Recommend a headlight upgrade? '98 XJ

[cnugent]

The Putco harness is the one I ordered. Not here yet. You guys are saying it has problems? Is it gonna work, or should I send it back? It seemed to be the one highly recommended on other forums I had searched as well.

This one:

http://www.eautoworks.com/Putco-H4--9003-Heavy-Duty-Headlight-Upgrade-Wiring-Harness-PRD7540.aspx

 

[Digger87xj]

It's illegal to put HIDs on a vehicle that didn't come with them from the factory.

Show me the law or I'm calling BS on that statement.

 

[Anthropy]

Hella E code glass housings, Hella H4 55/100w bulbs and a top notch harness with quality relays from Susquehanna Motorsports.

I did this 14 -15 years ago on my '96 and use plus 30, 55/65 Hella bulbs from Susquehanna. Best money I have ever spent on my jeep. I built my own harness and I doubt I saved any money on the harness, but I was younger then.


Tom

 

[CarbonXJ]

The Putco harness is the one I ordered. Not here yet. You guys are saying it has problems? Is it gonna work, or should I send it back? It seemed to be the one highly recommended on other forums I had searched as well.

This one:

http://www.eautoworks.com/Putco-H4--9003-Heavy-Duty-Headlight-Upgrade-Wiring-Harness-PRD7540.aspx

Nothing wrong with the harness, just uses Honda style relays instead of the readily available Bosch style.

And I have also heard that it is illegal to put HID into halogen housings. I'll have to look for you when I get home. I do know that the "lit" part of the filament is in different positions and screws the whole thing up.

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[Ou2mame]

Putting hid bulbs in halogen housings is different than putting a projector and hid bulb on a car that didn't originally come with hid. The ones I linked are projectors, not halogen housing.

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[jeremyj]

Show me the law or I'm calling BS on that statement.

This is the internet. Look it up yourself. I've had a thousand people say it's illegal, but I can't find a definitive, country-wide, yes or no. It could be state specific. I know for a fact it's illegal here, in Washington.

Regardless of legality, putting HID bulbs into halogen reflectors is stupid. It's dangerous for other drivers and depending on the color, it may actually be hurting your visibility.

 

[Johnnie Walker]

On ebay there are some "chinexican" H4 harnesses that use standard Bosch-style relays, they also have Ceramic HL sockets. IIRC, there is a link in my MJ build thread. Run anywhere between 14-25$ depending on auction.

 

[cnugent]

Welp, the harness and the light kit are here. Dunno if I'll start the install today. Maybe tomorrow afternoon. I might wanna take some night pics tonight, too, to compare before n after. Cuz I'm geeky like that.

Thanks for all the input so far. Very helpful.

Chris

 

[Ou2mame]

This is the internet. Look it up yourself. I've had a thousand people say it's illegal, but I can't find a definitive, country-wide, yes or no. It could be state specific. I know for a fact it's illegal here, in Washington.

Regardless of legality, putting HID bulbs into halogen reflectors is stupid. It's dangerous for other drivers and depending on the color, it may actually be hurting your visibility.

Nobody is taking about putting hid bulbs in halogen housings though.

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[jworth]

Actually, that's exactly what I did. I bought halogen h4 housings and placed HID H4 style replacement bulbs in them. Mine are dual HID which just really means there is a shutter that moves to cover/uncover part of the filament when you want low beam only. They ARE designed so that the "filament" is in the same location as in an H4 bulb. The light reflects the same regardless the source so long as it's coming form the same geometrical position relative to the reflector which these do. I've had good luck with this setup. When I turn them on, it does take a few seconds to reach full brightness, but I've not found it to be a problem.

EDIT:
One thing I will note is that even though I got the lowest (softest white to almost slightly yellow) color temperature I could get (5300k?) they still are a little different in terms of spectrum from some others. I can't verify it, but they seem to light up reflective road signs way more than the regular halogen bulbs.

 

[iwannadie]

I have the putcu or whatever it is harness(have had to replace the relays) and the harness is nice. I upgraded to IPF housings and use phillips NightGuide bulbs. The bulbs are fantastics I think. I am not going for blindingly bright but usable light. They light up road signs better and seem to put more usable light on the road too.

