Headlight Upgrade

Please don't flame, I have searched but it didn't really answer all my questions as I'm a big time noob when it comes to lighting.

This is what I understand,
You can either go HID or you can just get sealed beam replacements?

Then there is all this talk about E-code (I'm guess the european standards) lens and housing. What's the deal here? Are these lights any good? I don't want ebay type stuff bc I've had it on my cars in the past and I'd rather go with quality components.

I've also read about wiring upgrades. Will I get better lighting from just upgrading the wiring and putting in better bulbs?

I have a 98xj and money isn't really an issue (I'd like to keep it around 200-300) and I want brighter, better coverage lights.

Please dont direct me to other posts as I've read them all, and thanks for bearing with a noob!

Thanks,

Brad
:cheers:

I used Silverstar beams in mine and they did improve the lighting. I think the next level of upgrade is to replace the sealed bulb with an H4 conversion such as IPF, Hella, Savage, Delta, etc... IPF will allow you to use a very bright bulb in their conversion (I think the "Fat Boy" bulb is somewhere in the neighborhood of 80W on low and 65W on high).

You may want to spend your time, money and effort on some external lights instead. Some good KC lights will be much more useful than headlights - especially if you can mount them up high to keep them out of the muck.

I cannot speak to the wiring upgrade directly (I think this is more of a topic for 5-90), but DC power does tend to drop much more rapidly than AC power over distance. Anything you can do to ease the transfer of power (larger wire = less resistance) will result in better lighting. I've read that the difference is noticeable.

Hope this helps.

Being a "big time noob" you should try this site and bookmark it too,
www.go.Jeep-xj.info look for his headlight upgrade. You mustn't get sidetracked. He has so many great ideas that you will want to do to your XJ that you can spend a day on his site alone. He gives descriptions of what you will need including part numbers and sources. You can thank me later.

I did the e-code upgrade, from the ebay guy talked about in the other thread.

Why spend $200-300 when you can spend less than $50?

Here are the pics, parked 20' from garage:

Before:



After:



Highbeams:



I get better light with new low beams than the old high beams. I did get the 55/100W light upgrade as well.

Beast

Get good quality housings/lenses if you do the H4 conversion. The wiring harness upgrade will make a difference even with the stock sealed beams. JIM.

Autopal ECode lights form ebay ($34-$40 shipped)
H4 Wire Harness ($25 ebay)
and Hid kits ( I was selling them for around $120)

You can not go wrong, check the So Cal forum for more details.

So are you saying I need, Ecode lights, H4 wiring harness, AND a HID? Or one or the other?

Brad Klammer said:

So are you saying I need, Ecode lights, H4 wiring harness, AND a HID? Or one or the other?

Click to expand...

I did all three and man o man. It lights up the night.

Brad Klammer said:

So are you saying I need, Ecode lights, H4 wiring harness, AND a HID? Or one or the other?

Click to expand...

You don't NEED all of them. Each step by itself will make a difference. I started will a cheaper housing & stock H4 bulbs. Better than factory. Then I added the upgraded harness, I would say I have double the light output over factory. My next step will be a higher wattage bulb. JIM.

Can you guys point me in the way of a good quality housing?

Directly from above-

"I think the next level of upgrade is to replace the sealed bulb with an H4 conversion such as IPF, Hella, Savage, Delta, etc..."

tcm glx said:

I did all three and man o man. It lights up the night.

Click to expand...

Tony, what's the current draw on those HID lights?

tcm glx said:

I did all three and man o man. It lights up the night.

Click to expand...

any pictures of that set up???

If I went with IPF housing and the Fat boys bulbs, could I get away with stock wiring for a while?

Brad Klammer said:

If I went with IPF housing and the Fat boys bulbs, could I get away with stock wiring for a while?

Click to expand...

YES

But upgrade to the light harness as soon as you can. You probably will not see as big as improvement as you hoped for without the harness upgrade. Also, keep in mind that you will be drawing a lot of current threw existing wiring (including the head light switch wiring) while running these. Good luck.

Also, pay attention to the housings that you get. The cheap ones are chromed plastic, and they work fine for a while, then the chrome will start to flake/burn off. Once that happens, you might as well go back to the factory syle lights, because the cheapies ain't worth a #$^! once the chrome goes. I am using a set of Hella's now, before, I was using the APC stuff from Autismzone (the cheapies).

For starters, don't bother with most of the eBay housings - I've seen quite a few, and they have consistently sucked.

Stick to a name brand - I've got plenty of experience with Hella lighting, and I favour it. Cibie and PIAA are also good, but can get a bit spendy.

You can upgrade to an H4 housing and you'll note an improvement - just from the fact of having a polished metal reflector bowl and a cut/ground glass lense (vice a silvered glass bowl and a moulded lense.) Sealed beam housings are designed to be disposable, and therefore are made with minimal effort.

You can take two paths with Hella - there is the Vision Plus (which carries a DoT approval, and is handy if your local constabulary likes to hand out "equipment violation" tickets,) and E-Code (which have a European lense cut, and do not carry a DoT approval. It is possible to get an equipment ticket with these.) Both of these will accept H4 bulbs of any wattage.

Depending on your model year, you'll have to select your electrical components carefully. 1990 and earlier XJs (built to AMC specifications) use headlamp wiring that will carry up to 80W per filament safely - I've got a 1989 Limited that has been running 55W/80W H4s in Hella Vision Plus reflectors for several years without any trouble. 1991 and later XJs use a slightly lighter gage of wiring - and you won't want to go past the OEM wattage (which is 55W/65W, IIRC.)

If you have gotten an upgrade wiring harness, then the harness carries the power and not the OEM wiring. Refer to the literature and specifications that came with your headlamp harness for information there (and, if you can't find a specification on the site, ask! If they can't answer you clearly, go somewhere else! Ask the maximum current capacity and the wire gage used, because you can back-check the current-carrying capacity using any number of charts (I have one up on my site, as I recall.)

I do consider it vital that you are able to get immediate and clear answers to these questions - electrical fires really suck - that's why I designed my harness (currently in prototype) to carry a load greater than anything I could find currently available.

Thanks for that one, lots of good info. I have decided to go with Hella housing, not sure which bulbs yet. I will eventually upgrade my wiring harness as soon as I can.

5-90, thanks for the info, and cool site! Do you guys sell battery cable upgrades for 97-01 xj's? I have a 98 Classic and I desperately need new battery cables! I'd be interested in a headlight wiring harness if you have those as well.

Thanks

Brad Klammer said:

Thanks for that one, lots of good info. I have decided to go with Hella housing, not sure which bulbs yet. I will eventually upgrade my wiring harness as soon as I can.

5-90, thanks for the info, and cool site! Do you guys sell battery cable upgrades for 97-01 xj's? I have a 98 Classic and I desperately need new battery cables! I'd be interested in a headlight wiring harness if you have those as well.

Thanks

Click to expand...

They're there - the "2XJ" set (referring to "OBD-II.") The headlamp harness is in prototype right now, and units will be coming back for destructive analysis shortly (they will be torn apart, evaluated, and any necessary modifications made. Prototype will continue if severe modifications are necessary, or production will begin if minor to no modifications are needed.) Should you have any specific product questions, please refer them to me via email - there's a link on the site.