concerned father on his own veh

Now for some questions concerning my own vehicle. I drive a 2008 GMC Sierra extended cab with the following equipment. Kenwood ddx770 headunit, an indash epicenter, an audiocontrol EQS, a Jl audio 12w7 in a custom center console bandpass box powered by a Rockford 1000bdcp. A JL audio 10TW3-D4 powered by a Rockford punch 300. 2 sets of Boston Acoustics PRO 50 se components powered by a Jl audio 300/4v2. i also have a 1 farad Rockford cap which is currently not installed. My electrical system consists of a Big 3 with 0 gauge wiring, I left the stock wires in place. A factory 160 amp alternator, and an Advanced gold series battery the one they recommended to be their best for my vehicle. I have 0 gauge from the battery to the larger Rockford amp. I also have 4 gauge from the battery to a distro block and 4 gauge going to the other two amps. Ground gauge wires match the power wire minus the distro block and all go to a common point, on the body, less than 18 inches from the amps. All power wires are fused properly. The problem I have is what I consider serious headlamp dimming. A few question I have are. Should I run an additional 0 gauge wire from the body to the chassis? The truck has a 6" suspension lift kit and there are quite a few rubber or some sort of spacers between the body and the frame. Would reinstallation of the cap right before the larger sub amp help or hurt? I recall reading about HID bulb conversions fixing similar issues, is this myth or fact? I don't have room in the cab for an extra battery but there is a place under the hood for one. Is the alternator to small? if so any suggestions? I want to resolve the problem but I don't want to cause any more issues with my electrical system. I would also like to make the comment I had no dimming issues before the big three upgrade, which was the same time I removed the cap from the system. I would like to thank anyone for help, and if anymore info is needed please ask. I read this forum daily and realize the are some very intelligent people on this forum, along with many different opinions, I am open to all suggestions, price is a factor for me but if a little more money spent would optimize my sound quality that is path I would take. Thanks again and I look for to some intelligent responses

HID lamps will fix the dimming issue. But they do suffer from tons of reliablility issues. Not a week goes by that I do not get a phone call from somebody that is from out of town and are trying to find replacement lamps for their system.

Maybe the cap in the headlight power feed.

oldspark Thank you for your input, I had not heard that about HIDs and peripheral vision before. I think on my daughters car I,m going to start with some new lenses. Concerning my truck, that thought had crossed my mind,is the a particular spot in the headlamp circuit you would suggest installing the cap? Has anyone else tried this or does anyone else possibly see any problems that could result fro this.

In theory, the cap as close as practicable to the bulbs. HIDs avoid flicker thru their ballasts - aka dc-dc converters - which might convert 11V or lower (ideally 8V?) to the HID voltage. The same may apply to some LED systems. Sometimes 2nd or extra batteries are used. If the aim is to avoid volume drops during burps, then as close to the amp(s) as possible. If the aim is to avoid lamp flicker, then as close to the lamp(s) as possible. Caps are used instead of batteries when batteries are impractical, or by those that already have caps, or maybe where people don't know any better (batteries are usually cheaper & smaller and hold far greater voltage/power reserve than caps). For smaller loads like headlights, caps are probably most appropriate. (Batteries should be isolated and not remain paralleled when not being used or charged.) The peripheral vision aspect was something only recently drawn to my attention and it merely reflected an (obvious in retrospect) issue with high contrast or brightness lighting. I hadn't considered that as a negative wrt modern high intensity lighting. (Though in my own systems I have always been aware of the need for side wash etc. Currently that involves 2 crossed inner pencil beams (the left pointing rightward & the right leftward with intersect between ~100 to maybe 300m or further ahead), and outers remaining on low beam though that is selectable.) And not that I am aware of any official safety reports or statistics on that issue.