I do almost the majority of my driving at night because if my work and so far that combo has worked very well for me. I've cracked one housing in the past 5 years or so and replace the bulbs about every other year.

 

[Ou2mame]

Oh well that's different... Using halogen housings with hid bulbs is a terrible idea. I'm sure the light output is great, because you're putting out so many more lumens than a halogen, out of a housing that is scattering the light in all directions, hence the reason for projectors with cutoffs.

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[cnugent]

So, here's a problem. Apparently this harness causes the high beams and fogs not to operate correctly, as installed? Is there a writeup to address this? I'm seeing a few different methods to fix it on the 'net. Some include an extra jumper wire to the high beam relay.

Anyone familiar with this? Did a search but don't see much about this issue.

 

[CarbonXJ]

All you need to do (and I have done) is snip the trigger wire and move it over to your new harness.

Thread here: http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=1056442

Copied the main info:

One post I saw got it right though. lilredxj99 mentioned it in another thread which I didn't find until after the fact. The details were a little fuzzy and I still thought the issue deserved some further explanation so that's why I just wrote this damn novel...

Oh yeah, so the right way to do it... Cut the 20g Red Fog Lamp Relay #1 ground/trigger wire at the back of the driver's side headlight plug. Extend this wire using your preferred method so that it is long enough to reach your new aftermarket high beam relay. Splice it into the 87 pin (output) of your new high beam relay. If you have two 87's (which is ideal), either one is OK. Do not however use 87a if your relay has it!

Yep, that's it... Your high beams will now turn off when they're supposed to, your fog lights will turn on/off when they're supposed to, and your low beams will continue to work as they're supposed to. Sure you could have skipped all the way down to the bottom and found your answer, but you wanted to know how/why it works, right?

 

[cnugent]

Yup, that's the one I was reading too. I got hung up because my relays aren't labeled as to which is the 87 terminal, but I can probably figure it out when I see which wires go where.

Thanks!

 

[jworth]

Oh well that's different... Using halogen housings with hid bulbs is a terrible idea. I'm sure the light output is great, because you're putting out so many more lumens than a halogen, out of a housing that is scattering the light in all directions, hence the reason for projectors with cutoffs.

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This is just misinformation. A point source of light is a point source of light regardless if it's from a filament or an arc. This crap about having to have special reflectors just isn't so. Light reflects off of a mirror. The mirror doesn't care what makes the light. It doesn't bounce off differently because it's from an arc rather than a filament. I say point source which isn't technically correct, but it's still generally true here. So long as the point where the light is emitted is in the same place relative to the mirror, the reflected pattern will be the same.

 

[Ou2mame]

I don't know how to make you realize that hid puts out more light, which in turn blinds people because that extra light isn't directed properly. If you want to believe that hids in halogen housings operate the same as halogen bulbs, then you're arguing against science. I can't find a single article supporting it.

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[iwannadie]

The problem with putting HIDs in a housing meant for halogeans is the light source is exposed when its not meant to be and will blind on coming traffic and not make effective use of the HID light. You throw a ton of light a short distance, there's a reason why projectors were originaly used for HIDs by car makers. Ever look at a halogen bulb? The tip is painted to hide the light source when looking straight st it(on coming traffic). Ever stand in front of a car with HIDs in halogean housings and be blinded and left seeig spots? Do you want the car driving towards you at night to be driven by a blinded driver?

The argument has been had a billions times and people who don't want to accept reality will still put their cheap HIDs in cheap halogen housing and argue how great their lights are. Plenty of side by side comparrisons showing how much of a bad idea it is. Laws in place to attempt to keep drivers safe from being blinded by people who again refuse to accept reality.

You can stuff 35s under a stock XJ but would you want to? Same applies to slapping HIDs into halogen housings. There's always gonna be "those guys" who do and argue it's the best thing on the road and also the cheapest and easiest. They cracked the code and we are all wrong, clearly.

First google result I found. Read me

 

[jeremyj]

My Truck-Lites tend to make signs glow from a greater distance as well. I think the brighter output, regardless of aim, seems to catch the reflective surfaces from greater distances.

 

[CarbonXJ]

So long as the point where the light is emitted is in the same place relative to the mirror, the reflected pattern will be the same.

When using an HID bulb in a halogen housing, the point of light is NOT in the same position relative to the mirror.

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