CJ5 Headlight Upgrade Help

17527 Views 90 Replies 26 Participants Last post by ubetya, Feb 13, 2019

cj5chic

Discussion Starter · Dec 8, 2018

Ok, like most of us with CJ's, I simply can't see where I'm going at night due to the crappy headlight output. It's actually getting quite dangerous this time of year due to shorter daylight hours.
Because of my total lack of electrical knowledge I need something plug and play
Found these on Amazon:
7 Inch LED Round Headlight Conversion for Jeep CJ CJ5 CJ7 Tractor Trailer Truck 150W 6000K Hi/Lo Beam Led Headlamp 1 Pair https://www.amazon.com/dp/B074GNZ54H/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_KAbdCb5BJB163
Any advice on whether these would work or not would most certainly be appreciated!

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81 - 91 of 91 Posts

RARECJ8

· #81 · Feb 6, 2019

Tired of piss yellow weak CJ lights installed the high dollar led units. Bright AF. Will a relay upgrade make any more difference? Asking for a friend.

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TIPPEDITOVER

· #82 · Feb 6, 2019

LED headlights use, on average, only half to 2/3rds the power of regular halogens. Plus they are either lit or not lit. They will not perform better with relays. If they light up, that's as good as it gets.

I installed the relay kit, because I want the ability to be able to swap regular halogens in anytime I need to if I have a led failure out of town, or if I just need new headlights RIGHT NOW. The relays will handle anything you throw at them.

My projection type leds are noticeably brighter than the halogens I pulled out, BUT they have a very focused pattern. They don't flood the whole area with light. That is advantageous as to not blind oncoming traffic and focus bright light exactly where it's needed, but it takes some getting used to. Reflective type leds act like halogens and flood the whole road with light. Overall I'm happy with the change.

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Cutlass327

· #83 · Feb 8, 2019

Does the Hella harness everyone here is buying have enough wire between the relays and bulb sockets that the relays can be back from the grille? I ordered a different one, and the wiring is only long enough to go back a few inches from the grille with the relays. I have no room up there.

The only issue I have with those fancy Hella relays though is replacement - they are not a standard design, so you'd want to have a spare with you in case of failure.

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TIPPEDITOVER

· #84 · Feb 8, 2019

Cutlass327 said:
Does the Hella harness everyone here is buying have enough wire between the relays and bulb sockets that the relays can be back from the grille? I ordered a different one, and the wiring is only long enough to go back a few inches from the grille with the relays. I have no room up there.

The only issue I have with those fancy Hella relays though is replacement - they are not a standard design, so you'd want to have a spare with you in case of failure.

Yeah, they come with enough wire harness to bulb socket length to locate the relays outside the grill if you want. I'm surprised you don't have room inside the grill behind the passenger side bulb. I did and I have an a/c condenser/hoses and fan wiring in there taking up space too.

The cool thing about the harness is there's a high beam and a low beam relay and they are identical. If one fails, just swap the other over where you want/need it till you can get a replacement if you don't have a spare. I got better chances of winning the lottery than for both relays to fail at the same time so that's not a concern.

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Cutlass327

· #85 · Feb 8, 2019

I don't like the idea of them inside the grille, as that exposes them to weather (road salt, rain, snow, etc). I also have a plow headlight harness inside the grille, that overlays the OEM one.

I forgot about just swapping relays.

78 CJ5 302HO, T177/D300, 86 WT 30/44, Aussie F/R

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TIPPEDITOVER

· #86 · Feb 8, 2019

The connectors are not sealed, so you should not consider them if you are operating in a very wet/salty environment. Get sealed relays like THESE and build your own harness the way you would like it to be. I'm using those cheaper waterproof relays in the link for my cooling fans and fuel pump. They are pretty nice. For the Hella's, I put a bunch of dielectric grease in the connectors, so I'm not worried about rain. I won't operate mine in road salt. That's what I use my old Chevy p/u for.

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John Strenk

· #87 · Feb 8, 2019

I should probably get a set of those for some other stuff.

Heater Motor
Plow Lights
Aux. Backup Lights
Trailer Plug

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Cutlass327

· #88 · Feb 8, 2019

I'm thinking maybe just tap into the plow/grille headlight switch now that I see those. A relay on the lamp side of that switch would be after the headlight and high beam switch, so it would be almost the same effect. A bank of 4 - plow hi and low, grille high and low - all connected under the dash....

John, if you use one for the blower, you'd either lose low and medium, or have to wire the blower pigtail to pin 30 and then high speed power from the battery on pin 87, with low medium on 87a, using the high speed wire from the switch to turn on the relay. That is a good idea, too - that switch gets kinda over-warm on high speed for any length of time...

I like that red Norco battery anti-corrosion spray, too. I spray it on any unsealed connections (headlight bulb sockets and pins, winch power cables, plow lift solenoids, etc) to keep them weatherproof. It works pretty good, but it never really dries- it is kinda greasy. Make the connections, spray them, then let them be - has worked great for a few years now. No rust, no corrosion, prelubed studs for when I have to disconnect anything...

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John Strenk

· #89 · Feb 9, 2019

Cutlass327 said:
I'm thinking maybe just tap into the plow/grille headlight switch now that I see those. A relay on the lamp side of that switch would be after the headlight and high beam switch, so it would be almost the same effect. A bank of 4 - plow hi and low, grille high and low - all connected under the dash....

John, if you use one for the blower, you'd either lose low and medium, or have to wire the blower pigtail to pin 30 and then high speed power from the battery on pin 87, with low medium on 87a, using the high speed wire from the switch to turn on the relay. That is a good idea, too - that switch gets kinda over-warm on high speed for any length of time...

........

I didn't like the 4 relays at first but it leads to less points of failure that way.

As far as the heater goes. I already had the plans drawn up 5 years ago.
A simple removal of a Terminal from the heater switch and add 1 wire and you can use low and medium speed through the switch and Hi through the relay.

Two ways of doing it.

I like the second way better, that's just like you described....