How to give your 389 Pete killer style with Outlaw Customs’ trick 379 headlight brackets
By Andy Gobel
One of the first things we all notice when meeting someone new is their looks, with the eyes being one of the many little things we register in our memory bank. Most of the time eyes don’t make much of an impression.
But if there’s something really unique about them, eyes become like magnets continually drawing your attention and making a lsting impression.
Headlights are much the same on a custom rig; they help distinguish the “face” of a truck. If the headlights are really different, or they are mounted in a unique way, they continually attract attention and add a lot to a rig’s overall impression.
So if your rig has boring headlights, change ‘em. Changing out headlights to a different style or mounted on custom brackets is a relatively easy upgrade and there’re lots of choices for both.
One of the newest offerings in the headlight bracket arena are the Criminal Headlight Brackets ($375/pair) offered by Outlaw Customs. Each of these unique high-polish cast-aluminum brackets, designed as a direct bolt-on for 379 Petes, holds two lights – a headlight and an outboard auxiliary light be it a spearte turn signal indicator, driving/fog light, or other style light.
This combination allows for literally hundreds of lighting combos for the 379s. (These Criminal dual-light brackets can also be adapted to fit 389s as our step-by-step how-to shows.)
The end result of such a custom headlight upgrade is two-fold: 1) instant eye-catching looks; and (2) greatly increased on-road lighting performance. – CR
By The Numbers
1. Remove the stock headlamps and remove the stock headlight bracket bolts on the inside of the hood.
2. Check the wiring so you know which wires power the headlilight's high- and low-beam circuits.
3. We like to run the auxiliary light's wiring through the main headlamp housing. To do so, remove the headlamp from the housing. Take a center punch and mark where you want todrill. Then use a 5/8" drill bit to make the hole
4. Run the second light's wiring into the headlight, solder and heat-shrink all connect
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5. Use a 3/8" rubber grommet and stainless steel split wire loom (included in the headlight bracket kit) to protect the small lamp's wiring running through the headlamp housing.
6. Mounting Criminal Headlight brackets on a 389 requires drilling and tapping the three ¼" holes on the backside of the bracket's to 5/16" and re-tapping. It also requires drilling and tapping a new 5/16" hole just beneath the "top" 5/16" hole on the front of the bracket to make it align with the 389's.
7. Mount the Criminal ($375/pr; #OCP S-1001) Limited Chamber-style brackets by running new bolts from the inside of the hood.
8. We mounted Grand General 87834 headlights ($260) with integrated Spyder LED turn signals on to the Criminal brackets, running a ground wire to one of the mounting bolts on the inside of the hood.
9. Then we installed Grand General 85010 4" off-road driving lights ($22) outboard on each bracket. These types of off-road lights draw a lot of power when used in conjunction with the high-beam on the headlights. So be sure to use a relay between the off-road light and the headlight's high-beam circuit when wiring.
10. Once the bracket is in place and lights are connected, check to make sure they work properly. Then pull the truck up to a wall so you can adjust all the lights-headlights and off-road.
Once the lights are adjusted and tightened your custom rig will be ready to make whole new first impression as the "before" and "after" comparison shows.
