i need a little headlight schooling

i have searched and read threads about headlight conversions but i dont understand what each means. i want to upgrade my stock headlights. they suck. i have seen the terms hids, h4's, hella, ipf, autopals, etc... i called 4 wheels parts about upgrading my stock lights and they had no idea what i was talking about. does anyone mind schooling me about this. so far ive gathered: i need after market housings, new bulbs and an upgraded harness. what does our jeeps come with stock? i could of sworn i have seen bd2 somewhere. what is the difference between stock and h4? is it just a different plug? and how much is involved with installing an upgraded harness? do i have to splice a bunch of wires? i will f it up for sure if thats the case. i would rather not buy from ebay just because im not too familiar with it. i usually just go to a parts house or order from an online vendor. i would like to go as cheap as possible but i want some type of quality. not a bunch of chinese stuff. thanks for any help.

Easy I just did it,

Buy an e-autowork headlight harness its plug and play, if you want to build your own you can...search

Buy auto pal headlights.. they come with bulbs..

You will be happy

I got everything off ebay, just search

Try this link http://www.eautoworks.com/ . I used Cibie H-4 headlight shells purchased off ebay....highly recommend these if you can find them

I used ipf lenses and hella h-4 bulbs. No wiring modifications needed. Bought everything from quadratec. 20 minute job. I think I spent $100 bucks or so.

are our xjs set up for h4 bulbs? arent the connectors different? just asking. which hella bulbs did you use? i dont want that bluish ricer shit. i want an actual white bulb just brighter and more spread out than stock. i was just looking at quadratecs site and saw the h4 conversion that rampage makes. are these any good? i havent seen anything about them before.

oh and one more thing. i want to be street legal. i dont want to be a cop magnet. and living in the high desert i dont want to blind anyone going up the pass to where they wreck me.

The stock headlights are sealed beams. You would be replacing the sealed beams bulbs (the whole headlight) with E-code housings (by one of the manufactures above) then buying seperate H-4 bulbs and a upgraded plug and play harness (optional but recommended).

The E-codes are not legal in the US but no one can tell the difference, you will not be a cop magnet. I have been running the conversion for a couple years with no problems.

http://www.eautoworks.com/ this link only pops up the site. which harness is the plug and play. there are a few under the xj section. thanks for your help guys.

bails85 said:

i have searched and read threads about headlight conversions but i dont understand what each means. i want to upgrade my stock headlights. they suck. i have seen the terms hids, h4's, hella, ipf, autopals, etc... i called 4 wheels parts about upgrading my stock lights and they had no idea what i was talking about. does anyone mind schooling me about this. so far ive gathered: i need after market housings, new bulbs and an upgraded harness. what does our jeeps come with stock? i could of sworn i have seen bd2 somewhere. what is the difference between stock and h4? is it just a different plug? and how much is involved with installing an upgraded harness? do i have to splice a bunch of wires? i will f it up for sure if thats the case. i would rather not buy from ebay just because im not too familiar with it. i usually just go to a parts house or order from an online vendor. i would like to go as cheap as possible but i want some type of quality. not a bunch of chinese stuff. thanks for any help.

Click to expand...

You don't need any new bulbs to start with. The stock lighting harness sucks goat balls.

What you need to start with is a new light harness. Get one from Troy AKA Yellaheep. His is plug and play, no splicing required, it taps into one headlight connector for the signal, everything else is powered by the battery. It's as simple as it gets with his kit.

Once you have that installed, you'll be amazed. If you need more after that, then dive deeper into all the other bulbs, etc.

Don't know if it's still available or not. The difference, even with stock bulbs was tremendous.

it looks like the 20 dollar eautoworks is now 40 dollars.

Upgraded headlights the legal (ish) way...

1) Get a new headlight harness.

You can make your own http://www.go.jeep-xj.info/HowtoHeadlightLoom.htm

Or you can buy one: http://www.eautoworks.com/Putco-H4--9003-Heavy-Duty-Headlight-Upgrade-Wiring-Harness-PRD7540.aspx

The eautoworks harnesses used to be quite cheap until everyone on this forum started recommending them and the price was raised accordingly.

