FJ62 - Z-Offroad Headlights (1 Viewer)

[CruisD64]

So with my recent FJ62 "bring back to the road-a-thon" I've realized the headlights are really lacking. I'm looking for a bolt in replacement. Was looking at the JW Speaker ones but maaaaaaaan are they expensive. After realizing they would set me back $1000 I started looking elsewhere and stumbled upon these. They seem like they'd be bolt in replacements and was wondering if anyone has run them before.

Amazon product ASIN B07ZH7WC53
Reviews seem good and they seem like they might be a good fit. If anyone has used them before please respond and if not I'm thinking of being the guinea pig...Thoughts? Will they even work?

 

[Seth S]

I understand the appeal of the LED headlights and I appreciate their low draw of power but I think that a harness upgrade and some nice h4 incandescent housings shouldn’t be scoffed at. The lesser expensive LEDs often have very poor light patterns and while bright they mostly annoy other drivers while inefficiently lighting up the road. I think a better alternative would be to install a pair of HID full time low beams and nice H4 hi/lo with a better harness. If you go for HID look for 4000 kelvin temperature.

Opinions. Much like oil leaks. Everyone has 10.


*just searched for HID headlights in the fj62 size and no luck. Which of course made sense because no car if that era had hid. And the hid conversion kits are often just as obnoxious as the cheap LEDs.*

 

[Godwin]

An OEM H4 headlight kit with headlight harness, relays, Kioto lens, and bulbs for a pair of round headlights is available. The kit is very affordable. There are multiple postings on this kit. In one of the threads, IIRC, is reference to a similar kit for the quad system of the FJ62 but I don't think a part number was given. If you can track this down this would be a very good option.

 

[CruisD64]

Good suggestions. If I were running 60 series round headlights I'd just go for City Racer's LED headlights. I stuck a set on my dads 40 and they are awesome! Because of that I was hoping these LED headlights would be adequate. Once again last night I was driving and the existing lights are terrible. I'll look into the H4 kit. Thanks!

 

[Seth S]

The old stock sealed beams should be considered the baseline for legality . A good set of H4’s with a fresh harness and some decent bulbs will be a major improvement. You could then mount some led driving lights on the bumper wired into the high beams for some extra light. Then you have a ton of options. The Baja designs squadron pros work great.

 

[NearJetties]

I did the harness upgrade and added Hella H4s (low/high beams). The improvement was astonishing. I can actually see well at night. The output is as good or better the modern halogen cars I’ve driven. I haven’t even bothered switching the high beams from sealed beam to H1s.

here’s all the info and part

Installation Guide for ARB Headlight Harness and Hella H1/H4s

I recently upgraded the headlights and wiring harness on my FJ62 and wanted to document the steps I took in case it helps anyone in the future. This guide applies to those of us who drive four eyed vehicles and FJ60 owners will need to follow a slightly different process. Parts you will need...

forum.ih8mud.com

the cheap LEDs that fit fj62s aren’t worth the trouble and as you said the JWs are $$$$. The fj60s have some better options for LEDs.

 

[CruisD64]

Awesome! Thanks! This is the route I will go

 

[cruisermatt]

I want to see someone who actually used the cheap LEDs

 

[gmr76]

I emailed Daniel Stern Lighting asking about recommendations here is the detailed response. I am not affiliated with the site just thought Id pass along.

Cliff notes version:
J.W. Speaker is the best option if you can afford it. Otherwise dont buy cheap LEDs.

My take: if you use his shopping list you are in for ~$700 so why not just save up the different and get the J.W. Speakers?

Response below:
The original headlamps are sealed beams. No matter what
brand or when made, these are primitive and barely
marginally adequate. They produce a dim, narrow, brownish
tunnel of poorly-focused light, very little light on the
road surface, no side spill, and a great deal of upward
stray light that causes backdazzle in bad weather. You can
do much better than these, but you have to be picky and shop
carefully because most of what's on the market is junk
(though all of it is advertised as an "upgrade").

