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Headlight Upgrade?

Alamo CJ8

Alamo CJ8
City
Atlanta
State
GA
Has anyone upgraded their factory headlights? I am thinking I want something a little more modern, a little brighter but strictly street legal. I am not intrested in making them “blue” though if they look that way and have improved performance I am ok. The one thing I don’t want to do is blind oncoming traffic. I would also like to find a way that does’t require me to cut my existing wiring if at all possible. Any ideas?

Tom
 
Hella makes a direct fit that takes the replaceable elements. All the mail order places have them. I got them on sale one time for $10 off IIRC. I forget if I got them from 4WD or Qtec. Here's a link. If you don't swap in higher wattage bulbs, these will work with your stock wiring. Big difference in performance (better, brighter). Got a set for my SJ, too.

http://www.quadratec.com/products/97009_01.htm
 
I upgraded the halogen sealed headlights to Hella VisionPlus lenses. They come with 50 watt H4B bulbs. That was a huge upgrade to the lighting. I have since upgraded that to HIR bulbs. They don't have high/low beam. I purchased the low beam units. It is amazing. I need to pull them out and go back to the H4B's and do some measuring. I haven't changed out the wiring yet but want to extend the main feeder to a relay near the lights and bypass the hi/lo floor switch (it eats up a lot of power).

I found the HIR's while trying to see if it was possible to change out to HID's. And no, there isn't a HID for a CJ. Even Silverstars aren't close the HIR's. I do carry the old H4B's with me incase the HIR fails but it hasn't yet.

You will need an adapter plug to adapt the HIR to the jeep socket but it's super easy.
 
Back in the Old Days. I got a set of Hella H4's out of a European spec Porsche. No DOT label but took standard H4 lamps.

Then I went to an Off Road Racing Supplier and replaced the 55/65 Std. lamps with 65/120 watt versions. The bat wing shadow of the Hella bulbs is really nice for seeing on the pavement. The Low beams are about the same as the regular H4 Lamps, but when you hit the High Beams it feels like it will melt the pavement.

Well that aside I got a set of the New Hella replacement H4 Lens from Qtech that are DOT compliant and put in regular H4 lamps. This is in the TJ but it is the same as the CJ light bucket.

They light quality is much better and more focused. I am pretty happy and about $120 poorer.

All in all from reviews and stuff Hella has one of the better kits and one of two that are DOT stamped. IPF is the other.

Plus if you want to upgrade later you just get a larger wattage bulb. But keep in mind that you will probably need to add larger wire in the circut or do the relay with power straight off of the battery for the higher wattage lamps.


Carl
 
Hello, this is what I did. I was in the middle of restoring my Triumph Spitfire and came across these from one of the parts suppliers. I purchased the Euro headlights and the harness, which has a relay included. After it arrived I looked at my Jeep and said, "#%##*" it is the same headlight as my Jeep! I installed them in my 'Bessie' and now my Jeep has road lighting similar to my wife's 2003 minivan (a huge improvement over stock). Basically, the harness hooks directly to the battery (or a tap off of it). The stock headlight switch becomes a low-amp trigger for the circuit. It works great and really didn't cost that much for such and improvement. It took about 45 minutes to install all of it. I would recommend them to anyone looking for an easy upgrade that makes a big difference. My Jeep is stripped right now but I can take a picture of the headlight assemblies if you wish. They look a bit different than stock as they have a "pupil" in the middle but I think they make the Jeep look a bit more aggressive from the front. Here is the link to the website I got them from. It is the Euro style lamp shown on the page. I bought it as a complete kit from them at the time...maybe they still offer it for a bit of savings but not sure.
http://www.victoriabritish.com/icatalog/sg/full.aspx?Page=31

Sincerely,
 
Something that is a lot cheaper and supposed to increase light output significantly is to run your headlights off of a relay. Apparently, routing the power through the dash switch then to the headlights significantly reduces the actual voltage at the lamp itself. Getting them a full 12volts increases the light a lot...

Just do a quick google for headlight relay and you will get ideas...
 
twmattox said:
Something that is a lot cheaper and supposed to increase light output significantly is to run your headlights off of a relay. Apparently, routing the power through the dash switch then to the headlights significantly reduces the actual voltage at the lamp itself. Getting them a full 12volts increases the light a lot...

Just do a quick google for headlight relay and you will get ideas...

X2... I've heard the same thing.
Also, sounds like this is part of the mod VALKSTER did in the above post to get improved lighting.

FWIW, I'd recommend you do this relay upgrade first (you're going to have to do it anyways if you upgrade lamps). After doing the relay upgrade, then decide if you want to spend big $$$s on a lamp upgrade.

just my 2 cents,
Jim
 
I got a set that use the H4 bulb from classic garage (I think it was ), the pair were about what one Hella was and as near as I can tell they are the same except for the badging. They had 3 levels of upgrade globes and many types of bulbs IIRC but the standard package had the 55/65 H4 lamps.

I haven't had any issues and they installed just like a stock replacement sealed beam. As far as I can tell they do work a bit better than stock, brighter certainly and maybe a better pattern. At some point I'll upgrade the bulbs (to cheap to just do it while these work) and maybe rewire them through a relay.

