Headlight upgrade for better lights? (1 Viewer)

[albertom]

Hi All,

I took my 70 out for a drive a couple days ago at night and was really shocked at how dim my lights were. Checked everything and it was fine... I upgraded to the roundeyes housings and have better than stock bulbs but honestly I think i need more. I am a huge fan of LED lighting and are likely to add a light bar to the roof rack, but for regular driving I would love to have something better.

Has anyone done the jeep thing with the LED housings? Will those work with our 70 series?

Other than adding aux lighting, what other options are available for these rigs?

Just wanted to get the ball rolling as I couldnt find anything related to headlight upgrades other than the roundeyes I already did.

Thanks!

 

[Behemoth60]

Yes. I have the JW Speaker LED headlights marketed to the Jeep crowd. They are rated to work on 24V, so I thought it would be a sweet upgrade to my 1988 BJ74. Not so easy.
First problem is that Toyota has a funky wiring where they switch the ground between high and low beams, and actually run the current in reverse. No problem for a piece of wire that glows when it's hot, but a real problem for a current sensitive solid state LED.
No problem I installed some Relays and reversed the current for the lights. Bingo, bango... LED Lights... THen I found the second problem.
The headlight switch is not a precision device for swithcin low current relays... it's assuming a massive draw from white hot glowing wire. The switch did not flow enough current to trigger the relays properly... I could run low beams, switch to high beams, but never switch back to low beams without turnign the headlights off, then back on. Even tried a different stalk from my other truck assuming it was a bad switch... nope, same thing on both 1988BJ74 headlight switches. That's about when I put my halogens back in, and now I have an extremely expensive pair of JWSpeaker LED headlights collecting dust on the shelf.
Maybe there's a simple way to re-wire the headlight circuit so the electricity flows in the right direction through the right swithces? I don't know.

 

[elkaholic]

The Truck Lite LEDs will work on the 24V 70s really nicely. I have not done it to mine yet, but a local club member has them in his truck and they are quite nice.

 

[Locked79]

I am currently in the process of upgrading the headlights in my landcruiser. Im going to use 7" sealed beam 95/110w lights with an upgraded wiring harness to handle the extra current draw. If you don't play near water you could use semi sealed lights. I'll post some pics when its done

 

[ForealBoreal]

hella makes a 24v H4 in 100/90W....
HID kit will do wonders for you, just others will hate you.

 

[cruiserdan]

I'm running Hella H4s with 24v 70/75 watt bulbs. I really like them.

 

[Tapage]

TruckLite Alberto ..

Bolt on solution ..

 

[toms42]

do you the truck lites work with the negative switched with out altering the wiring? Ie bolt straight in?
cheers

 

[tubes41]

You haven't told us the age of your cruiser, but I'd take a look at what voltages you're getting at the lights first... depending on your vehicle's age, you could be seeing as low as 10 or 11v at the light.
One of the first things I did was cut a couple of relays into the factory harness; one for low beam, and one for high beam.
In the older vehicles, the headlight stalk handles all of the current for the headlights. As the contacts wear & corrosion builds up, the resistance in the switch goes up and dims the headlights.
A fresh fused feed from the battery through some relays does wonders!

-Trav

 

[Gun Runner 5]

If after the upgrades, you're still not satisfied, I suggest you try this setup. I've got Lightforce driving lights that are tied into the high beams and high quality LED's that are tied into the low beams. I can definitely SEE where I am going.

 

[albertom]

My cruiser is a 1987 FJ70 with a 3F engine, sorry I forgot to mention that!

TruckLite Alberto ..

Bolt on solution ..

Thats basically what I was looking at, but I wanted to see if anyone had done it and how hard it was. I wouldnt want to have new LED headlights sitting around like @Bahemoth60. Is it truly a bolt on solution? How good is it?

If after the upgrades, you're still not satisfied, I suggest you try this setup. I've got Lightforce driving lights that are tied into the high beams and high quality LED's that are tied into the low beams. I can definitely SEE where I am going.

That was the route I was inclined to, but if there is a way to make the headlights work with correct projectors and not drive everyone crazy with aux lights... it might be better.

Here are some pics of my rig.

 

[Gun Runner 5]

Driving people crazy with 10 gazillion candlepower is the fun part.

 

[renago]

I had a standard 60W lights on , after 10 years of honorable Service 1 light died .
So I replaced Both with a xenon light .
The cost was pretty steep , But there are no more dark nights in front .
At first I went for a low beam in xenon , and high alogena , but was NOT the right move.
Switched to high and low xenon .
I do remember that the wire of Toyota is riverse compered to other manufacture.
Therefore you must change something in the wireing of the lights.

Bye Renago

 

[Shes Mad]

hella makes a 24v H4 in 100/90W....
HID kit will do wonders for you, just others will hate you.

I put the H4 90/100 in my BJ74. They were a nice improvement, and low cost

 

[Tapage]

They were truly bolt on in Tencha .. you will found here ( MUD ) thread about TruckLite LED with some pics of how they work at night ( not only from Tencha )

old pic

 

[Shes Mad]

I put the H4 90/100 in my BJ74. They were a nice improvement, and low cost

Well, now I know why there was so much improvement They are not 90/100W

Stock were 70/75W

Now 130/90W

 

[Gun Runner 5]

I've got the same lights on my HJ75 although I'm not sure of the wattage. They are actually quite good.

 

[wardharris]

They were truly bolt on in Tencha .. you will found here ( MUD ) thread about TruckLite LED with some pics of how they work at night ( not only from Tencha )

old pic

Love my TruckLites!

 

[albertom]

Interesting to hear about the TruckLites, any specific part number you can recommend?? Did you purchase an adapter or is there a direct H4 plug? I saw an anti flicker module... do I need that?

Thanks for the help

 

[wardharris]

27270C. Plug and play in my 73 for 12 or 24 volts - same #. They offer an adapter for H4 to H13 harness if needed.

http://www.amazon.com/Truck-Lite-27...qid=1423066678&sr=8-1&keywords=trucklight+led