Headlight Upgrade

[Grace213]

Audexen LED lights is what I have on my HellaYella...they are 7" lights but come with adapters that are adjustable.

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[ReimundKrohn]

I'm with you 100%! Some of these people never drove an '80s G-body with index-card sized 4x6" headlights and it shows .

My son has my wife's old Jeep Liberty. It has 9" light housings as well. He got the bright idea (pun intended) to try and swap a set of JL headlights into the Liberty. We pulled a headlight off mine, and decided we could make it work. He found a set locally from @awdkamil and after some trimming of the grill and core support, and tracking down OEM-style connectors, we got them wired up. They're better than the hazy OEM Liberty lights for sure!

Nice mod on the Liberty! Seems to blend in pretty well!

Worst headlights I ever had were on a ‘91 Ford Aerostar Sport. You could count the lumens coming out of those factory 7” x 6” fogged and yellowed lenses on both hands. Pathetic.

 

[Eandras]

My wife's CR-V has projector beam incandescent headlights. They do indeed rival factory LEDs in terms of clarity and cutoff.

Down-road visibility, which was already decent, was improved with the addition of Silverstar Ultra H4 bulbs. Neither she nor I have any complaints about this very current and effective headlight technology.

CRV is different than a Jeep.

 

[Heimkehr]

CRV is different than a Jeep.

Your post made broadband commentary on halogen headlamps in general. That's what was being responded to.

The CR-V is just an example that incandescent lighting design isn't stuck in the dark ages (ha).

 

[Carolina Jeeper]

I keep hearing this (that factory halogens “suck”), and I expected that would be the true and I would have to change out my Islander’s factory halogens ASAP. After all, I live in the country and dark highways and streets are the norm, and we only get 9 hours of daylight in the winter…. But…. Bullshit.

I have had vehicles with road-rage inspiring, oncoming traffic swerving off the road due to blindness, deer spotlighting LEDs since they first came out. My Expedition, my Sequoia, my Rogue and my Rav-4 all had em, and the thing I hated most about them was having to pull off the highway in the middle of winter to try to piss the frozen mucky slush off of them so I could see at night. If it sounds like I hate LED’s (except for their slick look), well I kinda do…. But yes, they are crazy bright…. But to finally have Halogens again? Hallelujah! I don’t know where y’all are driving, but I see the highway at high speed, wildlife in the ditches, and deer in the fields adjoining…. And oncoming traffic STILL knows I have my brights on and flashes me within a half mile. There isn't anything I can’t see with my halogens, despite my old man eyes. So what gives? Y’all don’t get enough beta carotene in your diet or somethin’? I wouldn’t swap out these halogens if you paid me to

My opinions are apparently unpopular (or at least very uncommon), but I can’t be the only one who sees it this way, can I?

You're not alone. Im also old enough to check the old man eyes box. I remember the first wave of the new LED headlights. They looked like two welding arcs to me. They're even brighter now as we all know. I have halogen headlights in my JL and they don't suck like some have said. I'm not saying LED headlights aren't an improvement, just saying the same as you that halogen lights don't deserve that bad rap.
Maybe those who are only happy with LED headlights are victims of computer screen eyes?

I remember tungsten incandescent car headlights. Could hardly see the lines in the road at night in the rain.

 

[Chupacabra]

I have halogen headlights in my JL and they don't suck like some have said. I'm not saying LED headlights aren't an improvement, just saying the same as you that halogen lights don't deserve that bad rap.

It's subjective. I had halogens in my JL too and compared to my previous vehicle with LEDs, I felt like I had two flashlights strapped to the hood at night. They were terrible IMHO, first thing I did was upgrade them to LEDs and it's so much better. Again, that's my perspective after using both on my JL.

 

[CorvZ061]

How's the cutoff? So many aftermarket LED headlights have a very dull/broad, or even hazy cutoff. I've been spoiled w/ some excellent bi-xenon sets w/ our Infinitis, razor sharp cutoffs at an excellent 5500k light temp. If these Kiwis have that sharp cutoff I'm going to look at them soon, as my current set is lacking in that regard.

Here what the cutoff looks like with the Oracle Oculus. Took with some daylight left so you can see that they have a hot spot center to get lights down the road with that razor sharp cutoff

 

[blnewt]

Here what the cutoff looks like with the Oracle Oculus. Took with some daylight left so you can see that they have a hot spot center to get lights down the road with that razor sharp cutoff

Yeah, thanks for that. The Oracles from all I've seen have the sharpest cutoff and output/performance similar to a bi-xenon. I'm curious how those lights w/ that cross DRL perform regarding cutoff since they're only $220 lol.

