# 2003 Chevy 2500HD Strobes and Equipment



## wxmn6 (May 23, 2001)

A few weeks ago my father got a new 2003 Chevy Silverado 2500HD that was bought from his work. It is an extended cab, short box, with Vortec 6.0L engine. His truck is very similar to my ’02 2500HD except the exterior design. His truck do have a few features that GM added or is better than mine, but GM also got rid of a few stuff like under the hood/dash lights, trailer wiring harness, no trim along the box, etc. His truck is nice but I think my ’02 2500HD power dome looks better than his.  

He is the fire chief for my town so I was busy for a week installing a lot of stuff. Yeah, a lot of lights! Guess how many lights I installed? 12! Yes, that’s right, 12 lights!  I also installed several other things as well. It turned out great and my father likes it a lot. I have been taking pictures and I thought that you would like to see my work on his truck.  A lot of pictures to post so please be patient while it loads up. 

Some of you may be wondering why I am posting pictures of these emergency equipment but for some of you, it can help give you some idea for installing amber strobes and so on for warning the public while you are doing the job like snowplowing and salting. Also I know that some of you are a volunteer firefighter so I am sure you would like to see it and perhaps you have some officers who have a Chevy truck and need some ideas for a setup like this.


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## wxmn6 (May 23, 2001)

Pic #1 - Here is a picture of Nova Microthin red strobe that I installed behind the grill. It is very nice. It is waterproof and has short-proof connectors inside it, and is designed nicely.


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## wxmn6 (May 23, 2001)

Pic #2 - A red colored hide-a-flash strobe tube is installed inside the top part of fog light unit. I had to take the fog light unit out with a couple of screws on the top, disconnect the fog light, and take it out. Then the thick black plastic guard that wraps around the fog light unit had to come out. Drilled a hole on the top of the fog light unit and installed the strobe there. Also have to drill a hole on the black plastic guard so wires can go through it. Put the black plastic guard back on around the fog light and then reinstall the fog light unit to the truck. It is a bit complicated but it is not too difficult.


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## wxmn6 (May 23, 2001)

Pic #3 - Two clear hide-a-flash strobe tubes are installed to the taillight unit each. Only can put a couple of them in two big red part of taillight. No room for strobe in back-up light which could be a problem for some of '03 2500HD owners who would want to put amber strobe in the back-up light lens for rear warning. Because I installed the second strobe tube so close to the backup light that it was able to send some light through the backup light lens which is a good thing. There are only four strobes in the rear, when they are turned on it will looks like 6 strobes are on! One note about it - I found out when I tried to put the taillight back to its mounting location that the second strobe tube would touch the bolt of tailgate that holds the tailgate cable. It only touches the back of strobe tube slightly so as long as the wires are being diverted away from the bolt it should not be a concern.


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## wxmn6 (May 23, 2001)

Pic #4 - Two strobe cables with connectors on it all ready to plug to the strobe tubes.


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## wxmn6 (May 23, 2001)

Pic #5 - A Nova Regulated 160watts, 8 heads power supply is installed to the rear of the cab, under the rear seat. It also has a fan in it for cooling. Easy to install on the driver side rear cab because there is almost nothing under the floor of the truck to worry about hitting something with a screw. I also drilled a couple of two 1" holes with a hole saw for routing strobes cables and wiring.


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## wxmn6 (May 23, 2001)

Pic #6 - All 8 strobe cables are routed and have connectors installed and all ready to plug to the power supply.


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## wxmn6 (May 23, 2001)

Pic #7 - Strobe power supply is all wired.


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## wxmn6 (May 23, 2001)

Pic #8 - Survivor flashlight is installed right next to the strobe power supply. It is on constant power since it draws very small amount of current.


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## wxmn6 (May 23, 2001)

Pic #9 - Switch box, radio and siren are ready to be wired. Yep it's fun!


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## wxmn6 (May 23, 2001)

Pic #10 - I mounted the solenoid on the side of the big black fuse box inside the engine compartment. Easy to do. Just pop out the black plastic box and drill two holes, secure the solenoid to the box with bolts and nuts and put it back in place. Also see the wiring and fuses that is connected to the constant power side of solenoid. Most of the equipment that I installed is on the switched side, and a large gauge wire is run from it to the aftermarket fuse panel that is installed inside the truck under the dash near where the pedal is and where the hole is drilled for routing wiring to the organizer.


