Yet another headlight thread

[ekaybe]

Wanting to get rid of the crappy stock XJ lights.

So I know I need a new harness to which I was pointed to...
http://www.eautoworks.com/Putco-H4--9003-Heavy-Duty-Headlight-Upgrade-Wiring-Harness-PRD7540.aspx

Now what about headlight housings? I'm hearing about Hella E-Codes or something. What in the world is an e-code haha :smiley-scared003: ?
I know I can hop on ebay and get housings for dirt cheap but I'm lost.

I'm sure more questions will develop here as long as I don't fall off the face of the planet while trying to find my way home with the stock XJ lights :rolleyes:


Edit: I'm seeing more and more bad reviews on the putco harness. What other options are there?

[Philxj4L]

Hi,
There's a few threads in headlights dotted around on here, most have there own favourite method of 'fix' and each seem to be on a par in effectiveness. :)
As I'm UK based, I got out with a one stop, quick fix. I just swapped the Halogen headlight bulbs for LED H4 units, with the low power draw on LEDs there was no need to change the loom.
I'm sure some of the guys your side can advise on the best fix for US market. :)!

[4.3LXJ]

Wanting to get rid of the crappy stock XJ lights.

So I know I need a new harness to which I was pointed to...
http://www.eautoworks.com/Putco-H4--9003-Heavy-Duty-Headlight-Upgrade-Wiring-Harness-PRD7540.aspx

Now what about headlight housings? I'm hearing about Hella E-Codes or something. What in the world is an e-code haha :smiley-scared003: ?
I know I can hop on ebay and get housings for dirt cheap but I'm lost.

I'm sure more questions will develop here as long as I don't fall off the face of the planet while trying to find my way home with the stock XJ lights :rolleyes:


Edit: I'm seeing more and more bad reviews on the putco harness. What other options are there?


Emily, the E code housings are an H4 conversion for the more modern H4 bulbs. The E code means that they as closely as practical mimic the projector headlights in the latest cars. So you can use a much brighter bulb and not blind others

[Carves]

Wanting to get rid of the crappy stock XJ lights.

So I know I need a new harness to which I was pointed to...
http://www.eautoworks.com/Putco-H4--9003-Heavy-Duty-Headlight-Upgrade-Wiring-Harness-PRD7540.aspx

Now what about headlight housings? I'm hearing about Hella E-Codes or something. What in the world is an e-code haha :smiley-scared003: ?
I know I can hop on ebay and get housings for dirt cheap but I'm lost.

I'm sure more questions will develop here as long as I don't fall off the face of the planet while trying to find my way home with the stock XJ lights :rolleyes:


Edit: I'm seeing more and more bad reviews on the putco harness. What other options are there?


Good idea to upgrade the wiring .. :thumbsup:

Making your own harness is easy ... Its no different than wiring up, two pair of driving lights. ..

You might even find, after doing the harness ... that just replacing the sealed beams with NEW stock replacements - is adequate.

E-code ... is what most of the world started changing to, back in the '70's,

... except the U.S. stuck to its D.O.T. code equivalent of a, white tipped cane .. :D

All it means - Is that the E-Code light output is better aimed and focussed for traffic conditions.

Hella E-Codes are fine ... Were a standard fitting on exported XJs ... until chrysler started fitting the better, Cibie brand in '97.

Be careful when shopping ... There is E-Codes for Left Hand Drive cars ... and Right Hand cars ... and it seems many fleabay sellers dont know the difference .. ;);) .. :D

... and dont put too high a wattage bulb, in any plastic housing/plastic lensed units you might buy.

[denverd1]

... except the U.S. stuck to its D.O.T. code equivalent of a, white tipped cane .. :D




I have nothing to add, just wanted sub to this thread.

And Mr Carves, you sir are hilarious. :thumbsup:

[XJ Wheeler]

Completely agree with Carves interpretation. E-code headlights are above par compared to our typical housings. Both mine and my brothers XJs have upgraded headlights but are not really comparable. My '92 has the Putco harness and Sylvania Silverstar housings. They are better than stock, But I feel I need my driving lights to help them be adequate. My brothers '90 is running the Putco harness, Autopal e-code H4 housings, and Hella 80/100w bulbs. His seems to far outdo mine and he never seems to get flashed from oncoming traffic, and I do. I can clearly see the cutoff lines on his as well.

