RockyRoad said:
Hi T4Runner06, thank you for the helpful response and encouragement! I took another look at your writeup and it does seem pretty simple. The main thing I'm worried about is how to properly wire all the cables...such as keeping it water proof, safe from heat, or whatever risks there are when you wire yourself. Do you have any suggestions or warnings when rewiring? Is there a "proper" way to run wires? How/where do I fasten them down?
Sorry for all the questions...I didn't know it would cost me a couple hundred to get it installed...so I will probably just do it myself. My parents can afford the couple hundred but we are still careful about wasting money.
I live in the South Bay (near Mountain View)
Thanks!!
RockyRoad,
Glad to see another NorCal/Bay Area member.
The wiring is pretty straight forward. If you're going with the Xenon Depot kit, you will need to make five connections: two connections to the HID ballasts, headlight socket, battery positive and negative (ground).
Make sure you've already made the appropriate connections from the ballast to the HID capsules. Never power up a ballast without the HID capsule plugged in; there's a chance the ballast could be destroyed because instead of the arc taking place inside the capsule, it arcs between the ballast wires.
With the wiring harness: plug in both ballasts first, then headlight socket, remove the ground to the battery before doing anything to the positive battery terminal. (If this step is ignored, and your wrench or rachet/socket accidentally touches the body or the negative terminal, it could fry an electronic component in the truck.) I would recommend removing the fuse on the wire harness when you're making the wiring connections and put the fuse back in after you made all the connections. Reconnect the negative battery terminal after all the other connections have been made.
All the connections in the wiring harness and connections in the Xenon Depot kit has rubber seals and gaskets to keep water out. The only wire you will need to seal off is one of the factory Toyota headlight wire sockets that you unplugged from the factory headlights, the wire harness only utilizes of one the factory headlight sockets.
The wiring harness is protected by a sheath/jacket to protect the individual wires. You can zip tie the wires to either existing holes in the upper radiator support or to another existing wiring that's firmly attached to the truck's body. Make sure the wires are tied tight and snug, because if there's slight movement, vibration from driving may wear out the sheath/jacket/insulation and possibly cause a short. Just precautionary measures.
The risks are very minimal, although the ballasts do carry a high voltage. Make sure you've made all your connections from the wire harness to ballasts and ballasts to capsules before powering them up. If you need to check your wiring or HIDs in case they don't come on, I'd recommend removing the fuse in the wire harness to ensure the HID ballasts don't have power to them. All the connections in the Xenon Depot kit are keyed, so you cannot reverse the polarity and create a short. Also, the wire harness provides fusing for the HIDs.
Just like halogens, don't touch the glass on the HID capsules.
Good luck.
