No Reason Here For LED Lights

[Northernlites]

Drove our 2023 JLU in the dark last night for the first time. I ordered the Wrangler without the LED lighting. No regrets, the factory halogens light up the road just fine. If you don't over drive your headlights like you were supposed to be taught in drivers education, you will have no issues seeing what is necessary in front, or to the side of you. Also living in a snowy State, I don't have issues with snow/ice building up on the lights. I have been driving for over 45 years, and never had an issue driving at night without the aid of LED lighting. I spent the $1200.00 Jeep would have charged me for factory LEDs, and bought lots of accessories I actually got use out of. When it comes to off-roading, that's a different scenerio than normal street driving, which is all I do.

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[NWJeepr]

If the standard halogen lamps are adequate for your needs, that's all that matters. The JL's are much improved over the previous generation. Halogens do have the benefit of generating heat which prevents icing.

As I mentioned in another thread, the IIHS/Insurance Institute for Highway Safety now rates headlamp metrics and even with optional LEDs, the Wrangler headlamps rate as "Poor". They receive a "Marginal" rating with additional features (high beam assist). Halogens are simply rated as "Poor" and the distance measurements in all categories explain why.

Stellantis needs to up their game across the board. I have the optional LED's, which I think are fairly decent. Imagine what a "Good" rating from IIHS would look like.

https://www.iihs.org/ratings/vehicle/jeep/wrangler-4-door-suv/2023#headlights

 

[OldGuyNewJeep]

Drove our 2023 JLU in the dark last night for the first time. I ordered the Wrangler without the LED lighting. No regrets, the factory halogens light up the road just fine. If you don't over drive your headlights like you were supposed to be taught in drivers education, you will have no issues seeing what is necessary in front, or to the side of you. Also living in a snowy State, I don't have issues with snow/ice building up on the lights. I have been driving for over 45 years, and never had an issue driving at night without the aid of LED lighting. I spent the $1200.00 Jeep would have charged me for factory LEDs, and bought lots of accessories I actually got use out of. When it comes to off-roading, that's a different scenerio than normal street driving, which is all I do.

 

[Megawatt]

So your justifying why your ok for not spending $$ on a LED upgrade. Yeah, ok. Smart money for you, congrats. Jeeps are already super expensive so saving money is always nice.

LED’s are superior than halogens for what they are meant to do. Those that know use LEDs, and will spend their hard earned money.

 

[tomk62]

Fantastic. You made the right choice for you.

 

[Traveller128]

Driven a Wrangler at night with the halogens, and driven ours with the LED's. No question, they kick ass over the halogens. I've driven over 2,000,000 miles since 1982, and these are good lights, as in they put out enough light to the side that you can spot creatures off to the side, and they illuminate the road with contrasting light so that objects in the road stand out against the background.

 

[Flip]

I actually thought the factory halogens were sufficient until I switched to LED's, huge difference, game changer.

 

[JesseT]

...
If you don't over drive your headlights like you were supposed to be taught in drivers education, you will have no issues seeing what is necessary in front, or to the side of you.
...

You could say the same about literally any headlights though. My mini-mag flashlight is a perfectly adequate headlight as long as I don't over drive it. Of course, anything over about 5 mph would be over driving it. Fact of the matter is it takes a lot more to over drive the LED lights than the halogens. As long as it was the right choice for your preferences and use case, and your don't find the limitations too limiting though, that's what matters.

 

[Northernlites]

I will take the "or what". I have enough medals.

 

[Northernlites]

I actually thought the factory halogens were sufficient until I switched to LED's, huge difference, game changer.

We have LEDs in our 2020 Cherokee, and in my opinion don't make a big difference in night time driving. We bought the Cherokee off the lot with factory LEDs. Never had a problem seeing deer with either halogen or LEDs. Maybe Wranglers are totally different.