I think these are the ones I got: http://www.classicgarage.com/neh4herewflf.html but they have others, including the Hellas
 
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I found the article I downloaded on the relay on my hard drive the other day. The one thing is cautions about is that by using a relay, you add an area for there to be an issue. It is possible for the relay to "break" and leave you stranded with no lights. Apparently, the relay is more sensitive than the stock light switch. Personally, I know most new cars use relays and all you have to do is keep a replacement in the glove box...

Just wanted you to be aware...
 
As long as you use one relay per head light then there really is not that much of an issue.

Kind of like having 2 headlights. One might go out but chances are really low that both would go out, especially together.


Carl
 
CBRogers said:
As long as you use one relay per head light then there really is not that much of an issue.

Kind of like having 2 headlights. One might go out but chances are really low that both would go out, especially together.


Carl

Wouldn't you want 4 relays then? high/low x 2.
 
I have only seen 2-relays (1 for high and 1 for low). The idea being that in a worst case scenario you can drive home with high beams. I kind of like the 4-relay idea. How would you wire that up???
 
twmattox said:
I have only seen 2-relays (1 for high and 1 for low). The idea being that in a worst case scenario you can drive home with high beams. I kind of like the 4-relay idea. How would you wire that up???

No clue. I have a hard enough time following any wiring diagram. I am going to do the standard 2 relay version. I have a few sets laying around that I was going to use on an XJ's door locks, but I sold that one before I could do the mod.

If the low beam relay were to go out, you could always just swap relays so you wouldn't have to drive home with the brights on. Although, on a Jeep, that probably wouldn't be noticed compared to everything else on the roads these days.

If anyone is looking for the relays, try partsexpress.com. They have 'em. Get a can of Deoxit 5 while you are at it.
 
This might help if you are replacing the housings: http://www.jpmagazine.com/techarticles/electrical/154_0710_jeep_headlight_shootout/index.html

JP Magazine tested like 6 of em or something.

And, on the relay thing... unless you are running reallly high wattage, you won't need more than two relays. Even a cheesy Bosch style relay can handle 30 Amps, with the better ones doing 40 amps. A 65-watt high beam would only draw about 9 or 10 amps.... two of em, double it. Even if you went up to 130 Watt high beams, you are still only talking 36Amps. The better Bosch relay would handle that with no problem.

If I were to do it, I'd mount the relays to the grill on the driver's side and tap into the stock wiring there. Make sure to use some decent wires to power things... don't use the cheap parts store stuff... finer strands is better.

With a Bosch Relay, you'd wire it like this:
85- ground
86- switched positive from the Jeep harness (low beam or high beam... whichever relay you are wiring up)
30- high current draw positive (you decide where you want to tap... this is the wire that will feed the power through the relay to the headlights. Again, if I were doing it on mine, I'd use a switched positive off of an auxilary fuse block)
87- out to headlights.

And, while you were at it, you should really take a close look at what kind of shape your 20+ year old headlight plugs are... I'd replace mine.... cause mine don't make great contact, and that blows bulbs. Painless has them... I dunno about parts stores. And, if you wanted to dot every "I", run the headlight's ground directly back to the battery.

Oh, another thing... I've run 100/130 lights before in one of my Jeeps... they blow out quicker than the lower wattage units. I think its because the filament burns hotter, and as a result is more fragile. Couple that with the vibrations of the Jeep and it resulted in a lot of burnt out bulbs. The 90/100s were a nice compromise between blowing all the time and crappy lighting.

Also, if you are going with the higher wattage H4s, you might not want to use the regular crimp connectors at the relays, and instead get a relay socket... looks like this: http://www.tessco.com/products/displayProductInfo.do?sku=465687&&source=Froogle
I like the ones that have the wires coming off already. The issue with the cheap crimp connectors that crimp to each individual wire is that they don't actually contact that much of the terminal on the relay. Long story short, I've melted them with prolonged 130W high beam usage. For a few more bucks, go with the socket for the best connection to the relay terminals you can have, short of soldering it on.
 
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Hey, in regards to losing lights. Most modern cars are relay driven that I have worked on, that's how they get by with the pretty but flimsy switches on the dash. Anyway, if you buy or build a harness like I got (the victoria british link above) you really don't have to worry too much about being left without light. The harness has the two relays in it and it also has 3 headlight plugs at the end of the harness. To install the harness, the ground and hot leads are connected to the battery (or similar connection). That is the only splicing or fastening required. The other end of the harness has three headlight sockets on it. One runs the low-side of the relays, basically the switching circuit, and simply plugs into your existing headlight harness (ie, either one of the plugs currently connected to your headlights). The remaining two sockets on the new harness then plug into your headlights. If you ever lose a relay, the worst you have to do is open the hood and put the original harness plugs back on the headlights. If anyone is wanting to make there own like this or see what I bought, let me know and I will post a few pics. It is really a neat and tidy install that can be undone in emergencies if needed. After reading this post I think I will pick up another relay to put in the glovebox, though. Thanks.

Sincerely,
 
I was in slight error in my last post. There is no ground at the primary end of the harness, there are dedicated grounds for each lamp. I also went ahead and took some pics. "Harness" shows the overall view. The one called "sockets" shows the three sockets. Note there are two females with dedicated grounds for each lamp and one male plug that connects to original harness. Hope this helps.

Battery Connection
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Harness
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Relays
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Sockets
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Sincerely,
 
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