Headlamp improvement without big upgrade

[packmule1911]

Really struggled last light to see well in steady rain, and the headlamps have got go. I imagine that the high dollar conversions are awesome, but I do not want to spend the money, or wiring anything right now.

What's my best choice for drop in? Silverstar seem likely, but figured asking here would be good to hear some personal experiences of folks.

[4.3LXJ]

I think that is about your only low buck option

[prerunner1982]

You can try upgrading the stock wiring harness with a plug and play harness from LMC. It has larger wire and shortens the path the from the battery to the headlights.

http://www.lmctruck.com/icatalog/csb/full.aspx?Page=79


If Tony (Mudderoy) doesn't reply here, hit him up as he installed the LMC harness in his XJ, though he was doing an additional headlight upgrade at the time I believe.

It should still help your stock headlights though.

[leaftye]

They are sealed beam headlights. You can't install Silverstars or any other bulb until you change the headlight housings.

If upgrading the harness is more than you want to spend, then the only less expensive worthwhile option you have is to pull all the contacts and grounds for the headlight/battery/alternator systems and clean them with contact cleaner, then clean the headlights.

In case you're not actually aware of what a H4 conversion costs, here's a rough description of the way I did it, all with two day delivery using an Amazon Prime membership:

$85 IPF H4 housings
$20 55/100W bulbs
$35 Putco harness
$10 contact cleaner

There's also an option to get a pair of Autopal housings with bulbs for around $50, although the beam quality may not be as good.

[bluedragon436]

You can try upgrading the stock wiring harness with a plug and play harness from LMC. It has larger wire and shortens the path the from the battery to the headlights.

http://www.lmctruck.com/icatalog/csb/full.aspx?Page=79


If Tony (Mudderoy) doesn't reply here, hit him up as he installed the LMC harness in his XJ, though he was doing an additional headlight upgrade at the time I believe.

It should still help your stock headlights though.

I ran the LMC on my 98 without doing the rest of the H4 conversion for a few days while waiting on the Hella bulbs... It def helped even with the factory style sealed beams.. Can't wait to get the full H4 upgrade w/ harness done on the 97..

[prerunner1982]

They are sealed beam headlights. You can't install Silverstars or any other bulb until you change the headlight housings.


Sure you can, Sylvania has a sealed beam Silverstar.

http://www.sylvania.com/en-us/products/automotive/Pages/silverstar-sealed-beam.aspx

[packmule1911]

Those are what I was looking at. The pair is under $50.

I get the value of the upgrade strategy, but I needing to get the light better while still paying for an axle rebuild, or two, and other stuff.

[leaftye]

Sure you can, Sylvania has a sealed beam Silverstar.

http://www.sylvania.com/en-us/products/automotive/Pages/silverstar-sealed-beam.aspx

Huh, I thought those all died out at least a decade ago. A quick look on Amazon shows that it's about $35 for a pair. I'd still spend a few extra bucks and install this H4 conversion kit (http://www.ebay.com/itm/AUTOPAL-7X6-HEADLAMP-CONVERSION-WITH-2-BULBS-DOT-COMPLIANT-H6054-HEADLAMP-/110881253343) so that there's room to upgrade them further later.

[packmule1911]

Advance Auto still have them on their shelves around here.

[XJ Wheeler]

Had the Silverstars on mine for a decade and they're a good drop in replacement. Admittedly they are not the best, as far as brightness but any more wattage and you'll need a heavy duty harness like Prerunner mentioned and more investment. I run a Putco harness and the Silverstars and its adequate. I will eventually replace them with a H4 housing. But they have a great pattern and are more of a pure white color.

Low beam

6674

High Beam

6675

[Philxj4L]

Do it right, do it once. Save your money and wait until you can get H4 housings and H4 LEDs. Check the 'LED headlight upgrade' thread in strange and wonderful tech area. The info and vids are there. :)

[packmule1911]

eBay is loaded with different stuff. What of it is crap, or not?

Like this option here. (http://www.ebay.com/itm/7-X-6-SQUARE-CLEAR-DIAMOND-CUT-UPGRADE-REPLACEMENT-HEAD-LIGHTS-LAMPS-H6054-/370804159095?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&fits=Year%3A2001%7CMake%3AJeep%7CModel%3ACherokee% 7CSubmodel%3ALimited%7CEngine+-+Liter_Display%3A4.0L&hash=item5655a67277&vxp=mtr)

[Philxj4L]

Basic rule, if it DOSE'NT say Cree, stay away. If I've posted a link for LEDs, I've bought it, or something exactly the same. The Cree H4s in the link above are what you want, as said, I have them on order as an upgrade from the Crees I have fitted now.
If your not sure, give me a shout with what your after and I'll have a hunt. :D

[packmule1911]

Happy to support Cree. They're just down the street from me and I know folks who work there.

