ZJ Headlights

[Eagle]

Has anyone replaced the headlights in a ZJ Grand Cherokee? Not the halogen bulb -- the entire lens/housing assembly. I need to replace both sides on a ZJ. I have the new units, but I've heard tales of breaking them while trying to install them. What's the inside story?

[mjeff87]

I remember helping my buddy replace his (more like I drank a beer while I watched him struggle with it, LOL).  The issue is that the lamp assemblies are held in/attached from the rear by a ball-post that pops into a hole in the housing.  Quite a mickey mouse setup.  When you try to pop the new assemblies in, you basically have to line them up as best as you can by feel (since you can't see the posts) and then WHACK the lenses so the ball on the post end pops into the hole.

 

Watch this video....skip to about 2:10 to see what I'm talking about.

 

 

Good luck

[HOrnbrod]

Jeez, what a crappy setup. Who knew?

[mjeff87]

Certainly not me.....until I watched my buddy do it .  He broke the first one, which we superglued back together and managed to half azz get it to mount.  Learned from that one and got the other one on ok.

 

Try putting an aftermarket header on a 5.9ZJ (same vehicle as above) if you want some real fun.  Took him on top, me on the bottom, about 37 beers and every socket/extension/wrench we both had just to get the bolts in.  Hah.

 

 

[HOrnbrod]

3 hours ago, mjeff87 said:

... if you want some real fun.  Took him on top, me on the bottom, about 37 beers and....

 

That sounds weird Jeff.     

[mjeff87]

Yeah.....that's not what I meant lol

[MeanLemons]

6 hours ago, HOrnbrod said:

 

That sounds weird Jeff.     

Lmao 

[Eagle]

Thanks for the video. That basically confirms what I had read -- that there's a high probability of breaking something when installing the new units. Got my fingers crossed.

[mjeff87]

How'd it go?

 

:popcorn emoji:

 

[Eagle]

It didn't go yet.

 

The ZJ isn't mine, it belongs to a good friend from NAXJA days whom I owe several favors. The keadlights in his ZJ are badly sandblasted, and the driver's side was damaged by the original owner and doesn't work. So I got him a pair of replacement lights, but I decided to let him do any breaking involved. He used to work as a tech in a Jeep dealership and he has owned ZJs before (for some inexplicable reason he prefers them to XJs -- go figure), so I took the coward's way out. I'll report back when I hear from him how it went.

[Eagle]

They're in. I haven't seen them in operation at night yet but, considering how blind it was before, I have to think it's an improvement.

[Eagle]

I took a ride in it last night. BIG improvement -- HUGE! Like the difference between a candle lantern and a Cree LED flashlight difference.

[mjeff87]

That's awesome.  Good to hear he didn't butcher either of them getting them installed too

[gogmorgo]

Gonna have to do this one. Ordered a pair of nos Mopar e-codes for my ZJ, because of the glass lenses on them. I'll see if they last longer than the originals without yellowing. Not that I should really be complaining about 26 years of service on the old ones...