Best non-LED headlight option?

I may try this mod too.

No chance of damaging/frying/melting anything by running high and low beams on at the same time?
 
The Sylvania SilverStar halogen bulbs have pretty good reviews from TJ owners. I just ordered some from Amazon, $22 each.
 
nk24 said:
Cibie headlight housings: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B008DQV88Q/?tag=wranglerorg-20

Phillips +130% H4 bulbs: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NMEEOV2/?tag=wranglerorg-20

To maximize the power to your bulbs, you'll want to add a harness + relay that pulls power directly from the battery. If you're good with wiring, you can make your own. I used the ARB M002 harness: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004LQHHIW/?tag=wranglerorg-20
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I did this and it definitely can see the difference, to the point I am not looking at led any more.

Sent from my XT1575 using Tapatalk
 
MountaineerTom said:
No chance of damaging/frying/melting anything by running high and low beams on at the same time?
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pagrey said:
It almost doubles the current draw through the factory circuit, roll the dice and carry a fire extinguisher.
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No, it doesn't. The high beams and low beams are on at the same time, but each only carries the same current as if they were on separately.
 
C.J. Roberts said:
No, it doesn't. The high beams and low beams are on at the same time, but each only carries the same current as if they were on separately.
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Did you consider the ground wire, it is 20 gauge on my Jeep and running both lights puts almost 10A through it instead of the designed max of 5A?
 
pagrey said:
Did you consider the ground wire, it is 20 gauge on my Jeep and running both lights puts almost 10A through it instead of the designed max of 5A?
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That's my understanding of it; two positives and a common negative, thus creating one wire that's handling twice the current as was existent prior.
 
I had JK headlights in my TJ. Very cheap and easy to find. Direct bolt in but I did need a harness to adapt the bulbs. I paid about 12 dollars. They were a lot better than the factory sealed beams, ie: better pattern a little brighter. Now I have retrofitted HID projectors in the JK housings. Very bright with nice sharp cut off to avoid being a dick.
101444
 
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It was very popular about 10 years ago. The process involves heating the headlight housing and separating the clear plastic lens from the mirrored portion. Then trimming the housing until there is enough room for the projector assembly and gluing the whole thing back together. In this case usually JB Weld putty. There are lots of vids on youtube. A long time ago there was a lot of crap being sold on the market, like cheap ignitors and ballasts (just like there is a ton of LED crap now), but now most of the bugs have been worked out. Cheap Chinese shit has moved on to something more profitable (again, LED) and you can actually get kits that are quality and reasonably priced. About $150-400 bucks. The BEST LED lights on the market struggle to perform as well as an entry level HID projector.

101485


The other bonus is nearly unlimited customizability. The reflector was painted satin black with soft flat iron accents to match my bumpers and I chose to have DRL's that mimic the Porsche Panamera (4 white led's surrounding the main light) The DRL's turn amber to double as a turn signal (switchback). I'm not a halo kinda guy so I painted over that portion with red paint to accent other bits of my jeep.

Its all a bit of work, but I have something unique that works extremely well
 
MountaineerTom said:
I may try this mod too.

No chance of damaging/frying/melting anything by running high and low beams on at the same time?
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No, KC sells a relay kit called a quad beam. They are on 2 different circuits, the quad beam runs the low beams when the high beams are on. I am cheap, you can download the wiring diagram and wire it up yourself. I used to run it in Alaska and it is well worth the money.
 
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kmas0n said:
It was very popular about 10 years ago. The process involves heating the headlight housing and separating the clear plastic lens from the mirrored portion. Then trimming the housing until there is enough room for the projector assembly and gluing the whole thing back together. In this case usually JB Weld putty. There are lots of vids on youtube. A long time ago there was a lot of crap being sold on the market, like cheap ignitors and ballasts (just like there is a ton of LED crap now), but now most of the bugs have been worked out. Cheap Chinese shit has moved on to something more profitable (again, LED) and you can actually get kits that are quality and reasonably priced. About $150-400 bucks. The BEST LED lights on the market struggle to perform as well as an entry level HID projector.

View attachment 101485

The other bonus is nearly unlimited customizability. The reflector was painted satin black with soft flat iron accents to match my bumpers and I chose to have DRL's that mimic the Porsche Panamera (4 white led's surrounding the main light) The DRL's turn amber to double as a turn signal (switchback). I'm not a halo kinda guy so I painted over that portion with red paint to accent other bits of my jeep.

Its all a bit of work, but I have something unique that works extremely well
Click to expand...

Love that color, and color matched headlight rings! What's going on with your left fender? Did you tire smiley face it, or is it camera angle weirdness?
 
kmas0n said:
It was very popular about 10 years ago. The process involves heating the headlight housing and separating the clear plastic lens from the mirrored portion. Then trimming the housing until there is enough room for the projector assembly and gluing the whole thing back together. In this case usually JB Weld putty. There are lots of vids on youtube. A long time ago there was a lot of crap being sold on the market, like cheap ignitors and ballasts (just like there is a ton of LED crap now), but now most of the bugs have been worked out. Cheap Chinese shit has moved on to something more profitable (again, LED) and you can actually get kits that are quality and reasonably priced. About $150-400 bucks. The BEST LED lights on the market struggle to perform as well as an entry level HID projector.

View attachment 101485

The other bonus is nearly unlimited customizability. The reflector was painted satin black with soft flat iron accents to match my bumpers and I chose to have DRL's that mimic the Porsche Panamera (4 white led's surrounding the main light) The DRL's turn amber to double as a turn signal (switchback). I'm not a halo kinda guy so I painted over that portion with red paint to accent other bits of my jeep.

Its all a bit of work, but I have something unique that works extremely well
Click to expand...
That might be good if you want a project, I would rather just wire up a set of JK lights and a quad beam setup, costs me about $40 including the JK lights.
 
astjp2 said:
That might be good if you want a project, I would rather just wire up a set of JK lights and a quad beam setup, costs me about $40 including the JK lights.
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For sure! I did it because I wanted a project. same as every other thing I've done to my jeep. Anyone can whip out the credit card.
 
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kmas0n said:
It was very popular about 10 years ago. The process involves heating the headlight housing and separating the clear plastic lens from the mirrored portion. Then trimming the housing until there is enough room for the projector assembly and gluing the whole thing back together. In this case usually JB Weld putty. There are lots of vids on youtube. A long time ago there was a lot of crap being sold on the market, like cheap ignitors and ballasts (just like there is a ton of LED crap now), but now most of the bugs have been worked out. Cheap Chinese shit has moved on to something more profitable (again, LED) and you can actually get kits that are quality and reasonably priced. About $150-400 bucks. The BEST LED lights on the market struggle to perform as well as an entry level HID projector.

View attachment 101485

The other bonus is nearly unlimited customizability. The reflector was painted satin black with soft flat iron accents to match my bumpers and I chose to have DRL's that mimic the Porsche Panamera (4 white led's surrounding the main light) The DRL's turn amber to double as a turn signal (switchback). I'm not a halo kinda guy so I painted over that portion with red paint to accent other bits of my jeep.

Its all a bit of work, but I have something unique that works extremely well
Click to expand...

I'm very familiar with the process; I was asking for the specifics of the components that you chose. Sorry for not making that clear.
 
Sundowner said:
I'm very familiar with the process; I was asking for the specifics of the components that you chose. Sorry for not making that clear.
Click to expand...

Ah gotcha. Its the ACME H1 Standard projector kit, using 5k bulbs with Black Panamera 2.0 switchback shrouds. All purchased from the retrofitsource.
 
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