TJ Sealed Headlight Suggestions

I just installed e-code Hellas on my Jeep - but will also be adding a set of LED replacement "bulbs" as per another member here. 'Preciate the lite aiming PDF, by far the best procedure I've seen.
 
The Rugged Ridge and Rampage lights look very much like a set of "RoundEyes" H4 lights I ran for years in at least three Jeeps. H4 is a good alternative to the factory sealed beam lights that won't break the bank. I liked the ones I've had so much, I still have a set in reserve and will likely pull my JW Speaker LEDs to put these back in. After running the LEDs for a while now, I prefer the H4 style. As @CharlesHS stated though, you'll get better results by upgading the harness, if you go to a brighter bulb.

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I just installed e-code Hellas on my Jeep - but will also be adding a set of LED replacement "bulbs" as per another member here. 'Preciate the lite aiming PDF, by far the best procedure I've seen.

It was an upgrade until you mentioned those LED bulbs. Hope they work out for you.


It would be interesting to read a report of a head-to-head comparison of H4 bulbs in E-Code housings vs. cheap Chinese LED bulbs in the same E-Code housings, especially if that report includes photos of the light pattern when the housings are properly aimed to keep it objective rather than subjective.
 
Yup, pretty much.
And in the fact that all of the lighting current (heads and tail lights) goes through the MFS, you have the makings of a "fail."
So what you're saying is that the wiring is inadequate for even the factory sealed beams?

The addition of the separate harness will only use the factory 18 ga wiring as a trigger for the relays in the separate harness which creates only a minimal load on factory harness and MFS.
The 2.0-3.0 V increase in voltage going from 11.5V to 13.8-14.3 V to the headlights will in itself allow for brighter headlights no matter what headlight housing or bulb you choose.
 
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It was an upgrade until you mentioned those LED bulbs. Hope they work out for you.


It would be interesting to read a report of a head-to-head comparison of H4 bulbs in E-Code housings vs. cheap Chinese LED bulbs in the same E-Code housings, especially if that report includes photos of the light pattern when the housings are properly aimed to keep it objective rather than subjective.
Its been done - in another thread here. "BeamTech" LEDs from Amazon.
 
I ran the Rampage H4 conversion for several years until I broke a housing lens on one, I then converted to Hella E-codes with the same bulbs @Mr. Bills is running. It was a noticeable improvement. I recently added the harness upgrade.
https://www.ksuspensionfab.com/store/p6/H4_Upgraded_Headlight_Harness.html#/
It seems to have improved the lighting even more, but I have no solid evidence for that. I do know the harness kit has good quality porcelain pigtails, so maybe the better contacts are helping.
 
Link?

Was it a head-to-head comparison with H4 halogen bulbs using the same headlight housings, properly aimed?

If it was these, the 6500K color temperature would be much too blue for my tastes.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XHD78DQ/?tag=wranglerorg-20


YMMV
Yep, those are the ones. Properly aimed? I couldn't tell you as I didn't do it. Don't have a link handy, sorry. Search is your friend - I hope!

Here ya go, post #28
https://wranglertjforum.com/threads...p-wrangler-unlimited.14995/page-2#post-558615
 
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. . . I recently added the harness upgrade.
https://www.ksuspensionfab.com/store/p6/H4_Upgraded_Headlight_Harness.html#/
It seems to have improved the lighting even more, but I have no solid evidence for that. I do know the harness kit has good quality porcelain pigtails, so maybe the better contacts are helping.

Your comment about "good quality porcelain pigtails" started a train of thought. I recall one thread where the differences between your linked harness and the harnesses on Amazon were discussed, but I can't find it now. My recollection is that the ones on Amazon are Chinese in origin and a few dollars less. However, I don't remember anyone ever commenting on the quality of the porcelain in the Chinese versions.

In any event, the observation by @CharlesHS that the ". . . increase in voltage going from 11.5V to 13.8-14.3 V to the headlights will in itself allow for brighter headlights no matter what headlight housing or bulb . . ." is most apropos because almost anyone running incandescent or halogen bulbs can get brighter bulbs simply by adding an aftermarket harness that powers the bulbs directly from the battery and uses the multipurpose headlight switch to power a relay rather than power the bulbs.

I have 60/55w H4's that work well now, so lets put the theory to the test. Time to buy an aftermarket harness even though I have had no issues with my 60/55w H4's with the factory harness. I decided that Steve Bezos has made enough money selling stuff to stay-at-homes during the pandemic so I called K Suspension in Idaho, source of the linked harness.

The good news is that K Suspension has them in stock. Although the harness can be found on the product page by clicking on "Jeep Wrangler YJ/TJ/LJ," the product listing itself shows the application as Jeep Cherokee XJ/MJ. I asked if there were any special considerations for installation in TJ's and LJ's. The response was that 18" of 14 ga. wire should be added to the power lead to reach the battery. (This is footnoted on the product page.) No problemo. I have plenty of 14 ga. wire.

My impression from my telephone conversation, although I did not ask directly, is that the harnesses from K Suspension may be assembled in-house in Idaho. I could be completely wrong and K Suspension could be just a reseller of the same Chinese harnesses sold on Amazon and Ebay. I ordered one and will let you know for certain when it arrives.
 
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And now that I think of it, an aftermarket harness might be just what @CybrSlydr is looking for to maximize performance from factory style sealed beams. At $25, it is certainly less expensive than an E-Code conversion kit or LED bulbs.

According to one of the videos on the K Suspension website, light intensity readings were actually greater with the stock OEM sealed beams and the aftermarket harness than they were with a set of $100 Amazon LED headlamps both with the factory harness and the aftermarket harnesses.
 
