Best and brightest headlights for an XJ.

T.H's TJ · Dec 17, 2005

My wife drives a 99 xj and the headlights on the thing are horrible. I don't consider the thing safe to drive at night. Im looking for the best upgrade for under a $100. I would really don't want to mess with the wireing but i will if i can't find a better set of headlights.

Also do the headlights normally dim when the electric fan comes on? And does your electric fan turn on and off when ever the AC clutch is engaged.

prb24 · Dec 17, 2005

I run the silverstars in my 98. Been pretty happy with them. I'm planning an H4 conversion in the future though.

As for the fan...yes it will go on and off with the A/C on. It's normal. With the lights dimming down, I wonder if it's drawing too many amps, like maybe there's something wrong with it. Not sure though.

Twisted · Dec 17, 2005

http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/showpost.php?p=1479367&postcount=14

01JeepXJ · Dec 17, 2005

If you are looking to spend a tad more

I would do the IPF headlight upgrade.

You can get the H4 housing and then get some nice magic bulbs or the Phat boys.

The will run you like 120

60 for the H4 housings and 60 for bulbs

I have the set up with a harness pics below

T.H's TJ · Dec 17, 2005

01JeepXJ said:
If you are looking to spend a tad more

I would do the IPF headlight upgrade.

You can get the H4 housing and then get some nice magic bulbs or the Phat boys.

The will run you like 120

60 for the H4 housings and 60 for bulbs

I have the set up with a harness pics below

Where does one get this stuff? Do you have an upgraded harness? Is this mod worth the cost?

Jeppy · Dec 17, 2005

My XJ was the same when I got it. Almost plowed a 1200# Elk! I got a star screwdriver and tweaked them up and that helped a lot. Check your alignment if you havent yet.

mylt1 · Dec 17, 2005

silverstars $40 or so, mabe less if you can find them on sale. its the difference of night and day.

T.H's TJ · Dec 17, 2005

mylt1 said:
silverstars $40 or so, mabe less if you can find them on sale. its the difference of night and day.

Yea i will probably go this route since we'll prolly gonna trade if for a KJ in a year or two.(no flames needed)

JoBo · Dec 17, 2005

I've got a 99 sport and mine has the driving lights in the bumper, they are a great help

I'm a firm beliver in the harness and relay route even with the stock bulbs and have made and installed them several times before

HOWEVER I spent a entire Saterday assembling and installing a very well made harness and relays and much to my supprise I found it would not work with my 99

Energizing the relays with a 12v source from the battery everything worked fine. But it seems with the delay off switch (or whatever it's called) a harness with relays will no way will work. As another replied make sure your lights are adjusted properly and remove and clean the plugs on the rear of the existing bulbs and put on some grease to prevent further corrosion :wave:

mylt1 · Dec 17, 2005

also with some of these aftermarket lights they are not d.o.t. so most are actually illegal to run on the roads. you would have to check your state laws. here in virginia, if it doesnt have a d.o.t. stamp on it you can get stopped and ticketed. also any colored bulb is illegal here as well. so if you do the h4 make sure you check your state laws.

VDoubleUVR6 · Dec 17, 2005

I have H4 housings like the one posted above that I took off my brothers Honda Prelude when it was totaled. I'm actually going outside to install new Osram Silverstar H4 bulbs that I ordered from the UK which I received last week. I also ordered Osram Super H3's for my fogs. I run the same H4 bulbs in my VW's euro spec headlights and love them and are better then the silvania silverstars which have a slight blue tint to them which I dont like.

Osram Silver star H4's:
http://www.powerbulbs.co.uk/product...umRecordPosition=1&P_ID=123&strPageHistory=cat&strKeywords=&SearchFor=&PT_ID=88

Oh and it was $50 and some change shipped to the US which took 5 days for a pair of H4, H3 and also they gave a set of Osram All Season H3 bulbs for free....can't beat that deal.

T.H's TJ · Dec 17, 2005

JoBo said:
I've got a 99 sport and mine has the driving lights in the bumper, they are a great help I'm a firm beliver in the harness and relay route even with the stock bulbs and have made and installed them several times before HOWEVER I spent a entire Saterday assembling and installing a very well made harness and relays and much to my supprise I found it would not work with my 99 Energizing the relays with a 12v source from the battery everything worked fine. But it seems with the delay off switch (or whatever it's called) a harness with relays will no way will work. As another replied make sure your lights are adjusted properly and remove and clean the plugs on the rear of the existing bulbs and put on some grease to prevent further corrosion :wave:

After studing this upgrade http://www.go.jeep-xj.info/HowtoHeadlightLoom.htm I don't see whey it wouldn't work. but i could be wrong.

