Hey all. I'll spare you the details of my long complicated history of my '74 F250 & its '72 360 that came out of my poor deceased '72 camper special. I wrecked that one good. And I'm sure like all of you guys & girls spent countless hours under our trucks only to find out we wanna do more.

Which brings me to my point. My headlights are not very bright. I was looking into adding a couple relays to control both the high & low beams while adding the high beam flash while the headlights are off function my '92 had that I now miss. Couldn't figure how to make the link work but search this forum for "brighter brights, whiter whites" & thera all the info there.

So I have two questions,maybe three. First, I have two spotlights (cop car style) & wanted to add them to possibly the high beam circuit and was wondering if it could handle the load. Maybe better to put those on the back burner for now while I'm just starting out.

My second question is what's stopping me from grabbing a power distribution box from some other f series or even ranger or whatever ford & just wiring my new relays to it? Its basically a strip of plugs far as I can tell.

I saved my best question for last...how can I run additional circuits for my electric fuel pump, those spotlights, & whatever other lighting,fish tanks or other madness the future holds? Should I just pull a fuse box from the junkyard and mount that sucker somewhere? Even still where would I draw power? That's where the relays come in I guess...

 

Weclome to FTE.

I would avoid adding any additional loads on the headlight circuit. Unliek newer models, the electrical system isn't very robust. Instead, add remote terminal block and an auxiliary fuse block (either under the hood or within the cab) like Painless' Cirkit Boss which provides fused constant or ignition circuits. Source the relays' signal voltage from the block and power directly from the terminal block. Relays are a good thing.

For the additional load, I suggest doing the 3G, 130-amp alternator retrofit and installing an auxilary battery system to feed all the extras. A 3G alternator upgrade can be done for as little as $25 although aroudn $50 is more typical for all the parts and pieces. Visit Delcity.net for your electrical needs.

 

Good call on the alternator, hadn't crossed my mind. And those spotlights neex to have their own circuit. What about adding a fuse box? Anyone know of a nice aftermarket add-on or should i pull one at my local upullandpay? Still I would like to use a power distribution box from a donor ford, pull every wire off of it, and wire my headlight relays through it to keep a nice clean look. I realize I can mount the tabbed typed relays to the fenderwell but I think that would look like some sort of hack job. My truck ain't pretty by any means but I have no interest in making it uglier. Just was wondering if the pd box was an option as I have never seen one disconnected. Seems like it wouldn't be an issue though and I would end up with a nice enclosed set of relays protected from the elements andaccidental breakage while gaining extra slots for future relays. It this possible?

 

Like I said, look into Painless' Cirkit Boss series... multiple version to choose from.

Here's a pic:



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