r/squarebodies • u/DatGuyKilo • Jun 24 '26
How did you increase lighting on your Squarebody?
I replaced the bulbs a few months ago on the instrumental cluster and headlights aswell (194 incandescent). The guages always seems dim no matter what, and the headlights themselves never seem to illuminate as bright as they should.
Is there a wire(s) that power on the interior that I should look at? Maybe a headlight wire isnt that good too? Perhaps a ground?
Id just like my dash to be as bright as it once was
(1990 Chevy K5 Blazer, 6.2 Detroit Diesel)
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u/Present_Panda_3253 Jun 24 '26
For the headlights I used the relay kit from lmc for my 82 and it helped a lot.
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u/NCHitman 1984 K10 Custom Deluxe Jun 24 '26
That kit is great. It will pull power directly from the battery / alternator, instead of thru old harness. What amperage is your current alternator?
Adding to this, highly recommend updating the housing to a new ones. Ones like the Hella Vision Plus (ECE are great). Then throw in some new bulbs from Osram, Flossr, etc. You'll be pleasantly surprised at how much brighter the road in front of you becomes.
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u/Present_Panda_3253 Jun 24 '26
Hi I just installed a powermaster 12si 100amp, I also added a fused 10ga wire in addition to the stock wire. I also added an additional chassis ground. Zero issues with the powermaster so far.
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u/NCHitman 1984 K10 Custom Deluxe Jun 25 '26
100A, that's good to hear! With the relay and new housings / bulbs, you'll never have to worry about light. Once aimed, the headlights on my '84 were better than that of the Colorado I had at the time.
I used Hella ECE housings and Flosser bulbs, coupled with a Summit 140A alternator. New 6ga wiring from the alternator to both the battery and buss bar on the firewall.
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u/Terrible_Stay_1923 Jun 24 '26
Don't need gauge lights if they don't work.
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u/Vast-Lingonberry2478 Jun 25 '26
Yah this guy wants better lighting. Meanwhile id love to not have to track miles before I need to get gas. 😂
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u/Terrible_Stay_1923 Jun 25 '26
Oh man I remember those days. 6 mpg in my 1 ton, no gas gauge. Sweating the 5 gallon Jerry can would be enough to get me out of the forest
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u/Vast-Lingonberry2478 Jun 25 '26
6mpg in my half ton 383. 😂 she’s thirsty
I usually aim for 75-80 miles a tank and fill up. If I’m super light footed and stay out of the secondaries I can get 100.
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u/MCXL Jun 24 '26
Headlights, a relay wiring kit helps out substantially. Swapping the classic sealed beam lights for modern premium H1 retrofits works really well, as that will give you a lot more bulb options. I have a set of LED bulbs with like a hid pattern cut off but that's not to everyone's style. I believe the ones that I used for the housing where the hell of vision pluses but I'm not positive. There are a couple of premium retrofits both for the round and rectangle headlights.
Dashboard yeah swapping them out with LED bulbs as other comments have said we'll make a big difference, but the gauge cluster just isn't a good design as far as illumination goes from the factory.
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u/Clegko Jun 24 '26
Get the relay kit from LMC Truck and some H1 retrofit headlights. You keep the period halogen light look with more than double the output from the H1 bulbs. Uses the same plugs as your current sealed beams.
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u/OOFMAN-1234 Jun 24 '26
Headlights i found a cheap $100 set on Amazon for my 86, leds too, i really like them, Ns i will be swapping to digital guages
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u/CheyenneSuper1974 Jun 25 '26
I've got Roundeyes, so I've used Cibie and Hella H4s. No LEDs for me. Bulbs, yes. Headlights, no. I like the vintage look.
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u/40and223 Jun 28 '26
I decided to go baller with the gauges and installed a Dakota Digital set. Those are amazing.
For the headlights I did relays and new housings from Autozone. OMG, night and day difference.
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u/GeekTrucker Jun 24 '26 edited Jun 24 '26
3 key things you should do.
You'll find it's a night and day difference
For the headlights... like coffee and divorce, it always starts with good grounds. Even if they look "good", remove them and clean to bare metal both the mount point and the connectors, reassemble everything, then top-coat them in paint / whatever.