Jeep Wrangler TJ LED Headlight Upgrade Options

Priorities, priorities... I totally get that!

I'd have more money to spend on the TJ if it wasn't for my other hobbies.
 
AAAAh, gotcha. Saving my pennies for the non-heated. Thanks again, don't know how I missed that.

No worries, I missed it at first too!

You'll be happy with the Truck Lites. They are excellent on my TJ.
 
I've been running my Truck-lite 27270C's for a few months now. Really impressed with the light output.

Anybody going this route is advised to spend the time to align them properly. My adjusters were seized and I didn't want to strip them so I spent the hour or so removing the buckets. Easy job. Soaked both ends of the adjuster screws (the two opposite each other!) with penetrating oil and warmed them up gently with a heat gun. Free'd them up easily without stripping the Torx screw heads. Put everything back together and adjusted them at 25' per the manual (lots of info on Youtube/Internet).

Out of the box, the Trucklite patterns were way too high - much higher than the sealed beams they replaced. Now I love the pattern and no more annoyed high-beam flashes from other drivers (poor bastards!).
 
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Chris,

I just received my lights today, you mentioned plug & play, do I unplug the old and just plug in the new, no other wiring in between? New lights came with some additional plugs, are these for the JK's
 
Chris,

I just received my lights today, you mentioned plug & play, do I unplug the old and just plug in the new, no other wiring in between? New lights came with some additional plugs, are these for the JK's

Those are the anti-flicker harnesses, which are only required if you have a JK (due to their CANBUS system).

You don't need those harnesses. Just plug them in and you'll be good to go, that's all there is to it!
 
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I ended up selling my light bar to get the Iron horse LEDs (knockoff truck lites). I've had em for about a week now and I'm pretty happy with them so far. They're WAY brighter than the stock lights and I love the way they look on my jeep. I used silicone around the lenses and where the wires run into the lights and have had no problems with moisture getting in. I'll post an update in a few months about how they hold up. For $152 on amazon plus $5 shipping I can't complain

https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B01G4Y19WI/?tag=tjforum-20
 
View attachment 14259 View attachment 14260 View attachment 14261 View attachment 14262 I ended up selling my light bar to get the Iron horse LEDs (knockoff truck lites). I've had em for about a week now and I'm pretty happy with them so far. They're WAY brighter than the stock lights and I love the way they look on my jeep. I used silicone around the lenses and where the wires run into the lights and have had no problems with moisture getting in. I'll post an update in a few months about how they hold up. For $152 on amazon plus $5 shipping I can't complain

https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B01G4Y19WI/?tag=tjforum-20

They look indistinguishable from Truck Lines from what I see!

If they are as good as my Truck Lites, you don't even need a light bar. My Truck Lites are so bright that having a light bar just seems silly now!
 
I've used them off road a couple times now and don't regret ditching the light bar

Good to hear! That's my thought on LED light bars... If you have a nice set of LED headlights, you really shouldn't need a light bar.
 
I'm back, i never made up my mind and still just have the hella H4 lights. I hope I don't get too long winded here, lol. I was about to jump on the Chinese honeycomb lights that many people have been recommending. But, then someone posted the headlight revolution youtube videos. First of all, I love how they show how lumin output is NOT the end all and that the spread and pattern is much more important. Anyways, they show reviews of all these lights, and show the output on the dirt road, with yardage. And they really displayed how weak the knockoff lights are! From the honeycomb to the JW speaker knockoffs. They fall WAY short comparing to the real thing. Makes me wonder how so many people recommend the knockoffs, saying they are so similar.

FAKE:

REAL:

As you can see, especially the high beam, it is not even close! And I love how they show it, cuz it shows how these lights expand to the ditches. It seems that the LED lights have good hot spots, and when looking "into" the oncoming light, they look sooo bright compared to the halogens. But many of them do not expand light well. I want to see the little critters' eyes off to the sides! My Hella pattern is so good, and reaches so far, that's why I have been so reluctant to get rid of them, altho I LOVE the look of the styles of the LEDs and I like the whiter color. And after seeing the reviews of these knock offs, I really doubt they are actually brighter than the Hella H4 lights, especially since I haven't even done a wiring harness yet, nor 80/100w bulbs. I sure wish they or someone could show good pics of how much of a difference they make, lighting up the road, and not just a garage wall, cuz these other vids have shown how unreliable that can be.

