The "best" plug and play headlight harness, let the opinions flow...

[Zack1978]

Hi everyone,
I would say that one of the issues with my "burning smell in the cab" thread could be the headlight wires. I had been thinking about upgrading the harness for some time now, and there is no better time than now. The bottom line is that I want a direct plug and play harness for my 87 fj60. I want the light on the dash to light up when I put the brights on. So what harness should I buy that will be a simple direct 87 FJ-60 fit? Does the harness come with FJ-60 specific directions? And and who has the best price?

Thank you,
Zack

PS: I did search, and I read MANY different threads. But I want simple plug and play.

 

[Jan-78FJ40]

Hi everyone,
I would say that one of the issues with my "burning smell in the cab" thread could be the headlight wires. I had been thinking about upgrading the harness for some time now, and there is no better time than now. The bottom line is that I want a direct plug and play harness for my 87 fj60. I want the light on the dash to light up when I put the brights on. So what harness should I buy that will be a simple direct 87 FJ-60 fit? Does the harness come with FJ-60 specific directions? And and who has the best price?

Thank you,
Zack

PS: I did search, and I read MANY different threads. But I want simple plug and play.

the ARB harness that Kurt at cruiseroutfitters sells is plug and play. you provide chuice directly from the battery, all dash controls work perfectly and the lights are much brighter. all you have to do is mount 3 relays. look at the bottom of this page:
Cruiser Outfitters

works great.

cheers,
J

 

[Zack1978]

the ARB harness that Kurt at cruiseroutfitters sells is plug and play. you provide chuice directly from the battery, all dash controls work perfectly and the lights are much brighter. all you have to do is mount 3 relays. look at the bottom of this page:
Cruiser Outfitters

works great.

cheers,
J

Thanks!

I forgot to ask, do I retain the stock headlight wires that plug into the new harness? Or does the new harness do away with all the stock wires?

Zack

 

[DirtyLittleSecret]

The Susquehana MotorSports harness (Rallylights.com)is also an excellent choice, and very well made (by hand) as well as tested individually. BTW these guys really know about lighting. Really lit up my Cruiser's life. Plug & play harness that is maybe a 10 minute job. Add some Sylvania Silverstar headlights and you've got a view.

 

[Jan-78FJ40]

Thanks!

I forgot to ask, do I retain the stock headlight wires that plug into the new harness? Or does the new harness do away with all the stock wires?

Zack

you retain the stock harness for the controls. If you have a short somewhere in there it will not disappear.

 

[3pits]

for my fj62 I got mine from RL, it seems well built, I am having a problem and i think it is because they built it for h4 and h1s not for the stock sealed beams, they have been helpful, and shipping was quick


DLS where did you mount your relays? in my fj62 I chose to put mine under the battery, so it is a PITA to do anything to it

 

[Spook50]

I built my own from a design by Wayne Tangen. The schematic is in the tech section. You do have to build it yourself, but it's very worth it. I haven't even had to replace a relay yet and I've been running it for a long time (which reminds me I should order a couple spares). Another cool part was that I didn't have to use the little adapters for the different pinout of the Hella H4s. I just made sure I wired the headlight plugs correctly.

 

[DirtyLittleSecret]

for my fj62 I got mine from RL, it seems well built, I am having a problem and i think it is because they built it for h4 and h1s not for the stock sealed beams, they have been helpful, and shipping was quick


DLS where did you mount your relays? in my fj62 I chose to put mine under the battery, so it is a PITA to do anything to it

Mounted the relays using the same bolt that the FI relay uses (near the battery on the PS fender). All my relays are right there where I can get to them. Me, I've very happy with my RL harness, and they used quality wire which in itself is a surprise these days...

 

[CardinalFJ60]

x2

the ARB harness that Kurt at cruiseroutfitters sells is plug and play. you provide chuice directly from the battery, all dash controls work perfectly and the lights are much brighter. all you have to do is mount 3 relays. look at the bottom of this page:
Cruiser Outfitters

works great.

cheers,
J

I'll second this...

