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Headlight harness?

solomon7

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Portland OR
Hopefully this belongs in ModTech.
I've searched and can't find what I'm looking for.
I'm running sealed beam Silverstars on my 96 and read somewhere that upgrading the headlight wiring harness will make them a lot brighter.
I do intend to go to IPFs later.
Could someone point me in the right direction to a plug n play upgrade that could handle H4s later? My electrical savvy is that of a 4th grader so the easier the better, but not at the cost of sacrificing quality/performance.
Also do I need to upgrade the bat cables while I'm at it?

Any insight is appreciated. I'm sick of barely seeing the road in rain or twilight.
 
Last edited:
Upgrading battery cables helps if you plan on adding more accessories: Lights/winch/stereo etc etc...

Gojeep's website has a DIY wire upgrade for lights. Fairly straight forward even for someone w/out much know-how.
 
If you don't have much electrical know-how to make your own, you can buy a pre-made set at http://www.rallylights.com/detail.aspx?ID=1247. For the XJ, you need the HL28200 model. This is the route I went. The longest part of the install is just fishing the wires through where they need to go and it's guaranteed to work. It will save you the headache of trying to figure out how to make your own, cause go-jeep's instructions make me feel like I have homework when I read them.

It's not required to upgrade your battery cables, but since you are asking that question, perhaps yours are in bad shape and could benefit from replacements? With the new wiring harness that I installed with my H4 lights, I sometimes wonder if they are TOO bright! It sure beats not being able to see. Good luck.
 
Google H4 Headlight Harness there are a number of them on the Googlenet for about $60. eautoworks.com makes an inexpensive one. Some poeploe like it, some don't.
 
Contact 5-90 on here. He is good with all the electrical stuff. He also makes a good wiring upgrade for the XJ. Battery cables and grounds and such.
 
If you don't have much electrical know-how to make your own, you can buy a pre-made set at http://www.rallylights.com/detail.aspx?ID=1247. For the XJ, you need the HL28200 model. This is the route I went. The longest part of the install is just fishing the wires through where they need to go and it's guaranteed to work. It will save you the headache of trying to figure out how to make your own, cause go-jeep's instructions make me feel like I have homework when I read them.

It's not required to upgrade your battery cables, but since you are asking that question, perhaps yours are in bad shape and could benefit from replacements? With the new wiring harness that I installed with my H4 lights, I sometimes wonder if they are TOO bright! It sure beats not being able to see. Good luck.

Would these work with my basically stock sealed beams Till I go to H4s?
 
Picked up my upgrade harness from Dan Stern, big improvement over stock in quality and output. An internet search will get you his site.

There is also a show thread on this site that explains the do it yourself method. 92XJunk has that link in his response.
 
while we are talking about upgraded battery cables... where can I get longer high quality cables?

my plan is to relocate the battery to the rear end inside the jeep. do they make super long heavy duty cables?
 
You may want to browse this thread.

After much deliberating I went with the Eautoworks harness and it's been fine for me and seems much better made than anything I could make for the cost. It was shipped fast too from them. I run sylvania silverstar sealed beams and they are drastically brighter after the harness was put in. I am also running battery cables from 5-90 which are awesome along with the customer service.

I plan to switch to some thing later on and ditch the sealed beams but nothing major or HID so I think my harness will be fine for my future needs.
 
I am running the 4 gauge welding cable battery cable kit from 5-90s website plus a 4 gauge battery to starter along with a 180 amp alternator (was on ebay advertised as 136 amp, tested at 180 max) and silverstars without the headlight harness. It is a massive improvement over stock.
 
while we are talking about upgraded battery cables... where can I get longer high quality cables?

my plan is to relocate the battery to the rear end inside the jeep. do they make super long heavy duty cables?

Make your own cables. This way you get what you want. Weld shops and ask for used welding cables.. Ususly 0 guage.

Oh and BTW Led acid batteries give off a poison fume:skull2:.. You do not want them in the cab.. Use only dry or gel celled batteries.
 
Make your own cables. This way you get what you want. Weld shops and ask for used welding cables.. Ususly 0 guage.

Oh and BTW Led acid batteries give off a poison fume:skull2:.. You do not want them in the cab.. Use only dry or gel celled batteries.


Thanks man
 
i just installed a painless wiring h4 harness. its a little more pricey but i think the quality was a little better. i replaced a harness i made because it shorted and burned up. the painless kit is very nice and totally sealed connecters, and just enough wire length. my only complaint is the h4 plugs, theyre straight but would work better at 90 degrees. theres not much room behind the light housing and the radiator support.
 
wiring up the head light harness is easy. just get (2) 5 pin relays (30 amp?) run 2 12 gauge wires from constant 12v to the relays (1 to each), run a ground from each relay, then run 14 gauge fromthe relays to the plug ins for the headlights.you want the 5 pins so you can run a separate power wire to each headlight. you need 2 relays because 1 is for the brights and one is for the dims. to activate the relays, use your factory head light wiring coming to the grill to turn it on. you will have to do a little searching. upgrade your headlight grounds while your at it because your headlight, blinkers, and marker grounds all meet in the middle with this crappy connector and run through 1 small ground wire. yes it can be run with the sealed beams. if you need better instructions and decide not to buy a kit pm me and i will post some pics of my set up.
 
while we are talking about upgraded battery cables... where can I get longer high quality cables?

my plan is to relocate the battery to the rear end inside the jeep. do they make super long heavy duty cables?

Make your own cables. This way you get what you want. Weld shops and ask for used welding cables.. Ususly 0 guage.

Oh and BTW Led acid batteries give off a poison fume:skull2:.. You do not want them in the cab.. Use only dry or gel celled batteries.
This is true, but Jon (5-90) does excellent work and charges very little over what the parts cost. I have his 0 gauge kit and it has greatly improved.
You may want to browse this thread.

After much deliberating I went with the Eautoworks harness and it's been fine for me and seems much better made than anything I could make for the cost. It was shipped fast too from them. I run sylvania silverstar sealed beams and they are drastically brighter after the harness was put in. I am also running battery cables from 5-90 which are awesome along with the customer service.

I plan to switch to some thing later on and ditch the sealed beams but nothing major or HID so I think my harness will be fine for my future needs.

The Eautoworks seems to be the route most go if they do not make them.
 
This is true, but Jon (5-90) does excellent work and charges very little over what the parts cost. I have his 0 gauge kit and it has greatly improved.


The Eautoworks seems to be the route most go if they do not make them.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't the eautoworks route seem to be fine for stock or halogen bulbs, as long as you're not going nuts with aircraft landing lights or something? Cheap, too.
 
Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't the eautoworks route seem to be fine for stock or halogen bulbs, as long as you're not going nuts with aircraft landing lights or something? Cheap, too.
Yes
I just ordered a harness for my Jeep from LMC. I found a writeup on another forum that described installing it into a Cherokee. Supposedly rated for up to 100W bulbs. It was $41 including shipping...


Harness (36-3580)
http://www.lmctruck.com/ICATALOG/CST/full.aspx?Page=68

Write UP
http://www.cherokeeforum.com/f51/hd-headlight-harness-write-up-11306/
Not sure how much of a difference between the two kits is, other than 10$
 
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