What A Change In Technology

[Northernlites]

Sold my beloved mint condition 2001 Dodge Ram 1500 I have had since new, to purchase our 2023 Sport Altitude. We didn't order the LED Light Package thinking I could simply replace the stock halogen headlight bulbs with a brighter halogen bulb. Changing bulbs was very easy to do on my truck after I bought it. After perusing the Wrangler's owner's manual, I see it is lengthy task to replace the existing halogen headlight bulbs. Are there even brighter halogen bulbs available to improve the brightness like there used to be? Not really interested in going the LED route at this time. And on the other hand, Jeep made it extremely easy to replace the rear taillight bulbs. Go figure.

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[Mikester86]

Missed opportunity on passing up the factory LED’s. I am quite sure there are some good options for bulb replacement for the standard lighting.
https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/forum/threads/best-halogen-housing-led-bulb-replacement.22524/

 

[jludave]

After perusing the Wrangler's owner's manual, I see it is lengthy task to replace the existing halogen headlight bulbs.

It doesn't take much to replace the bulbs. Remove the front grill. Then, one at a time, remove each headlight and replace the bulb. Should only take a few minutes per side.

Are there even brighter halogen bulbs available to improve the brightness like there used to be? Not really interested in going the LED route at this time.

Why not use LED bulbs? If you're going to do the work to replace the halgoens, there really is no point in going with halogens again.

Sylvania makes some good halogen bulbs, if you still wish to go that route.

 

[Northernlites]

It doesn't take much to replace the bulbs. Remove the front grill. Then, one at a time, remove each headlight and replace the bulb. Should only take a few minutes per side.



Why not use LED bulbs? If you're going to do the work to replace the halgoens, there really is no point in going with halogens again.

Sylvania makes some good halogen bulbs, if you still wish to go that route.

I totally agree on the LEDs being far superior. We have them on our 2020 Cherokee. Our Wrangler is our "fun" Jeep, mainly to be used during the day and more of a pavement princess. Just looking to bump up the headlight and fog lights for now and do LEDs in the future. Made a world of difference on my Dodge truck when I upgraded the headlight halogen bulbs.

 

[OldBlue]

LED bulb swap is fairly quick and easy, with great results. See my post HERE (at the bottom of the post) for what I did.

 

[TheRaven]

You aren't going to get much of an upgrade in halogen bulbs without sacrificing lifespan. I used to use Sylvania Silverstars and they were an OK upgrade over stock, but the Standard Silverstars lasted about 8 months and the Silverstar Ultra "long life" bulbs would last a little over a year. Wasn't a problem in my old cars where you could change a light bulb in literal seconds. But these days you have to remove grills and front bumpers so that can be really frustrating.

There are plenty of LED options that are both reasonably priced and good-performing. It's not like it was even 5 years ago when LED bulb swaps were horrendous in output quality. They can now properly mimic halogen output patterns and thus work properly in halogen housings. I highly recommend just going LED...whether you do the simple bulb swap or spring for a high end projector setup like Oculus.

 

[Paluss]

my 2 cents, LED is the way to go much brighter and will most likely outlast the vehicle, but do your home work, just putting some "LED" bulbs usually result in a really bright beam that does not shine very far down the road.

Also, higher wattage Halogens tend to get very hot and could melt plastic around it, and they tend to last half as long as lower wattage Halogens, depending how much driving you do with the lights on, you may be replacing them once a year.

 

[pablo_max3045]

After you drive anything with proper LEDs, going back to Jeep's complete shit "standard" headlamps feel like a hanging a lantern on the front of your carriage.


Being able to see what is front of you at night is not a fancy nice to have a gadget, but rather the difference between seeing that deer in the road or having it embedded in the back seat of your car.
Don't skimp on safety stuff, IMO.

 

[TheRaven]

just putting some "LED" bulbs usually result in a really bright beam that does not shine very far down the road.

This USED to be the case, even as recently as five years ago...but you absolutely can get very good LED drop-in bulbs now - I know GTR and Morimoto both have options that are designed to mimic halogen bulb output patterns so you will get very good output in the stock housings. You can find demonstration videos on youtube that will show you some examples and their resulting beam patterns.

Obivously, a purpose built projector setup is going to be the best option but isn't necessary for acceptable lighting and also costs a lot more.

 

[Eeshasdon]

If you are interested in the LEDs, check out some of the sponsor pages as they are running Black Friday deals. Might come across something good.

Congrats on the new ride!

 

[Heimkehr]

After perusing the Wrangler's owner's manual, I see it is lengthy task to replace the existing halogen headlight bulbs.

Are there even brighter halogen bulbs available to improve the brightness like there used to be?

Yes, Silverstar Ultra H13s. Take note of the estimated hour (service) life on the rear of the blister pack; the improved performance has a material effect on that metric. Figure one solid year, with anything beyond that point a bonus. No doubt you're aware that when one goes, the other one will follow soon enough, so it's prudent to replace both at the same time.

Advance Auto usually has recurring promotions on the Ultras. As I type this post, I'm waiting for my $15 rebate to arrive in the mail. I just installed a set of Ultra H4s in Offspring's Honda, which doesn't have the space required to accommodate the heat sinks on the equivalent LED bulbs.

 

[danotje]

There’s a thread or six on this somewhere, but I swapped in some LEDs, and they made a huge difference. I can’t remember the brand, etc, but they were a lower lumen, fan less design to keep it simple and reliable. My winch touches the grill, and I was dreading having to figure out how to take it off, but I didn’t have any issues just taking the bulbs out from the back of the housings. If I remember, one was easier than the other, but neither was difficult.

 

[Wabujitsu]

Beamtech LEDs for about $40 a pair (Amazon) are outstanding, with the same halogen beam pattern - except you can actually SEE what is in front of you.

 

[BXFXJeep]

I still haven't seen LED bulbs that do not blind oncoming drivers, Wranglers appear to be the worst of the lot when it come to replacement LED bulbs.

 

[Burntoutaccountant]

I didn’t opt for led headlights or tail lights. I bought the taillights off eBay and swapped in morimoto bulbs.

I’m trading in my wrangler for a raptor this coming weekend so I’ll be pulling the tail lights off if you’re interested.

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