The ultimate headlight upgrade H4 (not LED or HID)

If tint is reducing your ability to see at night, then the tint should be removed of reduced. Running fogs so you can see something near you being blocked out by your tint is not the answer.

 

The Baja SAE lamps pull 61.2w for the pair, about the same as an H4 bulb (60w), meaning you can easily fully power the lamps off the unused headlight plug. Unfortunately with Baja's crappy proprietary plug, you'll need to purchase a Baja switch harness unless you want to cut the plugs off the Baja lamps.
https://www.bajadesigns.com/product...n-s2-on-off-2-light-max-150-watts/?sku=640117

On the harness cut off all the power and ground leads intended for the battery. Purchase a decent male H4 plug and wire the positive and negative wires from the harness to the H4 plug to the low beam negative and power, including those for the switch. This will power the system directly off the unused headlight circuit. Cap off the high beam wire on the plug, you could later use it to activate a light bar if you wanted. When the headlights are off the switch and fog circuit will have no power and be a no-op. When the headlights are on, the circuit will have power and the fogs will only turn on with the switch activated. Switching to high beam will disable the low beam and therefore the fogs, just like stock. You could of course power the switch off the battery instead, and the fogs separately off the headlight plug for the same behavior.

 

Im pretty sure thats just a weather pack connector. You should be able to find depinning tools for them online.
https://www.weatherpack.com/

 

The entire LED lighting industry uses Deutsch connectors which are superior. Not sure why Baja continues to use a subpar connector.

 

I dunno thats a question for @Baja Designs

 

Now this is one I’ll disagree with. Deutsch terminals and connectors are indeed nice. I like them very much. But weatherpack is not inferior in my opinion. In fact I’d say it’s actually superior in many ways.
Deutsch terminals max out at 14 gauge. They also have a max current spec of 15 amps. I do love the solid terminals and how nicely they crimp wire. And there are bigger terminals in the same style for larger gauge but they won’t fit a Deutsch connector.

Weatherpack terminals can go to 10 gauge. I have some. This is very nice for doubling up, you can split 10 gauge in to 2x14 gauge out. Max current is significantly higher with weatherpack (I’d have to look it up.)

The ARB compressor, needing significant input current, uses Aptiv connectors and I believe 10 gauge wire per circuit (the dual has two). So that’s another very high quality connector option supporting more current than Deutsch.

Now it is true they LED lighting products likely never need more than 15 amps so Deutsch is a fine choice. But I wouldn’t say it’s factually a superior connector. That’s purely an opinion.

 

Quick update: I'm about 2 years in... still love this mod every dusk/dawn.

 

Fair points on the gauge, though that isn't typically an issue for LED pods, which is the application at hand. The Deutsch connectors are more compact and have a more solid build IMO than the Baja connectors. Deutsch also do not require a pigtail off the back of the lamp, so you can plug a wiring harness directly into the lamp with no exposed connectors, as is the design used by Diode Dynamics. With the Baja/weatherpack the lamp requires a pigtail, which means you will have a bulky exposed connector hanging off the back of the lamp, it's not as clean as simply plugging directly into the lamp. Of course you can have Deutsch using pigtails too like Morimoto does, but the better design just plugs directly into the lamp.

 

Hey @crashnburn80

If you wish to switch the weather pack connector to a Deutsch connector, you definitely can, and it won't void the lifetime warranty. When the lights were originally engineered, the weather pack connector was more accessible compared to a Deutsch, which was harder to find if you needed to make a quick repair. Coming forward we plan on moving away from the weather pack connector and transitioning to the Deutsch connector.

Best,
Bill


Bill Sonevongxay | Forum Sales & Support 
Email: Bill@bajadesigns.com Phone: (760)560-2252

 

This is why you don't buy cheap Chinese made crap. These bulbs were supposed to be rated 100W/90W. The glass evidently is not. I really like my OEM style headlights, but changing the bulbs out is one of the biggest maintenance hassles there are for these trucks. Just out of curiosity, are there any aftermarket units (LED) that are high quality and give out impressive light output? I'm staying away from Alpharex, and I'm not sure about Morimotos. Are these the only options? I was about to order different headlights just to avoid changing the bulbs again.

@crashnburn80

 

I can’t buy the harness from headlight services. Tried 2 browsers on my phone and can’t click the “add to cart” button. I’ll try on a work laptop tomorrow.

 

That's good to know on the warranty front as I know several that have evaluated doing just that but were worried about the warranty, since Baja has such great warranty coverage. Also great to hear that you're moving toward Deutsch. Thanks for sharing the history there as that makes a lot of sense.

 

The blue coatings absorb significant light/energy output in a halogen bulb through filtration to make the light whiter, by absorbing the yellow/warm light. When you step up to a 90w low beam, that is a lot of energy being absorbed by filtration. Energy absorbed through filtration transfers to heat. You'll notice the blistering is right above the low beam filament with the low beam shield reflecting the filament energy upward. Likely would not have happened if the bulb was not coated and that energy could pass though rather than being absorbed at the glass layer. Blistering isn't unheard of, even the highly exotic Osram Hyper 85/80w bulbs would often blister, but that was due to extreme output vs absorbing filters with high energy sources.

As to what to do, I'd suggest going with the Philips Racing Vision +200s. They have a bulb life 2x that of the Osram 100/90w Superbrights (200 hr) , and way longer than any Chinese high wattage bulb. The Racing Vision +200s are 400 hour bulbs. Based on my use when daily driving 400 hours would be every 2 years, vs the Osrams yearly.

The only semi-legit LED headlamp for 2nd Gen is the Hybrid Morimotos. I wouldn't recommend them over the 2nd Gen halogen assemblies. You can see the review post here. The low beam performance is about the same as using the Philips Racing Vision +200s, though they have better high beam performance. If you are using a wiring harness with your bulbs, the Philips will perform better, and even better still with the voltage booster and AGM.

Works on a desktop/laptop. Might let HS know, it is a very small business and they might not be on top of the latest mobile updates.

 

Wow, thank you so much for the explanation. I put a fresh new set of Osram 100W/90W bulbs in today and remembered tonight how much better they are. There's really nothing that compares to the output these deliver. My patrol vehicle at work has white LEDs and it's almost hard on my eyes at night. This setup I have gives off a nice warm light but very bright at the same time. The only thing I wish I did different was order the 2015 TRD Pro housings instead of the regular ones. Thanks again for your time Crash.

 

Between the Osrams being clear and the best available high wattage bulb, vs a blue filtered cheap Chinese bulb, the gains will be substantial. 6000k LED lights are fatiguing over time, especially in poor weather.

 

I read through a ton of this thread and it pretty much seems like the go-to is the headlight harness + osram 100/90w h4?

Do most of you buy a spare set to toss in the glovebox?

Lastly, I'm 99% sure my truck has no DRL. It's a 2011 DCLB SR5. Any way to easily confirm? Lights off the lights stay off.

 

Do you have the on/off function on your turn signal arm? To answer your other question, yes I buy two sets at a time and keep one in the toolbox as a spare in case I'm out of town.

 

My stalk has the options of ON, Parking light, or OFF.

Is there any concern or issue with the higher wattage bulbs melting the housings or have they been pretty solid?

 

Ok so start your truck and leave your lights off if the turnsignals are lit up and not flashing, then you have drls

 

No issues. This was a concern of mine also because I bought a brand-new set of OEM housings and didn't want to ruin them, but I've been running this setup now for almost two years without a problem.