 

[CorvZ061]

Yeah, thanks for that. The Oracles from all I've seen have the sharpest cutoff and output/performance similar to a bi-xenon. I'm curious how those lights w/ that cross DRL perform regarding cutoff since they're only $220 lol.

No idea about those, just giving info for whoever is looking. The price tag on the Oracle’s is hard to swallow, especially if you’re looking at the rgb ones.

 

[BRuby]

You're not alone. Im also old enough to check the old man eyes box. I remember the first wave of the new LED headlights. They looked like two welding arcs to me. They're even brighter now as we all know. I have halogen headlights in my JL and they don't suck like some have said. I'm not saying LED headlights aren't an improvement, just saying the same as you that halogen lights don't deserve that bad rap.
Maybe those who are only happy with LED headlights are victims of computer screen eyes?

I remember tungsten incandescent car headlights. Could hardly see the lines in the road at night in the rain.

Also agree that the JL halogens do not suck. This is the colour profile of ours outputting in the dark. Probably out of halogens - much more towards better vs worse. Our high end zenons from years ago are no doubt better comparatively - as well as current basic LEDs we have. But for halogens are about as good as one can expect. We can see fine - just is not super bright blinding like some LEDs are nowadays.

Conversely the JK halogens do in fact suck. Side by side there is a huge difference in colour temp and light output. When our JL halogen bulb goes - will likely just put in a whiter brighter LED bulb. The lumen output has increased substantially using aftermarket LEDs for the JL the past couple of years - as the tech has improved. Just need to make sure they are anti-flicker with a nice sharp cut-off.

Way less expensive than the overpriced OEM LED package. This YT vid was posted a couple of years ago shows how easy and cost effective the upgrade is. Stellantis makes a ton of profit margin off the LEDs and many other overpriced options they make available.

 

[LuvHydro]

Audexen LED lights is what I have on my HellaYella...they are 7" lights but come with adapters that are adjustable.

Sweet looking rig

 

[Bluesharp]

Another up vote for the stock halogens. I was planning to immediately replace them with LED's as I did on the JK, but after trying them for a week I think they're fine for me. And compared to these....

 

[Heimkehr]

Another up vote for the stock halogens. I was planning to immediately replace them with LED's as I did on the JK, but after trying them for a week I think they're fine for me. And compared to these....

My 1979 B, with which I won Best in Class some years back, had Hella headlamp housings & lenses (originally intended for motorcycles) installed thereon. A trained eye would notice they looked out of place, but my OCD allowed me to trade the correct aesthetic for headlights that actually worked worth a spit.

That car was sold when I needed venture capital for my motorcycle habit.

 

[jmccorm]

BEAMTECH H13 LED Bulbs, 10000LM 60W 6500K Extremely Super Bright 9008 30mm Heatsink Base CSP Chips Conversion Kit,Xenon White Small Size Halogen Replacement https://www.amazon.com/dp/B073ZDLKT...abc_MKAJXVGC8VHRXGN412VY?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

I've been running a set for over 2 years now without issues.

Good! Someone else who's installed these. Can I pick your brain?

I'm wondering if I might have somehow installed the bulbs wrong. I installed one of the headlights, it seemed to be aimed just fine and pointed at the exact same area as my original halogens. So I installed the second bulb. That's when I noticed that while my normal headlights were fine, my brights were concentrated on a space that's actually ABOVE the horizon.

I don't think it's likely that I've got my headlights actually pointed too far upwards, so I'm kind of wondering if it is possible to install the bulbs incorrectly and end up in some sort of configuration like this?

 

[Htfan]

Good! Someone else who's installed these. Can I pick your brain?

I'm wondering if I might have somehow installed the bulbs wrong. I installed one of the headlights, it seemed to be aimed just fine and pointed at the exact same area as my original halogens. So I installed the second bulb. That's when I noticed that while my normal headlights were fine, my brights were concentrated on a space that's actually ABOVE the horizon.

I don't think it's likely that I've got my headlights actually pointed too far upwards, so I'm kind of wondering if it is possible to install the bulbs incorrectly and end up in some sort of configuration like this?

In my experience, I did have to aim one of the beams lower than the factory did to level out the LED bulbs replacing the stock halogen bulbs. The old halogen was so dim in comparison, I don't think the aiming was as critical.

The cutoff is now very clean and the high beams work great.

Are both bulbs "locked" in place?

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