John Deere headlights....installed (1 Viewer)

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Joined
Dec 2, 2003
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Location
Rockville, MD
Well I lost a headlight the night before last, so I decided I was tired of the crappy Sylvania bulbs(2nd bulb in 3 months, yes, on the same side). I researched on here and found the JD bulbs to be the best option for me(cheapest "upgrade", and I already had Slee's headlight harness). The cutting of the tab was VERY easy, and took probably a total of 8 minutes to do both, including test fitting(I used a dremel w/ a cut off wheel). I can't tell the difference in the light output yet, 'cause it's still light out, but I will update this thread once it's dark out.

BTW, the part number for these bulbs is AH211917. They cost ~28.55. I paid $63.xx after tax. My JD dealer didn't have them in stock, but I called yesterday afternoon at 2pm and ordered them and he had them in at 9am this morning.

Ary
 
I'm curious why you don't just use your extra lights such as hella, pia, lightforce exc..... instead of fabbing with the light bulbs?
 
Labrat, they're made in China.

Concrete, $$. These are about $10-20 cheaper than the Hella's and so forth. At least that's what I read. Also, the JD dealer is around the corner from me, so I don't have to pay shipping and can have near instant gratification :D Also, the "fabbing" of the bulbs was VERYYYY easy.

Ary
 
I have 1 OEM bulb and 1 John Deere bulb installed...

cheap-assed me doesn't want to ditch the other bulb until it burns out. :D

The plus side of my cheap-assed-ness is that I can easily compare the light output of the two.
The JD bulb is much brighter than the OEM.


I did find a funky sorta-short in my slee light harness. If the wire for the light is bent just so, the light cuts out. For now, I have a twist-tie holding the wire in the right spot...but I'm going to need to look into this some more later...
 
does the upgrade to the JD lights only work with the Slee harness? I will be off Island next week and there is a dealership nearby.
 
Just picked mine up from the JD dealer today. Did the DS install over lunch and even in daylight I can tell how much brighter and sharper the light is compared to the walmart bought GE on the PS...

Box says made in Japan, Bulb is marked Tobishiba & Japan
 
Good score Jomama, we'll start seeing the bulbs made in China more frequently as the ones that are made in Japan are quickly phasing out!! Same company and same technology, different factory location.
 
I did not think the HIR's were any more watts then the stock bulbs? I run them in high and low in my 100....very nice upgrade

I do agree wtih upgrading the harness to get full voltage to the lights.

Arya Ebrahimi said:
The slee harness is "recommended" because the brighter bulbs draw more current. I don't know that it would be wise to use them w/ the stock harness for very long.

Ary
 
We just had this discussion the other day, but here goes...

The HIR bulbs do not draw any more current than stock bulbs.

The Slee harness is still an improvement just like it is for stock bulbs, in that they get 100% of the power they are supposed to get without any droppoff associated with factory wiring.

The HIRs get their additional light by reflecting heat back on the filament, creating a superhot glow. They still use 55W for lows and 65W for highs.
 
I did the J/D HIR mod about 6 months ago and noticed a big difference over OEM. I'm still running the stock wiring harness though. I'd like to add Slee's harness and get the 65W HIRs for the high beams. These are definately some of the best low beams I've driven with (slightly behind mid-90s BMW 5 & 7 series though - incredible lights!). I think it took me less than 30 seconds with a dremel to modify each bulb - and I'm not even good with a dremel! :)
 
ugh. Can't wait for my HIR's to get here in the mail. I drove home from the mountains last weekend at night, about 90 miles, and my low beams SUCK! :crybaby:
 
alia176 said:
Is this p/n for the Low beams?

Thanks.


Yes, you can only obtain the low beams thru John Deere AFAIK.
 
Jomama said:
Yes, you can only obtain the low beams thru John Deere AFAIK.


Scroll up to post #2 and take that link - it's my post to the other thread with all the details from my Deere bulb purchase. AND as mentioned there there's a group order deal happening now through the e-bay seller for high beams.


So - I have the bulbs - I have the Slee harness - this weekend should be very enlightening... :D

I actually plan on collecting data on the install. I'll be taking voltage readings before / after harness and engine off / at idle. ALSO (if I can find it) I have a photographers handheld light meter. I'll be trying a series of readings OEM / HIR, before / after harness, engine off / at idle........

Stay tuned..........
 
concretejungle said:
I'm curious why you don't just use your extra lights such as hella, pia, lightforce exc..... instead of fabbing with the light bulbs?

I just realized that you meant adding auxiliary lights. I will eventually, but I don't have anywhere to mount them currently(I'm without a front bumper). I have a set of Hella 4000's sitting here waiting for a bumper to be installed on. I'm working on fabbing a bumper soon, so we'll see how that goes. Once the bumper's finished the 4000's will be mounted asap.

The other reason is I wanted more light from my lowbeams. I drive a lot on 2-way divided highways in semi-rural areas. The problem is that there's traffic traveling in the opposite direction, limiting the use of highbeams and aux lights, but there is a considerable expanse of shoulder and median where deer, bear, and other animals like to hangout until you're about to pass them, at which point they like to jump in front of you :doh: (Holy run-on sentence Batman!)Therefore, upgraded lows should help me in this situation w/o blinding oncoming traffic.

Ary
 
HIR's and Slee Harness Upgrade

Got both my group-buy HIR's and the Slee harness on Friday. Bulbs went in Friday night (30 min, including bulb base mod). Better. Harness went in this evening (45 min). MUCH better. And aiming them helped too :rolleyes: The stock indicators for alignment weren't very good when in the stock position... It seems like the ARB alters the cutoff of the reflector somewhat. Anyhow, MUCH whiter and brighter light on the lows. I still have the 9005 high beams. They kick butt, so I can't see dropping $60 to upgrade them.

btw Safado, Thanks for setting up the group buy. I ordered on Wed, they were here on Fri.
 
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