The ultimate headlight upgrade H4 (not LED or HID)

Correct. I have both.

 

Now you sell them, just as my All Seasons arrived from China

 

The ones I will sell are the 70/65w ones, I’m not selling my 85/80w versions.

 

Then I feel better!

Thanks again for all the work. My Osram All Seasons arrived from China. Maybe 3 weeks in all - not bad! Packaged very well too.

 

Thanks Crash for all this work, it's an incredible resource.

I am feeling overwhelmed with this though, and I'm just giving up and going to ask my question.

For my daughters Jeep wrangler, I need brighter lights for daily driving (often in snow).

1) What bulb does everyone suggest (I think it should be road legal and a high lifespan as I don't see this vehicle very often)
2) Should I do a harness for the recommended bulb


- The Jeep uses 50% high beam power for its DRL I believe
- I'll probably order off Powerbulb as Amazon Canada has fairly poor selection
- The recommended harness seems pretty expensive. Aren't they just relays, fuses and pigtails? Sounds like I could make that, couldn't I?

Thanks everyone for any suggestions!

 

First I would replace the headlight assemblies with Hella E-code 7" round H4 headlights. They are far more focused with better cut offs causing less glare and put significantly more light on the ground than DOT lamps. E-code lamps are European beam standard (ECE), so they are not technically street legal, but unless you have inspections that specifically check for the DOT stamp on the lamp, no one will notice as they look like normal headlights. DOT lamps waste a significant amount of light up in the air, whereas E-code focus that light onto the ground which results in much more light projected down the road. Many brands make E-code conversions, but you definitely want the Hellas. They are much higher quality than most. These: https://www.quadratec.com/products/97009_6002.htm

Since your Jeep has headlight DRL, you need a special DRL compatible harness. A standard harness will cause the relay to buzz and fail as the partial voltage for the DRL will initiate the relay but not be enough to keep it open. You could build your own if you had a schematic on how to defeat/support the DRL. The Headlight Services harness is outstanding quality, they do offer DIY kits.

However, high performance bulbs do not have a long lifespan, I would expect 1 year or less. Instead what I would suggest if looking for long life and legal output levels is Philips Xtreme +100 9003 bulbs. While the GE Xenons are 150 hours, the high wattage Osrams are 200 hours the Philips +100s are 420 hours. They won't be as high performance as the other bulbs, but they will be better than stock with a long life span. In my use 200 hours is about 1 year, so 420 hours would be just over 2 years.

If you're coming from the stock sealed beam lights, the Hellas plus the Philips Xtreme 9003s will be a significant upgrade in performance. I would suggest trying that first and seeing what you think before trying to go with the DRL compatible harness.

 

Thank you very much for the response.

We have KC 7" headlights in it now https://www.quadratec.com/p/kc-hili...h4-headlight-97-06-jeep-wrangler-tj-unlimited
If you think the Hella ECEs are a significant upgrade, I'll do them. The Jeep had sealed beams when we bought it.

I had been reading reviews on harness's available in Canada and many of them complain about buzzing relays and now I understand why. All cars in Canada have DRL mandated.

For the bulbs, these are the right ones, correct?

Philips Automotive Lighting 9003 X-tremeVision Upgrade Headlight Bulb with up to 100% More Vision, 2 Pack

https://www.amazon.com/Philips-X-tremeVision-Upgraded-Headlight-Vision/dp/B00U1OLK86

So far Amazon US is the only place I've found them, Amazon Canada doesn't have them nor does Powerbulbs. I can get things shipped to a border PO box, so not a big deal.

 

I did the E codes on my old cherokee.. and it was amazing how much better they where.

 

KC makes excellent products, the lights you chose were definitely quality units and a good upgrade from the sealed beams. But the issue is beam pattern, the KC lights are DOT pattern, the E-code pattern puts more light to the road and down range and will perform better. There are good and bad lights in either pattern, but comparing good to good, the E-code lights will perform significantly better, so I would recommend swapping them out for the Hellas ECE lights.

My mistake on the bulbs! Not those! For some reason I was thinking of the Philips +100s in H11, which are 420 hours. The 9003s are less. Too much time helping 3rd Gen.

For H4 performance with decent life you want the Philips Xtreme +130 H4s, which have over 400 hours bulb life. They do have a blue coating over the high beam, so high beam will not perform as well as an uncoated bulb, but the E-code headlights will also perform better than your existing setup.

For the best stock wattage bulb without a high beam reducing coating would be GE Xenon +120s, but bulb life will be shorter. You can also achieve better low beam performance with the Philips Racing Vision (coated high beam) but shorter bulb life. Lastly there is the higher wattage IPF Fatboy X4 superlow H4 bulbs that won't require a harness, they will have the highest output low beam and non-coated high beam but bulb life is undocumented and I'd expect it to be similar to the GE or the Racing Vision 150-200 hours.

 

Fuck.... Wanted to use the bulbs w rally harness but wondered if theyd be discontinued too. Any other options for h4 all season improvement over oem?

 

85/80w Hyper clear and AllSeasons are discontinued. Next best thing is the IPF Fatboy Superlows or the Osram 100/90w Superbright bulbs. Not the Headlight Services harness is a much better buy that Rallylights, higher quality at lower cost.

 

Just for fun, the ultimate headlight upgrade lux vs the new $1250 Morimoto 3rd Gen headlights.

 

Which bulb was that? All season??

 

In the reading above that is the 85/80w Hyper, at stock wattage. No harness or voltage booster.

 

Crazy cool. Wait do you have new numbers for All season bulbs + harness + voltage booster? That’s what I have now and it’s almost to bright.

 

All Season lux output listed in the original post. Harness + voltage booster =~25%+ in additional output.

 

@crashnburn80 have you done anything with the 3rd gen tacoma, if so are the headlights different ? I'm looking to upgrade from my stock headlights to the 85/80's. I see it is discontinued, any other headlights that work just as well ? I'm pretty lost when it comes to lighting

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/3rd-gen-hid-vs-led-vs-halogen-h11-projector-headlights.589465/

 

I've been running the ge 130 in my head lights & fogs for about 2 months now. I just committed to the harness and looking for a pair of bulbs to complete the package. I'm also a bit overwhelmed with all of the good information on here. It seems like a few of the good options for bulbs are no longer available. Can I get a good recommendation?

 

Thanks!