I have a '98 XJ and I just bought some LED replacements for the headlights. They claim to be 85 watts each, so I decided to also upgrade the stock wiring...that's about twice the normal load. If I understand right, there is no headlight relay to begin with - is this correct? All the power goes through the switch inside? If this is true, how does the timer function work...when the lights stay on for a few seconds after you shut off the engine? Wouldn't there have to be a relay for that?

I don't want to end up with a relay powering another relay, just too much to go wrong...

 

The stock headlights are terrible. Good idea to upgrade them. I'm running Morimotos and it's probably the best thing I've done.

Dubious claim from the manufacturer.

This is a good plan even if you were keeping the lights stock.

Correct.

There is a separate Headlamp Delay Module in parallel with the headlamp switch that does use a relay. But the way that it's wired, the relay doesn't actually take any load off the switch.

The factory fogs are set up that way, but that's not relevant


To recap: Upgrade the wiring and use a set of good relays (one for HIGH beam, one for LOW). I have the putco harness because that's what was popular at the time I did the upgrade. There are better ones out there today.

 

Possibly/probably, but I'll test them and if they are not close I expect at least a partial refund. This is why I chose some more expensive ones at $129 vs the $50ish Chinese stuff. Can't remember the brand right now. MasterCard is great about refunds when the seller lies.

I'm actually soldering up my own right now...4 relays total. (high/low/left/right)

While we're talking about it, where is the easiest place to tap power for the built in DRL? My XJ doesn't have them stock but the LEDs come with them.

Thanks for the info.