 

[Zack1978]

the ARB harness that Kurt at cruiseroutfitters sells is plug and play. you provide chuice directly from the battery, all dash controls work perfectly and the lights are much brighter. all you have to do is mount 3 relays. look at the bottom of this page:
Cruiser Outfitters

works great.

cheers,
J

Ok, I ordered the harness from Kurt today. I should have it by next Friday. Seemed like a great guy to deal with.

Zack

 

[Joe_E]

Ok, I ordered the harness from Kurt today. I should have it by next Friday. Seemed like a great guy to deal with.

Zack

Did you also order the replacement IPF round lights and halogen bulbs?
With those you'll feel the full potential and power of the force.

 

[DirtyLittleSecret]

Ok, I ordered the harness from Kurt today. I should have it by next Friday. Seemed like a great guy to deal with.

Zack

Kurt is one of the greatest assets to our community...and has great pricing as a bonus.

(weaseling for my next order)

 

[rover67]

how much of a difference do these harnesses make? I have roundeyes on a stock harness..

 

[GulfShoresFJ60]

I think they make a pretty significant difference. Allows full power to the bulb to get the maximum use out of them.

 

[RockDoc]

how much of a difference do these harnesses make? I have roundeyes on a stock harness..

Upgraded harness left, stock harness right. Low beam, SilverStars rolleyes

 

[Zack1978]

Did you also order the replacement IPF round lights and halogen bulbs?
With those you'll feel the full potential and power of the force.

No, I just ordered the harness. I will call him back in a few weeks and order the lights and bulbs.


Zack

 

[Marc311]

I made my own from parts purchased from danielsternlighting.com. I also bought one from 4crawler.com. The daniel stern components are high quality, but you need to assemble and add the wire and the directions were sketchy. It works fine, but the high beam indicator light does not come on when the high beams are on. (Daniel Stern was out of contact and unable to assist with this - might have been personal issues since he is normally very good with support - but I finally gave up and never heard back) Cost was around $100 plus A LOT of my time.

The 4crawler harness is Chinese made. He sells several versions from about $35 to about $55. Absolutely plug and play and it is still on my truck and working fine. It is also made for a Toyota ground switched system. Although Chinese made, it is working fine and is dirt cheap. Should have done that from the beginning. For VALUE, this can't be beat, IMHO. (I'm not sure if he has a 4 light version for 62 owners)

I don't think you can go wrong buying ANYTHING from kurt. In fact, I bought my bulbs and lenses from him (as well as other parts). He seems to have earned his reputation.

The upgraded harness along with the IPF lights/bulbs transforms the vehicle. I can't see ever needing to add lights - seriously.

 

[GulfShoresFJ60]

It works fine, but the high beam indicator light does not come on when the high beams are on.

To get the high beam indicator to work you need a diode and resistor in your harness. Since there is very little current drawn through the stock harness, there is not enough resistance to illuminate the bulb.

This is the link to the Wayne Tangen DIY harness: Headlight Wire Harness Upgrade - Land Cruiser Tech from IH8MUD.com

And here is the wiring diagram that is included:http://www.ih8mud.com/tech/headlightharness/diagram.pdf
(The squiggly line is the resistor and the arrowhead with a line at the tip is the diode)

They show the location of the resistor and diode and which ones he used.

 

[Marc311]

https://forum.ih8mud.com/60-series-wagons/196733-fj60-headlight-wiring-harness.html

Thanks GS60.

I was aware of the diode solution (which the 4crawler harness uses as well). I was/am still trying to get my head around why it wasn't working. Once the 4crawler harness was in, finding the solution became far less pressing. I imagine i will eventually add the diode and resistor and sell one of the harnesses to another member for cheap. I certainly can't use two!

Regarding Wayne's schematic - I am almost certain his plug layout is wrong (the locations of hi/lo/common). The schematic itself is fine, just the plug orientation. Just an FYI for any do it yourselfers using that as a reference (as I did).

But unless it is just a project you WANT to do, I would not make my own again. When you add in cost and time involved, it just isn't worth it compared to buying one of the many quality harnesses out there. My $.02

 

[RockDoc]

Regarding Wayne's schematic - I am almost certain his plug layout is wrong (the locations of hi/lo/common). The schematic itself is fine, just the plug orientation. Just an FYI for any do it yourselfers using that as a reference (as I did).

Sealed beam vs. H4...