Jeep Cherokee The 'ole headlight question

Ninewon

Searcher
Hello everyone . I'm new to this site and finding it a fit to the direction I'm heading with my rig. (99xj) I'm trying a different approach than on my last clouged together half*** build. The new rig is completely stock and low miles. Hope to plan out before lots of needless spending. Started with complete tune up. Dropped in an odyssey 34/78 battery and upgrade the factory battery (+&-) cables to #4 with buss fuse. Soon to add aux fuse block. Figuring out a plan for the cooling system presently.
Today my question to everyone is Headlights. Like the old chevys.... inferior light harness, must upgrade. I've looked at Putco and others online and skeptical about quality. The ARB IS pricy and proprietary with relays.
Does anyone know a good mid-range?
I have factory running lights which need to work with headlights. (Shut off when flipping on HB's)
To top it all off, so I can get down to the grit of it.... I want to use my LED truck lights from my old jeep.
My reasons for the harness upgrade is if I brake an LED out in the way out there. I can put in any H4 bulb from where ever I can find one.
Sure hope some of y'all can share some insight! Thanks much!
 
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XJSuperman

OhIOWAn
I'm running stock lights on a Putco harness. The harness was great, and I thought quality was fine. Everything works, no problems, and it made a huge difference. Im looking to pick up the Rampage lights here soon as they are in my budget and Trucklites (while awesome) are not. The Rampage lights are DOT legal and glass housings that I can put whatever bulbs in should something fail on the road.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001FVFVW...TF8&colid=39VGN59QBDSU4&coliid=I3ECUX8HGD7987
Just my 2cents
 

Ninewon

Searcher
Do you still have the functioning running lights that were below the front bumper?
Question being there's a running light relay that closes when high beams come on that doesn't work right with LEDS. Harness or no harness.
 
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XJSuperman

OhIOWAn
Factory foglughts? No, they were gone when I got the Jeep. I run 5" LED ellipse lights and a 22" lightbar from WickedBilt up front. Obviously not on the road. Only the 5" ellipses, which are pointed down low and mounted not too much higher than factory fogs. I should note that there are also KClights flip covers on them (not pictured), so no light is projected upwards. I have had no problems or flashes from anyone else on the road.
front end.jpg
 

Ninewon

Searcher
That's a lot of light!!! I know it's needed out where there's no ambient city light. I guess I could just remove the running light circuit and wire in a new one. Just bypass the the old and wire in the new. Just seams like a lot of work that could be alleviated with a diode or resister on the running light circuit. Just wanted to see if someone here has knowledge on that.
 

WyoCherokee

Adventurer
I ran a Putco harness and H4 upgrade in my XJ, no complaints whatsoever. Running a homebuilt harness in my MJ now. wires are one guage heavier, thats about it. Just buy a putco and be done with it.
 

screwball48

Explorer
I am using a cheaper harness from ebay on my 2000 rhd XJ. It uses non proprietary relays. The one thing on most of these harnesses is that they only utilize one existing headlight socket to trigger the relays in the harness. You can purchase a pigtail that plugs into the unused socket, and in turn use it to trigger relays for driving or fog lights.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 

AFSOC

Explorer
I understand your reservations with the Putco harness but I installed one and they are fairly good, not the "best" but certainly a noticeable upgrade. The performance perception difference between Putco and "the best" is probably negligible. I'd also suggest replacing your sealed beams with GE Nighthawks. For well under a hundy you can have respectable lighting on your XJ.
 

DaJudge

Explorer
LMC Truck part #36-3580
http://www.lmctruck.com/features/cc/ccc4l.htm
Pretty much identical to the one I have been running for 10 years.
 

1stDeuce

Explorer
If you're going to run LED headlights, I don't think the harness upgrade is really necessary... On high draw lights, the stock wiring suffers a decent bit of voltage drop, which is the reason for the upgrade...

With LED's the draw is much less, and hence so is the voltage drop... Plus, I don't think LED brightness is affected nearly as much... Often times LED's can run off 12-36v, and they're not 3x brighter if you use 36v... I don't think you'll be able to even tell they're getting 13.7v instead of 13.0v. At the least, I'd put the lights in first, then see what kind of voltage they get compared to battery voltage with the engine running.

Oops, just re-red. Are you talking about LED headlights, or LED driving/fog lights?? I still don't think your harness upgrade makes any sense... Even for running a non-LED light while you find a replacement for a failed LED. It's not like you'll be blind running one LED and one regular sealed beam...

In the mid-price range, I've been long considering a pair of Hella E-code lights for my TJ. They're probably the easiest to find, and best bang for the buck. Harness rework first though, as my lights get terrible voltage due to a plug and play snow plow harness...

FWIW, on my old Chevy, I got very noticeable results just from doing a harness upgrade with relays and running good halogen sealed beam lights. I was a poor college student then, so it was good enough for me. :)
 
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Thirty-Nine

Explorer
FWIW, I just installed the J.W. Speaker 8900 Evolution headlights onto my '01 XJ. Huge improvement over stock. No harness upgrade needed; just plug-n-play.
 

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