Cab lights

regcab02HD · April 25, 2003

I'm am planning on putting the old style cab lights (88-98) on my HD. I was just wondering if anyone has any pics of these cab lights on their HD. Thanks

SportyShorty · April 25, 2003

Here is a pic of the old style lights on my 99 1500. Be prepared to take your time! It took me about 4 hours to do it completely from dropping the headliner, mounting, wiring and putting everything back together. They look nice though. Not sure where you are getting yuor but i got this complete set from Napa for about 26 bucks!! Lot cheaper than from GM. They are the same thing! :thumb:

cowboy02 · April 25, 2003

Truck looks nice man........ :thumb: Why did you decide to bunch the 3 up in the middle? Old school style has them stretched out evenly across the top! Thought maybe if you had old school lights you would use old school location but hey they look nice....

Was it a pain in the arsh to get the wires down the door jam?

Thanks

SportyShorty · April 25, 2003

I like the way the 3 light slook in the middle. I guess thats why I did it. Heh. Once you get your headliner down and the lights mounted, I just connected all the lights to one strand of wire, ran it down the drivers side pillar, down though the dash, through the factory installed grommet, then to the hot wire on my parking light. I was gonna put them on a switch, but didnt feel like having a switch that didnt match the interior. Plus this way whenever your parking lights are on, your cab lights are on. Had them on for about a year now and no problems yet!

When you do it, get someone to help ya out. Measuring can be a pain in the butt alone. Plus you are going to want someone to hold the light in place while you drill the holes. Ouch!! Make sure to put some silicone sealer in the holes to seal em up. Hope this helps. Let me know how it goes and if you need more info

WileE1 · April 25, 2003

GM Style is 3 in the middle and two outboard.......Ford I think puts theres all across in a row evenly spaced...you can always tell a ford at night just by the cab lights (of course if they have them).....Dodge uses 3 and 2 like GM I think.....along with most of the over the road trucks?

silverado3500 · April 26, 2003

GM Style is 3 in the middle and two outboard.......Ford I think puts theres all across in a row evenly spaced...you can always tell a ford at night just by the cab lights (of course if they have them).....Dodge uses 3 and 2 like GM I think.....along with most of the over the road trucks?

This is correct, only ford uses the 5 evenly spaced lights. All semis, busses, and oversized commercial trailers use the 3/2 combination. I installed the lights on the 02 1500 in my sig.

A nice benefit of the lights will be quickly realized when cruising down the interstate at say 85 mph in the left lane and you come up on a car/minivan riding in the left lane. Most of the time they will dart out of your way before you get to them.

I guess that they think that I'm in a semi or some other big truck and that I probably wont be able to stop.

SportyShorty · April 26, 2003

Do you have pics of your 1500 with the 1ton suspension? Does it add much lift? My goal with my truck is to basicaly create a 2500 reg. cab short bed. I always thought that would be a nice looking truck but apparently GM dosent think so.

regcab02HD · April 26, 2003

Hey Sporty, nice pickup. You said you got your lights from Napa. Did they come in a kit or did you have to buy them separatly? How did you know where to drill the holes to mount them? Thanks

SportyShorty · April 26, 2003

Yes, I did get them from NAPA. I had to get them individually. I'm pretty sure they were like 6 or 7 bucks a piece. Not to bad. As far as where to put them. Here's what I did. I measured and founf the center of the roof. The lights come in tow separate pieces. The bottom rubber part and the top lens. Once you find the center of the roof, place the rubber part on the roof with the screw holes, lined up with your center marks. I put mine 2" above the rubber windshield gasket. Once you get it where you think you want it, place the amber lens on the rubber and step back and take a good look. Make any adjustments the you want to make it look centered. Then, get out your drill and drill the holes. Make sure not to drill them to big, the lights are attatched with screws so they will need something to bite on. Also, the groung wire for the light just gets placed under one of the mounting screws. There is a loop connector at the end of the ground wire. Unfortunatly the ones that I got the hole isnt quite large enough for the screw to pass through so i ended up enlarging the hole just a little. So, drill the two holes for the mounting screws, then drill one for the wire to pass down through the roof. All these holes are marked on the runner part. Then get some clear silicone, put a little in each hole, an go ahead anf slide the wire through wire hole in the roof. Then put the lens on and put the screws in. Be careful not to overtighten, the lenses are ver fragile. You might need some help adjusting the rubber part so that the lens seats in it good.

