I NEED light!

[mwood65]

My 74' Cherokee had the original old round headlights which left a little to be desired in brightness.


I ordered some Halogen Asian imports from ebay and if possible I think they are worse than the originals.


Yesterday, an Elk ran out in front of me, circled the Jeep twice and climbed into the passenger seat before I even saw it!


I know I should do the headlight relay thing but in addition to that does anyone have any recommendations on lighting .......cheapish lighting.

[nograin]

Reminds me of an old Woody Allen monologue about taking a moose they hit in or on the car..don't remember the details but it was a good story.

GE's Nighthawk H6024NH Sealed beam has been consistantly recommended on Candlepower forums as the best photometrics for a 7" round sealed beam in current production.
(If you can't buy it locally, https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000H29WN2/?tag=2402507-20)

Nominally all H6024 lamps have a power rating of 65 W/35 Watts. That infers that it draws just 35 Watts on low beam. But the rectangular version of the Nighthawk sealed beam draws more like 45 Watts on low beam, so this one may be too. Don't worry about it. It won't be more than the Jeep was designed to handle. A '74 probably came with 6014 bulbs which were rated 60 W/50W.

Relay system is nice, but not super critical. All lamps do put out more light at higher voltages. IMO, H4 bulbs are more noticible when the voltage gets much below 14 volts. In any case, how much a relay system will make the lights brighter depends on the condition of all the connections and wires.


PS. Its totally possible to have an H4 or even higher tech replacement that performs worse in some or all respects than an old quality sealed beam... So yea I believe it.

[mwood65]

Thanks man, I will check those out and order a pair!

[Brynjminjones]

I've just installed an H4 conversion kit to replace the original 7" round headlights on our '74 Ford F100. I've got similar on our Grand Wagoneer. Both now seem great!

[jpcoutts]

It would be a good idea to check and clean the connectors and terminals in the circuit. I have had great results in improvement with the regular bulbs and I imagine it would produce improvement with whatever bulb is used.

[twmattox]

Make sure they are adjusted properly. If they are pointed wrong up they aren't lighting what they should...I had an '05 that had horrible lights. Ended up they were just pointed straight up.

[nograin]

Make sure they are adjusted properly. If they are pointed wrong up they aren't lighting what they should...I had an '05 that had horrible lights. Ended up they were just pointed straight up.

Good point! On my '85 GW an adjuster failed. The adjusters are nylon; at least on the later SJs. Never rusts, but sometimes they fatigue and break.
I'm still looking for a really good flat and smooth location with a wall to finalize the aim since replacing.

Procedure from a Jeep Service Manual ('82 or 83 IIRC) for lamps made to meet US (SAE) standard. Of course an aiming machine is the best if you can find a shop with one.



Another illustration of the standard US pattern from Virginia's regulations.
(A lamps requiring VOL or VOR aiming will be marked so on the lens.)


Lamps made to European specs (marked ECE or E in a circle) aimed a little differently. http://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech/aim/aim.html

[bagusjeep]

I buy Hella H4 housings for 7" headlights, they have real glass and are optically a high standard and good quality but not expensive. H4s can rust internally, the sealed beams may be sniffed at by some but they are very cheap and keep going.

The relays are worth doing. If you measure the voltage between the positive headlight feed at the bowl and the battery negative it should be within 0.5V of what you can measure just at the battery terminals.

They rarely are in old jeeps, the wires and connectors are part their best and what, at one time in the days of old, was a very large steel return conductor is full of rust and bondo. I have even had a lighting switch catch fire.

By adding in relays and a fresh cable from and to the battery you reduce the old wiring to the role of switching a relay, far easier on the old girl. You also should now get around 13V+ at the lamp when driving. This may increase your brightness by 15 -30%, regardless of which headlight you have.

Those of us who have relays on our Jeeps swear by them. Those who don't just swear in the dark.

[nograin]

With pre-1986 charging systems, relays should draw power direct from the alternator (with fuses of course). Otherwise the power is still going the long way around and the only thing bypassed is the headlight switch and its connector.