Jeep headlight upgrade is in order for all YJ & XJ's. Yes you can add all kinds of off-road lights on the bumper, below the windshield or even a light bar above the windshield. But in some states it is illegal to run aftermarket lights on the highways. So, what's a poor Jeeper to do?? Well, upgrade what the factory gave you to work with.
First thing that really should be done is upgrade how the headlights get their power. When you turn on your lights, the power has to come from the battery through the switch. The stock wiring leaves a bit to be desired also. Most of it is tiny 16 gauge wire carrying the current. Turning on the headlights the electricity has to make it from the battery through that small factory wiring harness, through the switch and finally to the head lamps. By the time it makes it through all that, there is enough voltage drop that the lights can't perform as well as they could. So upgraded wiring with relays are in order.
Old school sealed beams were all good back in their day. Today, there are way too many options to settle for inferior road illumination! After the harness upgrade, upgrade the lamps. There are H4 conversion kits or even HID if you really want to light up the night.
Installing a relay kit is super easy. I tossed around building one from some wire terminals, relay sockets and such. I found a headlight relay harness on Amazon that was very reasonably priced and had the ceramic ends installed. If you plan on running high wattage halogen bulbs, the ceramic ends are a must! Reason is, the higher the wattage the more heat is generated. Too much heat will melt the factory plastic lamp plugs. I know this because I've seen it happen. So, another part of the reason I went with buying the pre-made harness vs building one. The pre-made harness comes with the high heat ceramic ends built in.
So, by the time I added up all the parts that I needed to build my own. I could buy a pre-made one cheaper and get 'er done way faster! |
This headlight upgrade is the best mod I've done yet!
Awesome upgrade for the TJ's