Halogen NOT LED upgrade (bulbs)

[Willys2Gladiator]

Like the title states. Anyone do an upgrade worthy of sharing and staying halogen?
I know some threw in LED bulbs. Not interested.
But interested in any possible upgrade to halegon bulbs that some might have found.

Thanks!!!!

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[dcmdon]

All of the "high end" halogen bulbs are a farce.

They are halogen so their efficiency is pretty much set. They are limited in their wattage by law.
So the $30 PIAA or Sylvania bulbs are just pointless.

What aren't pointless are off road halogen bulbs. These bulbs are illegal to use. But are much brighter.

This is an example. This is a hella H4 bulb that is 80w / 100w rather than normal which is 55/65.

you may need to set up a relay right off the battery to support bulbs like these.

https://www.amazon.com/HELLA-H4-100-80W-Wattage/dp/B000COBLKW

For years I got high powered halogen bulbs at rallybulbs.com. But they are unfortunately gone. The only down side to these bulbs was they didn't last very long. I got 6 months at the most for my low beams.

 

[Shackleton]

Watching. The stock Halogens are horrible in my opinion but so far I haven’t upgraded. Why Halogen and not LED?

 

[NachoRuby]

All of the "high end" halogen bulbs are a farce.

They are halogen so their efficiency is pretty much set. They are limited in their wattage by law.
So the $30 PIAA or Sylvania bulbs are just pointless.

What aren't pointless are off road halogen bulbs. These bulbs are illegal to use. But are much brighter.

This is an example. This is a hella H4 bulb that is 80w / 100w rather than normal which is 55/65.

you may need to set up a relay right off the battery to support bulbs like these.

https://www.amazon.com/HELLA-H4-100-80W-Wattage/dp/B000COBLKW

For years I got high powered halogen bulbs at rallybulbs.com. But they are unfortunately gone. The only down side to these bulbs was they didn't last very long. I got 6 months at the most for my low beams.

What's the candle power of those bulbs? In my state, it needs to be at least 7500 (low beam), at least 10000 (high beam), and not more than 150000 combined, and aimed properly. Are those bulbs putting out more than 150k candlepower? I know it says off-road only, but does it actually exceed the legal brightness limit, or is it just c.y.a.? It doesn't help that every state has different rules.

 

[Willys2Gladiator]

Watching. The stock Halogens are horrible in my opinion but so far I haven’t upgraded. Why Halogen and not LED?

Fair question.
I have a JL with LED's. Amazing! Great for my daily driver.
My JT I special ordered as old school as I could get. I miss the old Willy's truck days. I have roll up windows and if I could radio delete Wich isn't an option so 5" it is. Pulled carpet and put in Armorlite floor. Just gives me a good feel when im in it. Most won't understand but it's what keeps my soul charged.
Halogen light are fine I was just wondering what others have done. Not that I would actually do it.

 

[NachoRuby]

Fair question.
I have a JL with LED's. Amazing! Great for my daily driver.
My JT I special ordered as old school as I could get. I miss the old Willy's truck days. I have roll up windows and if I could radio delete Wich isn't an option so 5" it is. Pulled carpet and put in Armorlite floor. Just gives me a good feel when im in it. Most won't understand but it's what keeps my soul charged.
Halogen light are fine I was just wondering what others have done. Not that I would actually do it.

Completely understand. I used to love driving our old optionless jeep (Just a TJ, so not quite as old as your old Willys). I like the same simplicity in my classic car. I almost bought crank window Willys before falling in love with Nacho.

 

[Willys2Gladiator]

Completely understand. I used to love driving our old optionless jeep (Just a TJ, so not quite as old as your old Willys). I like the same simplicity in my classic car. I almost bought crank window Willys before falling in love with Nacho.

Yeah, in this crazy high tech word we live it's nice to take a step back and slow down. Enjoy Nacho my friend.

