Auxbeam recently asked me if I would write an article for them about LED headlights for their web site. I agreed, and they sent me two pairs of headlights to feature in the article. One pair has combination DRL/turn signal halos and the other pair also has DRL/turn signal halos, but on that pair they're Bluetooth controlled, animated and with RGB color control. They also recently sent me a pair of 25,000 lumen (per pair) LED H13 bulbs. What follows in this post are selected excerpts of the article that apply to the TJ/LJ.
First I'll cover the H13 bulbs and show how they can be used in a TJ.
The standard JK H13 Halogen (right) and the Auxbeam LED.
BTW typical Halogens are about 1000 lumens in low beam, so the LEDs should be a lot brighter. Even though the LDs are rated at 25,000 lumens per pair, each bulb won't be 12.5 times brighter than the Halogen its replacing though, for a number of reasons having to do with how lumens are measured and how LED bulbs work; Auxbeam says these bulbs are 6 1/2 times brighter than standard Halogens.
TJ's have sealed beam Halogen headlights that don't accept separate bulbs but that's easily changed - this photo shows a sealed beam (left) and a JK H13 housing (center and right). The JK housing is a direct replacement for the sealed beam in the TJ and since it accepts separate H13 bulbs, it's a way to swap the LEDs into the TJ.
The swap is easy - remove the headlight trim (Torx T20), then remove the headlight retainer ring (T15), plug in an H4-H13 adapter for each light, put a bulb in the housing and plug the wiring adapter into it and install the H13 housing in the reverse order of removal.
H4 to H13 adapters are available in many places, including eBay:
I installed these bulbs in mk JKU a while back and here's the result. The camera is set to manual aperture and shutter speed so all three photos are comparable. Left to right: stock headlights, LED on drivers side/stock on passenger, and both LEDs installed.
One of the reasons I wanted to upgrade... deer are rampant around here...
In this photo, the original sealed beam is on the left and the JK H13 housing is on the right. For people who want better lighting but want to retain a stock look, this is a great way to go. JK headlight housings are available on eBay and often on Craigslist because so many JK owners swap halo lights and other non-factory looking lights for their stock H13s.
LEDs with DRL Halos and Halo Turn Signals
The Auxbeam QP005972 (https://auxbeam.com/products/spu00208) lights include a separate DRL and turn signal functions in a “halo” around the perimeter of the housing. The halo component can be seen in the LED in the center of the photo above. Sharing the DRL component of these lights is the turn signal function - the halo is white and when the turn signal is activated the halo turns yellow.
Compared to the TJ's sealed beam:
The QP005972s installed in a (custom) TJ grille:
The video below demonstrates the features of the QP005972. In the video, first the DRL halo is turned on. Then the driver side turn signal turn signal is operated, notice that it changes the halo from white to yellow. Next the headlights are turned on and following that the passenger side turn signal is operated. And finally, the high beams are turned on. If you think the nearer headlight seems brighter than the far light, that’s because of the tight beam pattern of the lights – the camera is more in the beam pattern of the near light than the far light so the near light looks brighter to the camera.
This photo shows the wiring connections on the LED. The white wire is the DRL, the yellow wire is the turn signal and the three pins on the H4 plug are (left to right) ground, low beam and high beam.
Auxbeam provides some extra wire for connecting the DRLs and turn signals but not the spade connectors. Oh well.
If the DRL function is desired, there are several ways to wire it, each with different operations:
Suitcase connectors are a good way to connect the turn signals.
Moving up the “Bling” Scale – Bluetooth-controlled RGB Halos
The Auxbeam QP000081 (https://auxbeam.com/products/qp000081) 7” LED headlights have rotating LED halos with Bluetooth RGB control – the halo ring on these consists of RGB LEDs that can be set to any color and has animation controlled by the smartphone that can add a rotating effect to the halo.
This photo shows the wiring harness for the QP000081 light kit. There’s a male H4 plug attached to each light and that plugs into the female H4 plug in the vehicle.
In the center of the photo is the Bluetooth/RGB controller which needs to be mounted somewhere convenient in the vehicle, typically in the engine compartment. There are wires which run from the controller to each of the headlights, and these control the RGB halo functions.
At the bottom center of the photo are 4 connections – the red and black wires get connected to 12v and ground, to provide power to the Bluetooth module. The wires labeled “left” and “right” control the turn signal function of the halos in the same way as the halo lights described earlier do, and should be connected in the same was as described for those lights.
The smartphone app is available at the Apple store for IOS and the Google store for Android and it's called "Happy Lighting".
The screen on the left is the color screen – the color wheel can be tapped anywhere to select the color of the halo, or presets below the color ring can be selected. The screen on the right is the animation control, and the animation effect and color can be selected from a scrolling list in the center of the screen. The speed of the animation can also be selected.
The app has other features, such as syncronizing the animation to music, but I wasn't able to figure out that feature of the app.
This video shows some of the effects possible:
The turn signal and headlight functions are not show in the video above; they work the same as those in the halo lights describe earlier in this article – when a turn signal is activated, the halo on that side of the vehicle flashes yellow until the turn signal is turned off, at which time the animation effects resume.
I've been using the H13 bulbs in my JKU and I like them a lot, they really do improve visibility a lot. I'll thinking I'll ask Auxbeam for some more for the 06's and put JK housings in to support them.
Halo lights aren't my thing so I don't plan to use either of those in my 06's. I'll thinking I'll offer them for the price of shipping once I'm Auxbeam has accepted the final article.
First I'll cover the H13 bulbs and show how they can be used in a TJ.
