Headlight suggestions

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REDONE
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Re: Headlight suggestions

Post by REDONE »

Yep, it's true CSU Engineer, it's called Ohm's Law, and it works like this. Basically wires are pipes, and electrons are like mice, scurring around in the pipes, while the Amps are cheese. The more mice, the more volts, and when the mice get cheese, they light up. Make sense? :mrgreen:


If this thread survived the previous nonsense just to get resurrected now, I might as well get ahead of this one. Better to go off in the weeds than down the toilet!
79 J-10 (Honcho Mucho) KE0LSU
304/Performance Fuel Injection TBI/MTA1/SP2P/Magnum rockers
T18/D20/D44s&4.10s/33" Mud Claws
Grizzly Locker Rear
4" front spring drop, 5" rear shackle flip
Chevy style HEI (ECM controlled)
Dolphin "Shark" gauges in a fancy homemade oak bezel
3/4 resto, rotting faster than I've been fixing it.

SJTD
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Re: Headlight suggestions

Post by SJTD »

dodgerammit wrote:
csuengr wrote:
dodgerammit wrote:The first thing I do with any headlight system on a new to me vehicle is upgrade the wiring with relays (Thanks and RIP Serehill).

I also did it on my Dodge I had.

Why put fancy, spendy lights in, when for about $40 in parts, you can make the factory setup much brighter?

In both cases I ran a stock style sealed beam. No silverstars, no H4s, etc. The lights on both my truck and the Jeep are very impressive. They are brighter than most newer cars with composites. And definitely brighter when those composites have a few years of age to them.

No light is going to show its full potential without proper amperage going to it.

Last time I measured, I was losing .4V between the alternator and the headlight plug, while the lights were on, so I am good on power.
Voltage and amperes are different. ;) I once had a fuel pump not run on my truck. 12v was there, but the original wiring had corroded bad enough, there wasn't enough amperage to run the pump.
You were measuring the voltage in the wrong place. If you had measured on the pump side of the corrosion you would have seen the lower voltage.

Say you have badly corroded battery posts on a fully charged battery. If you measure the voltage while cranking on the post itself you'll see the full battery voltage. Move to the clamp which is past the corrosion and you'll see what the starter sees. (Yeah, yeah, what the starter sees plus the drop across the cable)
Sic friatur crustulum

'84 GW with Nissan SD33T, early Chev NV4500, 300, narrowed Ford reverse 44, narrowed Ford 60, SOA/reversed shackle in fornt, lowered mount/flipped shackle in rear.

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csuengr
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Re: Headlight suggestions

Post by csuengr »

REDONE wrote:Yep, it's true CSU Engineer, it's called Ohm's Law, and it works like this. Basically wires are pipes, and electrons are like mice, scurring around in the pipes, while the Amps are cheese. The more mice, the more volts, and when the mice get cheese, they light up. Make sense? :mrgreen:


If this thread survived the previous nonsense just to get resurrected now, I might as well get ahead of this one. Better to go off in the weeds than down the toilet!
I measured at the terminals on the headlight connector. That is why I said power, not voltage. P = VI.
1977 Cherokee S, Ford 5.0, 5 speed, BW 1356, 33 x 10.50 BFG's. No longer my DD.
2007 Mercury Milan, 2.3L, 5-speed, now my DD. 29 mpg average.
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az chip
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Re: Headlight suggestions

Post by az chip »

REDONE wrote:Yep, it's true CSU Engineer, it's called Ohm's Law, and it works like this. Basically wires are pipes, and electrons are like mice, scurring around in the pipes, while the Amps are cheese. The more mice, the more volts, and when the mice get cheese, they light up. Make sense? :mrgreen:


If this thread survived the previous nonsense just to get resurrected now, I might as well get ahead of this one. Better to go off in the weeds than down the toilet!
:banghead: Dude, no. Just no. You have a garden hose with the water on and on /off nozzle. The water is voltage. Turn the nozzle on. That is electron flow and amps. Just don't tell anyone which way the electrons actually flow. :shock:
'81 Cherokee Chief 81 WT Chief/MSD 6/Holley Sniper/ Rusty 4" Spring lift/ Bulltear oil adapter/K&P Engineering Oil Filter/ NP 208/ Serehill Light Harness/KC LED Headlights/ Evil Twin Fab Roof Rack and sliders/ Ross mirror mounts.