You can pick them up for $29.99 here http://www.lmctruck.com/icatalog/csd/full.aspx?Page=48 part number 36-3580. It says it fits a chevy blazer but it's the same as the eautoworks harness and I'm running the LMC harness in my XJ.

There are other more expensive options for pre-made harnesses but I'm not super familiar with those.

2) Upgrade to H4 housings

There are two types of regulations pertaining to headlight housings. There are DOT approved housings which are legal in the US and there are Ecode lights which are European housings and aren't legal in the US although many people use them as they are considered superior housings due to the light pattern.

DOT
Rampage http://www.quadratec.com/products/97009_501.htm
IPF http://www.quadratec.com/products/97017_1600.htm
Delta http://www.quadratec.com/products/97009_121.htm
Hella http://www.quadratec.com/products/97009_02.htm

Ecode
Autopals (look on ebay for Autopal 200mm H4 housing)
Hella http://www.rallylights.com/detail.aspx?ID=744
Cibie http://www.clearcorners.com/products/cibie/

Personally I won't buy housings that have plastic lenses, I much prefer glass but your mileage may vary.

3) Get good bulbs

Some of the above housings come with bulbs included with them. I tend not to recommend bulbs as the choices are extremely vast and everyone has their own preferences as to color and wattage.

4) Aim your headlights properly!

I can't say enough how much improperly aimed headlights annoy me on the road plus you are wasting all that time and effort to upgrade the lighting if you don't aim the light where it does the most good... http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=78017

5) On HID Lights

I do not recommend HID's for use in XJ's... People will show links to cheap HID kits and "Projectors" off of ebay and other sites which will give you a lot of light and will also throw a lot of light in all directions making you very visible to police and possibly blinding other drivers.

When using HID's you need a true projector housing. I'm sure people will chime in and say they run HID's and ebay housings and have had no problems but I'm describing the legal (ish) way.

If you want to go down the road of HID's, take a look at what true projector housings cost http://www.kbcarstuff.com/6054-200mm-Rectangular-Bi-Xenon-HID-Headlight-p/xd-6054.htm and consider the cost vs benefit...

There are a myriad of options available to consumers with the limiting factor being cost. One can spend under $100 and have significantly upgraded their lighting or they can spend $1000 and upgrade their lighting more. It's all in how much money you want to spend.

Disclaimer: Always check your local and state laws as some places have more stringent lighting laws than others... I am in no way associated with any of the above companies and none of what I say should be taken as the absolute truth or only way to do things. Flame on...

tigerchief said:

You don't need any new bulbs to start with. The stock lighting harness sucks goat balls.

What you need to start with is a new light harness. Get one from Troy AKA Yellaheep. His is plug and play, no splicing required, it taps into one headlight connector for the signal, everything else is powered by the battery. It's as simple as it gets with his kit.

Once you have that installed, you'll be amazed. If you need more after that, then dive deeper into all the other bulbs, etc.

Don't know if it's still available or not. The difference, even with stock bulbs was tremendous.

Click to expand...

Big Offroad no longer stocks their harness. I have one myself and it's very well put together. However, LMC Truck lists an upgrade harness for my 73 Ford, and it looks very similar, so it might be a similar supplier. Theirs is $30 and it should work on an XJ no problem since the Ford would be converted to H$ bulbs as well. You can look it up on their website: www.lmctruck.com

As far as terms:
H4 refers to the connector and bulb style. H4s plug right into our stock harness as well as the aftermarket harnesses

HID=High Intensity Discharge. It uses a different mix of gases in comparison to regular halogens in conjunction with a higher voltage output to produce a much brighter light. If you've ever seen the headlights on a new BMW, Cadillac, Mercedes, Infiniti, etc and thought to yourself, "Holy crap those are bright!", that was an HID.

