Tired of Dim Headlights?

[KevinNY]

You might not see the difference with "stock replacement wiring" but I think you would with "40 year old corroded factory original wiring and a knackered switch".

[amcordo]

^^You would think so, and running a relay setup for the headlights is definitely a good idea. However, I have compared real world headlight output from stock headlight wiring to 'direct to battery' wiring and noticed no significant difference. Tried it on a 63 and 69 as well as a 2005 Subaru WRX. I ended up with Hella e-codes on all my Rovers and a factory HID setup on the WRX. I have e-codes on my Lightweight and I have been researching HID retrofit options.

If you don't mind the goofy look, HID projectors are the way to go.

I'd agree with the HID being the best in terms of light. I've installed these on my past three vehicles and they're by far better than halogen. Downside being that they're slightly more expensive, use a ton of startup power, and in applications like our land rovers you'll have to shell out big bucks to get an HID lamp that has an integrated halogen hi-beam. HID don't get to full intensity right away, and you should never switch them on and off repeatedly without letting them cool down or you'll kill them quickly - that's why they don't use them in high beam applications.

[greenmeanie]

Some interesting reading about headlight replacement bulbs.
Link

Another link explaining the basic rule of volts to lumens. It doesn't matter how you do it but a feeder drop of only 1V has a significant impact. Without a light meter to measure lumens most 'comparisons' are pretty useless.
Link

[kidrover86]

I'm gonna apologize ahead of time for the length, but I've spent alot of time on this recently...

Just to share my experience with HID's... HID's definitely have superior light output to halogens but I don't think they'd work great on series rovers. While companies offer kits, converting HID bulbs into a reflector housing is very dangerous to other drivers. The bulb is a different shape and is designed to emit light out, not reflected back. There will be significant hot and cool spots and glare in all directions ie at oncoming traffic, even if aimed down. I did this to a set of fog lights and while brighter, was unimpressed with the actual quality of the light output. HID's require projector lenses and, in my opinion, these would look silly on a rover (but thats me).

As far as the hi/lo beam, there are usually two kinds, a low beam hid with a separate halogen hi beam, or a single bixenon projector. Bixenon's use a single bulb with a solenoid that lifts and lowers a flap or guard over the lens. Low beam the guard is down creating a sharp horizontal cutoff, high beam the guard is up allowing all the light to pour through (very bright). In bixenons the bulb never turns on and off, it's just the guard moving. Hope that helps.

As far as retrofitting a projector into a 7'' round reflector, I'm all over it for my jeep haha. If anyone has questions let me know. I'm using e55 bixenon projectors with probably 5k bulbs. It's a lengthy process that requires attention to detail to make sure you get the beam pattern level and everything generally "clean" looking. Here is an example for reference:



The only aftermarket projector I've seen is one that was designed for Hummers, but would work fine on a rover. These run about $600 and make the front look like a transformer. I think there was one for motorcycles too but they were equally outrageous in price.

[jac04]

There is a lot of really neat stuff at http://www.rallylights.com/
I've purchased a bunch of stuff from them.

[brucejohn]

I installed the Hella's our hosts offer (RN# RNC673) and have been very happy. I big improvement over whatever the PO had. I do have relays, though they haven't hit high enough on my to do list to install.

[TeriAnn]

Cheapest way to better lights is to add a relay harness with new wires and just use the old wires as the signal wire for the relays.

A few years back I started off doing the exact same thing. And I added a set of IPF headlights with a VERY sharp low beam cutoff and put in a pair of bulbs that are 90W low beam & 140W high beam. When I hit the highs I can see just about forever so I dip down to lows when an oncoming vehicle is very far away. The low beams are also very bright but the sharp cutoff keeps them from blinding oncoming traffic. I never been flashed by oncoming traffic with the 90W low beams and below the cutoff I can see better than I used to be able to with high beams. When I pull up behind a car at a stop I make a point of stopping just before my low beam cutoff climbs as high as their rear window.

Relays, IPF headlamps with high wattage bulbs left me a happier safer driver with less dazzle to oncoming cars than my old standard halogen lights.

[uralrover]

Well I found them (LED's) sorely inadiquate in my vehicle in Iraq. I had them in aHummer and a Defender 110 and ended up getting rid of them for conventional bulbs. They are bright but at a shorter range then a regular bulb. Because of this I have instead started looking at doing a HID conversion for my series in order to actually see the road. I let you know how that turns out...