CJ5 Headlight Upgrade Help

Hopefully doing this mod this weekend.

jp360cj said:

I mounted a ground bar on the firewall and run all my light/accessory grounds off of it

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That sounds like a good idea. Do you have any photos?

keith460 said:

You can get ground buss bars at the junkyard for cheap if you have one close by to pick from. GM tucks and SUV's from the 90's will have them on the firewall. It also makes a great power buss bar for the headlight relay system too. You won't be disappointed with this simple upgrade that AMC/Jeep should have done in the first place, but they were cheap of course.

I used Daniels Stern's made relay system as well. Very nice components in the kit.

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Looks clean, nice work! The only other thing I would add is that you should probably cover the positive buss bar studs with something. If any load or straight ground comes into contact with the studs you can get current flow. That can lead to very high current draws and cause other issues. Contact directly to the studs is not fused.

Slightly off-topic, but still about getting more output from our headlights:

Has anyone tried these Hella H4 conversion lights?

http://www.myhellalights.com/index.php/products/auxiliary-lamps/sealed-beam-conversion-headlamps/vision-plus-7in-conversion-headlamp/

Or the ECE version 002395801? The ECE version can be purchased as a kit for just over $56 while the DOT version doesn't appear to be available in kit form and is about twice as expensive when you put everything together.

On something with a high draw like an upgrade H4 headlight bulb, you really want the relay close to the load. Big wire to relay, smaller harness wire to headlight/fuse at power source. With your LED headlights it probably doe not matter as much.

TIPPEDITOVER said:

I also use a ground bus bar but mines attached to the backside of the dash right next to the switches. The dash has a ground strap to the firewall. I try to do ground switching to trigger the relays when I can. It allows for reduction in the amount of wire needed overall. Also it reduces the amount of hot wires behind my dash.

I locate the relays as close to the battery as possible. The positive trigger wire is very short. Similar to the pic below, but I use a small waterproof fused panel that's right next to the relays to provide appropriately rated fused power to pin 86 on each relay. Of course there's other ways but I like this method. Lately I'm using a junkyard PDC to connect my EFI system. Really cleans things up and eliminates even more exposed wiring.

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I wonder if the "Hella" headlight harness really is made by Hella. I have never seen Hella relays like those. Usually they make replacement relays for their harness available and searching for Hella relays does not bring up any that look like those. Lots of stuff that is made in China gets a brand name slapped on it. Counterfeit ARB locker (do a search), rifle scopes, binoculars, power tools, computer parts, and appliances are all things to look out for. I have a drawer with several brand name Hella relays and they are all the standard "Bosch" 5 pin relays. Some have an incorporated a blade fuse in the front of the relay. I have doubts that the Hella relay pictures are of a genuine Hella product. I recently purchased some "Hella" H4 headlights from eBay for a good price that turned out to be made in India and they were for a right hand drive vehicles. They were not even made by Hella but came in a Hella box.

StoneTower said:

On something with a high draw like an upgrade H4 headlight bulb, you really want the relay close to the load. Big wire to relay, smaller harness wire to headlight/fuse at power source. With your LED headlights it probably doe not matter as much.

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So long as your wire gauge is correct from source to load, it really truly does not matter on which end you put the relay, except my way saves some wire.

I work on a machine with 80 miles of wire. If it weren't for very efficient wiring practices, it would have 160 miles of wire and would have a hard time getting off the ground, with any paying passengers aboard due to weight. I've learned some very efficient methods and copied them on my own equipment.

trailhead2004 said:

The only other thing I would add is that you should probably cover the positive buss bar studs with something.

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Since that photo was taken many years ago and during the install of the relay harness, the studs have red colored rubber/vinyl covers on all of them that protects them from dead shorts. But nobody is ever under my hood except me, so I know, even if they were exposed, it will not be a hazard.

keith460 said:

Since that photo was taken many years ago and during the install of the relay harness, the studs have red colored rubber/vinyl covers on all of them that protects them from dead shorts. But nobody is ever under my hood except me, so I know, even if they were exposed, it will not be a hazard.

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That's all it takes, just a little insulation.

I look at it as a general hazard, having seen the results of someone not doing it in an industrial setting.

Overall it looks really nice, though!

then you can get either LED bulbs or high intensity PIAA or sylvania bulbs -- the Hi Intensity bulbs don't last much more than the 1 year guarantee (sylvania)

rjmcdonald said:

then you can get either LED bulbs or high intensity PIAA or sylvania bulbs

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The ones cj5chic picked out in her 4th post, the Sylania Halogen bulbs will be as bright as can be. I have the same ones and my old eyes don't even need glasses if driving at night with the High Beams on. They will also retain that fabulous look of the CJ front end during daylight hours.

Here's everything that came in my lighting upgrade package from Daniel Stern. The harness was all Hella components.

(2) 082440 - Cibie 7'' H4 headlamp lens-reflector unit - $158.00
(2) 48911 - Narva 100/55w H4 headlamp bulbs - $35.18
(1) HL28200 - Headlamp relay harness built-up for 2x H4 Jeep CJ - $161.49
(2) 2886X - Park or Marker bulb glass wedge upgrade 85-lumen - $9.18
(2) 796 - Reverse (back-up) upgrade bulb - $18.40
(4) 3496 - Bulb upgrade +45% brake/turn signal - $28.80

Yes, I paid a premium going thru Daniel Stern, but the one-call shopping made it worth to me. Don''t discount the upgrade to the rear taillight bulbs. They made a big difference, too.

Matt

Hmmm, the thought of how bad my headlights really are never occurred to me, until this thread.. I may have to look into this!

TIPPEDITOVER said:

These arrived today. Love Amazon. Got Hella written all over the box and relays. They did a heck of a job if they're copies. I can tell they are made of good quality materials.

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Nice. Maybe they are sending the cheaper version to folks on the east coast.:frown2: I got what is shown in the description minus one of the fuses