Jeep Wrangler Forum banner

New headlights?

7K views 33 replies 19 participants last post by  viperx6x9x 
#1 ·
So before I replace my tires and lift it, my jeeps got a 3000 mile road trip ahead of it. So in the mean time, I'm looking into replacing the headlights... after searching the net I've found two and I'm looking for some feedback. Any links to better light deals and/or ideas would be appreciated!

What I'm looking at:

Delta 7" Round Quad Bar Xenon Headlamp Kit

IN PRO CAR WEAR 7" DIAMOND CUT CONVERSION HEADLIGHTS

suggestions?
 
#3 ·
So I asked Hilldweller to break it down on the "paging Hilldweller thread:

Hilldweller said:
That would be an entire thread... ;)

On the cheap:
The stocker uses an H13 bulb which is a purposely weak design to save money; as a cheap alternative, there are much better (and worse) H13 bulbs. Phillips xtreme Power +80 is the best you can get and are generally less expensive than the sub-par IPF, Delta, Sylvania Silverstar, or PIAA bulbs that are popular these days.

Add a harness to the stocker and Xtreme Power bulb assembly to upgrade further and get more light. The stock system puts a strangle-hold on power with its PWM and light gauge wiring.

Pricier:
The best answer for headlights is a complete retrofit.
Rallylights.com can sell you an H4 kit that has Hella reflectors, bulbs, and a harness. It's easy to install. You can upgrade the bulbs to Phillips Xtreme Powers, Osram Rallye, Osram Nightbreaker, Narva Rangepower, etc. There are even naughtier bulbs that I can't recommend in good faith; again, stay away from childish bulbs like PIAA, IPF Fatboys, Silverstars, etc.

Pricier still:
Daniel Stern Lighting sells Cibie reflectors, Cibie Z-Beams, and sometimes has a few Marchals that he'll part with. Marchal, like in Duesenberg and other high-end cars.
The photometry on these reflectors BLOWS AWAY the competition. It is remarkably easy to fool the human eye with lighting smoke and mirrors but you can't fool the meters...
Mr Stern will suggest (for all the reasons I already stated) that you add a harness and plug assembly to provide power to all this.

Even pricier:
You can jigger-in a legal Valeo/Sylvania HID bi-xenon set of lights; $688 the last time I checked at SUV lights dot com. You'd also need wiring from Stern or Rallylights.
Or some Speaker 8700 LED burners; they come with H4 terminals; same about buying supplemental wiring.

For driving lights, I'm still sticking with the Hella 4000s for value. Wire them to come on with your high beams and you're golden.
My criteria for suggesting lights is an even spread of light so you're just as likely to see a deer jumping out as you are to see a sink-hole in your path on the highway.
CRI and SPD matter to me as well as warm-up time for a driver so I wouldn't suggest HID or LED; not yet anyhow ---- they're getting better all the time.

For offroad lights, I'm all over the cheap-n-stinky HIDs or nose-in-the-air LEDs. Take your pick and let your budget be your guide. Lots of light all over the place. Godlights. Burn the retina, lo and behold, all that.

For foglights? Do you really really need foglights? Not if you spend the money to put Cibie or Marchal headlights on already...
But if you really want dedicated fogs, Cibie Oscars are legal and work great. Not too expensive either considering.

I can't go into detail but, I'll be doing a little something in the upcoming months and will have some real numbers to throw around to compare some lights.
Science is our friend.
It may be a bit dated given the speed of evolution when it comes to technology. Like I ended up buying JW Speaker LEDs. If you read the whole thread I recommend just skipping to Hilldweller responses. He will address anybody's claims and answer all questions, and knows the laws too.
 
#6 ·
I'm going with the Rallylights.com H4 kit but have a question. Are there any LED bulb kits that can use these reflectors? I would like to replace the bulbs when they burn out with LEDs and just to clearify, these aren't as narrow as the Delta's and the 100/55 Hella bulb is a super on/offroad light right?
 
#9 ·
I just bought the KC headlights and they suck. Returned them and bought the Hella kit from SMS which arrived yesterday. More difficult to install because of the relay harness but should be worth it.
 
#24 ·
S. Lam.. You have to change the housings too. The H4 bulbs won't fit in the stock housings. You can buy housings, nubs and the adapters for about $150. The harness with relays is what drives the cost up, but it does make a difference in the light output.

Mike
 
#31 ·
I love mine, best $450 I have spent to date. I hated the stock headlights and the truck-lites light up the night without being offensive to on coming traffic.
 
#32 ·
I like the DDM's. Put a kit on my TJ. But I have a lot of aiming to do. I keep getting flashed as well. Personally I hate being blinded so I try not to do it to others.

Also my lights are making others flash me, which blinds me too. So nobody wins with that. Oh well, just gotta get em aimed below level a bit and that should solve most of the problem.

I think the Trucklite LED's are a great idea, especially for bulb longevity, but I just can't see paying $500 on some lights. I only payed $6,000 for the jeep, just doesn't seem very cost effective to me.
 
#33 ·
i like the ddm's. Put a kit on my tj. But i have a lot of aiming to do. I keep getting flashed as well. Personally i hate being blinded so i try not to do it to others.

Also my lights are making others flash me, which blinds me too. So nobody wins with that. Oh well, just gotta get em aimed below level a bit and that should solve most of the problem.

I think the trucklite led's are a great idea, especially for bulb longevity, but i just can't see paying $500 on some lights. I only payed $6,000 for the jeep, just doesn't seem very cost effective to me.
ddm?
 
#34 ·
DDM tuning. They make HID kits. Crazy bright, something like 5,000 lumens on the 55w kit. But no DOT approved stamp anywhere.

So these, like most HID kits, probably not street legal. So I would suggest a headlight housing that IS DOT approved and stamped as such if you get these.

Bottom line though,
Plenty of light? yes.
legal in europe? yes.
legal in USA? doubt it.

That's another argument for the LED headlights i guess. Lots more light than stock, legal, but way too expensive.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top