SJTD
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Re: Headlight suggestions

Post by SJTD »

az chip wrote:
REDONE wrote:Yep, it's true CSU Engineer, it's called Ohm's Law, and it works like this. Basically wires are pipes, and electrons are like mice, scurring around in the pipes, while the Amps are cheese. The more mice, the more volts, and when the mice get cheese, they light up. Make sense? :mrgreen:


If this thread survived the previous nonsense just to get resurrected now, I might as well get ahead of this one. Better to go off in the weeds than down the toilet!
:banghead: Dude, no. Just no. You have a garden hose with the water on and on /off nozzle. The water is voltage. Turn the nozzle on. That is electron flow and amps. Just don't tell anyone which way the electrons actually flow. :shock:
You mean the pressure is analogous to voltage.
Sic friatur crustulum

'84 GW with Nissan SD33T, early Chev NV4500, 300, narrowed Ford reverse 44, narrowed Ford 60, SOA/reversed shackle in fornt, lowered mount/flipped shackle in rear.
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REDONE
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Re: Headlight suggestions

Post by REDONE »

No no no. Think of electricity like a bottle of BBQ sauce. The spiciness is the voltage, and the amps is how fast it comes out of the bottle, while the chicken is the load. The more chicken you have to sauce, the less spiciness each piece of chicken gets. Mean while, the beers are an inductive load ( they take away spiciness without ever touching the chicken) and the grill is a thermal loss (the sauce you smell vs the spiciness you taste). Also, the grilled asparagus is the flashlight in the glovebox.

Personally, I like to think of electricity as a mischievous badger....
79 J-10 (Honcho Mucho) KE0LSU
304/Performance Fuel Injection TBI/MTA1/SP2P/Magnum rockers
T18/D20/D44s&4.10s/33" Mud Claws
Grizzly Locker Rear
4" front spring drop, 5" rear shackle flip
Chevy style HEI (ECM controlled)
Dolphin "Shark" gauges in a fancy homemade oak bezel
3/4 resto, rotting faster than I've been fixing it.
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tedlovesjeeps71
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Re: Headlight suggestions

Post by tedlovesjeeps71 »

Image


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dodgerammit
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Re: Headlight suggestions

Post by dodgerammit »

SJTD wrote:
dodgerammit wrote:
csuengr wrote:

Last time I measured, I was losing .4V between the alternator and the headlight plug, while the lights were on, so I am good on power.
Voltage and amperes are different. ;) I once had a fuel pump not run on my truck. 12v was there, but the original wiring had corroded bad enough, there wasn't enough amperage to run the pump.
You were measuring the voltage in the wrong place. If you had measured on the pump side of the corrosion you would have seen the lower voltage.

Say you have badly corroded battery posts on a fully charged battery. If you measure the voltage while cranking on the post itself you'll see the full battery voltage. Move to the clamp which is past the corrosion and you'll see what the starter sees. (Yeah, yeah, what the starter sees plus the drop across the cable)
Measured at pump. In fact, pump was plugged in and I was probing the terminals. Voltage WAS there. Just above 12 iirc. Again, the wiring was just badly corroded. Know what color copper turns when it corrodes? Yeah, the wiring was that color. I even cut it in half in the middle. Corrosion wasn't as bad, but it was still there. Basically, the wire size had been reduced over time, building resistance.
84 Grand Waggy-Radio Flyer (Garnet Red/3M Ebony Metallic woodgrain, with honey interior) AMC 360 :cry: 2004 4.8LS/Advance Adapter/727/242 D44/AMC20 Serehill tailgate and headlight harnesses :fsj: Ongoing thread-viewtopic.php?t=11897

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az chip
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Re: Headlight suggestions

Post by az chip »

SJTD wrote:
az chip wrote:
REDONE wrote:Yep, it's true CSU Engineer, it's called Ohm's Law, and it works like this. Basically wires are pipes, and electrons are like mice, scurring around in the pipes, while the Amps are cheese. The more mice, the more volts, and when the mice get cheese, they light up. Make sense? :mrgreen:


If this thread survived the previous nonsense just to get resurrected now, I might as well get ahead of this one. Better to go off in the weeds than down the toilet!
:banghead: Dude, no. Just no. You have a garden hose with the water on and on /off nozzle. The water is voltage. Turn the nozzle on. That is electron flow and amps. Just don't tell anyone which way the electrons actually flow. :shock:
You mean the pressure is analogous to voltage.
I don't think you need to use bad words to say it! :P
'81 Cherokee Chief 81 WT Chief/MSD 6/Holley Sniper/ Rusty 4" Spring lift/ Bulltear oil adapter/K&P Engineering Oil Filter/ NP 208/ Serehill Light Harness/KC LED Headlights/ Evil Twin Fab Roof Rack and sliders/ Ross mirror mounts.

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csuengr
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Re: Headlight suggestions

Post by csuengr »

I received the H4 headlights yesterday and took all of 15 minutes to install and re-aim. I will see how well they work tonight, but in the twilight this morning, they appear to work much better.
1977 Cherokee S, Ford 5.0, 5 speed, BW 1356, 33 x 10.50 BFG's. No longer my DD.
2007 Mercury Milan, 2.3L, 5-speed, now my DD. 29 mpg average.
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az chip
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Re: Headlight suggestions

Post by az chip »

Just curious what kind you went with.
'81 Cherokee Chief 81 WT Chief/MSD 6/Holley Sniper/ Rusty 4" Spring lift/ Bulltear oil adapter/K&P Engineering Oil Filter/ NP 208/ Serehill Light Harness/KC LED Headlights/ Evil Twin Fab Roof Rack and sliders/ Ross mirror mounts.

