What did you do TO your Jeep JL today?

[Izzy901]

they must be laughing all the way to the bank. That pricing is absurd especially for HID with Chinese LED accents. Hand made means hands assembled as are are most led fixtures. To top it off only a 1 year warranty. There are three things in life there are for sure: death, Taxes and Lights will burn out eventually... These would be a expensive maintenance item. especially as HID get phased out

You are probably correct. They are still the lights I wanted so all the things you said are fine with me.

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[Jo's Jeep]

they must be laughing all the way to the bank. That pricing is absurd especially for HID with Chinese LED accents. Hand made means hands assembled as are are most led fixtures. To top it off only a 1 year warranty. There are three things in life there are for sure: death, Taxes and Lights will burn out eventually... These would be a expensive maintenance item. especially as HID get phased out

From Izzy901's description, those are customized headlights, not manufactured. If so they require disassembly of the housings, modification, and reassembly. All of which require a decent skillset to complete with any degree of success. In other words; you get what you pay for and good work ain't cheap as they say.

 

[lightsout]

From Izzy901's description, those are customized headlights, not manufactured. If so they require disassembly of the housings, modification, and reassembly. All of which require a decent skillset to complete with any degree of success. In other words; you get what you pay for and good work ain't cheap as they say.

In the lighting business that is called a RETROFIT and using the existing fixture body is typically a cost savings measure. You are welcome to drink the Koolaid though. I design High end LED sports lighting fixtures high end LED fixtures that have 10 times the lumen output and do not cost what they charge, additionally with LED it is not an advantage to reuse a fixture body deigned for HID as they do not have the thermal management needed for electronics longevity, Ideally you want a fixture body engineered from maximum thermal management (heat sinking) otherwise premature failure is likely. This is important especially if you drive in a warm climate, heat is the #1 killer of LED electronics whereas heat is like a cancer it kills slowly and if not managed your crazy expensive lights will be paper weights in a couple years, after the 1 tear warranty. That is one of the weakest warranties I have seen. Now I know that these are HID with LED accents so HID put out heat (not good for LED), however the other issue is companies that manufacture HID lamps are getting out of that business, they will be obsolete before too long. (it has already happened in the commercial lighting market)

They are cool looking lights just way overpriced and not the best engineered product considering it is just a retrofit (at least the LED component)

Look being in the design side of the LED industry I also take exception to all the other so called high end LED 4x4 lighting out there, many are just trying to massively profit from the LED buzz. The big issue with LED for vehicles is you just do not replace a Bulb/lamp any maintenance is expensive and you have to replace the entire fixture and you better hope is 2-3-5 or 10 years something similar is available or when one fails you will need to replace both even if one is still working. Most LED lighting these days are throw away fixtures. LED performance is REAL, LED reliability is subjective.

 

[Twmcneilly]

This is a fun thread I’ve seen on a few other forums. Can be anything from mods to drives, to washes, etc. pictures are always a plus!

So what did you do to your Jeep today?

Well, not today exactly, but yesterday..... and then some more this morning.

Baby got new shoes yesterday, or would that be socks?>?.
I have never had a vehicle with stock wheels; ever. So even though my OB JLUR came with the upgrade wheels. And even with Spidertrax WHS024 1 3/4" Wheel Spacers, it till looked way too stock for me. So, at the 4-Wheel Parts Expo last weekend I found a wheel that was a big departure from the stock offerings: KMC XD Series XD137 FMJ Wheels - Satin Black with Dark Tinted Clear Coat. BTW the spacers came off for this installation, sadly they were only on for about four weeks. But the Loctite gave the guys a challenge in removal.

Funny thing though, and I didn't realize it until after they were installed. These wheels have a "center cap" that completely covers the spindle nut and the lug nuts. Makes for a clean look but isn't quite designed to be compatible with the rear view camera. I laughed as I backed out of the parking place after installation. I actually watched the tech install the cover right over the camera and it didn't occur to me what I'd just witnessed until I saw the beautifully rendered backup guide-lines on a completely black display on the screen.

I fixed that little oversight today. And since I never really liked the look of the spare mounted with only three lug nuts, and leaving two blank holes in the wheel, I think this solves that nicely as well. I removed the center cap and traced the pattern on to a piece of textured ABS sheet. I then drilled a 2" hole in the center for the camera to peek out of. I think it looks pretty nice and hides all the unsightly wheel holes and missing lug nuts.

And borrowing (blatantly copying) the Spare Tire Bump Stop mod, I got that done this morning to compensate for the different wheel offset as well.

I'm also diggin' the OCD console organizer. Really adds functionality to the bottomless pit of a center console.

Oh, and one more thing. The H3 fire extinguisher came yesterday, so that is now snugly mounted to the roll bar.

 

[fightingmajor]

In the lighting business that is called a RETROFIT and using the existing fixture body is typically a cost savings measure. You are welcome to drink the Koolaid though. I design High end LED sports lighting fixtures high end LED fixtures that have 10 times the lumen output and do not cost what they charge, additionally with LED it is not an advantage to reuse a fixture body deigned for HID as they do not have the thermal management needed for electronics longevity, Ideally you want a fixture body engineered from maximum thermal management (heat sinking) otherwise premature failure is likely. This is important especially if you drive in a warm climate, heat is the #1 killer of LED electronics whereas heat is like a cancer it kills slowly and if not managed your crazy expensive lights will be paper weights in a couple years, after the 1 tear warranty. That is one of the weakest warranties I have seen. Now I know that these are HID with LED accents so HID put out heat (not good for LED), however the other issue is companies that manufacture HID lamps are getting out of that business, they will be obsolete before too long. (it has already happened in the commercial lighting market)

They are cool looking lights just way overpriced and not the best engineered product considering it is just a retrofit (at least the LED component)

Look being in the design side of the LED industry I also take exception to all the other so called high end LED 4x4 lighting out there, many are just trying to massively profit from the LED buzz. The big issue with LED for vehicles is you just do not replace a Bulb/lamp any maintenance is expensive and you have to replace the entire fixture and you better hope is 2-3-5 or 10 years something similar is available or when one fails you will need to replace both even if one is still working. Most LED lighting these days are throw away fixtures. LED performance is REAL, LED reliability is subjective.

