Headlight upgrade for better lights? (1 Viewer)

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Call and ask
 
Resurrecting this post. Any developments in the LED headlight replacements? Can anyone recommend an affordable plug&play kit that doesn't require altering wire looms, adding relays etc?
 
So how do these work? Do they have a built-in relay? Do these also overcome the switching back down to low-beam described by Behemoth60

Behemoth60 said:
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.
Click to expand...
 
Paul, the Trucklites have a very well thought out PCB that is sensitive enough for the low draw of the LED's (particularly for 24v). As others have said they are truly plug and play. The engineer I talked to there said they had to design a pcb capable of working on switched ground for several types of military vehicles. So we get to reap the benefit. They are outstanding even after having high wattage H4 systems in my trucks. 27275C's for the win.

Actually, there is a brand new release of them with and more robust PCB and better low beam led. If you are buying them make sure they were produced from April of 2018 or newer.

Cheers
 
beno said:
These are plug and play. But not affordable. They are very good quality.

I am sure there is Chinese junk you can buy like this as well.

https://www.amazon.com/Truck-Lite-27275C-7IN-Heated-Headlight/dp/B00ZBB1MGE/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1527256295&sr=8-5&keywords=7"+trucklite
Click to expand...

I think you may have hit one item that Amazon is high on. The non-heated ones can usually be found for $100-125 each. It has been a while since I last looked at heated ones, but I recall them being $15-20 more ....
 
Oh boy, I was putting it in the cart thinking 300.00 for a set isn't too bad (kinda similar to the price of Depos) then I read I need 2... Added to the wish list... Key word "wish"


Update: found the non-heated 170.00 dollar ones. I dont think I need heated headlights in San Diego
 
Last edited:
I stand corrected .. the non-heated ones I found now are $169 .. I found a place showing the heated ones for $249 but they are out of stock.

I run the non-heated and the only issue I have is that the high beam indicator does not light up, but these are bright enough that one does not need an indicator!
 
I've been running truck lite's several years now .. they are still working flawless .. even thought there are few China made options out there with more " brightness " ..
 
Another fan of the Truck lights here, have had them about two years now, ridiculously easy to instal and they make a big difference. I do not have the heated ones and they work fine in the Colorado winter, that said I do drive my rig sparingly in the winter.
 
elkaholic said:
I stand corrected .. the non-heated ones I found now are $169 .. I found a place showing the heated ones for $249 but they are out of stock.

I run the non-heated and the only issue I have is that the high beam indicator does not light up, but these are bright enough that one does not need an indicator!
Click to expand...
Did you fix the relay issue from the last 70s meet and greet? Id be interested in how you fixed them
 
Yes. I removed the resistor (they promised it would stand up to 24v but nooooooooo ....). Then I was finally getting back to trace wiring a few weeks later and found that we somehow clocked the plug 90 degrees on the LH headlamp when we field bypassed the resistor (so the plug was connected on two of the three contacts). Put it back right and all was good. Testament to the robustness of these lights.
 
Thanks for all the replies guys.

Truck lights seem like a quality product, but I'm not (yet) willing to pay $340 to upgrade my headlights.

I'll check if the current headlights are regular bulbs or if they've already upgraded to H4 by the PO. If not, I'm opting for the H4 upgrade for now.
 
Koito iterations are available and you can remove 12v bulb and put whatever style of 24v bulb you want.

Direct fit.

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11B465F5-95B0-4543-8714-714D45661D14.jpeg
9EC0B5A5-C7CE-409D-B660-3FF418D25F7D.jpeg
 
Just relocate to Southwest Georgia where you'll only need one headlight. :)
 
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