Brake & Light upgrade

You can get a wiring kit for extra lights from Pep Boys. Whether they work off your high beams or low beams depends on which wire you tie them into. I have mine tied into my low beams and they automatically kick off when I flip the high beams on. I think the kit was $17 or something.

My CJ lights were piss poor too. I swapped to IPF lights with H4 bulbs. They are stock wattage but since the bulbs are blue tipped the light is much whiter and brighter.

Can't help you with brakes. You might look to see if XJs had a bigger brake option. If you do, make sure the bolt pattern that bolts them up to the axle tube flange is the same.

Cant help you with the brakes either I have 33's on the stock axles with discs front and rear drums and I know what ya mean, the stopping power kinda seems week but I dont know of much replacements, I'v Just tried to slow down sooner or not drive as quickly around town when I'll need to break alot....

I picked up a light set at harbor frieght for 16 bucks, I didnt tie them Into my high or low beams but they have their own switch mounted up so I can turn them on and off when I need them....

As far as headlights, ? Mine sucked as well but I Just went to pepboys and bought some brand new factory replacements, I forget the brand but the claim to be 3x strong and last alot longer....they still arnt great but they get the Job done with all the other fog and flood lights I have mounted up....

Mine also have a switch to work them. I tied them in since I had a wiring diagram.

try sylvania silverstar headlights.....still sealed but much brighter and whiter, like 30-40bux at pepboys

they sell disc break conversions for the rear drums just look on the net or in the back of a jeeping magazine thats where i see them the most.

i installed the delta conversion in my yj. they were a great improvement. you can't go wrong with the conversion. you may not even need the extra set of driving light. trail light are another matter.

jeeprubicon is correct. qtec has them. there very easy to install. 4 screws and the plug at the back of the headlight. there also not very expensive.

Quadratec Home » Search Term: DELTA H4 RECTANGULAR CONVERSION 97009

XENON HEADLIGHT KIT RECTANGLULAR YJ/XJ 1-1249-50X
Part#: 97009 120
Our Low Price: $ 74.95

i just installed the silverstar replacement headlights .... picked them up at pep boys, come as the whole assemble and doesn't just convert it to the h4 bulbs... I will tell you what... I AM SO IMPRESSED... I had nothing like this when I put silverstars in the Jimmy.

I woudl highly recomend doing the silverstars....there like 20 a piece, and if you dont like em return and get the delta tech converstion.

Quote from "jeeprubicon"

it is a headlamp conversion that replaces the sealed beam
with bulbs
check it out at q-tec

So their just like my IPF ones then.

I vote for the Silverstars too, I swear by them so much I have purchased them for several cars I have owned, my girlfriends civic and my moms Acura. They all love them, and for the price they are the closest you can get to HID without paying $500 to $1000.

As for the external fogs, Hella 500s are a decent option even though they have a tendency for the lenses to crack. Also you can swap silverstar bulbs for the H3 bulbs that come with them and feel like you are drivig during the day all the time. Check out this site for the best price http://www.denunzioracing.com/index.htm
KC Slims are a great option too.

As for the wiring, I have mine tied into my parking lights. I like this option because you can switch all your lights independently and run highs, lows or fogs at anytime indviduallly or simultaneously. But everything switches of with the factory switch so you never leave them on by accident.

For those interested in buying a headlight conversion please do a search on google and do a little reading...the H4 conversions are popular with a number of vehicles and some are great while the cheap ones tend to leave you wondering what you just spent $$ on.

I've run conversions in every vehicle that I've owned that can accept them (including 3 jeeps) and the two best setups IMHO are the Hella and IPF...there's a DOT and E-code version of each. If you do some research you'll see that the DOT specs on headlights SUCK and are pretty archaic...while the DOT H4 from either company is a definite improvement over the stock units they are nothing compared to the sharp cutoff and nice even pattern of an E-code. The difference between the two companies comes down to how the lenses are manufactured...the IPF casts the pattern into the lense where the Hella is cut into it. I prefer the Hellas as the cut lense seems to offer a bit more clarity. Combine either of these, though, with a high quality white (not coated, blue bullsh!t) bulb and you'll see a noticeable difference.

Qtec used to offer both varieties of the Hellas but now only carries the DOT (aka VisionPlus) versions...I get mine through Susquehanna Motorsports in PA who are pretty quick in shipping and priced pretty reasonably. http://www.rallylights.com/hella/7in.asp

As far as wiring fogs the most important thing is to use a relay setup...if you're unfamiliar with wiring most companies offer kits with prewired harnesses to make life easy. My suggestion for a Jeep, though, is to substitute the provided two-way switch with a 3-way switch...wire that puppy in 'reversed' (ie. the input is now the output of the switch to trigger the relay) and run 12v to one side and tap the low-beam light wire with the other. Wired like this you'll be able to have the fogs off, on all the time, or (the 'legal' way) on automatically with the lowbeam headlights.

