01xjMontucky

Hey guys - I'm looking at picking up THIS led light bar. I am also probably going to purchase the KC Hilites 2x6 all season fog light kit. I want the best bang for my buck combo for snow/rain driving (fogs) and nighttime vision (leds) for avoiding critters. It seems the LED light bars blaze the night and I wouldn't mind keeping them clear of ice in exchange for this. If ya'll have suggestions about a better combo, please pipe in. I plan on purchasing the DAYSTAR vent switch panel for my XJ.

The LEDS don't come with a harness, so far as I can tell. Can someone help me source a harness for a single light bar or offer advice for the install? I looked online and found a bunch of crap. Much appreciated.

01xjMontucky

also -- I'd might as well piggyback the thread and hope for some responses.

Should I buy a putco harness? I have h4 headlights on the stock setup. Whereas the loom install seems easy (based on everyone saying plug-and-play), I am confused as to how you wire the harness to the existing master loom. In other words, I am assuming you don't rewire marker lights and such. Do you plug in to the big plug on the drivers-side front, or how do you wire? Just boggles my mind and given that there are no instructions online, I must just be complicating my life. It must be easy, but something is escaping me. I rewired my stock set up to work out some kinks but still use all the stock wiring.

#confused

I want to just wire the new LED light bar and fogs and potentially my headlights so that I can be done with it.


and yes, I read this: https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f51/hd...rite-up-11306/
it seems the new harness just uses the plugs from the old harness

01xjMontucky

"It's really easy, just simply plug and play. You simply attach the harness to the battery terminals. Then you disconnect the passenger headlight plug and plug that into the harness. Then plug the harness into the headlights. The hardest part is routing the wire to the driver side. I ran mine behind the front grill. If you look there is already a cable there, I just zip tied directly to that. I'll try to take pictures tonight or tomorrow. It took me less than an hour to get it all tied in."

Got it. Basically you provide direct power for the headlights through provided relays and plug into the stock setup for highbeam triggers. Sorry to spam my own thread, but believe it or not - I try to contribute when I can. I'll ride this thread out and include finished pics.

I still would love advice for wiring LED light bar and or other lighting combo suggestions. LED LIGHT BAR ~$90 plus ~$100 for KC hilites 516 plus ~$30 for Putco harness -- So just over $200 before I buy some KC bar mounts and figure out where a 7" light bar looks and functions best

RememberTheMallamo

Although a lot of people use the Putco, there's a better option for just a little more money. A lot complain of bad terminals and relays on the Putco; easily fixed? Yes. But if you just go for the LMC harness from the start you don't have to worry about it. Information on this harness can be found in the XJ write-ups section in a thread title HD headlight harness or something like that.

As far as the off-road lights, they don't so much use a "harness" as they are just wired. To my understanding, you just need to ground them (as short of a ground wire as possible) and run the power wires to a relay. The relay then goes to your switch and your battery (via a fused link). Some lights are plug and play, some require you installing your own connections. I'm unfamiliar with your choices so I'm not sure which way you'll have to go. The gauge of wire is also very important. At least 12 gauge wire should be used for such high powered lights (the KCs). LEDs use less power so someone with more electrical know how will have to chime in here. If the wires end up being longer than 10 feet, like if the KCs were on your roof, you'd want to use the next thicker gauge of wire, 10 gauge, to compensate for the added resistance of the excessive length of wire.

RememberTheMallamo

Here's a great diagram I used when installing mine. Most switches I've seen are lighted so the indicator portion is not important. Remember to use proper gauges of wire. They are rated for so much amperage which can be calculated by using your lights' wattage ratings. I don't know how haha but it's easy, just google it. There is no such thing as using too thick of wire. If you really wanted to, you could use 8 gauge wiring for everything but you could also put an exo-cage on your DD street only XJ... unnecessary, excessive. I personally have 12 gauge wiring to my two bumper lights and 10 gauge wiring to my two roof lights. Use the same size for the fused link from the relay to the battery. The wiring from my little control switches to the relay is only 16 or 18 gauge, carries hardly any power compared to the lights' wires.

Let me know if you have any more questions, I just did all of this stuff the other day, good luck!

