Better Light For Night Time Driving

[88MJNC]

Was looking for options for the mj for night time road lights what works what a waste of time and money?

[Minuit]

I hear that Hella H4s are good but they require the headlight wiring to be upgraded, which is something that should probably be done anyway. Sylvania Silver Stars (what I have on mine) aren't bad either, and a little cheaper.

[Backdraft]

I'm running hella e-code h4 housings and 80w/85w osram bulbs with the eautoworks harness and love it. Throws a lot of light exactly where you need it.

[64 Cheyenne]

Was going to upgrade bulbs and harness, first I did the harness upgrade...

after that all was good, didn't even need to replace the current lamps,

put some extra money in my pocket because the harness upgrade made all the difference in the world.

[jimoshel]

[HOrnbrod]

740-Lumen Burst. Almost equivalent to a fully fueled Zippo firing up.

[Eagle]

740-Lumen Burst. Almost equivalent to a fully fueled Zippo firing up.

 

And 5 birghtness levels, too!

 

 

 

 

{look carefully}

[Goose]

H4 housings and Ddm tuning hid upgrade.

[cruiser54]

This pretty much sums it up. I have done 4 of the harnesses, with one of the Jeeps getting the Autopals.

 

Originally Posted by xjsnake http://www.cherokeeforum.com/f2/headlights-151196/index2/ - post2069179http://www.cherokeeforum.com/f2/headlights-151196/index2/ - post2069179

Upgraded headlights the legal (ish) way...

1) Get a new headlight harness.

You can make your own http://gojeep.willyshotrod.com/HowtoHeadlightLoom.htm

Or you can buy one: http://www.eautoworks.com/Putco-H4--...s-PRD7540.aspx

The eautoworks harnesses used to be quite cheap until everyone on this forum started recommending them and the price was raised accordingly.

You can pick them up for $29.99 here http://www.lmctruck.com/icatalog/csd/full.aspx?Page=48 part number 36-3580. It says it fits a chevy blazer but it's the same as the eautoworks harness and I'm running the LMC harness in my XJ.

There are other more expensive options for pre-made harnesses but I'm not super familiar with those.

2) Upgrade to H4 housings

There are two types of regulations pertaining to headlight housings. There are DOT approved housings which are legal in the US and there are Ecode lights which are European housings and aren't legal in the US although many people use them as they are considered superior housings due to the light pattern.

DOT

Rampage http://www.quadratec.com/products/97009_501.htm

IPF http://www.quadratec.com/products/97017_1600.htm

Delta http://www.quadratec.com/products/97009_121.htm

Hella http://www.quadratec.com/products/97009_02.htm

Ecode

Autopals (look on ebay for Autopal 200mm H4 housing)

Hella http://www.rallylights.com/detail.aspx?ID=744

Cibie http://www.clearcorners.com/products/cibie/

Personally I won't buy housings that have plastic lenses, I much prefer glass but your mileage may vary.

3) Get good bulbs

Some of the above housings come with bulbs included with them. I tend not to recommend bulbs as the choices are extremely vast and everyone has their own preferences as to color and wattage.

4) Aim your headlights properly!

I can't say enough how much improperly aimed headlights annoy me on the road plus you are wasting all that time and effort to upgrade the lighting if you don't aim the light where it does the most good... http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=78017

5) On HID Lights

I do not recommend HID's for use in XJ's... People will show links to cheap HID kits and "Projectors" off of ebay and other sites which will give you a lot of light and will also throw a lot of light in all directions making you very visible to police and possibly blinding other drivers.

 

Read http://www.danielsternlighting.com/t...nversions.html for a well written description of the problems with HID kits.

When using HID's you need a true projector housing. I'm sure people will chime in and say they run HID's and ebay housings and have had no problems but I'm describing the legal (ish) way.

If you want to go down the road of HID's, take a look at what true projector housings cost http://www.kbcarstuff.com/6054-200mm...-p/xd-6054.htm

http://www.brightheadlights.com/hid-upcoming.htm

or you can buy the projectors and retrofit them into existing housings if you are so inclined: http://www.cherokeeforum.com/f58/hea...9/#post1391556

There are a myriad of options available to consumers with the limiting factor being cost. One can spend under $100 and have significantly upgraded their lighting or they can spend $1000 and upgrade their lighting more. It's all in how much money you want to spend.

For those wanting to do some of these upgrades but not necessarily all I would do them in the following order:

1) Headlight Harness (major improvement even with sealed beams)

2) Housings and Associated Bulbs

3) Hid and Projectors (Cost prohibitive to do correctly)

 

For installation of the harness and housings see this excellent write up: http://www.cherokeeforum.com/f59/my-h4-upgrade-114440/

Disclaimer: Always check your local and state laws as some places have more stringent lighting laws than others... I am in no way associated with any of the above companies and none of what I say should be taken as the absolute truth or only way to do things. Flame on...

[Goose]

You really do get what you pay for when it comes to this stuff.

 

Getting the glass housings with a halo beam or ones that have the little reflecting cover over the bulb like New cars do will work best. Ddm is all I use. They are guaranteed water proof and so far have had them in numerous vehicles with no problems, exert what cruiser said about the light washing out in some housings.

 

Anything is better than stock sealed beams though

[krustyballer16]

i have a set of Delta housings with the putco wiring harness upgrade and 130w/100w Narva H4 bulbs. i love them! REALLY bright. i rarely need to use my hi beams. my next time around for my cherokee i think ill try the Hella or IPF housings and probably stick with the same bulbs. I paid about $200 the first time around but ive found this whole set up recently for about $100.

[Dedaw]

Heard cibie e-codes are the best, but that's up to you if you wanna run "illegal" headlights. As others have said, proper adjustment, new harness, glass housings and some nice H4s will make a world of difference.