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## wxmn6 (May 23, 2001)

Pic #11 - A maxi-fuse holder is installed right to the positive battery terminal and a large gauge wire is run to the solenoid. Also the headlight flasher relay is installed on another side of the big black fuse box. I did the same procedure for mounting it to the box as with the solenoid.


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## wxmn6 (May 23, 2001)

Pic #12 - Switch box, radio and siren are all wired and installed to the organizer. I wired the first switch on the switch box as the master switch, so that way it will control the rest of 5 switches with only one switch.


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## wxmn6 (May 23, 2001)

Pic #13 - Switch box and radio turned on.


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## wxmn6 (May 23, 2001)

Pic #14 - Whelen visor strobes mounted on the passenger side sunvisor. I hardwired it to the switch box.


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## wxmn6 (May 23, 2001)

Pic #15 - All Done!!


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## wxmn6 (May 23, 2001)

Pic #16 - Front strobes and headlight flashers on. Visor strobes are on at that time, but it is self contained, so it is not hooked up to the power supply. As a result they don't always flash at exact the same moment. So it is too difficult to capture a picture of both grill/fog strobes with visor strobes at the same time!


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## wxmn6 (May 23, 2001)

Pic #17 - Another picture of front strobes and headlight flashers on.


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## wxmn6 (May 23, 2001)

Pic #18 - Rear strobes on. Note that the second strobe (red) also illuminated the backup light too.


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## wxmn6 (May 23, 2001)

Pic #19 - Another picture of rear strobes.


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## wxmn6 (May 23, 2001)

Pic #20 - Jordan Ultima 2020 brake controller installed.


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## wxmn6 (May 23, 2001)

Pic #21 - Jordan brake controller and the organizer.


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## wxmn6 (May 23, 2001)

Pic #22 - Heated wiper blades installed. Pretty easy to do. Thanks Jerre!


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## wxmn6 (May 23, 2001)

Pic #23 - Illuminated switch is installed right next to the air bag on/off switch. I got the switch at Radio Shack. It is not pretty easy to install because you need to drill a 15/16" hole to mount it while the front faceplate is only about 1 1/8" square. But I did it without messing anything up. Looks pretty good.


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## wxmn6 (May 23, 2001)

That’s all. Sure it is a lot of work so that’s why it took me a whole week to do it, but I was taking my time to make sure I install them in the best method. It is worth it and my dad likes it a lot. 
 

My next project? Of course it will be my ’02 2500HD that is yet to be installed. Probably would not be for until another two months when I get a week off from college.


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## wyldman (Jan 18, 2001)

Very nice job,I'm impressed.


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## Rob (May 15, 2001)

Me too.
That is very impressive work and extremely neat. Great Job !!


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## Mike 97 SS (Aug 11, 2002)

Nice work Steve, very nice work. Thanks alot for the pictures. So your doing your truck next? I get it, you figured you would practice on dads truck and if it came out like crap, you know not to mess with your truck!!   Just kidding ya a little. Mike


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## wxmn6 (May 23, 2001)

HAHA, very funny. Actually I did thought of that but that's not why I did his first.  I did his first because he is the fire chief so he has some priorities.


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## cat320 (Aug 25, 2000)

Steven ,Very nice work I should of had you do mine looks nothing like that .I only have 4 hidaways in my chevy but i wish i had got a roll of wire and plastic sleves like that.Just curious how much did all that cost ?


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## fordman (Oct 31, 2001)

Very impressive work.


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## BigRedBarn (Jan 4, 2003)

I just got a 2003 2500HD with the 8100 and Allison 5-speed. We have a 7.5' Western plow on it. 

I don't like those big yellow light bars most plow guys have. All I do is plow my driveway, so I really don't want a big light bar there on top of the cab all the time. Yet, I've heard of local guys getting tickets for no yellow strobe lights while plowing. 

I'd like something that works well, puts out a good, bright yellow strobe in ALL directions, doesn't require a lot of special modifications, and doesn't cost an arm and a leg. Right now I have a magnetically-mounted yellow strobe light, which I'm usually too lazy to put out before plowing.

