Any good hacks/upgrades you've come up with for our trucks

[89 burbarian]

many more upgrades to come,thanks for the great info guys,keep`em coming.

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[tanyourhide]

74' c10 lwb custom (not custom deluxe)

My truck didnt come with a dome light inside the cab. I picked up some lights out of an rv from my neighbor. The driver door had a light switch someone installed at some point but no passenger door jamb light switch. I scrounged up a switch and wired them up to a relay controlling the light. From the factory, the headlamp switch turns on courtesy lights under the dash by turning it left. I wired the headlamp switch to control the coil of a double throw single pole relay which toggled to light's power source between the door switch relay and line current. This gave me the ability to turn the light on when i wanted. I put together a wiring diagram to represent how i wired it.

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[HotRodPC]

74' c10 lwb custom (not custom deluxe)

My truck didnt come with a dome light inside the cab. I picked up some lights out of an rv from my neighbor. The driver door had a light switch someone installed at some point but no passenger door jamb light switch. I scrounged up a switch and wired them up to a relay controlling the light. From the factory, the headlamp switch turns on courtesy lights under the dash by turning it left. I wired the headlamp switch to control the coil of a double throw single pole relay which toggled to light's power source between the door switch relay and line current. This gave me the ability to turn the light on when i wanted. I put together a wiring diagram to represent how i wired it.

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Great Job. Used to a dome light was no big deal to me. Now it's a pet peeve. Probably from tow truck driving and working the late nights and needing light to fill out paperwork and log odometer and such.

 

[fussfeld]

Please list part # for the mini-starter and where can i get the bolts (besides salvage yards) IF in fact you do need different bolts for the smaller starter.

 

[73c20jim]

Cheap anti-theft device.

Put a 20 amp fuse in line to the 12v hot to the dizzy.

Put a ground via a SPST switch on the 12V dizzy.

Turn switch on when you leave the truck. That makes a direct short to ground and will blow the fuse if someone tries to start the truck. If they find the switch (wherever you hide it), it makes no difference because with the blown fuse there is no power to dizzy unless fuse is replaced.

REMEMBER to throw the switch before you start the truck.

KEEP PLENTY OF FUSES ON HAND, BECAUSE IT'S EASY TO FORGET TO TURN OFF THE SWITCH when you try to start the truck yourself.

 

[roundhouse]

Cheap anti-theft device.

Put a 20 amp fuse in line to the 12v hot to the dizzy.

Put a ground via a SPST switch on the 12V dizzy.

Turn switch on when you leave the truck. That makes a direct short to ground and will blow the fuse if someone tries to start the truck. If they find the switch (wherever you hide it), it makes no difference because with the blown fuse there is no power to dizzy unless fuse is replaced.

REMEMBER to throw the switch before you start the truck.

KEEP PLENTY OF FUSES ON HAND, BECAUSE IT'S EASY TO FORGET TO TURN OFF THE SWITCH when you try to start the truck yourself.

Coolest one I’ve seen was copied from an old 18 Wheeler

It had a low oil pressure shutoff
A sensor that was open with no oil pressure and closed with about 10 psi

The ignition wire was run Thru this sensor
And wired in parallel had a over ride button you had to hold down while you cranked it , until the pressure came up past 10

It will not crank unless you hold down the button
All you gotta do is hide the over ride button

Added bonus is that it shuts off the engine if the oil pressure drops

 

[fussfeld]

Please list part # for the mini-starter and where can i get the bolts (besides salvage yards) IF in fact you do need different bolts for the smaller starter.

 

[semperfido]

Of course, others have already mentioned it but you get a lot of "bang for your buck" by installing a headlight relay wiring harness. Original wiring and a "sketchy" design takes power from the battery, through the headlight switch (at full blast), and then all the way up front to the headlights. That long run usually results in a voltage drop that produces dimmer headlamps (and an unnecessarily heavy load on your headlight switch). A relay harness runs power directly from the battery to the headlights, activated through the relays (which get their signals directly from the original headlight wiring... now, a fraction of the "juice" runs through the headlights switch). No need to "hack" into your original wiring to install a relay harness... original wiring and headlight connectors are still intact so if in the unlikely event that a relay fails, you can still plug the original wiring into the headlights to get where you're going.

I bought an inexpensive wiring harness with cheap relays off fleabay for just $8 (shipped) and then I replaced the relays with two Bosch part number 0332209150 components for just $5 each (shipped). I spent a total of $18 and it took me all of 20 minutes to install. Stock single sealed beam headlights burn MUCH brighter and it takes the load off the headlight switch. I am SUPER happy with the result.

For even better performance out of your headlights, you could also go a step further with "plug and play" H4 halogen conversion headlamps. For my truck, I chose the AUTOPAL part number HL-109 HB2 headlights (street legal, DOT approved) that I purchased for about $45 (shipped). I couldn't be happier and I feel much safer on the road.

As always when working under the hood, just be mindful of the positive battery terminal. It's surprisingly easy to drop something across there and short it to the chassis ;0)

 

[73c20jim]

I ordered two relays and connectors. Thanks for the tip.

Do I need two relays - hi and lo? or just one relay at the foot switch.

 

[73c20jim]

Coolest one I’ve seen was copied from an old 18 Wheeler

It had a low oil pressure shutoff
A sensor that was open with no oil pressure and closed with about 10 psi

The ignition wire was run Thru this sensor
And wired in parallel had a over ride button you had to hold down while you cranked it , until the pressure came up past 10

It will not crank unless you hold down the button
All you gotta do is hide the over ride button

Added bonus is that it shuts off the engine if the oil pressure drops

Couldn't you do the same thing with just a hidden switch for the starter lead??? Why is oil switch necessary?

 

[roundhouse]

Couldn't you do the same thing with just a hidden switch for the starter lead??? Why is oil switch necessary?

Not necessary. But also shuts off the engine if the oil pressure drops too low

A hidden starter switch works too

A friend of mine hooked his starter to the windshield squirter button

 

[theblindchicken]

I ordered two relays and connectors. Thanks for the tip.

Do I need two relays - hi and lo? or just one relay at the foot switch.

Two relays for hi and low.

 

[semperfido]

Yup, one relay for hi-beams and another relay for lo-beams. Use reasonably heavy gauge wire for power to your headlights from the battery and the same goes for your ground wires. I also recommend using the relay sockets instead of just spade terminals... they make the sockets so that you can link/join them for a nice clean installation. I mounted my relays on the engine side of the radiator support, close to the battery, and I used the existing chassis grounds on top of the radiator support.

 

[Dougnsalem]

The side window defogger/defroster.
4" plastic dryer vent tube and Gorilla tape work great!

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[Boltrunner]

Glad someone brought up the starter. I think it's 95 and later that are the smaller higher torque starters. 96 for sure. So if I find a starter at a pull a part, get one of these instead. Crank the engine faster, lighter weight and real nice when you have headers.

I used a starter from a 98 blazer. Works great. The bolts were a pita to find because the new one didn't come with them. And for some odd reason the gm starter bolts that you can buy were all eithe too long or short. Go figure