eBay H4 Harness... Will Work?

[onedroppr]

I was looking for a budget H4 upgrade.

Will this wiring harness, or something similar to this like the one on Summit Racing work for our cars?

H4 Headlight Relay Wiring Harness 2 Head Lamp Systems Fix Dim Lights 7" Round 2 | eBay

[jwmc1]

I was speaking with someone about this at one of the shops and they said it would, but they were skeptical on the quality...

[v2rocket_aka944]

thats a deal.
id run it as is, if i didnt already have one.

the only thing that could go wrong with that kit is the relays, which is too easy to replace if you ever need to.

[onedroppr]

That was the first one I pick up on ebay for example, there are more that look better quality for a few more bucks.

[onedroppr]

I'm not a purist, my '87 NA needs too much tender loving care to spend $250 on a pair of lenses and a harness. I'm on a strict budget.

This combo looks great and a good price being E-codes including the harness with the ceramic terminals.

Headlight Upgrade Pair Dot 7" 6014 6024 H4 9003 with 2 Headlight Relay Harness | eBay

[jwmc1]

Originally Posted by onedroppr

I'm not a purist, my '87 NA needs too much tender loving care to spend $250 on a pair of lenses and a harness. I'm on a strict budget.

This combo looks great and a good price being E-codes including the harness with the ceramic terminals.

Headlight Upgrade Pair Dot 7" 6014 6024 H4 9003 with 2 Headlight Relay Harness | eBay

That does look better

[onedroppr]

Sorry last one was for DOT's. This one is for E-codes:

Headlight Upgrade Pair E Code 7" 6014 6024 H4 with 2 Headlight Relay Harness | eBay

[onedroppr]

Now I'm on the doubt if going e-codes or DOT's...

[DannoXYZ]

Performance and costs aren't directly related. Your time has tremendous value in the results.

I have yet to find any aftermarket harness that comes even close to the Iceshark harnesses. Which incorporates some unique features:

- heavy-gauge wiring for +60amp draws
- wire-ends sealed for moisture protection (the difference in lasting 5-10 years vs. 30-50 years)
- mechanically-crimped AND soldered terminals
- chemical-shrinked wrapped ends (much tighter grip than heat-shrink wrap)
- fibreglass wire sleeve instead of plastic

If you're on a budget, you can produce a harness like this for $30 in parts that will beat out anything under $300. And for only 3-5 hours of your time. If you're making less than $60/hr at your job, you're better off making one yourself.

Also don't get +positive power from the battery, it's much too far away. Get it directly from the alternator for much, much shorter and cleaner run. And much less voltage-drop and higher-performing lights. That's the whole purpose of a replacement harness anyway. And 1.5ft of 4-gauge wire costs a lot less than 8ft as well.

[onedroppr]

Thanks to all for the advice!!

[DannoXYZ]

Originally Posted by onedroppr

Now I'm on the doubt if going e-codes or DOT's...

Get the eCodes, you'll appreciate them much more down the line:

$45/ea - Cibie 7" H4 eCodes, better than Hella and almost as good as the legendary Z-beams
$4/ea - CEC 100/80w H4 bulb
$4.5/ea - high-temp H4 socket
$20 - 2x 30-amp relays, 2.0ft 6ga wire, 20ft 12ga wire, various wire-terminals, shrink-wrap, solder & zip-ties

For about $130, you'll have the best lights available for your car with the best headlight harness possible for only 3-5hrs of your time.

[onedroppr]

I proceed to order the eBay e-code combination and separately 2 CEC 100/80w H4 bulbs. Let see how it performs and the quality of these lenses. For $60 bucks including bulbs and harness I think it's a deal for my budget. Hope me luck.

In the future I'm planning trying with the Hella Xenon 100/80w.

[v2rocket_aka944]

Originally Posted by DannoXYZ

Performance and costs aren't directly related. Your time has tremendous value in the results.

I have yet to find any aftermarket harness that comes even close to the Iceshark harnesses. Which incorporates some unique features:

- heavy-gauge wiring for +60amp draws
- wire-ends sealed for moisture protection (the difference in lasting 5-10 years vs. 30-50 years)
- mechanically-crimped AND soldered terminals
- chemical-shrinked wrapped ends (much tighter grip than heat-shrink wrap)
- fibreglass wire sleeve instead of plastic

If you're on a budget, you can produce a harness like this for $30 in parts that will beat out anything under $300. And for only 3-5 hours of your time. If you're making less than $60/hr at your job, you're better off making one yourself.

