Autopals, Hella 100/90 bulbs & a relay harness. Impressions so far.

So, in case anyone is thinking about lighting upgrades:

When I bought my Jeep, the lights were terrible. Couldn't tell if they were on. I was broke and ignorant, though, so I didn't do anything about it for at least a year.
Then I bought the Autopal H4 conversion. Lighting was... acceptable. In town or on lighted freeway. Out in the country, I'd routinely stomp the brakes as, say, 5 head of bull elk seemed to appear just in front of my Jeep. Couldn't see anything much past 25 feet or so.
Drove like that for a long time. Moved to the city and just didn't need much of a headlight to get around.
Coming back from a snowboarding trip a couple weeks ago, I again couldn't tell my lights were on. Worst part? Girlfriend is driving since I'd fractured my arm. The Autopal H4 conversion is, in my mind, a failure.
So I eventually get around to wiring up a relay system. And buying high power bulbs to put in the Autopals.
I ran 10 gauge power from the battery to the relays & 12 gauge from relays to headlights, each light with its own dedicated ground terminal on the fender.
Even the years-old cheapo Autopal-supplied bulbs got a LOT brighter. Much, Much whiter light. A very appreciable difference even in daylight, even in a well lit workshop... huge. Transformative.
I then put the Hellas in. Marginal upgrade. I mean, sure, they are brighter - but not as much as I'd expected.

I've got Cibie headlight housings on the way. I'll install them and see how much better they are than the Autopal housings.

In the mean time, I've gotta say that I think the H4 business was a waste. A good quality sealed beam with a good quality harness is probably all the light output I'd need. I'm hoping that with Cibie housings I really notice a difference, but we'll see.

Also: relay kits are tough to piece together as not many places seem to sell the needed parts. Google search "daniel stern lighting" and buy the $50 relay hardware kit from him. Much easier / faster and higher quality than screwing around on Ebay.

Will update with Cibies... and maybe some pics.

The Cibies won't really be any brighter, but the beam pattern is much better. escpelly on low. High beams are still almost pencil like though. I complemented mine with a set of Pro Comp Fluted off road lights. They throw a nice wide pattern. The combo is great.

Hmm keep us updated on the difference with the housing.

when i did my autopals the research i did told me it wouldnt make much difference besides the pattern without the harness .

I did my autopal e-code h4's and the eautoworks harness a the same time and could tell a pretty significant difference .
From the housing I get a much better pattern and the ability to run h4 bulbs of a rating i choose (in my mind exactly what i expected out of them)

It was enough of an improvent that i decided to leave the bulbs they sent in there , I am planning on getting a touch brighter with a higher rated bulb after these burn out .

Its cool that you are doing it step by step and seeing the difference l I will be Very interested in The difference just changing the housing will make for you.

Autopals, Hella 100/90 bulbs & a relay harness. Impressions so far.

I think you should upgrade the harness before changing housings. My 55w auto pal h4's and putco harness work great for me. On rural roads.

+1 on the Daniel Stern lighting kit.

If you use GoJeep's harness instructions, add about 3" to the passenger side wires where they connect to the bulb socket. Mine came up a bit short for some reason on my '98...

I would have to disagree with "H4 being a waste" Some if it depends on the housings, and most of it depends on the bulbs used. Before I knew/got around to swapping in an upgraded harness, I picked up IPF (one of the better quality housings) H4 housings and cheapie xenon bulbs. made quite a big difference. And so did the headlight harness, when I finally got around to swapping it in. I know that better bulbs will help as well. Basically waiting for my xenon's to die. I am running the LMC truck H4 harness, bolted right in works well. Amazon carries the putco. Was too lazy to make my own.
Sure it wont matter much when I install my 8" aux. lights tho. Ha.

Shrug. I noticed some difference between cheapo Autopal H4 55/60 watt bulbs & Hella 100watt bulbs, but not anywhere near the difference I saw between harness & no harness. It's been a few years, but I think it was a similar amount of difference from sealed beams to H4s.
I don't regret the $13 I spent on Hella bulbs, but I would absolutely recommend the harness kit being everyone's first stop. If the harness doesn't do it, go H4 conversion with the best reflector your wallet allows.
Or if you have 2x the money to spend on 3x the light, go LEDs.

Personally, I would never go with an HID kit. The good ones are more money than LEDs, less reliable & more bulb changes and less light output on top of it all. The bad ones blind everyone on the road which just isn't cool & don't function as well as a good halogen setup.

I've done harness with stock halogens and harness with 90/110 bulbs in autopals.
Harness is the biggest bang for the buck, and it keeps you from burning up headlight switches.

everyone always shouts that the plug and play kits are crap.... whats brand kits are you talking about? ive had a number of one kit in 4-5 different vehicles for 3-7 years with no issues. how many people have actually done the plug and play kit in a decent h4 housing then spent some time aiming?

Re: Re: Autopals, Hella 100/90 bulbs & a relay harness. Impressions so far.

browning4x4 said:

everyone always shouts that the plug and play kits are crap.... whats brand kits are you talking about? ive had a number of one kit in 4-5 different vehicles for 3-7 years with no issues. how many people have actually done the plug and play kit in a decent h4 housing then spent some time aiming?

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I had the eautoworks harness with H4 bulbs and ipf housings. The lights performed great and it was a huge difference over stock. But this was only when they worked. I had problems from the start with the relays and after replacing them both 3 times each and replacing the plugs for the relays because they corroded inbuilt my own harness out of 10awg wire per gojeeps instructions and all has been good for a year now

i just made my purchase of the autopals and HID kit. this kit is from ddm very trusted the only issue with them is usually shipping time. every kit i have ordered has been great. some are goin into there 5-6 year with no issues. i have seen time and time again where people point out stern for his lighting tips and products. i have setup countless cars with HID's nothing over 6k for temp. each time its just a matter aimming. having HIDs is just like a halogen you just have to aim. if your riding around with crap that isnt aimed it doesnt matter what the bulb is your dangerous.

now after my orders come in and i get back from my training i will install and show yet again its just a matter of properly aiming your headlights.

you can purchase 4-500 bucks worth of topshelf shit if you dont aim it its all garbage.

Re: Autopals, Hella 100/90 bulbs & a relay harness. Impressions so far.

smalltownbird said:

I had the eautoworks harness with H4 bulbs and ipf housings. The lights performed great and it was a huge difference over stock. But this was only when they worked. I had problems from the start with the relays and after replacing them both 3 times each and replacing the plugs for the relays because they corroded inbuilt my own harness out of 10awg wire per gojeeps instructions and all has been good for a year now

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Hmm ive installed 2 of those both around 2 years ago and i just now thought i had to replace a relay but there was dirt in the connection and after cleaning it it still works great. No problem on my buddies rig either.
Maybe you just got a defective harness , it happens to any company sometimes.

i would agree that building your own would be better but for me im going with easier and works great.

A common problem with the installation is that the installer likes to install the relays with the pins facing up so they're easy to plug in. Therefore, moisture and dirt get into the relays.