I need to see better, but there are more pressing mechanical needs to address. A bandaid fix is what I need to try and find, and that value of that is a bit more safety than what I have now until I can get what I really want later.

[Philxj4L]

How about a small bar as a stop gap? A 10 or 20" bar would give a huge difference.

[xjzaped]

I bought my H4 housings for $60 off amazon. They came with a pair of H4s. I went straight to LEDs though. Huge difference, especially since I conically took the time to wire the 10" flood bar into the high beams. The LEDs ran me $115 from Olympus Offroad.

[XJ Wheeler]

How about a small bar as a stop gap? A 10 or 20" bar would give a huge difference.

The problem is no led bar is legal to run on the street here yet. Oh i can dream... :p

Sent via messenger pigeon - i talk, he types.

[bluedragon436]

Looking at picking up some LED headlights that I've just found that don't have the cooling fans on them.. since that is the reason I haven't purchased LED's instead of doing the Hella bulbs that I already have.. (but that's fine, they can go into Hella housings in the GF's LJ).. Might be ordering a set of the same LED's for my Ram as well, since I have one side that randomly doesn't want to fire on the HID setup I currently have, and am tired of worrying about getting pulled over for it...

[xjzaped]

Looking at picking up some LED headlights that I've just found that don't have the cooling fans on them.. since that is the reason I haven't purchased LED's instead of doing the Hella bulbs that I already have.. (but that's fine, they can go into Hella housings in the GF's LJ).. Might be ordering a set of the same LED's for my Ram as well, since I have one side that randomly doesn't want to fire on the HID setup I currently have, and am tired of worrying about getting pulled over for it...
Never would run HIDs that aren't OE. The fans aren't that big of a deal. Is be willing to bet they aren't actually needed in most instances.

[Philxj4L]

The problem is no led bar is legal to run on the street here yet. Oh i can dream... :p

Sent via messenger pigeon - i talk, he types.

Wow ! Really. That's a bummer. That said, although there's no restriction on bars in the UK, the halo type lights you guys can run are totally illegal over here, white only for forward facing lights.

[bluedragon436]

Never would run HIDs that aren't OE. The fans aren't that big of a deal. Is be willing to bet they aren't actually needed in most instances.

Well unfortunately I didn't have the spare $4k for the factory HID setup for my Ram.. and the factory lights worked far better then the factory sealed beams on the XJ's do, I could at least see... but hate not having the most light legally possible.. Haven't had any real issues out of it other then the one side deciding to randomly not fire, and I've see that happen on OE HID setups as well, so I don't feel too badly about it... it's just annoying sometimes when I don't think to check, or the fact of I have to check in the first place... Not really such a big deal when I'm turning lights on before I leave the house or anywhere, cause I just look at the headlights on my way to the truck and see if they are both on before I even get in on my way out to the truck... or just look at the reflection of other cars on the road and see if they are both on.. lol

[xjzaped]

Well unfortunately I didn't have the spare $4k for the factory HID setup for my Ram.. and the factory lights worked far better then the factory sealed beams on the XJ's do, I could at least see... but hate not having the most light legally possible.. Haven't had any real issues out of it other then the one side deciding to randomly not fire, and I've see that happen on OE HID setups as well, so I don't feel too badly about it... it's just annoying sometimes when I don't think to check, or the fact of I have to check in the first place... Not really such a big deal when I'm turning lights on before I leave the house or anywhere, cause I just look at the headlights on my way to the truck and see if they are both on before I even get in on my way out to the truck... or just look at the reflection of other cars on the road and see if they are both on.. lol

Personally, I think my 04 Trailblazer's factory lighting is better than that of my father's 14 Ram. I've always been fond of GM pickup and SUV lighting though…the dual bulbs works wonders. My dad's factory HID's may be brighter, but every GM truck and SUV I've ever been in and driven has thrown light way more effectively than any other shared housing setup I've ever seen.

