Off-Road LED Lights

[Scotty54]

I am in the process of installing a winch and wanted to add a pair of 4-6" LED lights onto the winch mount. The problem is that all of the round LED's I've seen look like alien eyes and I prefer the clean (and vintage) look of a sealed beam. But I am trying to minimize the load so low wattage LED's just make sense. Any recommendations?

[will e]

I had Hella old school on my rig (Halogen or HID I don't remember) and yeah, the power consumption was horrible.

I couldn't find any LED's that looked 'normal'. But my old age made driving at night a bit more difficult. So I slapped some cheaper LED's in for the normal driving lights and got some ARB Solaris for the bumper. The ARB's are awesome but they are expensive and, yeah, I don't really like how they look compared to the Hellas... But sometimes you have to go with function over looks.

[Scotty54]

Will E - Nice rigs! Especially the red Cherokee. It helps seeing a LED setup on yours.

Another question for ya - can you explain the front end on the Cherokee?
It looks like a solid tie rod with no steering linkage (which doesn't make sense). Is that the Fabworks brace mentioned in your signature?

[dodgerammit]

I am in the process of installing a winch and wanted to add a pair of 4-6" LED lights onto the winch mount. The problem is that all of the round LED's I've seen look like alien eyes and I prefer the clean (and vintage) look of a sealed beam. But I am trying to minimize the load so low wattage LED's just make sense. Any recommendations?

Why not convert the headlights to LED sealed beam units? I love the Retrobrights on my ride. Literal night to day difference over halogens.





Saved my rig from a brainless deer a few months later:

[will e]

Will E - Nice rigs! Especially the red Cherokee. It helps seeing a LED setup on yours.

Another question for ya - can you explain the front end on the Cherokee?
It looks like a solid tie rod with no steering linkage (which doesn't make sense). Is that the Fabworks brace mentioned in your signature?

Thanks!
The front axle is from a 78 ford. There is a steering link from the box to the passenger assembly and then the one you can see in the picture goes over to the driver's side.

[Srdayflyer]

leds mounted on recently fabricated bumper

[Srdayflyer]

leds on my cherokee

[Scotty54]

I had dismissed the rectangles thinking it wouldn't match the shape of the Cherokee but those look good. I also have the razor grill and my winch is in front of the stock bumper.

And I had not heard of Retrobrights. I will check them out.

[Harry Dawg]

Currently working on this myself but for different reasons.

My Cat Eye parking lights had messed up wiring/connectors, and I didn't want to spend $100 for a new pair.

Instead, I cut the back of the brass connector out and removed the bulb socket.

The housing diameter is approximately .77".

I ordered these 3/4" Mini LEDs with rubber grommets from Amazon ($10 for 10 units) which should fit in there snug as a bug.

Then, just wire into the factory harness with weather pack connectors.

Still get to keep the sealed beam look, but with 100% increase in brightness.

Will report back once DHL delivers the lights.

Sent from my Pixel 4a (5G) using Tapatalk

[Harry Dawg]

LEDS installed.

I actually prefer the yellow glow of a Halogen bulb, but not enough to pay $100 for.

P.S. Sorry for hi-jacking your thread, but I figured someone out on the internet might find it useful.

Sent from my Pixel 4a (5G) using Tapatalk

[akguy09]

leds mounted on recently fabricated bumper

Thats a sexy bumper

[Pablo]

Here are some lights that are not so out-of-place on a round eyed FSJ...

I would start with the headlights first, no sense putting money into off-road only lights before you upgrade the sealed beams.


These are the Trucklite's.

LED Headlight Conversions

• Holley Retrobrights
• Trucklite LED non-heated. I am running these with no issues so far. But she don't get out much yet.
• Trucklite LED heated
• KC Gravity

LED Offroad Lights

• KC DaylighterGravity LED, they also make multiple light bars out of these.
• Tractor Supply 3 inch round pair of Cheapies
• You can use a wider variety of round or square lights recessed in an aftermarket bumper without them looking silly.

Not LED... but if on a budget, consider these upgraded lights over stock sealed beam headlights:

H4 Halogen Headlight Conversions

• KC 7 H-4 Round
• Truck Lites H4 Polycarbonate
• Truck Lites H4 Glass

Rugged Ridge used to make a glass DOT complaint round H4 conversion, as well as a square one. I run the square H4 one in my XJ and it is 10 times better than the stock sealed beam. I don't see the round one listed anymore, the square one was now polycarbonate last time I checked.

Cheaper Halogen Offroad Lights

• KC Daylighter Halogen Pair
• Rugged Ridge Round 6 inch Halogen or HID Lights

[tgreese]

Here are some lights that are not so out-of-place on a round eyed FSJ...

I would start with the headlights first, no sense putting money into off-road only lights before you upgrade the sealed beams.
...

Yep. Then I'd decide on what I wanted additional lights for. Low mounted diffuse lights are good for fog (at lower speeds). High mounted lights will reflect too much off of fog and make your vision worse with them on. These low-mounted lights can be good for the trail too, at lower speeds. Driving lights can be helpful, if you want to drive past the range of your upgraded headlights. Me, I don't drive that fast on country roads. Roof mounted lights are pointless if you are not a Baja racer, IMO.

[Scotty54]

I realized I never wrapped up this thread. I had recently installed a relay kit for the headlights and installed Silver Star headlights. I found a set of precision PAR 36 lamps on ebay, Precision brand which date to the 70's (I think Mopar used them on some musclecars but couldn't find proof - photos of them look just like mine). Period correct look, but the original sealed beams had to go. I found PAR 36 LED's with a grid glass cover so they look like a sealed beam but contain 7 LED bulbs. I simply wired them into the high beam relay. PAR 36 goes back as many years as the standard automotive sealed beam - they were used as fog lights in the 40's and 50's and tractor lights since then. The photo shows the grids at an angle, which I did fix.

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