PEAK PUTTERS

Well I'm bored and can't sleep due to caffeine.
So I have a few questions:
What lights (not stock) are you running?
How are they?
Would you buy them again?
How much did they cost?
How bright are they?
Just wondering!

Jeep factory lighting sucks and my old man eyes need light.

I replaced the factory seal beam headlights with IPF housings and filled them with Fatboy H4 bulbs. It wasn't cheap, and WT has suggested I paid too much (he is probably right), but I love them. Outside of suspension and tires, one of the single best things I've done to the Jeep.

I managed to tear a fog light off on the String Trail, or was it the Shoestring, either way, it went bye-bye. I took the opportunity to upgrade to KC SlimLite 100 watt fogs. They look stockish, which is nice for LEOs and thieves, and properly pointed, do the job and are not offensive to other drivers. I have a custom wiring harness that bypasses the factory crap and can run with or without the hi-beams as opposed to the factory setup.

On my winch fairlead I have KC HiLiTES 233 Daylighters, I think in the flavor of 100w. They are Long Range lights / beams not floods. They are also on an independent harness and have a switch on the dash that allows them to toggle on and off with the high beams. I got them pointed walleyed, like a bad boob job, to light the edge of the trail or around the next turn. They are just plain silly, but I got them cheap and I just wanted an excuse to run old-school KC Daylighters Smiley Face covers.




http://www.peakputters.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2253&highlight=fairlead

With all my lights on, my alternator cannot keep up at idle.

I've rarely had an excuse to 'light up the night' except when a motorhome misses the turn off to camp, right Jose? Then they are nice to have.

Ace_Cherokee wrote:
What lights (not stock) are you running?
How are they? Love them
Would you buy them again? exact same set-up, but I would consder WT's Cibie / NAPA solution on the headlamps
How much did they cost? Can't tell you, my wife sometimes reads these posts
How bright are they? How bright are they? You don't want to be in front of me on the trail.

I used to run rock lights at night. They are most handy loading and unloading in the dark. They also make for some neat pictures. I have pretty much broke them all and need to replace and rewire them. Used to be the best place to get them was at peterbuilt out at king city but its been a while.

I'm running a set of 55 watt HID's in IPF housings on my TJ. 4300K Temp, they are vey bright. It takes a bit of research and work to be safe for the road though. The HID bulbs have to have shields that work well with your specific setup and things have to be aimed properly (especially if your vehicle is lifted) or you'll blind other drivers.

Have a set of 35 watt HID "Fog" lights that are pointed the same as lee's daylighters. They're for offoad only, or when I'm not near traffic.

I'm currently building some 7" round retrofit projectors.... They should completely eliminate glare issue as well as get the most usable light on the road where it's needed.

mattawajeep wrote:I'm running a set of 55 watt HID's in IPF housings on my TJ. 4300K Temp, they are vey bright. It takes a bit of research and work to be safe for the road though. The HID bulbs have to have shields that work well with your specific setup and things have to be aimed properly (especially if your vehicle is lifted) or you'll blind other drivers.

Have a set of 35 watt HID "Fog" lights that are pointed the same as lee's daylighters. They're for offoad only, or when I'm not near traffic.

I'm currently building some 7" round retrofit projectors.... They should completely eliminate glare issue as well as get the most usable light on the road where it's needed.

I run six HIDs on my M5 and I love them. But one of my fog lights needs a new ballast.
I need to find some xj headlight housing that isn't enclosed like the stock ones so I can get HIDs for it. I also want to run an HiD set up in my police spotlight but I haven't taken the time to figure out what bulb it has in it.

Ace_Cherokee wrote:

mattawajeep wrote:I'm running a set of 55 watt HID's in IPF housings on my TJ. 4300K Temp, they are vey bright. It takes a bit of research and work to be safe for the road though. The HID bulbs have to have shields that work well with your specific setup and things have to be aimed properly (especially if your vehicle is lifted) or you'll blind other drivers.

Have a set of 35 watt HID "Fog" lights that are pointed the same as lee's daylighters. They're for offoad only, or when I'm not near traffic.

I'm currently building some 7" round retrofit projectors.... They should completely eliminate glare issue as well as get the most usable light on the road where it's needed.

I run six HIDs on my M5 and I love them. But one of my fog lights needs a new ballast. I need to find some xj headlight housing that isn't enclosed like the stock ones so I can get HIDs for it. I also want to run an HiD set up in my police spotlight but I haven't taken the time to figure out what bulb it has in it.

You can get H4 housings from ebay. . .then have at it with the HIDs. Make sure to get the cool ones. . .4300k. The hotter ones look cool, but SUCK in the real world.

When I bought my TJ, the one previous owner had already installed some aftermarket headlights. I do not know what brand they are, but the housings are a plastic lense, and the bulbs are replaceable. I have never had to replace one. I do not know how they are vs stock lights because I never had any! They seem like they put out plenty of light.
The Jeep also did not come with factory fogs. I put some KC Daylighters on the bumper where fogs are normally mounted. They were soooooo bright, I hardly ever used them. I don't think they are street legal anyway. Finally, I was backed into on a trail and one of the Daylighters was destroyed. I could now justify buying a set of KC Slimlite fog lights to replace them. I think they are the same ones Lee has. I can use them as intended without blinding anyone. I also use them on the trail at night also.

Best pic I have of the headlight and KC Slimlite fog, during front fender hacking.



Old KC Daylighters They are huge compared to the Slimlites.

Rig #1: XJ. Factory headlights (which will be replaced with H4s) and Hella fogs. The fogs are wired to come on with the high beams. Logic: I don't use them as fog lights. They are off-road driving lights used to see around corners. I have some really hot bulbs that I just haven't gotten around to putting in quite yet.

Rig #2: Ranger. Ranger has factory headlights which are pretty good really, then it it has 4 Eagle Eye HIDs mounted on the bumper. The outside lenses are euro beam driving lights and the inside are pencil beams. This set up is good to about 80MPH in the desert. Faster than that and I start to kill bunnies. Bunny fur on the race car is hard to explain to the wife. If the truck were faster, I'd find a way to build a light bar on the roof with 6 55W HIDs in Pencil beam. But, it is not. . .so, the lights it has work pretty darn good.

Rig #3: WJ. Factory headlights and fogs EXCEPT Silverstar low beams and an upgraded wiring harness that uses relays. They made a big difference. I had HIDs in there and I may put them back in at some point. . .but the Silverstars seem to be up to the task. Just need to polish the stupid plastic lenses.

Found one of the XJ:

and the Ranger before the new glass fenders. . .we keep the fogs on as dust lights: