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LED lighting upgrades

1K views 9 replies 6 participants last post by  Hilldweller 
#1 ·
I am looking to upgrade the lighting on my JKU.

For headlights, I'm set on JW Speaker 8700, though I'm a bit confused which ones I should buy. There are Evolution J series and Evolution 2 - what is the difference?

For fog lights, I'm looking at JW Speaker 6145J-B. Do they have the same form factor as the stock lights? I'll be putting them in the Warn Elite series bumper, would they be a drop-in replacement or would modifications be required?

And, I don't know at all what to choose for the turning lights and marker lights. Any suggestions?
http://www.amazon.com/JW-Speaker-61...015S28N8K/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8
 
#2 ·
The original 8700 was a big unit, didn't fit well, and had a glass lens that was heated by a fan that circulated air from the cooling fins in back. The pattern of light was a little weird but it was a nice light. I had to perform surgery on my Jeep to make them fit and use a bypass harness with a capacitor and resistor to smooth out the PWM JK power.

FF a couple of years
The 8700 Evolution had the same light pattern, plastic lens, smaller body, and fit without surgery. Still needs a fancy bypass harness.

FF a shorter time period
The 8700 Evolution II has a much better light pattern, fits well, still needs fancy harness.

FF once more.
The 8700 Evolution II-J has the great light pattern, a half-halo on high and low beams, DRL capability, fits perfectly, and needs no adapter or harness. Plug and play.

For foglights, JW Speaker has a couple and they are fairly specific to the PWM output of your model year. I'm afraid I don't know how well they'd fit in a Warn bumper ---- but they're the same size as stock foglights. So if stock fits, JWS will fit.
 
#3 ·
Do not make the same mistake I made and order a set of 6145 J foglights if you have a 2013 or older JK. There is no difference between the 6145 and the 6145 J, they are both plug and play units (After one very easy splice the change out the connector, but there are harnesses you can buy online that allow you to not have to do any splicing), but, if your JK is 2013 or older, and you buy the 6145 J they will flicker and be unusable. I'm assuming the same happens if you put the normal 6145's in a 2014 or newer.

With that said, I have a set of 6145 J's taking up space that I'm willing to sell... They were installed for about 3 weeks while I waited for my replacement 6145's to arrive and find time to install. less then an hour of total run time on them.
 
#5 ·
Ummm, I have the 6145 J's on a 2015 and they are just fine.
 
#6 ·
So what about the turn signals and the marker lights? Can anyone recommend a good LED upgrade for those (preferably something you've used for a while)?

Also on the subject of LED headlights or fogs... how's their durability?
 
#8 ·
My JW J-Series headlights and fogs have been great for the 6+ months I've had them, still look and perform good as new.
Some guys like the Recon LED turn signals but I don't have any first hand experience with them personally.
 
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