--Ian

Wow pretty cool stuff, didn't know there were different ratings like that or that Hella had two different conversions. I bet a E-code Hella conversion with Silverstar or PIAA super white bulbs would be real sick.

The IPF lights concentrate the light more horizontally by cutting out some of the light that would shine up and down normally (or something like that). I'm running the blue tipped bulbs because my stock lenses were really yellow and I wanted to get a nice whiteish light. They work great. I believe that if you go for a bulb more powerful than stock that you will need additional relays or something (I think I read that somewhere). That's why I went with the stock set up. I didn't feel like doing any additional wiring.

some links to check out

http://www.sylvania.com/ConsumerProducts/AutomotiveLighting/

http://www.hella.com/produktio…/Performance_Lighting.jsp

I know a friend that runs Hella's Vision plus and he loves them. He has the them for his Jeep, and his mothers Libby...

I'm satisfied a 100% with my Silverstars and I know if I had anymore I would hear complaints from the Miss when I follow her someplace. Since I got them on Wednesday I hear "your lights are SOO bright"....I tell her wait till I get my fogs....

I think the silverstars is an awesome upgrade and anyone should do it to get rid of those crap stock headlights... $20 a piece at Pep-Boys...can't beat it!

We have Hella Vision Plus's in our XJ and they are great. Highly reccomened.

Steve (still has Cat Steven's "Wild World" song in his head)

Just in case my post got misinterpreted...I wasn't trying to say that the Vision Plus units were bad, just that they are still a step below the E-codes. If anyone wants they can check my e-codes w/ 80/100 watt bulbs at one of the meetings...I think you'll be impressed.

Here's the comparison between the two varieties:

<BEGIN SNIP>
There are four basic differences between a Vision Plus (DOT Approved) and a Hella Euro Conversion.

First is in the lighting pattern. For us in the US the regulations date from the 50's. The US DOT mandates a dispersed pattern that puts a percentage of the light output UP and to both sides of the road so that overhead or roadside signs, which may not have other lighting or reflective characteristics, are lit for you.

The European standard allows all the light to go on the road - they have a law that any overhead or roadside sign has to have it's own, independent lighting or must be highly reflective. So not only is there more light on the road with your low-beams, the high-beams are more precise as well. There is also a triangle of light on the right side to light up roadside signs. Lamps sold in places where they drive on the left side of the road, like England and Japan, have that triangle on the left side.

The effect is that the Euro lights actually put more light on the road for you to drive with, and offend oncoming traffic MUCH LESS because of the sharp cutoff in the lighting pattern. And all of this with the same wattage lamps as in the US.

That's on low beam. Because of the low-beam requirements and the way that screws up the lens and reflector design, it's impossible to get a good high beam. Although the Vision Plus is substantially better than your typical off-the-shelf sealed beam, it's performance falls short of the Hella Euro Conversion.

The second difference is that DOT also required that the lamp have the three Aiming Lugs on the face of the lens. This requirement was dropped in the 2000 DOT Standard when visual aiming was approved. The Vision Plus lamps still have the Aiming Lugs, E-code lamps do not.

Third, the lamp must have DOT molded into the face to confirm that it meets DOT. E-code lamps have E1 molded into the lens.

Fourth, the lamp must not have more than 60 watts on high beam and 55 watts on low beam. The Vision Plus comes with a 60/55w H4/HB2 bulb in it in order to meet the DOT standard. The E-code lamps have no bulb because there are many variations in wattage and color available. It is not recommended to put a higher wattage bulb in a Vision Plus because the light pattern could dazzle oncoming traffic.

If you can upgrade to the Hella Euro conversions, then this is the least expensive, easiest and most beneficial upgrade you can make to your forward lighting.

<END SNIP>

Quote from "92WestShady"

Wow pretty cool stuff, didn't know there were different ratings like that or that Hella had two different conversions. I bet a E-code Hella conversion with Silverstar or PIAA super white bulbs would be real sick.

thats exactly what i used in my xj and use in my yj now. the silverstars have compared dead even with the more expensive piaa bulbs i used to buy. i use the e-code hellas. I also use silverstars in my grand cherokees headlights and foglights and the comparison between the old yellow bulbs is dramatic.