Hella, IPF, and Autopal are housing manufacturers. Most will tell you that IPF or Cibie make the best housings with the best pattern if you're looking at e-codes. I have/had Autopals with HIDs. I wasn't entirely happy with the pattern. But the pattern was the same as when I ran H4 bulbs in the same housing. I wasn't blinding anyone, the pattern just didn't give me the coverage I wanted. I plan on getting some IPFs or Cibies (probably IPF cause Cibies are esspensive) and some good H4 bulbs and having another go at good lighting. But, even the Silvania Silverstar H4s I ran put amazing light out compared to stock. Until I burned out my headlight switch. That's why you need the harness. Put on the new harness and it was even better.

Putco, LMC, eAutoworks, ebay... all basically the same Chinese harness. I have one, and I would recommend replacing the fusible links with ATwhatever fuses, and replacing the headlight plugs. Mine melted, and only the physical connection to the terminals kept them together. Spliced in some better connectors, and it's been fine since.

I believe Amazon is the cheapest place to buy the yellow harnesses currently.
http://www.amazon.com/Putco-230004HW-Premium-Automotive-Lighting/dp/B001P29X4G

The big headlight thread 1bolt started years ago.
http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=906034&highlight=headlight+conversion

The big harness thread.
http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=979486

The better plugs I mentioned above.
http://www.naxja.org/forum/showpost.php?p=244917748&postcount=180

edit- I mentioned in one of the threads that I was having issues with a sticking relay. Turns out, it was the two wire plug at the battery leads making intermittent contact. Reseated the terminals in the plug, and it's been fine since. That plug is basically useless anyway when you replace the fusible links.

thanks alot guys. this makes things alot easier now. i think im going to go with eauto works harness ipf housings and fat boy bulbs.

I have the eautoworks harness and silverstar sealed beams my plan is to run hella housings with HID's but if I knew any better I would went str8 to the HID's and the hella housings. HID's tend to draw less of a currant than that of a regular h4 (from what I've read and heard)

I put a set of the Hella E-Codes in my '96 XJ over 10 years ago (with an upgraded wiring harness). Best dollars I have ever spent. Very nice light pattern on the road, plus any of the road signs are quite visible. I run 55/65 watt (plus 50%) Hella H4 bulbs and it really lays out the light.

As is pointed out. Aim your headlights. There is a very distinct horizontal cut off of the light that makes aiming easy.

Tom

thanks for all your help guys. i appreciate your time to explain things. after a little research im looking at the lmc harness and autopals. alot of guys seem to be running them and like them. and for the price you cant beat it. one thing though is the ebay price for the autopals i found was 29 bucks. it said it was for a kit meaning 2 lights. am i correct or is it for one side. i have never used ebay before and im trying to figure out how this works.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/200mm-H6054...Parts_Accessories&vxp=mtr&hash=item4cf8f40eb7

2 NEW - 200mm EURO STYLE Headlights With WHITE H4 Bulbs

Click to expand...

Jeep Cherokee (79-01), Pickup (79-84), Wagoneer (79-84), Grand Wagoneer (85-91), Wrangler (87-95)

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The pair of housings and lamps is 26.95, plus 15.99 shipping, so $42.94 shipped.

http://www.theretrofitsource.com/product_info.php?products_id=237

been looking at these for the girls rig

Speaking of headlights, does anyone have experience with philips night guide bulbs? I recently bought a pair of IPF housings and haven't put them in yet, I am waiting for my bulbs. I decided to give the night guide bulbs a shot. It seems like a neat idea and they are pretty cheap.

I am not interested in putting in the brightest bulbs possible, I want usable light that will not blind on coming traffic at the same time. I also do not like the hyper white style lights at all. I've driven with a bunch of different hyper white lights and my eyes just do not agree with them and worse, when it rains the light just washes out totally. I like a more yellow tint light.

The night guides supposedly have 3 "zones", blue light to the right to light up the side of the road and street signs. White light in the middle to get distance and soft yellow light on the left to not blind on coming traffic.

I know to get the color you are loosing light but again, I am not looking for the brightest absolute highest amount of light output possible, I want usable light.