It would be cool if you could use all of your knowledge to make a reasonably prices 9" LED replacement for the stock OEM LED headlights that everyone would buy from you

 

[Ma$$iveDebtAche]

Put on my new to me Jtop.
Thanks @simpleJL

 

[melendez69]

Finally got around to getting the bump stops in place. I've been admittedly too lazy to cut the plastic tubes to size... pain in the ass getting them to fit just right. Still, one of the best "mods" for < $10, even though I cut the tubes too short the first time & had to make another Home Depot run for extras.

 

[Kenny]

Well, not today exactly, but yesterday..... and then some more this morning.

Baby got new shoes yesterday, or would that be socks?>?.
I have never had a vehicle with stock wheels; ever. So even though my OB JLUR came with the upgrade wheels. And even with Spidertrax WHS024 1 3/4" Wheel Spacers, it till looked way too stock for me. So, at the 4-Wheel Parts Expo last weekend I found a wheel that was a big departure from the stock offerings: KMC XD Series XD137 FMJ Wheels - Satin Black with Dark Tinted Clear Coat. BTW the spacers came off for this installation, sadly they were only on for about four weeks. But the Loctite gave the guys a challenge in removal.

Funny thing though, and I didn't realize it until after they were installed. These wheels have a "center cap" that completely covers the spindle nut and the lug nuts. Makes for a clean look but isn't quite designed to be compatible with the rear view camera. I laughed as I backed out of the parking place after installation. I actually watched the tech install the cover right over the camera and it didn't occur to me what I'd just witnessed until I saw the beautifully rendered backup guide-lines on a completely black display on the screen.



And borrowing (blatantly copying) the Spare Tire Bump Stop mod, I got that done this morning to compensate for the different wheel offset as well.

I'm also diggin' the OCD console organizer. Really adds functionality to the bottomless pit of a center console.

Oh, and one more thing. The H3 fire extinguisher came yesterday, so that is now snugly mounted to the roll bar.

]

Nice job on the spare I just cut a whole and called it quits. What is the thing and where did you get it for the door stop?

 

[lightsout]

It would be cool if you could use all of your knowledge to make a reasonably prices 9" LED replacement for the stock OEM LED headlights that everyone would buy from you

The cost is the tooling and the heat sinks for the fixture body, the LED components are the lowest cost parts, the other problems is the demand for aftermarket is not there they for JL so tooling cost is being re-cooped by early adopters (early adopters of any technology never win) however cost will dive in 1-2 years. Personally LED heat lights, fogs and tail lights are superficial to me headlights maybe no so much, however I will wait for more commodity based options. As I have said in other threads the current cost for LED Wangler lights far exceeds the cost per watt of many of the higher end commercial LED lighting products. I do agree on one thing that the Wrangler headlights suck!!! However I have installed LED lamp in that fixture that improved the output considerably. Even if they do not last but a few years they are easy and cheap to replace versus several hundred for fill fixture replacements. And because I rarely drive at night not a big deal to me. The lamp replacements have also come a long way and will continue to improve.

 

[dad2steph]

New Wheels for the Wife’s Jeep. 17x9 -12 offset with the factory KO2’s. Now to save up for a lift and 35’s

 

[emilboya]

Finally found the spare 5 minutes to take the freedom panels off for the first time!

 

[Roky]

Finally got around to getting the bump stops in place. I've been admittedly too lazy to cut the plastic tubes to size... pain in the ass getting them to fit just right. Still, one of the best "mods" for < $10, even though I cut the tubes too short the first time & had to make another Home Depot run for extras.

Been there done that, got the tee shirt on multiple store runs......

 

[Roky]

Put in my dead pedal, even though I’m a left foot brake user I have it adjusted up so I can just slide my foot over, so far I think I like it, thanks to @Rhinebeck01 and @GreyFox for finally explaining to me what it was. ... I had never heard of it, but they didn’t believe me, so I had to look it up.........

 

[obwahn]

Put in a solenoid for the winch off of Aux 4. I've already ordered a longer battery jumper wire since I goofed on the length of this one, but it works. I'll pretty it up more when the new wire arrives.

 

[fightingmajor]

The cost is the tooling and the heat sinks for the fixture body, the LED components are the lowest cost parts, the other problems is the demand for aftermarket is not there they for JL so tooling cost is being re-cooped by early adopters (early adopters of any technology never win) however cost will dive in 1-2 years. Personally LED heat lights, fogs and tail lights are superficial to me headlights maybe no so much, however I will wait for more commodity based options. As I have said in other threads the current cost for LED Wangler lights far exceeds the cost per watt of many of the higher end commercial LED lighting products. I do agree on one thing that the Wrangler headlights suck!!! However I have installed LED lamp in that fixture that improved the output considerably. Even if they do not last but a few years they are easy and cheap to replace versus several hundred for fill fixture replacements. And because I rarely drive at night not a big deal to me. The lamp replacements have also come a long way and will continue to improve.

You don't think there is a demand and your put an LED bulb in the stock headlight housing that's not meant for one? SMH

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