Pair the Wires

• Before you can splice the wires together you'll need to identify which wires to pair together in your Dakota. Most headlights use a universal system of color coding that will match your Dakota's existing wires to make this process easier. However, always check your owners manual or a shop manual and the instructions on the new headlight to ensure that your positive, negative and ground wires will match. For safety, disconnect the truck's battery or pull the fuse that leads to the Dakota's headlights before you start working.
  
  

Strip the Wires

• Strip both the wires in the truck and the wires on the new headlight. Use sharp wire strippers and give yourself about an inch of exposed wire to work with. You may need to strip several small pieces of plastic from the wires rather than try to slide off a full 1-nch section. Once the wires are stripped, try to keep them clean and dry.
  
  

Solder Joints

• Use a soldering iron and electrical solder to fuse the matching wires. Do this by twisting the wires together loosely. Next, hold the soldering iron against the wires. Wait for several seconds for the wires to heat up. Quickly remove the soldering iron and apply the solder, which will melt and fuse the wires together if they are hot enough. Never apply solder directly to the tip of the soldering iron. If the wires have any rust, clean them before soldering and use rosin (or solder with a rosin core) to stop the rust from preventing the solder from fusing the wires together. Allow each joint to cool before moving on to the next one.
  
  

Cap the Joints

• Once all of the wires have been soldered and allowed to cool, you'll need to cap them to prevent corrosion or a possible short circuit. Plastic wire caps work best and are available from anyplace that sells electrical supplies. Cap each joint and make sure that none of the bare wire is exposed. If the caps are loose, use black electrical tape to secure the cap or cover any exposed wire. You are now ready to replace your battery cable or fuse and enjoy your Dakota's new headlights.