XJClassic · Dec 17, 2005

I would recommend Cibie. Little more $, but very nice.

www.danielsternlighting.com

Twisted · Dec 17, 2005

JoBo said:
I've got a 99 sport and mine has the driving lights in the bumper, they are a great help I'm a firm beliver in the harness and relay route even with the stock bulbs and have made and installed them several times before HOWEVER I spent a entire Saterday assembling and installing a very well made harness and relays and much to my supprise I found it would not work with my 99 Energizing the relays with a 12v source from the battery everything worked fine. But it seems with the delay off switch (or whatever it's called) a harness with relays will no way will work. As another replied make sure your lights are adjusted properly and remove and clean the plugs on the rear of the existing bulbs and put on some grease to prevent further corrosion :wave:

Yeah, I don't know why it wouldn't work either. Even the delay for the lights still puts off 12v so technically the harness doesn't even know the switch it physically turned off.

Twisted · Dec 17, 2005

VDoubleUVR6 said:
Osram Silver star H4's:
http://www.powerbulbs.co.uk/product...umRecordPosition=1&P_ID=123&strPageHistory=cat&strKeywords=&SearchFor=&PT_ID=88

Oh and it was $50 and some change shipped to the US which took 5 days for a pair of H4, H3 and also they gave a set of Osram All Season H3 bulbs for free....can't beat that deal.

I would love to find some Xenon filled H4 bulbs with at least a 80w low beam. And that don't cost an arm and a leg.

Matt Gertsch · Dec 17, 2005

Have your alternator tested. If the lights dim when the aux. fan kicks on it suggests that you have a weak charging system. If the alternator isn't putting out 14.4v or enough current, it'll effect the headlights too.

T.H's TJ · Dec 17, 2005

mgertsch said:
Have your alternator tested. If the lights dim when the aux. fan kicks on it suggests that you have a weak charging system. If the alternator isn't putting out 14.4v or enough current, it'll effect the headlights too.

That could be true but i would think with all the night driving and short trips we would have some starting problems to. But I will check it to make shur.

01JeepXJ · Dec 17, 2005

T.H's TJ said:
Where does one get this stuff? Do you have an upgraded harness? Is this mod worth the cost?

just click the link on my sig

they carry it all

Jason/Jennifer are awesome to work with !!!!

also you can buy them and www.dpgoffroad.com

T.H's TJ · Dec 18, 2005

Went and bought silver stars. Huge diffrence! I think i need to aim them but still %100 percent betther than stock ones.

smac999 · Dec 18, 2005

my voltage drops about 0.5v and the lights dim for a sec or 2 when the fan kicks in.

putting a new red top battery in didn't change anything. I might add some more groud wires around the engine bay and battery and see if that helps. the stock wiring in my xj just looks way too small.

ctcherokee17 · Dec 18, 2005

Twisted said:
I would love to find some Xenon filled H4 bulbs with at least a 80w low beam. And that don't cost an arm and a leg.

Twisted, check this site, I just ordered some headlights from them, they are very knowlagable. I didn't buy the 100% xenon ones, but they might have what you are looking for:

http://www.rallylights.com/hella/H4.asp

snow2004 · Dec 18, 2005

apc makes the same H4 housing. how well do those silverstar bulbs work on a rainy night, cause i have those xenon H.I.D. simulation and they are horrible on a rainy night

LEAD_NOT_FOLLOW · Dec 18, 2005

I have the IPF's and absolutly love them.

Cibie's are a nice light aswell (probally the best on the market besides going to Xenon or HID), I have them on my M3. But at 3X's the cost of the IPF's I couldn't justify spending them on my XJ.

XJCrazyMA · Dec 18, 2005

T.H's TJ said:
Where does one get this stuff? Do you have an upgraded harness? Is this mod worth the cost?

Go to DPGoffroad.com. Call Dirk and he'll hook you up with a sweet IPF headlight upgrade. I got the IPF's and magic bulbs and it made a HUGE difference!!

ty1er · Jan 19, 2006

mylt1 said:
silverstars $40 or so, mabe less if you can find them on sale. its the difference of night and day.

I just installed a pair of Silverstars yesterday and i am Extremely please with the results.
Compared to the stock lights i was running, the difference is Night and Day.
The Sliverstars throw a bright white light much further and wider then the stock lights.

Im happy.

Matt Gertsch · Jan 19, 2006

smac999 said:
I might add some more groud wires around the engine bay and battery and see if that helps.

A lot of people have had issues with their idle after playing with grounds.

Best and brightest headlights for an XJ.

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