where the battery and fuse box are, there is the brake line >grommet down by the driver's feet, and the speedometer cable grommet, >up top behind the driver's side headlight. on the speedo grommet, it's >a lot easier to feed the wire into the dash from the outside, but you >have to remove the driver's headlight for best access. > >you can also do what i did on one bus: drill a new hole, over where >the passengers feet go, in the vertical wall (behind the carpet) under >the glove box. if you look from underneath the bus, you'll see an air >space behind the headlight on that side, between the inner wall (by >the feet) and the outer skin of the bus. just be sure to put a 'stop' >on the drill bit (so you don't drill too far and puncture the outer >skin) ... do this by wrapping some tape around the drill bit, about >1/2 inch back from the tip. lots of tape. ;) this allows the bit to >penetrate the metal but not push through too far. and also be sure to >put a rubber grommet in the new hole to keep the wires from being cut. >best to get the grommet first and see which size drill bit it needs. i >used a 1/2 inch hole grommet. allowed me to run more wires to fog >lights and driving lights. >the carpet, when put back, will hide the wires and keep any cold air >from reaching the feet, even though the hole isn't very big at all. >and no water gets up that high when it's raining ... i never had any >problem with wet carpet. but you could plug the hole in the grommet >with silicon seal after running the wires, if you wanted to. > >hope it helps. good luck! >joel >> Got a South African grill recently and trying to hook the wiring >> for the inner lights (I have an '84 that didn't have inner lights >> originall) and wanted some help figuring out how to hook them up. >> Do I daisy chain off the outer light wiring or do I need to run new >> wires from the fuse/relay area in the dash? If anyone can offer >> suggestions or perhaps webpages with more info I would really >> appreciate >> it.
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