FJ62 Headlights (1 Viewer)

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Few questions here as I attempt to figure out what is best. So ruby is a 88 and her low beams just went out. Additionally, her highs only work when you manually hold the lever in, but not when you click forward into the high position. Haven't dealt with it until now and want to consolidate the info I have learned on here about what is probably best for what we are looking to do.

On the headlights. Spent all morning digging through the archives, but most seem about 4 years old plus that I found so not sure if things have changed. I would like to upgrade her lighting, but am hesitant on doing the whole new harness thing as I am not electrically savy. So questions:

1) Are the LEDs by Truck Lite truly plug and play? I've read on here about polarity with LEDs and how the 62s are wired "hot common" which will have to be dealt with...
2) If I do the Halogen route then are the wiring harnesses by Daniel Stern pretty user friendly? I read about his kits on here... I am just not expienced enough to know pros and cons between these two.

From my research the LED sounds best to me as it doesn't require the new harness (being that it pulls less) and I can now get them heated to avoid the snow/ice build up. But what about this polarity business? I have read where some say you can't plug and play and others say they do with the exception their bright dash indicator doesn't work - which I am unconcerned with honestly.

Is there a third option I am not tracking?

I am sure I can figure basic electrical stuff out and can definately follow instructions with wiring, but wanting to make sure I don't get in over my head and alter more than necessary etc... Super bright headlights is not my objective here, just improving since it needs replacement.

On to the bights. I am guessing it is more of a switch/relay associated with the control arm since the brights work fine when manually held down? Anyone experience this as well?

Thanks for any input/help

MERRY CHRISTMAS CRUISER PEOPLE!
 
Figure out why the switch isn't working properly before adding another unknown with the LEDs. It sounds like your symptoms are pointing at a malfunctioning wand switch. Get that sorted out first with everything working before changing lighting.

The blue headlight indicator on the dash IS SUPER IMPORTANT. Without it it's difficult to tell if you've got your brights on with oncoming traffic. Blinding the oncoming car because you're unaware you've got your high beams on is truly screwed to the other driver and really dangerous for you too - when he can't see
 
I'll echo the OP's questions on this. I'm interested in going top-of-the-line like is described in this post Instructions for LED Headlight upgrade .

My only concerns would be following a nearly 4 year old suggestion and it looks like this JW Speaker LEDs are not heated lenses, which I would prefer.

Whose got the most up to date recs on this stuff for the less technically inclined?
 
Good on you for doing your homework! Our 30+ year old electrical systems were built for hammer-simple incandescent lamps, not the subtleties of LEDs (not to mention the 6X’s switched ground system). Not that it can’t be done (and many have), but it’s good you’re not going down the road of buying the cheapest eBay kit you can find.

By far one of the best mods I did was to upgrade my wiring harness. I built mine from scratch, wiring it all the way back with 14ga wire to new engine bay fuse panel that pulls off the alternator lug. I left my old one in place but now all it does is act on relays that energize the new harness. Why? Lamp output has a non-linear drop with voltage. Meaning: even a 1 volt drop at the business end of the wire means visibly less light than with the rated energy. Take a voltmeter to your existing harness and I’ll bet you’re getting less than 12VDC at the lamp compared to the alternator. The Hella H4/H1 e-code halogens I installed on the new harness are night and day compared to the old sealed beams, and while I was at it, I left “hooks” in my new fuse panel for off-road lights. I posted a write up here a long while back... 😉

Good luck! It’s a rewarding learning experience. Also, pro tip: invest in the proper tools to crimp the proper automotive electrical connectors. You’d be surprised how easily an exposed connection can corrode, come apart, and short.
 
Not much has changed since those were started and many have several recent updates.

JW has a heated lens option. They’re still considered the best.
 
i’ve had hella with IPF harness, i’ve tried using HIDs and now i have speakers. the hellas were bright but the wiring is cumbersome and i over time the bright hot bulbs take their toll on the reflective housing making them less bright. over all though a good budget option but not super cheap. don’t use led H4 bulbs as they throw light everywhere and don’t focus it well. the HIDs were designed for the 62 but weren’t waterproof. i had dead bugs in them. the ballasts also caused flickering and they didn’t focus well. now i have speakers after i hit a deer and blew up my hellas. i have the heated version. with building a pretty simple harness you can plug them into the original harness and everything works well and they are bright. i’m still in the process of fine tuning the adjustments but i’m happy with the light quality. they don’t look like OME lenses is the only downside but my truck is so far from OEM that i don’t care. i want to see when i’m driving.
 
Ok thanks for all the responses.

OSS - You're right about figuring out the wand piece first. I went out there tonight and both low beams worked as advertised. It seems it will be a hit or miss if they work.

Am I correct in assuming it is a switch in the wand then? Where would y'all start the trouble shooting? Any known issues here that 9 out of ten times is the culprit? Thanks
 
Check your fuses. Wiggle your fuses. Check your relays. Wiggle your relays. Cheap and easy to do. Once those are ruled out check out the switch.
 
The harness to run LEDs takes less than an hour and about $20 worth of parts to build. I’m building another one for my new 62 so I can run JW Speakers in that as well. Those headlights are the best safety upgrade I’ve ever made to my 60 series trucks. I ran Trucklites in my old red 62 and I must say that their light output and beam pattern is nowhere near the quality of the JW Speakers. Buy once, cry once, drive safely at night and in inclement weather.

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don’t use led H4 bulbs as they throw light everywhere and don’t focus it well.
That’s my gripe with just about all cheap LED units and sealed beams. It’s the kind of thing you won’t see until after you’ve installed the lights. It think it was on Daniel Stern’s website that I learned about e-codes. Apparently, US DOT headlights have to light overhead signs so they throw a cone shaped beam of light, but Euro lights don’t, so they’re focused down on the road. Dunno if you can get LED e-codes, but maybe that’s something to research.
 
Right on. Thanks for all the responses.

going to upgrade regardless of outcome as the originals are so dim...

Keep reading about these JW Speakers so I’m going to give Daniel a call and upgrade the harness and grab some headlights.

thanks! Merry Christmas
 
No need to upgrade the harness for the LED headlights. They drawer less power than stock. You do have to build a little harness/adapter pigtail. The JW speakers are meant to be positive switched and basically every on FJ60/62 is ground switched. Just read through the thread that StudsTerkel posted. Lots of diagrams in there.
For what it's worth I found that the JW Speaker's were cheapest from hplighting.ca even with shipping from canananananada.

The issue with your high beams is more than likely the multi function switch.
 
No need to upgrade the harness for the LED headlights. They drawer less power than stock. You do have to build a little harness/adapter pigtail. The JW speakers are meant to be positive switched and basically every on FJ60/62 is ground switched. Just read through the thread that StudsTerkel posted. Lots of diagrams in there.
For what it's worth I found that the JW Speaker's were cheapest from hplighting.ca even with shipping from canananananada.

The issue with your high beams is more than likely the multi function switch.

That link doesn't lead to anything. I found them for $220 on this site though. JW Speaker Heated 4x6 Model 8800 Evo 2 - Chrome

That's $55 cheaper per light than the JW site. Anyone find anything cheaper than that?
 
I've been curious to know what the next best option is after JW speaker. I'm not about to spend over 1k for some headlights.
 

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