Kiss the DRLs goodbye

[H2Norcal]

Whelp, I finally found the replacement lights for the DRLs.

This weekend they went out with extra garbage day..... http://www.elcova.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif

I used PhilD's recommended Radio Shack switch and Cibie lights.

If you want to do the same, it is a little bit of work, but the finished product is awesome. Let me know if you want more info.

Here is a few pix.

[H2Norcal]

Whelp, I finally found the replacement lights for the DRLs.

This weekend they went out with extra garbage day..... http://www.elcova.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif

I used PhilD's recommended Radio Shack switch and Cibie lights.

If you want to do the same, it is a little bit of work, but the finished product is awesome. Let me know if you want more info.

Here is a few pix.

[H2Norcal]

Here is the switch pix. As PhilD mentioned, it looks pretty OEM and has a light when it is on.

[Klaus]

Yep, I'm interested. What version of the Cibies are you using?

I'd like some feedback and pictures of how you installed the lamps.



Klaus

"God made some men big and some men small, but Sam Colt made them all equal."

[H2Norcal]

Should I send you some more pix and a synopsis of what I did to your email address on your profile?

I can also sell you the Cibies if you decide to do it. They are somewhat difficult to find. I used the Tango's and chose the white fog pattern given the H2's lights are already have a pretty good distance and wanted something with a wide pattern to fill 30-40 feet out and the edges.

I will say that I have not driven with them at night yet, so you may want to wait for some feedback.

[Klaus]

I am particularly interested in how you mounted the lamps.

Are the lamps firmly mounted? Can you adjust the beam?

Thanks!



Klaus

"God made some men big and some men small, but Sam Colt made them all equal."

[AL MOORE]

Put me in the loop also. 1dogfan@bellsouth.net

Are your lights on as DRL's also?

I already have a switch to turn them on at night if I want to. There is just not a lot of light after all the effort.


AL

[buddy]

H2NorCal,

I used the same switch, same place and had to trim the rear of the factory switch housing.

Did you buy from serious auto or CibieUSA?

[Mango]

H2Norcal, I'm also interested in the specifics. Why not just post all the details here? If not please include me: tedmargo@charter.net

Mango -- Saltwater Flyfisherman, Photographer, Varmint Hunter -- Fort Worth, Tx

"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."

[H2Norcal]

Hey there- Here is the info so we don't have to do the email thing. I don't have formal detailed instructions but I do have some tips on my approach. This was just hard work. No fancy jumper a few wires and you’re done kinda thing. Here you go:

First, I bought the lights wholesale. They are Cibie Tangos. I can provide them if you what to buy them. They are about $148 for two (+shipping). There are a few Cibie resellers in No. America that can sell them as well. Let me know.

Materials-
1 - std.four position relay, 1 - three position switch from Radio Shack. Lots of lugs, lots of flexible wire cover and lots of routing. Oh, and the two lights. Read on...

Switch mounting- Like others on the forum, I removed my rear wiper switch. You have to take the little bugger completely apart. Be careful not to disturb the wiper switch itself. It is way loose when you remove the front panel and has contacts, PCB, etc. I used a 7/8" wood bit to cut a hole in the plastic front. After a little filing, the switch fit perfectly. If you make sure the top square portion of the switch is just a hair below or even with the ridge channel between the wiper label and the lower blank area (see my picture), the switch will line up perfectly in the opening and allow your dash opening to clear the bottom of the switch. The switch was meant for this spot. Tip; As Buddy mentioned, you have to remove portions of the plastic body of the wiper switch housing in order to get that switch and three lugs to fit back together. I cut the plastic with snips until the cover and switch fit with wires. Not too much cutting but it doesn't fit without some trimming.

Wiring -
Routing the wires was a pain of course. I won’t bore you with this, but under the dash on the firewall, parallel with the brake peddle and about as far as a human hand can reach, is the main wire harness through-hole boot. From under the hood I punched a small hole through. I used some welding wire to come in through the engine compartment. I taped the wires to the welding wire and lubed them with some oil and pulled them through. The boot is double walled and thick. I sealed the wires at the boot with a rubber sealant. You only have to bring through the Load and Hot wire for the switch. The ground terminates under the dash to any metal screw.

For a hot wire, under the hood I removed the lower part of the fuse box (not the just the cap) the entire fuse box housing (it has four hand release points). Underneath is a cool set of terminal blocks with hot and accessory terminal. I used this for my Hot.

For a hot relay control wire, I tapped into my front left marker light which remains hot with the parking or headlights allowing the Cibie's to follow the same disciplines. I mounted the relay just above the horn in the front frame area. There is a hole just waiting to mount it there.

