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Headlight harness conversion 1993 to 1998

Old Jan 6, 2024 | 11:22 AM
  #1  
Pos93xj's Avatar
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Year: 1993
Model: Cherokee (XJ)
Engine: 4.0 6 cylinder
Default Headlight harness conversion 1993 to 1998

So I got a 93 Cherokee and I'm putting a 98 front panel assembly on it. The 98 came with the 98 headlight harness and I can't find any adapters to go from a 93 to a 98. Could I just find the 98 headlight harness entirely at the junkyard and plug it into my 93 or would I have to find a conversion kit online, and if so, where would I find that kit
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Old Jan 6, 2024 | 01:31 PM
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Year: 1987 MJ, 1973 J2000, 1986 XJ, 08 JK
Model: Comanche (MJ)
Engine: 4.0L H.O
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Simplest would be prolly swapping 98 front and side marker bulbs sockets onto your older harness. Headlights setup don't change so that can be retained.

Use heat shrink butt-connectors or solder the wires and then cover them in heat shrink as cheap butt-connectors and electrical tape will work inititally but as the wire corrodes in the elements, you'll have intermittent issues until complete light failures
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Old Jan 7, 2024 | 02:15 AM
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The factory headlight harnesses are skimpy and were barely adequate to fully power the headlights the day they were made.
Old age and resistance "creep" in the wire makes them choke power to the headlights and brightness decreases.

If it has an upgrade harness with two relays disregard this post.
If it doesn't have one then now is the perfect time to put one in. And they're cheap.
Bleepinjeep shows, with a lux meter, why it's worth twenty-five bucks and twenty minutes of time.
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Old Jan 8, 2024 | 12:04 PM
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The wiring is almost the same aside from the plug itself. Use your plug from the old harness and splice it into the new harness.
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Old Jan 9, 2024 | 09:30 PM
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Year: 1993
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Originally Posted by ijeeep
The factory headlight harnesses are skimpy and were barely adequate to fully power the headlights the day they were made.
Old age and resistance "creep" in the wire makes them choke power to the headlights and brightness decreases.

If it has an upgrade harness with two relays disregard this post.
If it doesn't have one then now is the perfect time to put one in. And they're cheap.
Bleepinjeep shows, with a lux meter, why it's worth twenty-five bucks and twenty minutes of time.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGf9eNK5ZYA
so im definitely gonna do that in the future but i also need the harness for my blinkers and fog lights too, unless theres a upgraded harness that has connections for headlights, blinkers and fog lights, im just gonna buy a harness off someone from marketplace
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Old Jan 10, 2024 | 02:43 PM
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Engine: 4.0L H.O
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That's the only negative point for the headlight harness upgrade it's that it doesn't include the blinker or running lights. It's absolutely worth doing for the headlights sake in itself but as your realizing - does nothing for the other front end lights
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Old Jan 10, 2024 | 02:46 PM
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Year: 1998
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I reckon that will entail far more work than the very simple modifications that have been suggested.

You talk about harnesses but, in truth all the foglights require is re-routing what you already have (as those wires should be long enough) & fitting spade terminal, if that's not what they already have (I'm not familiar with the pre-'97 bumper mounted fogs). There is an upgraded foglight harness but, like the headlight ones, it supplements, not replaces the original.

The blinkers prob'ly need the most work as you have to replace a single socket with 2 of a different type, but the pigtails that come with any aftermarket sockets should be more than enough for the job. If you buy a late model blinker, etc harness, where you going to patch it into the main harness?.
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