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csuengr
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Re: Headlight suggestions

Post by csuengr »

Hellas.
1977 Cherokee S, Ford 5.0, 5 speed, BW 1356, 33 x 10.50 BFG's. No longer my DD.
2007 Mercury Milan, 2.3L, 5-speed, now my DD. 29 mpg average.
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tgreese
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Re: Headlight suggestions

Post by tgreese »

I recommend relays.
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az chip
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Re: Headlight suggestions

Post by az chip »

csuengr wrote:Hellas.
Thanks.
'81 Cherokee Chief 81 WT Chief/MSD 6/Holley Sniper/ Rusty 4" Spring lift/ Bulltear oil adapter/K&P Engineering Oil Filter/ NP 208/ Serehill Light Harness/KC LED Headlights/ Evil Twin Fab Roof Rack and sliders/ Ross mirror mounts.

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csuengr
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Re: Headlight suggestions

Post by csuengr »

So, I have been running the Hella H4's for a week and really like them. Much more light than I was getting from the sealed beams. Had to re-aim them as on high they were pointing into the trees. Not much else to say at the moment. Have to see how they will now hold up.
1977 Cherokee S, Ford 5.0, 5 speed, BW 1356, 33 x 10.50 BFG's. No longer my DD.
2007 Mercury Milan, 2.3L, 5-speed, now my DD. 29 mpg average.
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nograin
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Re: Headlight suggestions

Post by nograin »

csuengr wrote:...Had to re-aim them as on high they were pointing into the trees. Not much else to say at the moment. Have to see how they will now hold up.
Some of Hella's E-code H4's have a large seperation between the high beam and low beam. Depending on which model and the hieght of truck you can probably strike a balance that suits you. In a car that sits lower its more dificult to do with those models.
I think their "vision plus" model is a little better in that respect.

If the glass on the headlights have E or ECE markings
European spec'd headlight aiming from Dan Stern Lighting
Dan also has US spec aiming but he makes it seem impossibly complicated to do a good job.
For SAE or DOT marked headlights much better to just use the old
US Spec Headlight Aiming from the Jeep Service Manual
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nograin
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Re: Headlight suggestions

Post by nograin »

Fog lights
My experience was that the rally crowd was correct. Basic fogs became redundent with H-4s that meet ECE spec (includes the Hella's vision plus). Most of the light is directed at the road so little reflects off of the water droplets in the air. Your local conditions and preferences may dictate otherwise, but see how it goes.

Power
P=IV. Yup. :) The question was whether there was any I at time of measurement. My guess is yes. I think .4 V drop in the wiring is a little high but not terrible. From the alternator side, there's connections which will have some loss at the bulkhead, the headlight switch, dimmer, bulkhead. The main splice is welded and shouldn't expect any measurable voltage drop. For comarison, I'll check mine when I get a chance - I just cleaned all the connections this summer.
FWIW, compared with sealed beams, the H4 bulbs will more noticible dim when voltage drops into the 13s.

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csuengr
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Re: Headlight suggestions

Post by csuengr »

There was current when I measured. I measured with the headlights on, and on the passenger side, which has the longest run.

There is no brightness change between idle and driving, so I have enough P.
1977 Cherokee S, Ford 5.0, 5 speed, BW 1356, 33 x 10.50 BFG's. No longer my DD.
2007 Mercury Milan, 2.3L, 5-speed, now my DD. 29 mpg average.
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nograin
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Re: Headlight suggestions

Post by nograin »

Figured you knew to do that, just wasn't 100% sure. :)
The only time my '85s alternator has trouble keeping up at idle is when multiple things are on with the lights: defrost blower and especially rear window defrost which I rarely use. I have a "96amp" 12SI alternator I'm going to try now that I fixed voltage regulator terminals to see if it helps at idle rpm as I sometimes have to idle in wet and cold conditions.
The bulbs are small enough I keep a few handy. Driven about 80k miles with Cibie lamps and Rangefinder +30s H4 bulbs. The + bulbs draw the same current but are a little brighter. Tradeoff is shorter expected life.

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Re: Headlight suggestions

Post by rocklaurence »

Yay! I just installed a set of the H4 lamps with Amber/LED halo. Very nice upgrade for $70. I tied the halo to the blinkers so that they blink with the amber turn lamps... I heard that the Navy teaches the Electron Hole theory--Just the oposite of what I learned in the Air Force or should I say--the same but different.
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