# Curtis Plow Lights Swap to Hiniker



## '08FX4SnoPro3K (Dec 22, 2009)

Hi Guys,

I don't post very often, (I do spend time reading the posts on the site this time of year though), but when I have something useful I always try to share it. I always have appreciated it when people take the time to post info that helps others out. I have a couple things to share about Curtis Plows.

First- I had a pin break off on the Plow side harness when I was disconnecting after the last storm. It bothers me because I always have kept the pins well greased, but this one always got a little corroded. Angelo from Curtis gave me a tip on Why, and how to help alleviate the problem. The pin that always corroded was #12 on the plow side. The power for the running lamps. Those lamps pull ground from the base of the lamp through the plow itself. (you can see that black ground wire in one of the pictures in the second half of my post.) Angelo gave me a tip to make up a jumper wire with a ring terminal connector on both ends, and to connect 1 to the neg post on the pump motor, and the other end in between the pump and one of the mounting bolts. This would give the headgear of the plow a better ground because the heavy neg cable goes direct to the battery. So I did that today. To repair the broken male pin on the plow harness, I took a stainless screw, and put the threaded shaft in my drill so I could spin it, then while spinning, ground it down with a file. I wanted to have a perfectly round pin, that was the same diameter as the original when I was done. Then I carefully screwed it into the large plug at the end of the plow harness into the spot where the other pin broke off. I was careful to try to drive it in straight and to make contact with the remnants of the broken pin. It worked, and I saved myself $150 bucks on a new plow side harness, and my time to install it. Below is a pic so you can see what I mean









Second-
I've seen in the past,( and posted about it myself) members express a desire to upgrade their headlights on a Curtis plow. Two years ago I bought a pair of the updated, newer style Curtis headlights, and I find myself having to replace them already. The passenger side light constantly has water in it. It still works but it's getting corroded inside, and because the Parking and turn lamps get their ground from the base of the light, it's creating problems. (The jiz all around the 4 nuts inside the light is an anti corrosion spray I used)

I was all set to buy another set, and thought about how expensive they are, and they should have lasted longer. So I started looking for something compatible, that wouldn't require an awful lot of re-wiring to work on my plow, and would give me the light of a dual lamp Halogen modern headlight.

Enter the Nite Saber 2- Nice looking light. but not totally plug and play as far as I can tell. http://www.northerntool.com/images/product/400x400/242/24208_400x400.jpg While doing a little research on the nite sabers, and reading many forums, I came across a post (somewhere) that talked about them being pricey, and if you want an identical light for less money- to check out the new Hiniker Plow lights... Huh? Yup same light different name- https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/...vwJesyOMgoExKt6e6oIzKflJR1CxzkfOn5Aox-10NMKFi I found them two places for around $290/pair- Rondo Trailers on ebay and I wound up buying them from Heavy Hauler Trailer Just because they were closer to me, and they'd be here sooner. I found in me research that these Hiniker lights would be a direct plug and play swap for the Curtis Lights. No re-wiring at all. I installed them today, we had a little break in the bitter cold it was about 40ish here today. I hope the next storm is at night. Looking forward to seeing these baby's at night.


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## '08FX4SnoPro3K (Dec 22, 2009)

Here's a couple more pics I couldn't include in the first post (limit 4)
The uts to these lights are virtually the same as the Curtis 2nd Gen lights, even the color of the wiring is the same for the Park/Turn lamps


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## chevboy167 (Dec 7, 2011)

Good trick on the pin repair! And now I may have to upgrade my lights as well to my Curtis. Thanks for the info! Love this site.....


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## '08FX4SnoPro3K (Dec 22, 2009)

My pleasure- that screw is a good 3/4" long. Shorter one on the first try, but it didn't seem like it would stay. I was more worried about it contacting another wire inside the plug with the longer one. 

One thing I would do different next time is before I drove the screw in, take a multi-meter and draw yourself a sketch of the numbered pins. Write down which pins have continuity with eachother (Before) you drive the screw in. That way you'll know if anything changes when you drive in the screw. I hadn't done it ahead of time, so after I drove it in, and started checking them- I was a little worried I went to far in with the screw, because some of them had some continuity with eachother and I had no way of knowing I it was normal or not. Other than that, it worked out fine. There wasn't any shorting to other wires from the screw.

I still haven't used the headlights on the plow. Anxious to see them at night. I'll let ya know how they compare to the new style Curtis lights.


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