Lethbridge_XJ

My headlights in my 98 XJ are really dim. Any recommendations on what I should replace them with?

VTJeep

http://www.rallylights.com/
Paid < 200 shipped. Included 2x housing, 2x bulb, 1x wiring harness upgrade. Just got em, could only get one housing unscrewed ('99) so its just one new assembly installed w/o the harness and WOW it's so much better!! Unbelievable!! And it's just one headlight and no harness. Monday it's shop bound so hopefully the screws will come loose for them.
I opted for a slightly higher wattage, e-code setup. Not 100% legal, but the shop I go to for inspection doesn't care
I really need to get a pic of it at night...

Illuminator

I put autopal housings with a putco harness and hella 100/80 bulbs on mine, they're bright and it was an easy install. High beam pic.

xjsnake

Upgraded headlights the legal (ish) way...

1) Get a new headlight harness.

You can make your own http://www.go.jeep-xj.info/HowtoHeadlightLoom.htm

Or you can buy one: http://www.eautoworks.com/Putco-H4--...s-PRD7540.aspx

The eautoworks harnesses used to be quite cheap until everyone on this forum started recommending them and the price was raised accordingly.

You can pick them up for $29.99 here http://www.lmctruck.com/icatalog/csd/full.aspx?Page=48 part number 36-3580. It says it fits a chevy blazer but it's the same as the eautoworks harness and I'm running the LMC harness in my XJ.

There are other more expensive options for pre-made harnesses but I'm not super familiar with those.

2) Upgrade to H4 housings

There are two types of regulations pertaining to headlight housings. There are DOT approved housings which are legal in the US and there are Ecode lights which are European housings and aren't legal in the US although many people use them as they are considered superior housings due to the light pattern.

DOT
Rampage http://www.quadratec.com/products/97009_501.htm
IPF http://www.quadratec.com/products/97017_1600.htm
Delta http://www.quadratec.com/products/97009_121.htm
Hella http://www.quadratec.com/products/97009_02.htm

Ecode
Autopals (look on ebay for Autopal 200mm H4 housing)
Hella http://www.rallylights.com/detail.aspx?ID=744
Cibie http://www.clearcorners.com/products/cibie/

Personally I won't buy housings that have plastic lenses, I much prefer glass but your mileage may vary.

3) Get good bulbs

Some of the above housings come with bulbs included with them. I tend not to recommend bulbs as the choices are extremely vast and everyone has their own preferences as to color and wattage.

4) Aim your headlights properly!

I can't say enough how much improperly aimed headlights annoy me on the road plus you are wasting all that time and effort to upgrade the lighting if you don't aim the light where it does the most good... http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=78017

5) On HID Lights

I do not recommend HID's for use in XJ's... People will show links to cheap HID kits and "Projectors" off of ebay and other sites which will give you a lot of light and will also throw a lot of light in all directions making you very visible to police and possibly blinding other drivers.


Read http://www.danielsternlighting.com/t...nversions.html for a well written description of the problems with HID kits.

When using HID's you need a true projector housing. I'm sure people will chime in and say they run HID's and ebay housings and have had no problems but I'm describing the legal (ish) way.

If you want to go down the road of HID's, take a look at what true projector housings cost http://www.kbcarstuff.com/6054-200mm...-p/xd-6054.htm
http://www.brightheadlights.com/hid-upcoming.htm
or you can buy the projectors and retrofit them into existing housings if you are so inclined: https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f58/he...9/#post1391556

There are a myriad of options available to consumers with the limiting factor being cost. One can spend under $100 and have significantly upgraded their lighting or they can spend $1000 and upgrade their lighting more. It's all in how much money you want to spend.

For those wanting to do some of these upgrades but not necessarily all I would do them in the following order:
1) Headlight Harness (major improvement even with sealed beams)
2) Housings and Associated Bulbs
3) Hid and Projectors (Cost prohibitive to do correctly)


For installation of the harness and housings see this excellent write up: https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f59/my-h4-upgrade-114440/

Disclaimer: Always check your local and state laws as some places have more stringent lighting laws than others... I am in no way associated with any of the above companies and none of what I say should be taken as the absolute truth or only way to do things. Flame on...

Lethbridge_XJ

Thanks everyone for all the help.

snakeyez

These!


Sylvania H6054ST SilverStar 55w/65w

I just replaced my lights with a pair of these and the difference is wonderful. Nice bright white light, but not too bright and no blue.

mw6886

I udgraded my harness a few weeks ago and I made my own from this link http://www.go.jeep-xj.info/HowtoHeadlightLoom.htm I did it just like it said and i couldn't be more pleased.Like most people say..this is the best upgrade they had did..and I couldn't agree more.I was getting only 10.05 volts at the factory harness end with the engine running and after the upgrade I am now getting 13.45 volts.After doing this however my fog lights were acting all goofy..the low beam would supply about 6 volts to the new relays and it was enough to "trip" the relays so the high beams were stuck on when the fogs were turned on,but worked normal if the fog lights were left off.I fixed this by running a wire from the headlight switch to the factory fog light switch so they only come on with the headlights.that way I couldn't leave the fogs on by accident and run the battery down.I was running cheap projectors and they were not very good..so today i installed the E-Code Autopal housings and now I can see 200X better then with the projectors.Best mod so far!! I'm still just using silver star ulras at 60/55 watts..I may upgrade to a higher watt sometime..

hawaiian808

I did the same upgrade, I found the relays were not the same and I had to hook both up to pin 87
Got some ultra brights from auto zone and lemme tell you how f in bright that is!!!

mw6886

I have the 5 pin relays but had to put both wires running to the headlights on the same terminal too.I put them both on one of the 87s..

freegdr

^^^^^^^