The thing that I've noticed with aftermarket HID's, the grounding circuitry and filtering in the ballasts isn't up to par with OEM quality. Doesn't mean much to most people, until you have 2 or 3 radios running and turn you lights on.

XJ Wheeler, no county sheriff or DPS trooper will pull you over for running "driving lights" outside of city limits as long as you aren't blinding people. My pickups, SUV's (except for my Trailblazer) have always been setup with a LED switch coming off the high beam wire, going to a relay connected to LED bars, 55W halogens, 110W halogens (I used to have those on a F150…freeze a deer in it's tracks 2 miles down the road). Been doing that for years and have never turned them on inside city limits and have never been troubled with it in Texas, New Mexico, Colorado or Oklahoma. Even had a couple of officers ask me how I had it setup out of curiosity when I pulled into gas stations. DPS has even asked me to reposition a the vehicle at some accidents to provide the fire department with more light.

[NW99XJ]

DPS has even asked me to reposition a the vehicle at some accidents to provide the fire department with more light.
THAT is frickin cool as hell!
:patriot:

[xjzaped]

THAT is frickin cool as hell!

:patriot:


Helps when you have TxDOT badging and lighting.


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[XJ Wheeler]

Personally, I think my 04 Trailblazer's factory lighting is better than that of my father's 14 Ram. I've always been fond of GM pickup and SUV lighting though…the dual bulbs works wonders. My dad's factory HID's may be brighter, but every GM truck and SUV I've ever been in and driven has thrown light way more effectively than any other shared housing setup I've ever seen.

The thing that I've noticed with aftermarket HID's, the grounding circuitry and filtering in the ballasts isn't up to par with OEM quality. Doesn't mean much to most people, until you have 2 or 3 radios running and turn you lights on.

XJ Wheeler, no county sheriff or DPS trooper will pull you over for running "driving lights" outside of city limits as long as you aren't blinding people. My pickups, SUV's (except for my Trailblazer) have always been setup with a LED switch coming off the high beam wire, going to a relay connected to LED bars, 55W halogens, 110W halogens (I used to have those on a F150…freeze a deer in it's tracks 2 miles down the road). Been doing that for years and have never turned them on inside city limits and have never been troubled with it in Texas, New Mexico, Colorado or Oklahoma. Even had a couple of officers ask me how I had it setup out of curiosity when I pulled into gas stations. DPS has even asked me to reposition a the vehicle at some accidents to provide the fire department with more light.

Yeah, I can see that. I would run them too if I wasn't around anyone else and needed it or just wanted to see the output or something.

What sucks is I've seen tons of people running them around Houston with plenty of people around. Sadly I've seen Jeeps do this as well. Had a lifted super duty riding behind me with a 20" bar on. He got mine once he passed. But I can't stand it when I see that. Its just so disrespectful to do that to another person. But I have 700w of lighting facing forward so i'll still be able to see where i'm going should the need arise.

Sorry if I sound harsh. Houston drivers suck with being extremely disrespectful and selfish. I'll admit i'm a bit fed up. :rolleyes:

[xjzaped]

I had as much light pointing backwards as I did forwards on my old pickup…I set it up for tailgaters and brights drivers in mind.

Good memories of Houston. Rains a little and everyone forgets how to drive, hydroplanes and all of the above. I don't see how they could do that. Then again, I may have purposefully jack knifed a trailer a time or two to secure the lane next to me to move over.


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[XJ Wheeler]

I had as much light pointing backwards as I did forwards on my old pickup…I set it up for tailgaters and brights drivers in mind.

Good memories of Houston. Rains a little and everyone forgets how to drive, hydroplanes and all of the above. I don't see how they could do that. Then again, I may have purposefully jack knifed a trailer a time or two to secure the lane next to me to move over.


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Yeah, i'm gonna add a few to the rear for that and reversing.

The drainage in Houston, or lack thereof, probably helped you a bit there. :p

[autotech98]

Back to the original question.......lol. I picked up a pair of H4 hhousings with bulbs and they are projector style for $35 on ebay. Big thing to look for is GLASS lenses and metal housings.most listings have a number you can call for info.my h4 bulbs are 55/65 watt so not so much draw on system but with clear lenses and projectors should be a big difference....Cant tell you for sure as they are a christmas present and the wife says i have to wait.:sad0147:

[98FloridaXJ]

I was able to pick up smoked lenses for my rigid duallys and the still put out light but make it to were I can use them on the road without blinding people.