 

[Brendon]

Drove our 2023 JLU in the dark last night for the first time. I ordered the Wrangler without the LED lighting. No regrets, the factory halogens light up the road just fine. If you don't over drive your headlights like you were supposed to be taught in drivers education, you will have no issues seeing what is necessary in front, or to the side of you. Also living in a snowy State, I don't have issues with snow/ice building up on the lights. I have been driving for over 45 years, and never had an issue driving at night without the aid of LED lighting. I spent the $1200.00 Jeep would have charged me for factory LEDs, and bought lots of accessories I actually got use out of. When it comes to off-roading, that's a different scenerio than normal street driving, which is all I do.

As a fellow retiree, I'm glad to hear the halogens are working for you. But my 71 year old eyes really appreciate the LED's

 

[Flip]

We have LEDs in our 2020 Cherokee, and in my opinion don't make a big difference in night time driving. We bought the Cherokee off the lot with factory LEDs. Never had a problem seeing deer with either halogen or LEDs. Maybe Wranglers are totally different.

There's nothing wrong with halogens if they work for you. I had halogens in every vehicle (4) I installed Lasfit LED's in my Jeep and I absolutely love it. My vision isn't what it used to be either so the LED actually made a big difference for me. Now I'm looking to swap out halogens on a few other vehicles.

 

[roaniecowpony]

I used to drive a 6v Volkswagen. Do they make a badge for that?

I bought my 2018 JLUR 320 miles north in Gilroy CA. The drive home included the first 130 miles at night to Paso Robles, down hwy 101. It was apparent pretty quickly that the lights were very poor. I had driven for 46 years at that point. So, I did not take good headlights for granted. My 2014 GMC had halogen projectors from the factory. Projectors and halogen bulbs make for a very low illumination. The JL halogens are almost as bad.

I'm pretty critical of using bad lighting that interferes with oncoming traffic's ability to see. But I came across this video a few years ago and went with the SV4 bulbs shown at the 4:22 time hack of the video. I'm very satisfied. I don't get flashed.
My headlights now.

 

[Heimkehr]

Every vehicle I've owned to date has had factory halogen headlights. Prior to taking delivery of my JLU, I've never felt wanting for more.

That said, the first night driving with my then-new Wrangler made it very plain that the halogen lights simply weren't getting a base hit, so to speak. Again, I'm saying this as someone who has only ever owned vehicles with incandescent forward lighting. My expectations were reasonable and tempered, and the Jeep's headlights simply weren't meeting them.

It's not a matter of overdriving the lights. I've a conservative right foot and would wager my average fuel mileage trends occupy the 98th percentile on this forum. The factory bulbs simply weren't throwing the light far enough down the road to suit this daily driver.

I replaced the factory H13s with equivalent LED bulbs, and the improvement in lighting has been nothing less than transformative. That we are now firmly in the season of rut (meaning the deer are running here, there and everywhere) makes good visibility a genuinely critical issue.

I don't have old eyes, either. On the contrary: having the LASIK procedure done some years ago has provided me with excellent vision that persists to this day.

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As already mentioned, if the OP's use case is such that his halogen headlights meet his requirements, that's the correct answer. ?

 

[Flip]

I used to drive a 6v Volkswagen. Do they make a badge for that?

I bought my 2018 JLUR 320 miles north in Gilroy CA. The drive home included the first 130 miles at night to Paso Robles, down hwy 101. It was apparent pretty quickly that the lights were very poor. I had driven for 46 years at that point. So, I did not take good headlights for granted. My 2014 GMC had halogen projectors from the factory. Projectors and halogen bulbs make for a very low illumination. The JL halogens are almost as bad.

I'm pretty critical of using bad lighting that interferes with oncoming traffic's ability to see. But I came across this video a few years ago and went with the SV4 bulbs shown at the 4:22 time hack of the video. I'm very satisfied. I don't get flashed.
My headlights now.

I adjusted mine yesterday, they're perfect now. I didn't get flashed at all, even a little rice burner went by and didn't flash me. ?

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