j01

Hey all,

I tried a search on this but kept coming across halo's and hid's etc.

I have an 2001 cherokee limited and ordered some of these headlights

http://www.ebay.com/itm/7X6-Chrome-Clear-Glass-Lens-White-Led-Projector-Headlights-Kit-H4-H6052-H6054-V6-/391052364571?fits=Make%3AJeep&hash=item5b0c898b1b&vxp=mtr
I know they are cheap, not real projectors, not HID etc...

All I wanted was to be able to swap out different H4 bulbs as needed. Anyway, these have two rows of led accent lights so on the back of the housing there are two pair of wires for each led strip, per headlight. Like all of these no intructions. I dont want them to function as a turn signal, just to come on as parking light and headlight. Can you please tell me where to wire these in at? And any tips on connectors and if I can combine the two red wires together to tap in (same with black wires)? Any help on this would be great as I have no electrical experience with this jeep.

j01

Anyone? I keep searching but can't seem to find anything on this. I was hoping other XJ owners that have done this would have a quick answer as to the location and wire color I need to tap into...

Would it be the wires that feed into the turn signal bulb? And I just need to figure out which of those wires is ground and power?

Outlaw Star

I would tap/splice them to your side marker lights so they only come on when you run on parking or headlights.

j01

Is it okay to put two red wires from the lamp into one power wire on the side marker wire? And same for ground (black)? Would those clamp on style connectors be okay or do ya need to solder them in? Thanks for the reply

macgyver35

All of the LEDs combined in each housing won't pull much current at all. You can combined the reds and blacks. Tap the blacks to any ground, and splice the reds into the hot lead for your side or front marker lights. You shouldn't get anywhere close to pulling enough additional current to blow the fuse. You can solder if you want. Clamp-style connectors will work, but be prepared for eventual corrosion and flickering/no light issues. Try to leave the factory hot lead whole (uncut) if you can no matter which method you choose.

cliffy

If by clamp ons you mean these, they will work with no splicing of wires they will crimp on existing wires.

Aljay

Scotch locks and T taps are crap ! As mentioned above you will have trouble sooner or later . Solder or butt splice and heat shrink .

andrewmp6

And on the h4 light if you don't have the wiring harness with the relays get it its well worth the money.

j01

What is the advantage or downside to not doing this? ^


So for ground wires I tap into and existing ground wire?, or connect an eyelet and ground it somewhere?

Will those clamp or tap connectors work if you electrical tape the crap out of them ones connected? I assume corrosion from moisture etc?

macgyver35

Tap/clamp connectors are not all bad, but I only ever use them for inside situations that I have easy access to. For example, security system work. I've not had any issues using them there, and using them allows for easy removal of the system without having a butchered factory harness. Aside from a few nicks in the insulation, the factory wires are unaffected if you have to remove them later.

In any area that is exposed to the elements, that is a whole different story. I don't recommend them there at all. As has been mentioned you're better off using butt crimp connectors (the little red and blue tubes about an inch long) and then using heat shrink tuning over them. You can also use clear silicone squirted into the ends (after crimping) if you don't have heat shrink.

So long as all your ground wires eventually make it to a ground, together or seperately, you're fine. If you want to learn more about basic DC automotive electrical, I recommend going to www.the12volt.com and looking around. They have a ton of articles, and diagrams that help explain things.

The single biggest shortcoming of the factory headlights is not so much the lights themselves, but rather, the electrical harness supplying power to the bulbs. The factory system requires the power to go through a number of connection points, as well as the headlight switch itself, before getting to the bulbs. Each connection point and the switch introduce resistance, and there is a significant drop in available power to the bulbs. In addition, Chrysler used the smallest gauge wire they could get away with, and that doesn't help either.

A harness bypasses the factory wiring, only using it to activate relays, and using those relays, delivers more of a "straight shot" if you will, to the bulbs. Using this harness will improve the performance (brightness) of just about any headlights you choose to use, aside from LED headlights. LEDs inherently use less voltage and current, and aren't typically hampered by the stock wiring.

All the being said...
Please don't take this as a insult. I applaud you asking questions and being willing to learn. We all have to start somewhere. But based on your questions regarding the wiring of your LEDs, I'd say you're not quite ready to do a harness yet. But I encourage you to do it as a really good first project in understanding 12 volt systems and the use of relays. Again, study up on the12volt, learn a bit, and then tackle that upgrade harness. It's not hard, comparatively. For those of us comfortable with 12v systems it's about a 45 minute job from start to finish, including zip tying the new harness in place, and mostly plug and play. You will have to do a tad bit of splicing, eyelet installation, and use some small wrenches and screwdrivers to hook up the main leads to ground and the power distribution module, but again, it's a great project for a beginner.

You should consider that harness as the first step in improving your headlights. Not the last. Newer bulbs will still shine without the harness upgrade, but you won't get the full potential out of any bulb until you upgrade that harness. Think of it as supplying power through a drinking straw verses a garden hose.

j01

Thanks so much for the info. Any recommendations for the 55/60w h4 halogens? All I want for now is something without any yellow tinge to it, more white (maybe even with a blue hue). Something with the look of a 6000k-8000k.. I plan to do the harness and 100w later on

extrashaky

Don't do that. Stick with 4300K lamps. Higher color temperature lamps are more annoying to oncoming traffic without giving you any significant increase in performance. 4300K is the industry standard for OEM headlights and will look white in most situations.

ih8cornnuts

Speaking of CCT or Color temp, a lot of times those high K numbers only perceive to be brighter. Our eyes see by contrast, thats why those BMW headlights are so glaring compared to everything else on the road. Whites with high blue spectrum light 6000K+ fall into this category.

macgyver35

^^ What Shaky said. 4300K is the the industry norm, and is does the best job of color rendition of objects illuminated.

Personally, anything higher than about 5200K starts to look blue to me. Once you get up to 6000K, and most certainly 8000K things look really funky. Stops signs will look purple. Green tree leaves will have a grayish blue cast. More importantly, darker objects will more easily disappear against darker background at those color temps due to reduced contrast. And visible light on the blue end of the spectrum is some of the worse for your night vision. There's a reason why a number of car makers (BMW and Honda for example) have used red backlighting on their instruments. It doesn't destroy your night vision by contracting your pupils. The same reason all those Special Ops/Navy Seal/Green Beret bad-asses often use red lighting during night maneuvers and mission prep.

Stay away from blue. The only people that think it's cool are the idiots that don't understand anything about light.

j01

ok, so when i removed the side markers (one bulb, which functions as park light and turn signal) has only two wires... and there doesnt seem to be direct access to the headlight housing area from there.. I'm confused. The light directly below the headlight housing has two bulbs, which also function a both parking and turn signal lights.

Its a 2001 xj limited. This i becoming a pain just to wire in some led accent lights..