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I would shoot for a Kelvin rating of around 4300K which would be a natural white.
More than 5000K there is too much blue for my eyes.
I have a tendency to like whiter/bluer light rather than yellow - I've always preferred "cool white" florescents, etc. But the jury's still out for these LEDs - they're sitting in my garage, 10 minutes away from being installed, but I'm working on other things at the moment so haven't put them in yet.
 
Your comment about "good quality porcelain pigtails" started a train of thought. I recall one thread where the differences between your linked harness and the harnesses on Amazon were discussed, but I can't find it now. My recollection is that the ones on Amazon are Chinese in origin and a few dollars less. However, I don't remember anyone ever commenting on the quality of the porcelain in the Chinese versions.

In any event, the observation by @CharlesHS that the ". . . increase in voltage going from 11.5V to 13.8-14.3 V to the headlights will in itself allow for brighter headlights no matter what headlight housing or bulb . . ." is most apropos because almost anyone running incandescent or halogen bulbs can get brighter bulbs simply by adding an aftermarket harness that powers the bulbs directly from the battery and uses the multipurpose headlight switch to power a relay rather than power the bulbs.

I have 60/55w H4's that work well now, so lets put the theory to the test. Time to buy an aftermarket harness even though I have had no issues with my 60/55w H4's with the factory harness. I decided that Steve Bezos has made enough money selling stuff to stay-at-homes during the pandemic so I called K Suspension in Idaho, source of the linked harness.

The good news is that K Suspension has them in stock. Although the harness can be found on the product page by clicking on "Jeep Wrangler YJ/TJ/LJ," the product listing itself shows the application as Jeep Cherokee XJ/MJ. I asked if there were any special considerations for installation in TJ's and LJ's. The response was that 18" of 14 ga. wire should be added to the power lead to reach the battery. (This is footnoted on the product page.) No problemo. I have plenty of 14 ga. wire.

My impression from my telephone conversation, although I did not ask directly, is that the harnesses from K Suspension may be assembled in-house in Idaho. I could be completely wrong and K Suspension could be just a reseller of the same Chinese harnesses sold on Amazon and Ebay. I ordered one and will let you know for certain when it arrives.

I purchased and installed their harness. I mounted the relays on the front of the distribution box and had plenty of wire to run the power to the main input lead of the box. I ran the driver side wiring along the front lower lip of the grill and back up to the driver side headlight bucket. I drilled two holes on the lower grill lip and installed wire loom hoops for the harness to secure it. Took me about half and hour to install.
 
^^^this^^^ I just installed them, game changing. That said, to the OP, I had Sylvania Silverstars in before I went LED, they are yours if you want them, just pay for the shipping. But saving up $100 and going LED is the way to go IMO.
 
My thoughts on the subject:

1. The factory 7" sealed beams are 60/55W H4 bulbs inside sealed glass housings. Despite all the advertising hype, there is not a lot of difference between brands and none will be a true upgrade.

2. A simple and relatively inexpensive upgrade would be to convert to 7" Hella E Codes, Cibie, KC, etc. with standard 60/55 H4 bulbs. The improvement comes primarily from the better lighting patterns of the lenses rather than the bulbs. (I consider a conversion to cheap Chinese LED headlamps or Trucklite knockoffs to be a downgrade rather than an upgrade.)

3. There are "better" 60/55w H4 bulbs on the market. What makes them better is a slightly higher color temperature that improves visibility over the standard, more yellow H4 bulbs of the same wattage, but not so close to the blue part of the color scale as to result in glare.

4. There is no need to upgrade the headlight harness if one is converting to "E-Codes" of whatever brand and using standard 60/55w H4 bulbs because the current draw is exactly the same as the OEM Wagner bulbs. (A 60/55 watt 12v bulb consumes only 4.6 amps on low beam and 5 amps on high beam, well below the 7.5 amp design limitation of the headlamp switch and 18 ga. wire.)

5. Although not strictly necessary, an aftermarket headlight harness that allows the bulbs to be powered directly from the battery/alternator rather than through the headlamp switch will eliminate any risk of damaging the headlamp switch from excess current and will result in the bulbs burning brighter because they will be getting a full 12v. (The downside of burning at a full 12v is that the life of the bulbs will be shorter, but how much shorter is anyone's guess.)

6. Going with brighter H4 bulbs such as 80/55w or 100/55w will definitely require an aftermarket harness.

7. Aiming is everything. Too many people aim their E-Codes way too high and then wonder why they can't see the road directly in front of them and are lighting up the tree tops and getting flashed on high beam. Aiming instructions specifically for E-Codes can be found here: http://www.danielsternlighting.com/images/Aim.pdf


I use 7" Hella E code lenses with Philips Xtreme Vision +130% H4 bulb and the factory headlight harness. The improvement over stock is dramatic, replacement H4 bulbs are readily available anywhere, and retaining the factory harness has caused no issues.

This Hella kit:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001G72SKQ/?tag=wranglerorg-20

These bulbs:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NMEEOV2/?tag=wranglerorg-20

Amazon tip: Since prices vary from day to day, if you are not in a hurry to purchase you can use camelcamelcamel.com to track the variations and send you alerts when the product(s) you want hit your target price(s). For example, the Hella kit linked above, $87.91 on 5/12/20, was only $55.99 on 2/8/19.

https://camelcamelcamel.com/product/B001G72SKQ?context=search
https://camelcamelcamel.com/product/B00NMEEOV2?context=search



YMMV
Mr. Bills - I'm thinking about buying these headlights. Please confirm you are using the 165mm headlights and they fit as replacement for stock. 178mm is a closer metric equivalent to 7".
thanks.