kawaboy13 Posted July 13, 2012 Share Posted July 13, 2012 I'm going to upgrade to a putco harness and was wondering if it is even possible to run hid's off of it? Does anyone know which is brighter? I want to go with a 90/100 watt bulb if I go with the H4. I'm not sure the way i want to go. Also would be getting hella glass housings for H4's. I have not seen an hid setup in a Comanche, but would like to see the difference in the two.Also, does anyone know which hid kit to go with? Thanls, John Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
87Warrior Posted July 13, 2012 Share Posted July 13, 2012 If you already have a non stock lighting harness in your truck, installing HIDs will not benefit from the harness as H4s will. This is because any H4 to HID retrofit kit draws its power for the ballast from the battery and uses the factory wiring as a trigger, just as the aftermarket harness would do. I will be installing an IPF/HID set up in the 86 this weekend to alleviate the electrical strain on the light switch. I will take comparison pictures between the IPF/HID MJ and my TJ with IPF/H4 Fatboy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kawaboy13 Posted July 13, 2012 Author Share Posted July 13, 2012 I have no upgrades done yet and am just wondering the best route for me to follow. So you would not upgrade the harness for hid? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruiser54 Posted July 13, 2012 Share Posted July 13, 2012 The harness alone with stock lights makes a big difference. With H4s even more and it's more than enough. http://www.ebay.com/itm/200mm-H6054-H4- ... 4cf8f40eb7 http://www.eautoworks.com/Putco-H4--900 ... D7540.aspx Cruiser’s Headlight Upgrade Harness Instructions Absolutely plug and play. Remove grille and headlamp bulbs. I fed my harnesses from the passenger side starting between the battery and the back of the headlamp housing, over to the driver side. Plug the driver side bulb into the new harness. Attach the new harness's ground wire under one of the small bolts on the radiator support after scraping the paint off under it. Attach the harness to the existing harness behind the grille working toward the passenger side. . Plug the new harness plug into passenger headlamp. Plug original headlamp plug into receptacle on new harness. Attach the ground for the passenger side just like you did the driver side under a radiator support bolt. Attach relays with provided bracket on the passenger side inner fender. Connect power wires to battery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
87Warrior Posted July 13, 2012 Share Posted July 13, 2012 So you would not upgrade the harness for hid? Correct. There is no reason to since you would essentially be doing the same thing twice. I have never done the headlight harness mod to an XJ or MJ, so I am unable to comment on how much of a change there is. I suspect the HID will produce more light than an upgraded H4. The question then is of that light is useable or if it will ne thrown away by the housing. I don't know enough about light theory to have that discussion. The plus to doing a harness upgrade is you get to source the parts and can pick.quality plugs and relays if desired. With HID, you are stuck with what ever Chinese manufacture cranked out the kit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruiser54 Posted July 13, 2012 Share Posted July 13, 2012 With the stock headlamps and the harness, expect a 30% or more improvement in your XJ's lighting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kawaboy13 Posted July 14, 2012 Author Share Posted July 14, 2012 With hella e code housings, will I be able to see off the sides of the road for animals and things? Also, can anyone tell me about the fat boy bulbs? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruiser54 Posted July 14, 2012 Share Posted July 14, 2012 With hella e code housings, will I be able to see off the sides of the road for animals and things? Also, can anyone tell me about the fat boy bulbs? Yes, and also with the Autopal E-codes. I live in a rural area and have to watch for game myself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HOrnbrod Posted July 14, 2012 Share Posted July 14, 2012 With hella e code housings, will I be able to see off the sides of the road for animals and things? Also, can anyone tell me about the fat boy bulbs? After the harness upgrade, I cheaped out when converting to H4 head lamps and opted for the Autopal housings. While they were light years ahead of the sealed beams, the Autopal lens cutoff was ragged and had weak side splash especially to the right, which was very obvious on the first night drive. In the past I had converted several old US Benz's from DOT lighting to E-code using Hella housings exclusively, so I knew what uniform light dispersal should look like. The Autopals were definitely lacking. I junked the Autopals and went to what I know worked and sprung for the H4 Euro Hella housings. Night and day as I knew it would be, sharp cutoff with defined side splash. The made in India H4 Autopal housings are a great upgrade over stock and better than nothing, but they haven't got the lens grinding or reflector design right yet. Until you see the two compared side-by-side in the same conditions, you won't know. Pics don't help. Either housing is better than the original, but the Hella housing is by far the best. But it's your money.......... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skidoo_j Posted July 14, 2012 Share Posted July 14, 2012 I ordered a set of IPF Rectangular H4 Headlight Inserts from 4wd.com wednesday. I purchased them over the autopal's based on referals and pictures of light dispersion that I found between naxja and here. It was a toss up between the hella and the IPF, both seemed to be highly spoken of but I couldnt find anyone with direct experience of both. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skidoo_j Posted July 14, 2012 Share Posted July 14, 2012 With the stock headlamps and the harness, expect a 30% or more improvement in your XJ's lighting. I think the improvement of wiring would depend on the current condition of your electrical system. On my personal vehicle i can take a stock bulb and plug it in the harness and cannot tell the difference if it's connected directly to the battery with 10 ga wire. I think it is possible for an improvement, but unless the switch is $#!&ty or the wiring and plug-ins are corroded I'd bet it's more a placebo effect. I do however plan to wire my headlights over to relays, just to reduce the amount of current being drawn through my fuse panel. Plus i think it will look nicer to have 5 or six relays next to each other in a line on the truck. High, Low, fogs, bar lights, front locker rear locker. Granted fogs, bar lights and e-lockers are a ways away in my plans and may never materialize. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
87Warrior Posted July 14, 2012 Share Posted July 14, 2012 Here is a comparison I did tonight after getting the HID set up installed. 1986 Jeep Comanche, IPF housings and 55w HID inserts: 2003 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon, IPF Housings and Fatboy bulbs: I need to spend some time adjusting the lights on the MJ. I believe that with a think o-ring or shim to pull the HID bulb back in the housing more the light pattern will improve. I have been running these Fatboy bulbs in the TJ since 2008. They are great. Coupled with the IPF housing I can see into the ditches no problem on the county road to our house. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cody4359 Posted July 14, 2012 Share Posted July 14, 2012 I ordered a set of IPF Rectangular H4 Headlight Inserts from 4wd.com wednesday. I purchased them over the autopal's based on referals and pictures of light dispersion that I found between naxja and here. It was a toss up between the hella and the IPF, both seemed to be highly spoken of but I couldnt find anyone with direct experience of both. X2... i was between the Hellas and IPF, looked at numerouse threads and chose the IPF. i belive Hella and IPF have about the same thickness in glass and very similar light cutoff, where the autopals etc had a bit thinner. Stock low IPF/silverstar low (adjusted the lights later and that improved hwy driving) IPF/silverstar high Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skidoo_j Posted July 14, 2012 Share Posted July 14, 2012 Here is a comparison I did tonight after getting the HID set up installed. 1986 Jeep Comanche, IPF housings and 55w HID inserts: 2003 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon, IPF Housings and Fatboy bulbs:087/IMAG0467.jpg[/img] I need to spend some time adjusting the lights on the MJ. I believe that with a think o-ring or shim to pull the HID bulb back in the housing more the light pattern will improve. I have been running these Fatboy bulbs in the TJ since 2008. They are great. Coupled with the IPF housing I can see into the ditches no problem on the county road to our house. the fat boy bulbs you're showing in your picture are 4 years old? If so that's pretty damn good compared to the HID what was the price of your hid setup vs the fat boys? I haven't decided on bulbs yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skidoo_j Posted July 14, 2012 Share Posted July 14, 2012 IPF/silverstar high Did you fix that fence yet? The wind hasn't been that strong in several months. