Headlights; good ones?

My left headlight finally hit the dust the other day, and I just noticed that there were two different headlights on the Jeep, an sanyo and a GE.. I want something brighter and whiter than the ones i have right now (they are yellowish looking and dont offer great visibility) and I see so many different headlights out there nowadays that i dont even know where to start... Any sugestions or recommendations would be great. ('94 xj, if that helps any)

Piaa or Hella H4 conversion. Easy as changing a stock bulb and makes a huge difference. Upgrading the wiring and adding relays also made a noticeable improvment for me. In stead of that junk 18AWG wire and the mile DC ran it I have 10AWG going the width of the Jeep and used the 18AWG for what its good at. Relay trigger.

Fletch

Hella E code headlights with H4 55/65 Xenon white bulbs, single biggest improvement in nite driving you can to.

http://www.rallylights.com/hella/200mm.asp

I've heard a lot of good things about Sylvania Silverstars. I'm going to get some ASAP, my stock headlights on my 95 are terrible on low beam.

Hiaboo said:

... I see so many different headlights out there nowadays that i dont even know where to start... Any sugestions or recommendations would be great. ('94 xj, if that helps any)

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Please define your parameters, or WE won't know where to start.

Both the responses above mine are talking about conversions not simple replacement sealed beams. To get the maximum benefit from a conversion (and to avoid burning up your stock wiring if you go to higher wattage lamps in a conversion), you also need to rewire the headlights.

On the other hand, there are higher wattage, whiter sealed beam replacements available.

Which way do you want to go? How much are you willing to spend?

Its my understanding that the Silverstars are direct replacements.

Hmmm.. I'm probably looking at replacements at this point (around $50-75/pair)as I'm not willing to do some serious work on the Jeep as of yet, no garage and 20 degree weather ain't helping either. Sorry i wasn't clear earlier. But, anything is said is a great help to me anyway becasue I'm learning as I go.

The hella E codes are direct replacements, the 65/55 is the wattage 65 High beam, 55 Low beam. As for the wiring the stock wiring will work OK, better than the stock headlights unless you up the wattage to the 100W range and above, then the auxiliary harness is really needed or you may melt the wires. When doing it pick up a burnishing tool, looks like a small nail file but is the width of the socket plugs that go into the lights now, if you can find a nail file that will fit that will work too. Clean those sockets of any green corrosion, also pick up a tube of dielectric or 'tune up' grease and put a dab on the spades of the new lights. This will keep corrosion to a minimum and reduce resistance which is what causes the heat build up. This kit at the link I posted above will work fine H6054D. I have been running these E codes since 72/73 in all my vehicles that had standard headlights. I'm picking up two more sets of round ones for our two new TJ's, I want the kids to have the best lighting they can [as well as two new Warn front and rear bumpers]....

wow,thanks rich. I found this site while looking for headlight comparisons and I have to say that i'm sold.

http://www.industryfigure.com/berkeley/Jeep/electrical/headlights.htm

also, an question for you rich- what's the difference between the 30%, 50% and 100%?

If they are standard Tungsten sealed beams now the halogens ones are a noticeable improvement and are only a few bucks more. I'm not sure but I don't think they draw any more juice than the regular sealed beam, I think they're just brighter because the halogen is more efficient, I've never had a problem using them to replace sealed beams in any of my old junk.
If the mfgs claims are true the Silverstars look to be about the best choice that wouldn't require any wiring changes.
Mike B.

Not really sure. The percentage thing is new to me, when I got mine the Xenons only came in one flavor. I do seem to remember that the Hella site http://www.hella.com gives an explaination so you might want to look there.

RichP said:

The hella E codes are direct replacements,

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Rich, I have to disagree with you. The stock headlights are 6054 sealed beams. The Hella e-Codes are H4 conversions with a separate housing/reflector and a replaceable H4 bulb. It is a simple conversion, but it IS a conversion. It is not a "replacement."

The Sylvania Silverstar is a sealed beam and it's therefore a direct replacement. (The post mentioning those wasn't there when I started writing my initial response above)

semantics... you could also call it an upgrade... Now if you put the aux harness in not sure what you would call that, upgrade conversion maybe...

I run Hella E-codes in the Jeep (55/115 flavor) and I LOVE them. I can't afford E-codes for my car, so I went with Silverstar's. They're not bad, but nothing to brag about. For the time and money spent, there's nothing that can compare to converting the sealed beams to H4's and a good reflector.

Where is a good place to buy this headlight wire harness upgrade, or conversion or whatever it is called? Can anybody recommend a source for it?

Do the Hella or IPF H4 bulbs plug into the same connector that is on the back of my 6054 now, or do I need some sort of adaptor plug?
Sorry for the hijack.
TIA

Provided you stay with the 65/55 watt hella bulbs [or equivilent] you do not have to change the harness, you should clean the connectors. If you pull the plugs off and look down them you will see a kind of green crud. I use a burnishing tool, looks like a match book striker only it's made of stee and like a fingernail file. Most electronics stores that sell electronic components sell them, they come in a little red package. Otherwise it's just plug, adjust the lights and play. Now to get the most out of them you should upgrade the harness, the current wireing is like 16 gauge and is kind of thin, it's also long as it goes thru the jeep and into the light switch and back out. The aux harness has two fuses and two relays and plugs into one of the original headlight sockets then is connected to the battery or some other direct 12v source. Hella, IPF and a couple of others make pre-made ones, however you can to to www.rallylights.com also known as susquehanna motor sports in williamsport Pa and build the one they show using hella fused relays which cuts down on clutter.
Look thru their site and do some reading, it will all become clear.
Bottom line, you can order the 200mm hella E codes and 55/65 watt bulbs and plug them in with no issues othe than adjusting them correctly to not blind oncoming drivers.

I have the IPF's and they are great. They plug right into the stock harness, although as has been stated, replacing the harness is a better solution, and I'll be doing that fairly soon.

Got mine here:
http://www.rocky-road.com/ipfH4.html

myy goowad 55/115?? wow thats what I want did u need to replace the harness at all?
nate

I can't for the life of me figure out where I got the 115 number. The bulbs that are in there now I believe are 55/100 Hella's (they may be 80/100 I can't remember if I upped the wattage when one burned out), and when it was a daily driver I'd swap those out for 90/130 Hella Yellowstars in the winter. I made my own harness with some H4 sockets from NAPA, and 10 guage wire. I got the relays and fuse holders from Susquehanna Motorsports, along with the bulbs and buckets. As a side note, I run IPF 130 watt driving lights, and a set of PIAA 520 fogs as well. The Yellowstar bulbs were great when it was snowing because the yellow light didn't reflect back as well as the white, but when it wasn't snowing I could flip on the IPF's and really lay some light down when there weren't other cars around.