Once you get your center on in, then just place the one beside it where you think you want it, step back and make any adjutments and drill, and mount. Make sure your spacing is the same on each side. To do this, I made all my measurements off the mounting screws of the center light.

The two lights that are all the way out, I decied to angle a little. To me they didnt look quite right straight, so just a small angle did the trick.

Once you get all your lights mounted, I just attatched all the wires coming through the roof to a long wire, down the drivers side pillar, through the dash, though the factory grommet, and tapped into the parking light.

It's quite a lengthy process but they look sweet when they are done!

Hope this helps

lrymal · April 26, 2003

GM Style is 3 in the middle and two outboard.......Ford I think puts theres all across in a row evenly spaced

I added lights back in '91 to a new GMC and they were three in the middle, two on the outside.

Stepside Z · April 27, 2003

Just to clear up what Ford lights look like I happen to have a picture.

SportyShorty glad to see a fellow Mainah here. I am from Owls Head but currently in the Navy so I spend most of my time in Virginia.

Nice looking truck and welcome to GM-TC.

BadBowtie · April 28, 2003

JC Whitney sells a kit made by Pacer Performace. I bought mine there, and they seem alright, been about 6 months now. They have both the new style (with the three middle lights in one housing) and the old style lights (88-98). I think I paid under $27 for my kit as well.

silverado3500 · April 28, 2003

Do you have pics of your 1500 with the 1ton suspension? Does it add much lift? My goal with my truck is to basicaly create a 2500 reg. cab short bed. I always thought that would be a nice looking truck but apparently GM dosent think so.

My 1500 with the 1 ton suspension is the truck shown in my sig, Ill load some additional pics in a few minutes......

cowboy02 · April 28, 2003

well I guess it goes to show I've driven a ford too long. I could've swore that my old 84 chevy had them evenly spaced across the top. Maybe someone added them as a aftermarket option..........

I'll have to go back and see if I can't dig out some old photos.

silverado3500 · April 28, 2003

Here are some more pics

The front is lifted using a set of fabtech 3" spindles the 1 ton coils really dont provide any lift.

The rear is comprised of a set of 1 ton leaf springs from an 02 Chevrolet 3500 with wrecker prep (this must be mentioned as the springs are larger than a normal 3500) The rear springs alone provide around 3.5-4.5 inches of lift. You will be looking at spending around $650 for the leaf springs new from GM parts.

The springs are not all that hard to install, but you will have to lower (but not completely remove) the fuel tank to get access to the front bolt on the driver's side spring mount so be sure not to fill it up before starting work. Also, you will need to remove the receiver hitch to gain access to the rear bolts for the shackles.

When you go to jack up the truck to do the install, make sure you lift the back end up HIGH! I had mine at the top notch on my 12ton jack stands and barely had enough room to clear axle with the new springs. You will need at least 4 jack stands (6 would be better) 2 tall stands for the truck, 2 small stands for the axle, and 2 for the fuel tank. You can get by with 1 floor jacks, but again 2 will save time, and make the job go faster.

The springs will only fit one way, so don't tighten them down until you have all the bolts in place.

You will also want to remove the uppermost overload spring (as 1500s dont have the brackets on the frame to make the overloads work)

I also have a set of 2" GM lift blocks off an 02 Z71, but you will probably not want these. I wanted the back to sit a lot taller than the front.

I am running a set of 255/85R16E on my truck (this is a narrow 33" tire)

Basically You will need the 1 lon leaf spring packs, and a set of shocks for a lifted truck for the back,

And the 3" spindles for the front.

As far as installation order goes, Install the spindles first and then do the rear springs. This will help keep the truck more stable on the jack stands.

It took me about 4 hours to install the spindles, and about 7 1/2 to do the springs. I only had help to lift the 1 ton leaf packs on to the axle (they are extremely heavy), otherwise I did the install on my own.

Hope that helps. If you have any other questions, let me know!