Installation notes for McCulloch HID kit (Denali / H13)
Keep the mcCulloch instructions handy and refer to the as needed, but here's some info re: my installation that might help you out. Sorry for the "epic" post, but detailed info is usually the best.
1) DISCONNECT YOUR NEGATIVE BATTERY LEAD!
2) Remove the factory airbox.
3) You'll need a roll of 14 gauge stranded wire (black is good), some splice/butt crimps, and a crimper, and some electrical tape to keep things neat and tidy. The ground on each side is really two wires into one connector heat-shrinked together, so you'll need to cut like two 8' lengths of the wire to splice in.
4) It's going to be lots easier to do the extension splices on the passenger side before you put the ballasts / ignitors into the vehicle...
5) I ran the two wires (extension) and the harness wire for the drivers side underneath the back edge of the shroud that covers the frame, set back a bit from the top of the radiator. Again, the ground point I used is the front end of the upper cross-brace on the drivers side.
6) Recommend you also have some isopropyl rubbing alcohol, and some paper towels to prep the mounting locations for the ballasts. Cut the double-sided tape into smaller sections so you can easily mount the ignitors too.
7) There are these really annoying vinyl flaps that cover the backs of the headlight housings. I couldn't figure out how to remove the plastic locking pins without damaging them, so used my pocket knife to cut a short slit into the vinyl and make a little "button hole" so I could put it back together.
8) Getting the factory bulbs out is a bit of a challenge due to the awkward contortions you'll have to make to get enough leverage to turn the locking collar, especially on the drivers side as I recall. Be prepared to tear up your hands a bit.
9) Mounted the drivers ballast on the metal side-wall near the spare-battery location (don't block the battery location - what if you wanna put one in later?). Driver's side ignitor is double-stickied to a vertical frame section forward of the vinyl flap. Refer to #5 above for grounding location.
10) Tape off drivers side factory bulb harness; you won't need it any more.
11) Mounted the passenger ballast to metal side-wall under air-box bracket. Passenger side ignitor is double-stickied on vertical frame section forward of the vinyl flap (like the driver side). Again, refer to #5 above for grounding location.
12) Tap into factory bulb harness on passenger side, using the empty connector that McCulloch provides. Wires are:
Truck -------- Harness
Green/Black -- Brown
Black -------- Blue
Brown/White -- White
DON'T mess up this part - once the pins are in the connector, good luck getting them out. (Thanks Travis for the pin-outs!)
13) Tie off / tape / tuck wires as necessary in front of vinyl flaps, to suit your personal "neatness" requirements.
14) Positive battery lead follows top of passenger fender well under coolant reservoir, and I connected mine to the tightener nut on the terminal connector. Just force the cover closed over the loom, it worked for me.
15) When you're reasonably sure you've got it right, reconnect the negative battery lead, and test things out with your truck's ignition in "accessory", without the engine running.
16) Put the airbox back in and make sure you haven't munged up any breather hoses / vacuum caps anywhere.
Other than a few minor complaints regarding where to put stuff and how to get my hand into the back of the headlight assembly, I really like the mod. The headlights are fantastic and were well worth the cost and effort. It took me about two hours for the install, but with the information above, you could probably do it in much less.
TIP: Don't start up or move your vehicle until after the airbox is on. You'll likely set a check engine code, which you can clear by disconnecting the negative battery lead for a few minutes (it's a hassle to do that over and over).
You just gotta keep them aimed properly, otherwise it's a real hazard to other drivers - saw a moron last night driving an old Nissan Sentra with what looked like a 8000K / 10000K kit with them aimed wrong, and it was blinding everyone in front of him. If you're careful, you shouldn't have to re-aim anything, but if you do, it's very simple on the Denali - you just need a #10 (I think) Torx bit, and pop the hood and go for it. Simple.