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cody4359 Posted July 14, 2012 Share Posted July 14, 2012 :rotf: it blew down and the next week i was taking off for a outta state job, the neighbor fixed it. now if only the neighbor in the back would fix that end. one day ill get the other neighbor to take his beaters from my back yard, but he owns a paint booth and i get to use it and him for free whenever i want. one week of holding onto the rigs has turned into about 13 months Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DREDnot Posted July 14, 2012 Share Posted July 14, 2012 Most HID, and especially faux "HID" equipped cars seem to throw way to much crazy light in my eyes. If the lights of an oncoming car dazzle your eyes, its junk and not putting the light where it belongs. I've run Hella. I've run IPF. But for my money, I am looking to get some more Cibie E codes for the Comanche. The Cibie light pattern is my favorite. Best coverage and such a sharp cutoff that oncoming traffic sees just enough light to see you. Then if you install some original JEEP fog lights,the SEV Marchal 850 GTs, you will have the ditches covered to almost 180 degrees. Spendy...but so worth it over any of the so called HID http://www.danielsternlighting.com/prod ... ducts.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruiser54 Posted July 14, 2012 Share Posted July 14, 2012 With the stock headlamps and the harness, expect a 30% or more improvement in your XJ's lighting. I think the improvement of wiring would depend on the current condition of your electrical system. On my personal vehicle i can take a stock bulb and plug it in the harness and cannot tell the difference if it's connected directly to the battery with 10 ga wire. I think it is possible for an improvement, but unless the switch is $#!& or the wiring and plug-ins are corroded I'd bet it's more a placebo effect. I do however plan to wire my headlights over to relays, just to reduce the amount of current being drawn through my fuse panel. Plus i think it will look nicer to have 5 or six relays next to each other in a line on the truck. High, Low, fogs, bar lights, front locker rear locker. Granted fogs, bar lights and e-lockers are a ways away in my plans and may never materialize. It really has nothing to do with the condition of the harness. You would see improvement even if you added the harness to a new XJ that rolled off the assembly line. It's the DESIGN of the harness and the use of undersized wire added to the poor design that's the problem. I've done 3 of the upgraded harnesses and only decided to go with H4s and Autopals on my personal driver because the improvement was so great on the other two Jeeps with just the harness. A very good point you bring up is the added bonus of not taxing the said undersized and underengineered wiring by using the harness. You know that the only time that circuit breaker in the haedlight switch is gonna trip, or the harness plug at the switch is gonna melt is when it's dark out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
87Warrior Posted July 14, 2012 Share Posted July 14, 2012 the fat boy bulbs you're showing in your picture are 4 years old? If so that's pretty damn good compared to the HID what was the price of your hid setup vs the fat boys? Yep. They have been and continue to be a fantastic bulb. Of course they have yellowed a bit in 4 years, but that is to be expected. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kawaboy13 Posted July 14, 2012 Author Share Posted July 14, 2012 I think I've decided to go with these: http://www.rallylights.com/detail.aspx?ID=744 I'm wanting to upgrade bulbs, are their any suggestions on these that they offer? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruiser54 Posted July 14, 2012 Share Posted July 14, 2012 I think I've decided to go with these: http://www.rallylights.com/detail.aspx?ID=744 I'm wanting to upgrade bulbs, are their any suggestions on these that they offer? I use 90/100s only because I had them laying around. I didn't see which wattage bulbs the Hellas came with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kawaboy13 Posted July 17, 2012 Author Share Posted July 17, 2012 Will the harness brighten up my corners, tails, ect? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruiser54 Posted July 17, 2012 Share Posted July 17, 2012 Will the harness brighten up my corners, tails, ect? Nope. Only headlights. If you want brighter tail and park/brake lamps, use 2357 bulbs. 2357A for fronts. 795s for reverse lights. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skidoo_j Posted July 17, 2012 Share Posted July 17, 2012 Received my IPF housings today, not as impressed. I'll see once i get them installed. The lens doesn't seem very thick, and it almost feels plastic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruiser54 Posted July 17, 2012 Share Posted July 17, 2012 Received my IPF housings today, not as impressed. I'll see once i get them installed. The lens doesn't seem very thick, and it almost feels plastic. I like the Autopals myself. Not as good as Hella, but not bad either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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