The standard JK H13 Halogen (right) and the Auxbeam LED.
BTW typical Halogens are about 1000 lumens in low beam, so the LEDs should be a lot brighter. Even though the LDs are rated at 25,000 lumens per pair, each bulb won't be 12.5 times brighter than the Halogen its replacing though, for a number of reasons having to do with how lumens are measured and how LED bulbs work; Auxbeam says these bulbs are 6 1/2 times brighter than standard Halogens.
TJ's have sealed beam Halogen headlights that don't accept separate bulbs but that's easily changed - this photo shows a sealed beam (left) and a JK H13 housing (center and right). The JK housing is a direct replacement for the sealed beam in the TJ and since it accepts separate H13 bulbs, it's a way to swap the LEDs into the TJ.
The swap is easy - remove the headlight trim (Torx T20), then remove the headlight retainer ring (T15), plug in an H4-H13 adapter for each light, put a bulb in the housing and plug the wiring adapter into it and install the H13 housing in the reverse order of removal.
H4 to H13 adapters are available in many places, including eBay:
I installed these bulbs in mk JKU a while back and here's the result. The camera is set to manual aperture and shutter speed so all three photos are comparable. Left to right: stock headlights, LED on drivers side/stock on passenger, and both LEDs installed.
One of the reasons I wanted to upgrade... deer are rampant around here...
In this photo, the original sealed beam is on the left and the JK H13 housing is on the right. For people who want better lighting but want to retain a stock look, this is a great way to go. JK headlight housings are available on eBay and often on Craigslist because so many JK owners swap halo lights and other non-factory looking lights for their stock H13s.
LEDs with DRL Halos and Halo Turn Signals
The Auxbeam QP005972 (https://auxbeam.com/products/spu00208) lights include a separate DRL and turn signal functions in a “halo” around the perimeter of the housing. The halo component can be seen in the LED in the center of the photo above. Sharing the DRL component of these lights is the turn signal function - the halo is white and when the turn signal is activated the halo turns yellow.
Compared to the TJ's sealed beam:
The QP005972s installed in a (custom) TJ grille:
The video below demonstrates the features of the QP005972. In the video, first the DRL halo is turned on. Then the driver side turn signal turn signal is operated, notice that it changes the halo from white to yellow. Next the headlights are turned on and following that the passenger side turn signal is operated. And finally, the high beams are turned on. If you think the nearer headlight seems brighter than the far light, that’s because of the tight beam pattern of the lights – the camera is more in the beam pattern of the near light than the far light so the near light looks brighter to the camera.
This photo shows the wiring connections on the LED. The white wire is the DRL, the yellow wire is the turn signal and the three pins on the H4 plug are (left to right) ground, low beam and high beam.
Auxbeam provides some extra wire for connecting the DRLs and turn signals but not the spade connectors. Oh well.
If the DRL function is desired, there are several ways to wire it, each with different operations:
- If the white wire is connected to a switched circuit the DRLs will be illuminated whenever the vehicle ignition switch is on.
- If the white wire is connected to the parking light circuit, the DRLs will be illuminated whenever the parking lights or headlights are switched on.
- The white wire could be connected to a switch so they could be turned on or off at will.
Suitcase connectors are a good way to connect the turn signals.
Moving up the “Bling” Scale – Bluetooth-controlled RGB Halos
The Auxbeam QP000081 (https://auxbeam.com/products/qp000081) 7” LED headlights have rotating LED halos with Bluetooth RGB control – the halo ring on these consists of RGB LEDs that can be set to any color and has animation controlled by the smartphone that can add a rotating effect to the halo.
This photo shows the wiring harness for the QP000081 light kit. There’s a male H4 plug attached to each light and that plugs into the female H4 plug in the vehicle.
In the center of the photo is the Bluetooth/RGB controller which needs to be mounted somewhere convenient in the vehicle, typically in the engine compartment. There are wires which run from the controller to each of the headlights, and these control the RGB halo functions.
At the bottom center of the photo are 4 connections – the red and black wires get connected to 12v and ground, to provide power to the Bluetooth module. The wires labeled “left” and “right” control the turn signal function of the halos in the same way as the halo lights described earlier do, and should be connected in the same was as described for those lights.
The smartphone app is available at the Apple store for IOS and the Google store for Android and it's called "Happy Lighting".
The screen on the left is the color screen – the color wheel can be tapped anywhere to select the color of the halo, or presets below the color ring can be selected. The screen on the right is the animation control, and the animation effect and color can be selected from a scrolling list in the center of the screen. The speed of the animation can also be selected.
The app has other features, such as syncronizing the animation to music, but I wasn't able to figure out that feature of the app.
This video shows some of the effects possible:
The turn signal and headlight functions are not show in the video above; they work the same as those in the halo lights describe earlier in this article – when a turn signal is activated, the halo on that side of the vehicle flashes yellow until the turn signal is turned off, at which time the animation effects resume.
I've been using the H13 bulbs in my JKU and I like them a lot, they really do improve visibility a lot. I'll thinking I'll ask Auxbeam for some more for the 06's and put JK housings in to support them.
Halo lights aren't my thing so I don't plan to use either of those in my 06's. I'll thinking I'll offer them for the price of shipping once I'm Auxbeam has accepted the final article.
. I'm not really a "light guy" and don't need additional lights for the way I use my Jeeps so I don't expect any of these will find a permanent home on any of my Jeeps but it's fun to try out new things anyway and I do enjoy doing reviews and writing. I'll post reviews of the new lights once I've installed and tested them.
