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I have a 1989 Jeep Cherokee xj, and by now all of you xj owners are probably aware of the crudy oem headlights jeep factory installed in their xj's. I'm getting tired of the poor light output, and looking for an alternate that is DOT approved for street use, and also something that's preferably LED, but doesn't have to be. What do you guys use? I'm curious what you jeepers use.
The harness is a must. I run euro spec Autopals. I have never adjusted them. Low is just ok but high is amazing bright.
Do the emissions folks look to see if they are DOT approved?
DOT sets standards, and each manufacturer certifies their own compliance. Yes, this is as prone to abuse as it sounds.
Furthermore, DOT standards are relatively poor compared to ECE standards and are very poor compared to how good a well-made light can be.
Setting the bar to "DOT standard" doesn't even eliminate a lot of products that are complete garbage such as these abominations These things should be illegal.
Originally Posted by BlueRidgeMark
By the letter of the law, if it's not OEM, it's not legal.
Not true except in the case of HID. HID is illegal on any vehicle not originally equipped with it even if you do it right with HID projection and proper aim. On XJ's, any non-HID lamp with DOT compliance is legal.
Originally Posted by 1989MichJeep
I have a 1989 Jeep Cherokee xj, and by now all of you xj owners are probably aware of the crudy oem headlights jeep factory installed in their xj's. I'm getting tired of the poor light output, and looking for an alternate that is DOT approved for street use, and also something that's preferably LED, but doesn't have to be. What do you guys use? I'm curious what you jeepers use.
If you want LED, so be it, but there's nothing spectacularly superior about LED (there are some advantages such as improved durability of solid state diodes vs filaments when offroading, but nothing to write home about). Buy a relay harness for $30 or less and you'll see a dramatic improvement in lighting. After that, switch to H4 halogen housings such as Autopal, IPF, Hella, Cibie, etc with quality bulbs (do not use any of those blue POS's). You'll have great lighting for a fraction of the cost of LED lamps.
Please post the text of the law, with a direct link. No quoting some random article/blog from the depths of the interwebz.
Lots of people claim lots of things are illegal, yet when challenged in this manner are incapable of citing any credible reference.
Federally speaking, the short answer is that headlights must be DOT compliant. For the long version, see full text of the law in link below.
The states enforce that law and set their own. There is variation from state to state, but the spirit of the law in most if not all states is always the same.
I won't be posting the full text here as legalese is incredibly verbose. Anyone interested and capable of understanding it should be capable of clicking a link.
10-29-2016, 01:04 PM
DOT approved aftermarket LED headlights???