 

[2010JK]

I have KC Halogens in my JK. Noticeable improvement over the stock headlights and half the cost of the cheapest LED option

 

[dcmdon]

What's the candle power of those bulbs? In my state, it needs to be at least 7500 (low beam), at least 10000 (high beam), and not more than 150000 combined, and aimed properly. Are those bulbs putting out more than 150k candlepower? I know it says off-road only, but does it actually exceed the legal brightness limit, or is it just c.y.a.? It doesn't help that every state has different rules.

I was thinking of federal standards when I mentioned them being illegal.

Most likely they were never actually tested for actual Brightness. Since they are intended for off-road use.

I will tell you that I never had anyone flash their beams at me when I was using my low beam.

 

[saintpauljeff]

I have KC Halogens in my JK. Noticeable improvement over the stock headlights and half the cost of the cheapest LED option

do you have a link to your bulbs by any chance?

 

[Dqban]

you really cant put brighter bulbs than oem in an oem halogen housing. Due to the laws of physics (not an opinion thing), any brighter will produce glare and ruin your cut off. The white light will look pretty though. The light "quality" will suck. If you look at LED bulbs/brighter halogens vs projectors, the projectors produce a much more focused, stable and balanced output.

 

[dcmdon]

you really cant put brighter bulbs than oem in an oem halogen housing. Due to the laws of physics (not an opinion thing), any brighter will produce glare and ruin your cut off. The white light will look pretty though. The light "quality" will suck. If you look at LED bulbs/brighter halogens vs projectors, the projectors produce a much more focused, stable and balanced output.

That’s not true at all.

If the replacement bulbs are dimensionally identical to the original bulbs, they will just be brighter. Cut off will be in the same place. Everything will be the same except… They will be brighter

 

[JP_Oracle]

Careful with higher output halogen (HOD) bulbs.

We produced these a long time ago, as an alternative to HID kits for people who wanted a different CCT but didn't want to deal with the hassle of using ballasts/relays. This was long before LED chips were small and efficient enough to start using them in bulbs.

Most modern headlight housings cannot withstand the extra heat produced by these. In most if not all cases, we found discoloration in chrome reflective housings & in some cases, complete melting of the bulb sockets after prolonged use. Needless to say, those were discontinued.

If you want to upgrade your headlights, it's worth doubling back and re-considering LED.

Edit: To add to this, I am not sure if increasing the wattage that dramatically would cause canbus issues at the TIPM. We know there is an under tolerance, as they are set up for the LED package. Which is why LED headlight replacements work with no harnesses or resistors needed. But, adding (In some cases doubling) the wattage, in my experience, would show back to the TIPM as a short and cause a shutdown of the circuit as a failsafe.

 

[Dqban]

That’s not true at all.

If the replacement bulbs are dimensionally identical to the original bulbs, they will just be brighter. Cut off will be in the same place. Everything will be the same except… They will be brighter

This is absoulutely wrong. beyond a certain level of lumens, reflectors essentially reflect back on themselves and causes the effects mentioned above (among other issues.) Its why projectors are considered an upgrade over reflector dish. Not to mention i have personally seen the difference in glare between reflectors with "high end" leds vs projector on this vehicle. As I stated...Its a physics thing. No room argument since the numbers dont bare this out. If manufacturers could get LED level performance by simply sticking a bulb in there they would as it would be a lot cheaper than engineering a whole system (that actually meets performance metrics.)
From your perspective yes, it is brighter and you may feel it is good enough. From an actual performance perspective, LED bulbs just dont hang and actually make various aspects of the lighting worse.

The link I posted below is one of the best explanations Ive been able to find.
There are a plethora of reputable websites (actual news/press organizations) that talk about this in detail, including NHTSA articles that actually test and demonstrate various products.

https://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech/bulbs/Hid/conversions/conversions.html

 

[2010JK]

do you have a link to your bulbs by any chance?

https://www.quadratec.com/products/97009_7001.htm Looking deeper it seems like they might not offer these to fit the JT

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