Now, with all that said, Since I believe the knockoffs give worse light spread, and distance, even if, more light up close, I don't want them. So that leaves me to do harness and 80/100w bulbs, or the real JW lights or the Vision X Vortex XIL-7RD . (I discounted the truck lite after I saw how low the pattern was for the brights). I am a cheap ass, lol, but I also always have buyers remorse and always wish I purchased better than what I did. So, I just might be able to convince myself to spend $800, if I know I'll never need to second guess my decision. Take a look at the low and high patterns of the JW vs Vision X. What do you think?

JW:

Vision X:

The downfall the the Vision X low beam is little light up close, but fog lights remedy that. The JW wins the high beam, unless you use the special harness for the Vision X. With the harness, the low/high beam on the vision X, is IMPRESSIVE! Plus, I really like the look of the vision bulbs, and the halo DRL feature. Anyone have the Vision X and have feedback they could share?

Sigh, or just get wiring harness and 80/100 bulbs, and could even get $100 halo rings to install in them. (Anyone ever take apart a Hella H4 housing? Does anyone know of samples of the 80/100 bulbs? Everyone just says they're brighter, but I haven't seen comparisons.
 
I'm back, i never made up my mind and still just have the hella H4 lights. I hope I don't get too long winded here, lol. I was about to jump on the Chinese honeycomb lights that many people have been recommending. But, then someone posted the headlight revolution youtube videos. First of all, I love how they show how lumin output is NOT the end all and that the spread and pattern is much more important. Anyways, they show reviews of all these lights, and show the output on the dirt road, with yardage. And they really displayed how weak the knockoff lights are! From the honeycomb to the JW speaker knockoffs. They fall WAY short comparing to the real thing. Makes me wonder how so many people recommend the knockoffs, saying they are so similar.

FAKE:

REAL:

As you can see, especially the high beam, it is not even close! And I love how they show it, cuz it shows how these lights expand to the ditches. It seems that the LED lights have good hot spots, and when looking "into" the oncoming light, they look sooo bright compared to the halogens. But many of them do not expand light well. I want to see the little critters' eyes off to the sides! My Hella pattern is so good, and reaches so far, that's why I have been so reluctant to get rid of them, altho I LOVE the look of the styles of the LEDs and I like the whiter color. And after seeing the reviews of these knock offs, I really doubt they are actually brighter than the Hella H4 lights, especially since I haven't even done a wiring harness yet, nor 80/100w bulbs. I sure wish they or someone could show good pics of how much of a difference they make, lighting up the road, and not just a garage wall, cuz these other vids have shown how unreliable that can be.

Now, with all that said, Since I believe the knockoffs give worse light spread, and distance, even if, more light up close, I don't want them. So that leaves me to do harness and 80/100w bulbs, or the real JW lights or the Vision X Vortex XIL-7RD . (I discounted the truck lite after I saw how low the pattern was for the brights). I am a cheap ass, lol, but I also always have buyers remorse and always wish I purchased better than what I did. So, I just might be able to convince myself to spend $800, if I know I'll never need to second guess my decision. Take a look at the low and high patterns of the JW vs Vision X. What do you think?

JW:

Vision X:

The downfall the the Vision X low beam is little light up close, but fog lights remedy that. The JW wins the high beam, unless you use the special harness for the Vision X. With the harness, the low/high beam on the vision X, is IMPRESSIVE! Plus, I really like the look of the vision bulbs, and the halo DRL feature. Anyone have the Vision X and have feedback they could share?

Sigh, or just get wiring harness and 80/100 bulbs, and could even get $100 halo rings to install in them. (Anyone ever take apart a Hella H4 housing? Does anyone know of samples of the 80/100 bulbs? Everyone just says they're brighter, but I haven't seen comparisons.

My two favorites are the JW Speakers and the Vision-X, so it's funny you bring this up. Everything I read points to these two options being some of the best. Also, the new JW Speaker 8700 Evolution J (their newest model) are even further improved.

Either way, I think the reason I can actually feel comfortable recommending knockoffs is because of the fact that ANY headlight is better than the stock sealed beams. Honest to god, my friend has a set of the Truck Lite knockoffs, and while they aren't as bright as my real Truck Lites, I can tell you with 100% certainty they ARE brighter than the stock headlights without a shadow of a doubt.