I will probably be doing something similar to his when I replace mine. But neither of us have had any problems with the Putco harness by the way.

[cpttuna]

I have the harness from LMC trucks(Have installed 6 of them with no problems) they are $29.95. The part # is 36-3580. I also use the Sylvania superstars. It depends on how much you want to upgrade.

[ekaybe]

So I finally bit the bullet. I went with the Putco harness, I figure if it takes a crap like I've seen on some reviews I can just fix it. I also got the Hella e-code housings. Now I need to decide on bulbs. I want white light output not the yellowy beam and I don't know how to achieve that or avoid that? Are all hella 80/100 bulbs going to be white?

[ekaybe]

Also living in the city is everyone going to hate me when I slap some 80/100 watt bulbs in there? I know this set up will already be better than stock so I'm open to a lower wattage bulb.

[4.3LXJ]

Emily, now that you have the E code housing, you can use just about any wattage you want. That is the point, they act like projector lights and go a long ways to help others drivers by not blinding them. They cut off the upper light on low beams. The pure white light is only achieved from HID lights, which you can run now also with your harness upgrade

[ekaybe]

You see that's what I thought until I came across this.
http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc199/bsljacques/Jeep/IMG_3421.jpg
This is an XJ btw. But he says he's running the HD harness, IPF housings, and hella 80/100 h4's.

[Philxj4L]

If you want white light, LEDs with a color temperature of 6000-6500K. That's the equivalent of daylight. HIDs are up round 8000-8500K, that's up into the purple range of the spectrum. A friend fitted HIDs for high beam on his LR, with 90w halogens in low beam. You'll never get 'true' white light form Halogen bulbs irrespective of wattage. :)

[Philxj4L]

You see that's what I thought until I came across this.
http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc199/bsljacques/Jeep/IMG_3421.jpg
This is an XJ btw. But he says he's running the HD harness, IPF housings, and hella 80/100 h4's.

I suspect these could be Zenon bulbs rather than Halogens, I had a set of 90/140w Zenon bulbs ready for fitting with relays, but went LED before they even got near the Jeep. :)

[OneArmArrowSlinger]

looking good!

[bluedragon436]

I suspect these could be Zenon bulbs rather than Halogens, I had a set of 90/140w Zenon bulbs ready for fitting with relays, but went LED before they even got near the Jeep. :)

I had the same basic setup in my XJ, and it looked pretty similar to that.. Only thing I didn't have was the IPF housings, I had the Hella housings.. I think it was one of the best mods I did to my XJ, and will do to my next Jeep!!

[ekaybe]

I had the same basic setup in my XJ, and it looked pretty similar to that.. Only thing I didn't have was the IPF housings, I had the Hella housings.. I think it was one of the best mods I did to my XJ, and will do to my next Jeep!!

Which bulbs were you running?

[XJ Wheeler]

Nice! My brother runs the same harness with e-code housings and hella 80/100 bulbs and it puts out nicely but no one ever seems to be upset.

I will offer a warning though. Both he and I have run the Putco harnesses for a few years but the other day his low beams wouldn't come on. We traced it back to a connector on the harness, the one close to the battery that connects the red wires. So, I suggest deleting the connector. Its a bit redundant anyway, so you won't miss it.

[ekaybe]

Nice! My brother runs the same harness with e-code housings and hella 80/100 bulbs and it puts out nicely but no one ever seems to be upset.

I will offer a warning though. Both he and I have run the Putco harnesses for a few years but the other day his low beams wouldn't come on. We traced it back to a connector on the harness, the one close to the battery that connects the red wires. So, I suggest deleting the connector. Its a bit redundant anyway, so you won't miss it.

Yeah as I think I said I was iffy about the putco harness but I figured I'd address any problems it throws at me when and if it does.

[bluedragon436]

Which bulbs were you running?

I was running the LMC harness (same as Tony had).. Hella E-code housings and Hella 80/100 bulbs.. I loved the output, especially driving on the back roads and rural farm roads to and from work for three years.. You'd be amazed at how may deer I was able to spot and avoid hitting once I started running that setup...

[Rocco83]

I must be the only person on the planet that has absolutely no problem with the stock headlights. Makes me wonder if all the vehicles I've owned have had shitty lights and I just don't know what it is like to drive with good ones.