Also don't get +positive power from the battery, it's much too far away. Get it directly from the alternator for much, much shorter and cleaner run. And much less voltage-drop and higher-performing lights. That's the whole purpose of a replacement harness anyway. And 1.5ft of 4-gauge wire costs a lot less than 8ft as well.

while i agree entirely with your post, all the lights combined on the car don't pull 60 amps. "overkill is underrated" though.

[onedroppr]

Possibly the kit will arrive on Saturday, will try to take some pictures and post them to share the quality of this kit and see if it an be used by other members. Lenses manufaturer is Autopal.

[DannoXYZ]

Originally Posted by v2rocket_aka944

while i agree entirely with your post, all the lights combined on the car don't pull 60 amps. "overkill is underrated" though.

Heh, heh... I've got the following configuration:

LOW-BEAMS
2x80w H4-low = 11.9-amps
2x55w H3 fog-lights = 8.2-amps
TOTAL = 20.1-amps

HIGH-BEAMS (push-forward)
2x100w H4-high = 14.8-amps
2x130w H3 driving-lights = 19.3-amps
TOTAL = 34.1-amps

HIGH-BEAM (temp pull-back flash) - I've got this isolated from the full-time high with diodes to put EVERYTHING on to get old-geezers out of my way!!!
2x80w H4-low = 11.9-amps, 3500 lumens
2x100w H4-high = 14.8-amps, 5800 lumens
2x55w H3 foglights = 8.2-amps, 2300 lumens
2x130w H3 driving-lights = 19.3-amps, 6800 lumens
TOTAL = 54.2-amps, 18400 lumens

I swear, I can see the back of their eyeballs through their skull! And the move over QUICKLY too!

[onedroppr]

Originally Posted by DannoXYZ

Heh, heh... I've got the following configuration:

LOW-BEAMS
2x80w H4-low = 11.9-amps
2x55w H3 fog-lights = 8.2-amps
TOTAL = 20.1-amps

HIGH-BEAMS (push-forward)
2x100w H4-high = 14.8-amps
2x130w H3 driving-lights = 19.3-amps
TOTAL = 34.1-amps

HIGH-BEAM (temp pull-back flash) - I've got this isolated from the full-time high with diodes to put EVERYTHING on to get old-geezers out of my way!!!
2x80w H4-low = 11.9-amps, 3500 lumens
2x100w H4-high = 14.8-amps, 5800 lumens
2x55w H3 foglights = 8.2-amps, 2300 lumens
2x130w H3 driving-lights = 19.3-amps, 6800 lumens
TOTAL = 54.2-amps, 18400 lumens

I swear, I can see the back of their eyeballs through their skull! And the move over QUICKLY too!

Great receipt!!

[onedroppr]

Well. Last week I took some time and installed the eBay kit.

Did some reinforcement of the relay bases to make them weather proof. 12V was taken directly from the alternator. Harness fit perfectly, length was very close to be invisible.

E-code lenses appears to be nice quality Autopal. I used the ebay cec 100/80w H4 bulbs. Some alignment was done. Light shot is double from the original sealed beams.

The problem was that after installing the new headlights, I discover a low charge problem but alternator was taken out to be repaired and soon will post some pictures of the light shot at night. Planning to change to Hella Xenon 100/80w soon.

[Gordon Rankin]

Onedropper, did you ever get those installed and running? Any problems? How about alternator draw?

[87m491]

"$250"?! CIBIE lenses $100 and the harness $27. Not so sure of your math.....

Originally Posted by onedroppr

I'm not a purist, my '87 NA needs too much tender loving care to spend $250 on a pair of lenses and a harness. I'm on a strict budget.

This combo looks great and a good price being E-codes including the harness with the ceramic terminals.

Headlight Upgrade Pair Dot 7" 6014 6024 H4 9003 with 2 Headlight Relay Harness | eBay

[DannoXYZ]

Maybe he got the various sources mixed up? The genuine Cibie e-codes for $45/ea from Amazon are being sold by other vendors for up to $250/pr.

And that eBay package has DOT light-pattern, not the superior e-code pattern.