Recommendations? I'm unable to do any of this sort of installation work myself, but there's a local 4x4 shop that'll try anything. I want to be legal, make people see me when plowing, and not have anything gaudy mounted on top of the cab all 4 seasons. 

Thanks for any opinions.


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## sno-mover (Jan 12, 2002)

Excelent job very nice! Mabe a small vidieo clip at night when you get a chance.


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## myo (Dec 2, 2002)

That is very nice.


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## Pelican (Nov 16, 2001)

Nice neat installations! Where did you get the bulk strobe cable?


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## mdb landscaping (Sep 29, 2000)

awesome install job. id let you do work on my truck. i only have 4 whelen hideways and a slimlighter on the dash. i love those visor strobes. the local state police has those on their new monte carlo undercover cars, and they look so good coming at you.


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## wxmn6 (May 23, 2001)

Thanks guys for your comments. I take pride in my job. 

cat320, I don't have the figures right now but I don't think that you would want to know. 

Pelican, I bought the bulk 1000' spool of strobe cable from this website:

http://www.strobesupply.com/

The dealer name is Nancy and she provides very good services. She get my questions answered promptly and the ordering is very easy and fast. Shipping is no problem. I bought all strobes, power supplies, and accessories from there. The price is good. I highly recommended you to buy from this site. You will be happy.


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## Jerre Heyer (Mar 19, 2002)

*Hot Truck*

Stephen, I feel so ashamed of myself for not taking the time to view thru the picts you posted of your dad's rig. I knew from our conversation after you got done you were proud of the job and now I know why. Nice clean install and lots of extras. I like the way you put the switch asm off the dash and floor. Keep up the good work and send picts of you rig.

Jerre.


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## captdevo (Nov 10, 2000)

* Great Thread!!!! Thanks!!!!*


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## stslawncare (Jun 8, 2000)

awesome setup, im gonna show to some of the other ff's and they will be jealous.


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## ultimate lawns (Aug 28, 2002)

Nice installation! Also, how long did it take you?
Thanks,

Ultimate Lawns and More,


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## FF279 (Dec 29, 2004)

Hey wxmn6, Thats a nice setup, so where's your set-up...I love Chevys


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## PLM-1 (Nov 29, 2004)

Heated Windshield Wiper Blades! Now that is awesome. Where did you find those?


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## dmjr77 (Nov 6, 2004)

Very nice work!! How did you get the headlamps to flash? I thought that the 1999 - Current Silverado/Sierras could not have flashing highbeams because of the new automatic light system.


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## scaper27 (Nov 5, 2005)

I want the heated windshield wipers. NICE


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## mckaloz1 (Jan 23, 2009)

*Roof Beacon Light*

wxmn6,

I have a 2003 Chevy 2500HD. Am trying to wire a overhead light. Found the wires, replaced the 30a fuse under the hood, but it still won't work. Any ideas. I know where the relay is but want to keep that as a last resort because such a pain to get to. Have heard something about the fuse panel under the dash by the emergency brake missing wires or a connector. but not sure. What do you think. Looks like you know what you're doing from your dads truck. Nice job. Am fire dept. Lt. in Lansing, MI. and plow on the side. If you could help, I'd appreciate it. Thanks, Mike


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## mcwlandscaping (Sep 8, 2005)

very very nice job on the install! Nice and clean, just like it should be!


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## valpoguy (Jan 19, 2009)

Nice clean install


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## orange toys (Dec 16, 2008)

so if you every come to missouri come find me and I want you to hook up with the strobes.lol


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## DURAMAXPLOW2003 (Jan 12, 2008)

i love lights....but it has always been my belief( and i have a good amount of 911 and highway experience) that emergency lamps should not be installed in a housing with a lamp that is used to communicate your direction of travel to the motoring public. they are confused enough...in my state you pull to the shoulder regardless of the direction of the emergency vehicle.


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## duramaxblade (Feb 12, 2008)

You CAN fit the strobes in the reverse lights but you have to do it at an angle. After your done, load it up with the silicone. The other spot that I have them that looks really good (just did it today) was the cargo lights. Wicked bright!!! That took a lot of modification but really looks good.
Your install was really, really clean though. That was very impressive. Great job.


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