Okay, enough you say, what about mounting the lights....Let the pain begin. I started by removing the skid plate, the plastic bumper piece the DRL's were in and removed the metal bumper.

The following is a set of pictures to mount the lights.

[This message was edited by H2Norcal on 04-06-03 at 09:52 PM.]

[H2Norcal]

After some heavy pondering, I chose to alter the DRL pockets and mount the lights solid to the metal bumper. I was concerned of shaking in that flimsy plastic bumper.

Although I cut the DRL pockets out first, here is a picture of the lights mounted to the bumper.

[This message was edited by H2Norcal on 04-06-03 at 10:24 PM.]

[H2Norcal]

Here is another shot of them mounted.

[H2Norcal]

On the plastic, I removed the back mounting portion of the pockets only and made sure I kept the same contour (the pockets are angled to keep the direction facing properly). Basically I cut of about 1 1/2" of the entire back.

Not a great picture, sorry.

With the backs off of the holes now, you can set the plastic back in place and mark you holes to drill in the bumper (thus the reason you need to remove the metal bumper).

Are you lost? Are you saying to yourself, this guy is nuts, it ain't worth it....if not read on..

[H2Norcal]

Here are the holes in the bumper. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know, I need a new drill bit.

I cleaned it up.

[H2Norcal]

After the holes were in, I mounted the lights. The nice thing about having them mounted to the bumper is they are fully adjustable from each side of the wheel wells and are firmly mounted and don't vibrate.

By leaving half of the original recessed plastic and just removing some of the back, it looks totally factory. Here is the finished product.

Let me know if you really think you want to do this and I can give you more info.

As for the lights, they are very bright. In fact, they are so bright when I turned off my headlights to test them they lit up the road enough to drive. They definitely fill the void where the factory lights skip just out in front of you.

My neighbor came by to find out what I was doing about ten times. We are talking about a guy that pays everyone to do everything for him, but he said "you mean they don't install fog lights on this thing from the factory?" Although I was into it, he had a real good point http://www.elcova.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_mad.gif

[Klaus]

H2Norcal,

Thank you very much for the how to. Looks really good.

Question for you. Can you replace the bulbs without disassembling the front end?



Klaus

"God made some men big and some men small, but Sam Colt made them all equal."

[DROPER]

Thanks H2NORCAL - I am new to the forum. What is the best way to get a hold of you to get these soon? One of my DRL's seems to have moisture inside the "plastic" housing.

dave;

[kdio]

I was at a Hummer event hosted by Hummer of Sacramento and SMA was there with their H2. They had the PIA 520 installed at the DRL location. They said they are going to offer this as a kit for sale. Should be available in May.

[Hummer Man]

I have heard of people getting ticketed for running these kind of lights in the day.

[Hummer Man]

Is it true or only in certain states.

[PARAGON]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by kdio:
I was at a Hummer event hosted by Hummer of Sacramento and SMA was there with their H2. They had the PIA 520 installed at the DRL location. They said they are going to offer this as a kit for sale. Should be available in May.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I've received an email today from SMA that says it's called the H2 Valance and they will now be available sometime in July.

[Hum2]

The other thing I would recommend is using the Pilot mini-round switches, would make it much easier to install in the place shown. A suggested easier switch location is in the grey panel to the lower right of the left air vent.

Ric

OMAHOG/IHOG
Hum2@cox.net

[Hum2]

Once I get my 03 Navigator foglight fixtures installed into the H2, I will write it up.

Stopped at a U-Pull-It auto salvage yard yesterday to yank a few bulbs out of existing vehicles. This place has a $2.00 admittance fee, and the guy saw my handfull of wires and bulbs and said see ya!...That was $0.50 each, not too bad.

Got the wiring and bulbs for 4, 9006 HB4 halogens. The bulb wiring socket is similar to the 03 Navigator 9145 H10 bulb socket except for 2 guide notches vs. 1, which can be removed so both bulbs will fit in the same socket. That was going to be my only hang-up with putting in the 9145 fixtures (the dealer parts places don't have the wiring for these fixtures unless you by the entire vehicle harness).

Going back to get the 9005 base from some vehicles as this base is for a slightly less wattage bulb and might not need the tab modification. (The 9145 socket is based off the 9005/9006 platform, I just picked up 9006 sockets, not thinking there would be much difference).

Enough for now...more when I get the fixtures in to see how much work it will be to install into the H2, but it looks pretty straight forward.

Ric

OMAHOG/IHOG
Hum2@cox.net