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Finally got my LED bumper lights installed. I don't love the way LED's look on XJ's. I think the styling clashes with the era they were built in, but there weren't a lot of other options.
Also added a Rubicon Express spacer to try and level out the front end. Not perfectly level, but a lot closer. It sits -.5" off from the other 3 wheels.
I also got the front windows tinted. Never knew how much of a difference it would make. I mostly just got them so they'd match the back windows but I think now any vehicle I own will get tinted. It's 15-20 degrees cooler than it was before.
After realizing my 3" LED bumper lights are 3-4x brighter than my headlights, I've decided to upgrade. I bought a pair of Truck-Lite LED's and got a decent deal. Should be here Monday.
It's kind of unbelievable how bad stock headlights are. The 3" LED's completley flood them out when I flip them on at night. I hated spending $350, but it is what it is.
clean xj! i want one of those jcr bumpers but just havin a hard time cutting my panel. How do you like yours? easy install?
Super easy. I know it's easier on the 97-01's. The shipping took longer than I'd hoped. 18 business days. On the website it said they always ship between 10-12 days from order, but that wasn't even close to true. Other than that though, no complaints at all.
I'd also recommend getting the 3" LED's from someone other than JCR. They charge $140 for lights they admit were manufactured in China. I got the same ones on Amazon for $39.99.
I know all of that sounds like negatives of JCR, but I don't mean for it to. The bumper itself is as good as you can find for the price. I love it.
nice! mines a 98. Did you get the unibody tie-in kit too or just the bumper? was it hard to cut your panel?
On the 97+ you don't have to cut anything. It bolts up perfectly. I used my knee to brace the bumper while I was laying on my back and was done in no time.
So I bought some Truck-Lite LED's from Drivetrain America last Thursday with free shipping. They were here on Saturday. Fastest I've ever received anything where the shipping was free.
It rained off an on all day Saturday, but between the showers, I went out and tried to disassemble the headlight bezel and ran into a troublesome design flaw with the JCR bumper.
If the hoop, or the bumper itself, were extended forward by an extra 1/4-1/2 inch, this would have been done in 2-3 minutes. But as you can see, the hoop prevented the bezel from coming off.
I had to unscrew the turn lights, and I spent 10 minutes trying to position them just right to be able to move the bezel out of the way. I actually ended up taking the bulbs out of the housing because there wasn't enough slack to position them at an angle that let me get the bezel out. I spent another 10 minutes trying to move the housing just right so I could position the screwdriver to unscrew the headlights. It was a lot more of a PITA than I would have thought when I first walked outside.
Total time for both headlights was an hour, it normally would have taken 5 minutes. Honestly there was a time I was worried I'd have to take the bumper completely off to install these. If my turn signal housing ever gets cracked or damaged, I think I might have to take the bumper off. I don't see any way currently to get these on or off otherwise.
That aside, these lights are amazing. If dropping $350 seems like a lot for lights, it is, but it's also worth it. More details in my next post...
As you can barely see in the second picture above, I decided to upgrade because my old lights had some moisture inside. I bought them off eBay in September of 2013. The old adage holds up, you get what you pay for. As you can see, the rubber gasket has already already failed.
Anyway, the Truck-Lite's are a LOT more expensive than these pieces of junk, but at least they're not pieces of junk. And they really do look sharp when installed. The whole front end looks more up to date. The Truck-Lites are on the right, this is mid-install.
Here are the night shots. And they really don't do it justice. Before I'd sometimes look down at my headlight **** to make sure I'd turned them on. I legitimately couldn't tell. You guys know what I'm talking about, you've all been there. "Are my headlights even on? Are they burned out?" But now? Now I'm afraid I'm going to run everyone I meet off the road. It's great.
If I ever had to go anywhere at night, I'd take my wife's Xterra (which drives like a freaking tank) or my F150 (which is way too long.) I love everything about the XJ. It's handling and nimbleness is fairly underrated. It's actually fun to drive. But I never drove it at night because of how bad the lights were. $350 later and now I'm able to use it at night. Instead of it being a daytime only vehicle, I'm now able to use it anytime, and all that cost me was $350.
05-20-2015, 10:19 AM
