Jeep Cherokee XJ headlight upgrade?

[alexfm]

I may be a little late, but I just upgraded my XJ's headlights with some basic Ebay lights, and I love them. They are just basic diamond cut housings, with 85/80 H4 bulbs in em. Huge improvement over stock, they cast a huge splas of white light, compared to the little spots of yellow my sealed beams cast. And I'm still running the stock harness, and havent fried anything yet. I'll post some pictures here and more in my build thread as soon as I can upload them. Oh, and total cost with shipping was $27.99. :sombrero:

EDIT:
Here's a shot of the front end of my XJ with one of the H4 lights on the driver's side, and the old (not really, I replaced it a few months ago) sealed beam light on the other side. Its hard to show how bright they are during the day, so I'll eventually try and get a picture of it at night. With the new lights only of course.

 

[ert01]

I'd avoid the Autopals and go with either Hellas or IPF's. The autopals I had cracked very quickly... I went through 4 housings and my brother went through 2 all in less then 8 months. I am currently running IPF's and the cutoff is much better and they are lasting a lot longer (but I also put 3m film on them too).

Running 80/100W Hella bulbs (available on ebay for cheap)

 

[Purple People Eater]

If I were you, which I'm not, I wouldn't get too crazy with this, Chris. They're headlights. Aftermarket and upgraded everything isn't necessary, imho. I went to Autozone and got a pair of Sylvania Silverstar lights, and plugged them the fudge in. They're not super awesome hardcore blind the other driver bright, but they certainly light up the road sufficiently.

Plus, if you really need to light it up, you have your IPFs, right? Keep it simple, brah.

My .02.

 

[Black Dog]

Ditto Mr Purple. My opinion, if you want seriously bright blinding lights that is what your auxilaries are for. I got the same plug and play Silverstars and they are still an upgrade from a direct OEM replacement and I like the nice white light instead of yellow, but you're not going to light up a whole stadium with them.

 

[cshontz]

Good counterpoints, guys. I find myself so starved for light with my low-beams, that I feel very much inclined to compensate in excess. You remind me that the whole premise behind my Cherokee is to equip it with what I need, and nothing more.

My center-mounted IPFs do, in fact, penetrate the darkness as if God Himself sliced through the veil of night to allow daylight to shine through.

Still, I think a wiring harness upgrade would be beneficial, as I'm becoming very dubious of my Jeep's electrical system at this point. I do like the thought of just plugging in a pair of inexpensive, but relatively good performing, sealed beams that I can get practically anywhere. Furthermore, this is the better plan for the time being, because I have much bigger fish to fry.

 

[bldeagle10]

im subscribing to this. many ideas. on a college budget im going to have to go with silver stars, but later on i may go with something a little brighter just cause i live out in the middle of nowhere and i like to see at night lol. animals galore...i know the silver stars will be a huge improvement over what i have now, other than that i have the auxillary light(s) (one has a burnt out bulb to cheap to replace it yet) and the police style search light so i can get a decent amount of light till i go all out with a build. i will get a harness as well. thats all just my 2 cents. for whatever thats worth coming from a 19 year old

 

[TheGleam227]

I went with the eautoworks harness and rampage housings. I think I put some sort of silverstars in them...can't remember exactly which ones. I don't have any complaints at all. Much better than the stock setup! I'm sure it's not the best option out there, and not as bright as HIDs, but for the cost it was worth it to me.

 

[Dr. Jones]

I have Cibie e-codes in my TJ with a homemade upgraded wiring harness (10awg and relays right off the battery). By far the best mod I've done in terms of safety and drivability... well at night anyway. I particularly like the 100/130 watt bulbs for off roading :Wow1:.