If you want the top-of-the-heap option, it's these
American-made LED headlamps, which are phenomenally good:

Amazon product ASIN B01N21IYHBand
Amazon product ASIN B01N9QTCJA(As you can see, they come in low beam and high beam, chrome
and black, and with or without lens heater -- you'd want the
heated-lens version if you drive through sloppy winter
conditions where a non-heated lens would tend to collect
snow and slush.)

A step down from those is these:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01I5VQSOM/?tag=2402507-20 (low beam)
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01I5VJUCO/?tag=2402507-20 (high beam)
No heated lens available.

EIther of these will drop right in place of the sealed
beams, and won't require relays or any wiring modifications
(power consumption lower than even the weak sealed beams).
They are not cheap in any sense of the word; this,
especially the JW Speaker item, is a commercial-grade
headlamp popular with over-the-road truckers and bus fleet
owners. They work and hold up extremely well. But they also
cost a lot of money! You'll see a whole lot of imitations of
these products, including presentations right on the Amazon
pages. JUNK, all of it, do not buy.

If that much money isn't in the budget for headlamps, then
the shopping list looks like this:

Cibie high/low beam ($189/pair) and Koito-Stanley high-beam
($168/pair) parabolic-reflector replaceable-bulb halogen
headlamp units

Tungsram +120 precision-focus, ultra high luminance 60/55w
high/low beam ($43.18/pair) and high-beam ($35.18/pair) bulbs

All of this equipment will operate safely (i.e., no fires or
other such badness) on the unmodified stock wiring, though
you will need a pair of adapter pigtails ($52.80/pair) for
the outboard lamps.

If you want maximum output, put in a relay harness. You've
got two options for how to do it. Toyota's headlamp
circuitry is sort of from another planet, i.e., it's
different and more complex than other makers' circuits for
no discernible reason, it's just the way they chose to do
it. This somewhat complicates the installation of relays,
because if you do it the usual way you'll get problems: your
high beam indicator light on the dash won't work properly
and you'll sometimes have difficulty switching from low to
high or high to low beam. Specifically, you need to add some
diodes, resistors, and jumpers per the diagram attached to
this email. I can't supply the resistors or diodes as
separate parts, but you can get them locally or online from
an electronics supply house. "R1" is an 8-ohm, 2-watt
resistor. D1 and D2 are silicon diodes with at least 2-amp
rating and at least 50v peak inverse current rating.

The resistor and diodes will need to be purchased locally or
online; I don't supply them. Everything else is in the parts
kit RIK-4, which is $99.

The RIK is not a harness, but a _parts kit_ containing all
relays, brackets, terminal blocks, terminals, plugs,
sockets, fuses and fuseholders. You supply your own wire (or
your mechanic does) and use the parts from the kit to build
up your own wiring harness to take the workload off the
switches and bring full power to the lamps. Specific
instructions are provided, and the concept is explained at
Daniel Stern Lighting Consultancy and Supply .
Parts are specially made premium-grade items (e.g. ceramic
headlamp sockets) that accept large-gauge wire; this is not
the "consumer grade" junk you can find at the parts store.

Or, I can have my harness builder custom build you a
ready-to-install harness assembly using the same components.
Cost for this option on your Toyota-built vehicle is $189
including all parts and build -- diodes and resistor and
all. You pick _either_ one relay kit _or_ one custom-built
harness to do the entire job. It costs more than the cheap,
failure-prone prefab harnesses because it is not a cheap,
failure-prone prefab harness. Installation is simple: you
run the marked wires to battery positive and to battery
negative, snap the harness plug onto one of the vehicle's
original headlamp sockets, snap the harness sockets onto the
headlamps, and secure the cable runs and relays neatly out
of harm's way.

Either way, parts kit or built-up harness, the in-car
switches continue working normally, and you will not need to
cut or otherwise disturb any of the vehicle's original wires.