F1Addict

You'll be totally stoked when you get the harness on your H4s (headlights), the difference in output is night and day. I used the Putco and haven't had any problems but I don't crawl or ford rivers or trudge through waist deep mud, either. The harness is just a simple way to connect your headlights directly to the battery, eliminating all of the amperage-robbing circuitry in your headlight switch that neuters their output. With the harness installed, your headlight switch no longer supplies power to the headlights, themselves... Instead, it tells the relays (included with the harness) to link your headlights directly to the battery.

The same is true for your KCs, as you can see from the diagram posted by RememberTheMallamo, the lights are connected directly to the battery via a relay and the switch you use to activate them is actually activating the relay that links them directly to the battery. I concur with the wire gauge recommendations suggested. Your LED bar will have significantly less draw than the halogen bulbs (only 35 watts) but it's still a good idea to run a relay, regardless. With all of the lights you'll be running, you might want to consider a fused distribution block off your battery or it might get messy with all of those connections.

willsmysticcobra

If you do end up getting that particular led bar please report on how you like it. I too am looking to go LED

01xjMontucky

The dude selling led bars said to go with a 12 inch. Twice as much cash. I run a 250 watt amp and 12 inch sub so I'll look at distribution blocks today. Will be sure to post pics of progress as to contribute and thank y'all for advice

01xjMontucky

I have been trying to pick fog lights most of the day.. Not getting very far. I like the Hella's as well. KC's interchangeable lenses were my main draw at first.. I'll decide soon.

I ordered the 6" led light bar, over 2000 lumens, with the combo beam option. They have 60 degree and 30 degree lenses, which is pretty sweet. I'm considering mounting these to the frame in the gap beneath the header panel. I would consider the roof, but one lonely light might look funny up there and I am not sure if the light is tall enough to clear the ferring I have over my sunroof. Plus, they should be reasonably safe tucked between the bumper and header panel, and less prone to theft. They bolt up with a hex key and that sketches me out. Time will tell, but I'll keep the thread updated.

If anyone has fog suggestions, send them my way!

RememberTheMallamo

Are you positive you want fogs? Perhaps driving lights would better suit your wants/needs. There's a good picture comparing the different beam patterns, I think from KC. Replying to your PM now.

RememberTheMallamo

Found it.

RememberTheMallamo

If money is any issue I have two STRONG suggestions for a set of driving/fog lights and a set of driving/long range lights. My four lights cost $43 and came with wiring and switches. :-D

RememberTheMallamo

Also, I'm not sure what you're referring to about interchangeable lenses but if it's for color, don't bother. The stuff you'll hear about red light being good for night vision and yellow light being good for fog is actually all a myth. 4300K is "pure" white light and provides the most visibility in every situation, ever. Brightness of that light temperature depends how it affects your night vision and beam pattern affects how a light performs in fog. Kelvin ratings are typically only found in HIDs but for regular halogen bulbs just stay away from different colored lenses or from any of those "it's brighter because it's blue!" bulbs.

I personally have 8000k HIDs on my motorcycle just because I'm one of those street youths that likes the look of the blue-ish tint but if someone had the same HIDs in 4300k or even 6000k, they'd get more usable light output.

Then again, if your interchangeable lenses are referring to something else then I've just made a long, off-topic post for no reason lol.

01xjMontucky

the Hella 550s, which I am leaning toward - say they can light up to 600 ft depending on how positioned. I really just want better visibility of the shoulder/down low. I am upgrading my harness and already have H4 rigged up. That means I'll have more light from my existing headlights. Also, I bought the 6" led light bar which will probably be recessed just below header panel. That's rated at over 2000 lumens, so its like having another headlight. It's got a combo beam pattern, so that should reach the middle ground between fogs and headlights, plus allow some spot down the middle of the road.

If that functions (the led light bar), I think I'll be pretty stoked. I have a roof basket and a small thule up top and a ferring up front. I am not sure I want to add a light bar or go with a full size basket. I'm buying new tires next week and really would like a set up hooligans fenders, we'll see if that ever materializes. Either way, 4 lights up top probably isn't happening and 2 look kinda weak, in my opinion.

01xjMontucky

and rememberthemallamo (hope I got that right) -- all very valid. I read online for like 4 hours again, trying to get it right and at the right price.. I like Hella's product.... Now you have me hung up. I am pretty much set on Hella 550 amber fogs. However, they make driving lights in white at the same price. I am mounting on my prerunner, which makes me wonder if fogs will be effective, anyhow.. ha. I am waaaayy overthinking this. Haven't worked on the jeep since the lift kit this spring, so I'm just over analyzing methinks