H.D. Headlight Loom

[SkinnyMe97]

Kurt, I know it's on here a few places, but there's a simple mod to the fog relay- afermarket harnesses and the OE fog ckt don't play nice. I'll post one of the links when I find it.

There are two ways aruond this problem . 1 involves modifying the fog relay 2 you can ground the highbeam terminal on the stock drivers side headlight socket .

[hubs97xj]

There's another on jumpering two of the relay terminals, but I don't have it bookmarked, and I don't have the OE wiring to check it against. I don't think you have to ground that wire, but just cut it so the high beams don't energize the relay (I think that's all the jumper, bent pin, or grounding the lead do- keeping the ckt open even when the high beams are on). I'm going to bypass the stock wiring altogether.

[SkinnyMe97]

If you cut that wire your factory fogs wont work at all , but yes all your really doing is keeping the fog light cut off relay from tripping when the highs are on .

[hubs97xj]

Ah, that's why the other one uses a jumper, instead of just pulling the relay. Makes sense now.

[Carves]

Originally Posted by 99XJer

The harness will cause premature failure (lights burn out) but you can try it

If thats the case ... I would still rather burn out the headlight bulbs ... than the factory wiring looms and switches.

But as posted above ... 100w bulbs will burn out quicker than 55w bulbs ... thats a normal situation.

4wd accessory shop sales staff are generally just sales staff ... and ARB sales staff take great pride in actually selling heavy duty wiring looms - which is a bit of a contradiction to the info the salesperson gave you.

An auto wiring professional is the best to be asking electrical questions from

Originally Posted by KurT5

hubs, I have the Go-Jeep write up but i didnt know how complicated the write up is compaired to any others that might be out there. IM not 100% sure what im doing as i havent finished reading the write up but im interested in making my own if i cant find one in a local parts store. Does anyone else have a write up on how to make this harness other than the go-jeep? im gunna price together how much it will roughly cost and then see how much shipping is and either way ill prolly build it myself because i like knowing that if somethings wrong at least I f*cked it up haha

gojeeps write up is not that complicated ... although Fitches and others are easier to follow imho.

Doesnt really matter whose method you use as long as they are correct with the info.

Fitches write up is a little confusing in regard to the relay ... until you look at all his wiring diagrams ... and realise that he has used one relay per headlight ... rather than one relay for hi beam ... and one relay for lo beam. Really doesnt matter which way the switching operation is done ... as long as you understand the differences between terminal 87 ... and terminal 87a.

Upgrading headlight wiring is a simple task ... The whole point of the exercise is to safely get battery power to the headlights via the shortest possible distance ... for best lighting effect. That means using relays and bigger gauge wire from battery to relay to headlight.

Jeeps method of using grossly inadequate wiring gauges and draping it all round the vehicle - made the XJ headlight upgrade a higher priority for me - than on any other brand vehicle I have ever owned ... even compared to old 1970's LandRovers.

How have I been doing headlight upgrades on various vehicles ??? ... basically the same way as the jeep specific writeups listed above ... because all the principles and equipment are the same ... battery / relays / wiring / headlights ... just because its a jeep doesnt make the job all that special ... just more of a nescessity ...

Heres some more relay info for you ... basically confirms the other good info link provided by morris4x4 ... I normally use the dual type relay, shown at the bottom of the link page ... dunno whether you blokes have that type available.

Relay_Info

[Wrenchands]

Just marking this thread for later use.

[sbxj]

Originally Posted by 99XJer

ok well call arb and ask them what they think thats what they told me and hubs to a chill pill dude sorry for breaking your laws this is what i was told by ARB them selves talk to matt

that's the overpriced ARB harness LOL
BS
a good harness will only protect your wiring and make your lights brighter...you would have to hook it up wrong or have faulty bulbs (IPF)
stop spreading misinformation

[berubeny]

Originally Posted by Morris4x4Center

The Fitch article is great, but a little misleading. On a standard relay, 87 and 87a are NOT the same. 87a is connected to 30 when the relay is "off", 87 is connected when the relay is "on". If you connect this way with a standard single pole double throw relay, the driver's side high and low beam will be on when the lights are NOT on. When the low beams are engaged, the passenger side low will come on and the driver's side low will cut off. Same will happen when the high beams are engaged.

To make this work, you will have to use a single pole, single throw relay with dual outputs. These are not common, but they do exist. These relays will have two 87's.

Here is an example...

specialty relays

Well that explains why I spent 2 hours putting the harness in, and 5 min ripping it out right before work. Is there a direct link to this relay I need? Would like a part # if possible to buy locally. Thanks

[hubs97xj]

Yeah, the link Morris posted- the one in the post you quoted.
specialty relays