[XJ Wheeler]

I must be the only person on the planet that has absolutely no problem with the stock headlights. Makes me wonder if all the vehicles I've owned have had shitty lights and I just don't know what it is like to drive with good ones.

I tell ya, I never found it to be a problem till we bought a '07 chevy 3500. Best headlights ever! Quickly realized my xj had literally about half the output of that truck. Haven't been the same since.

[ekaybe]

http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/aa169/shadowfighters123/Jeep/IMG_6026_zps20d926cd.jpg (http://s200.photobucket.com/user/shadowfighters123/media/Jeep/IMG_6026_zps20d926cd.jpg.html)
http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/aa169/shadowfighters123/Jeep/IMG_6029_zps3a922cf7.jpg (http://s200.photobucket.com/user/shadowfighters123/media/Jeep/IMG_6029_zps3a922cf7.jpg.html)
http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/aa169/shadowfighters123/Jeep/IMG_6027_zps5212cb53.jpg (http://s200.photobucket.com/user/shadowfighters123/media/Jeep/IMG_6027_zps5212cb53.jpg.html)
Will put pictures up of light output when I get home

[ekaybe]

Still need to do some more adjusting but they're pretty frikkin great.
http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/aa169/shadowfighters123/Jeep/IMG_6031_zps3c4e5bd4.jpg (http://s200.photobucket.com/user/shadowfighters123/media/Jeep/IMG_6031_zps3c4e5bd4.jpg.html)
low beams
http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/aa169/shadowfighters123/Jeep/IMG_6036_zpsf7655b50.jpg (http://s200.photobucket.com/user/shadowfighters123/media/Jeep/IMG_6036_zpsf7655b50.jpg.html)
high beams
http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/aa169/shadowfighters123/Jeep/IMG_6037_zps7bd51d30.jpg (http://s200.photobucket.com/user/shadowfighters123/media/Jeep/IMG_6037_zps7bd51d30.jpg.html)

And for kicks and giggles, a loading dock.
http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/aa169/shadowfighters123/Jeep/IMG_6032_zpsbc5c61e0.jpg (http://s200.photobucket.com/user/shadowfighters123/media/Jeep/IMG_6032_zpsbc5c61e0.jpg.html)

Just found a picture of the old lights
http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/aa169/shadowfighters123/Jeep/IMG_0122_zpsffaa715b.jpg (http://s200.photobucket.com/user/shadowfighters123/media/Jeep/IMG_0122_zpsffaa715b.jpg.html)

[ekaybe]

And all of those pictures are sideways despite the fact that I rotated them. Frikkin photobucket!

Ope, just kidding they're right side up now HA

[ekaybe]

I have no idea why this harness doesn't come fused out of the box. Wait, yeah I do! Because CHINA, that's why. Going to chop off that unnecessary connector and add some inline fuses. Haven't had any problems so far despite the fact I feel all of the connectors/connections are cheesy. It has only been a couple of days though just give it some time :smiley-taunt002:

Need to permanently mount the relays still lol. I ran both of the grounds all the way over to the battery. Wasn't a fan of mounting them on the radiator support like everyone else seemed to do :rolleyes:
http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/aa169/shadowfighters123/Jeep/IMG_6088_zps2a48c79c.jpg

[bluedragon436]

Yeah I don't blame you for wanting to ditch that useless connector and installing a fuse... And also don't blame you for running the ground over to the battery... I was going to run the grounds over to the battery after it warmed up outside... but enjoyed the fact of it all worked and enjoyed the Jeep too much to mess with it... On top of that had one headlight that randomly kept cutting off or not turning on in the first place.. so was troubleshooting that for a bit, till I figured out what was up...

[cpttuna]

It's like hearing. You do not know how bad your hearing is till you get hearing aids and actually put them in for the first time. I remember hearing the sound of running water. This was one of the first things to amaze me after getting hearing aids. Do the light upgrade with the LMC harness. You will not regret it.

[ekaybe]

If I were to do it all over again I would have just made my own harness. But for 30? bucks I guess it wasn't bad. All of the wires are there and if need be I just cut off all the junk when and if it goes bad and replace it with not so cheesy cheese sauce. lol