Where to find headlight connectors???

[Twistedimg]

I want to make a headlight harness for my Jeep but don't want to jerry rig it with slotted connectors and such. I want to make a simple plug in harness that can easily be troubleshooted on the trail if need be. But I can't find the plug in that I can just plug into the headlight and one that will accept the factory plug. Anyone know where I can order these online? Someone mentioned maybe the "Help" section of the parts store but I haven't been able to find them.

 

[Fred85]

i found my female connectors at Auto Zone for $2 a piece

 

[Twistedimg]

i found my female connectors at Auto Zone for $2 a piece

Hmmm, guess I need to make a trip to autozone.

I found these online but they are more than $2 each and I still need the male plug.

 

[Fred85]

that's pretty much what i got, i'm just gonna use some butt connectors(i might solder them, depends on how spunky i'm feeling) to attach the 14awg wiring that comes with the harness to the 12awg wiring that i'm using........and then put some shrink tubing around it

i couldn't find a male plug either, so i'm just gonna use different colored wires and male connectors..........not quite as clean as a connector, but it'll work just fine

 

[Thayer]

The "ricer" departments at Autozone or Pepboys usually carry those headlight sockets. I have no clue why they put them there or why they, the ricers, need them....probably to run those ridiculously blue/dim cheapie bulbs.

 

[Twistedimg]

I found them online for a decent price and also found some of the male ones but I have to order them in bulk. Also managed to find both ends not prewired so I can wire 12g or 14g all the way. Just FYI, I'm looking to make 10 or so completly plug in upgraded harnesses to sell on ebay and such. Every harness I've seen has a week link somewhere and I want to make some that are all solid with good parts and correct wire schematics.

 

[4xBob]

It isn't too hard to find the female connectors that the bulb goes in, but the male connector to plug into the Jeep harness is harder. You can get the male side here:
http://www.rallylights.com/hella/Connectors.asp
They also sell Hella relays (use Hella or Bosch if you want quality), but I have not seen auto-reset circuit breakers here. When there is a fault, the circuit breakers cut out, then reset, then cutout, then reset etc- giving you flashing light to see to stop. A fuse on a headlight circuit gives you darkness when it blows.

 

[ren]

Have you tried the local junkyard? Stay away from the Ford connectors that are white. They crumble into powder REALLY easily. Other than that, pick a vehicle and start cutting. You can use the plugs off of 4 headlight vehicles, just make sure to get the plugs with wires coming out of 3 spots, not just 2, otherwise you will not have any high beams. hope this helps. Ren

 

[Twistedimg]

It isn't too hard to find the female connectors that the bulb goes in, but the male connector to plug into the Jeep harness is harder. You can get the male side here:
http://www.rallylights.com/hella/Connectors.asp
They also sell Hella relays (use Hella or Bosch if you want quality), but I have not seen auto-reset circuit breakers here. When there is a fault, the circuit breakers cut out, then reset, then cutout, then reset etc- giving you flashing light to see to stop. A fuse on a headlight circuit gives you darkness when it blows.

Thanks for the info. I found an outfit online that had both male and female connectors with no pigtails so I can run heavy wire all the way. They weren't as cheap as I hoped so I'm still looking. Through my hunting I did find a manufacturer of them that gave me a list of local vendors they sell to that I can try to get them from.

I ordered most everything to make 2 harnesses for now. I'm gonna make one for my XJ and then a second that I'll probably sell to my friend to install on his XJ to help me test it. Or I may just sell it online to someone here or another Jeep based forum to test it for me. I've made them in the past with no problems so I don't foresee any problems with this one.

I did opt to spend the little extra for Bosch relays. Even though I have personally had worse luck with Bosch brand relays over the no namers, most people recognize Bosch as the best choice so I went with them. I suspect they are all made in the same place anyways. I also ordered the dual relay harnesses so that if by chance a relay goes bad it is an easy swap out fix.

I originally thought that using a fuse was a scary idea untill I thought more about it and realized that factory headlights use a fuse also. I'm building these with 30 amp fuses so it shouldn't blow unless something crosses or shorts. I might look into those circuit breakers you speak of. I've never seen one that auto resets though. Most I've seen you either have to push the reset button or disconnect it from power and it will reset. When I wire stuff for personal use I usually use a fuse at the battery and a circuit breaker that is 10amps less than the fuse towards the back somewhere. Most accidental shorts happen behind the breaker so to reset it I just pull the fuse and put it back in.

I'm hoping I can get these harnesses built cheap so I can sell them cheap. I just hate seeing people spend $100+ for the IPF when they aren't that hard to build.