I have noticed while driving my '54 3100 at night that the original equipment headlights just don't light up the roadway as compared to more modern vehicles so I am considering updating the headlights. It has a 350 small block engine and the electrical system was rewired during restoration. Any ideas on halogen vs. xenon? Also, when upgrading to halogen or xenon will I need to alter the headlight electrical system in any way? First time to post on this site but have enjoyed browsing through the discussions for some time. Any ideas and advice will be appreciated.
Hello Eightball, Welcome aboard. Good bunch of folks here, always willing to help. The "prerequisite" is we need to see pictures of your ride. Don't worry, we aren't judgemental. As far as lighting... in my opinion, "old school" illumination looks "correct" in an AD truck. Not sickly-yellow T-3's, but not blue HID's either. I have used Hella (7" round) halogens, (specifically the E code style with separate bulb) in the past with good results. Take a look at rallylights.com
52wasp...thank you for your response. I agree with your comment on keeping the "old school" look. I apologize for my lack of knowledge but I do have a question concerning the headlamp you suggested. It is offered two different ways...without city light and with city light. What does that mean and which one would be appropriate for my '54 3100? I will be posting pics of my ride...thanks for letting me know.
Eightball, City Lights are a Euro-thing. They are just low wattage bulbs nested in the lamp housing themselves. They dont really emit a beam used for lighting up the road, they just 'light up' the inside of the lamp very subtly. I'd guess "without" would be appropriate, just a headlamp. Resist the urge to bump up the wattage of the bulbs (the supplied bulbs are plenty bright, and if you go any bigger, you'll need a relay in the circuit).
Eightball, welcome, and, your truck looks like a nice one. Like Zig says, we like lots of pictures. Any history on the truck? How you found it, where you bought it? Steve.
Eightball, One thing that did cross my mind regarding the Hella headlamps, they have a VERY sharp cutoff line on Low-Beam. Our trucks are high enough off the ground (but not too high), so it shouldn't be an issue. But I did want to make you aware. The cutoff means no blinding oncoming traffic, and there is an angled line upwards at 45 degrees or so to illuminate street signs, like this: _no light up here_/ light over here lots of light down here Mike
We often run an extra 12g wire in the harness to the head lights. This wire is joined to the ground wire of the triple head light plugs on one end and the other end is joined to the engine to firewall ground strap. It usually brightens the lights by a noticeable amount. The fenders have welt, the hood has lacing, the core support sits on a pad, and the bolts to everything are usually on areas with paint, dirt, and probably a little corrosion. With a new hot wire on one side and a new ground on the other the lights are at their best.
As mentioned ; Most of the time adding a better ground path will make the stock # 6012 bulbs light up white . The next step is to try # 6015 / 6016 seal beams , these are slightly higher out put bulbs made for truck use , oddly few seem to remember or know about these , sadly a whole pallet of them was tossed in the trash about 5 years ago before I knew . all American made too , N.O.S. . Before you go $pending on those wonderful Hella bulb -in lamps , take some time to sort out the ground path of the entire truck as they're rarely correct after 60 years . They also make nifty headlight relays that shorten up the current path and take the load off the light switch , less $ and works better than stock too .
