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Now that I'm daily driving the 7, I need better lights. I live in deer central and don't need a run in with them.
I know BD used to have a plug and play harness for H4, but is there something close to that now? I saw someone did a really nice write up, but I think it was hand made. Electrical is not my strong suit.
I think the best option is the Hella H4 lenses and a good bulb? I know there's really nice LED, but that's too big a budget for me. Thanks
Night driving is bad enough with the ease of out-driving your headlights as defined as going so fast that you could not stop completely in the space which your headlights can illuminate. Slowing down gives you more reaction time, less energy in an impact, and more available traction to steer around any deer which cross in front of you.
As to better headlights, just getting your existing lights onto full 12v relays will do wonders. That's all the Black Dragon retrofit plug-and-play harnesses did, and thereby removing the high current loads and resistance from your steering wheel stalk. Find one of those and install it before you start changing lenses and bulbs. Without upgrading your harness to take advantage of the full 12v, all you will do with new bulbs is burn up your existing wiring and switching mechanism.
What I found after going the relay route is that the existing bulbs worked just fine (*and I still slow down at night...).
I am really happy with my Halogen upgrade. I went with Raybrig 7" H4's. They are very good quality, I think typically only sold in Japan but can be found from a few retailers on North America. I am sure there are more economical 7" Halogens out there but I love the look and quality.
In the future I might try a 7" LED upgrade. I do not do that much night driving out of the city/highways, and when I do, I sort of want more light output, and slowing down is always the best!
Do not be scared of electrical! Especially something like a relay harness. I bought a few basic components from Summit Racing and made my own relay 'board'. Get wiring and misc supplies from a local electrical/surplus store... proper gauge wire, crimp on terminals, heat shrink, and nylon sleeve, The board tucks up in front of the battery (down low beside headlight actuator) and you can't even see it once installed. Since the OEM headlight wiring runs right by there, it is the perfect spot to splice into the wires (high, low) from your factory wiring, and run new wiring out to the headlights. The factory wiring that runs over to the passenger headlight gets removed.
Relay board as shown is ready for install. The OEM high,low beams connect to the white wires, and the new headlight wiring runs out to the headlights from the two yellow wires. The connections then get insulator caps. Don't want anything positive exposed. Both relays get power through the circuit breaker on the top left.
Last edited by tommyeflight89; 07-08-21 at 06:12 PM.
I have the BD harness on my car and it really wouldn't be too hard to "duplicate" and make something like @tommyeflight89 did. It's paired with some Hella H4 housings and some standard Phillips 9003's (US spec of H4's).
I'm certainly a fan of them, but even with the better housings some more light output would be nice. Downside with brighter halogens is that they come with the trade off of a shorter life. LED's are the best option, although I'm a stickler for the yellow color of halogens on older vehicles, even though whiter bulbs do offer better visibility. Perhaps one of these days I'll get over that...
Big thing with LED bulbs is to not get too close to the bottom of the barrel - many times they may be really bright, but the arrangement of the diodes does not properly replicate the halogen bulb for which the housings were designed and the beam pattern will suffer greatly. I've had good luck with both RaceSport and PIAA bulbs, but there are plenty of options to choose from.
As for the Hella H4 housing, the proper part number for US driven LHD vehicles is 002395301. They're good quality units with glass lenses and come with bulbs to get you started (currently what are in mine).
I dropped a set of BEAMTECH LED bulbs (H4 spec) into my Hellas on my SA - and this after decades of halogen H-4 driving lights - the result was ab-so-LOOT-lee stunning. Yes, whiter bulbs for all the good reasons (but not the crazy blue like some LEDs can be...).
Clean, bright usable light - and literally plug-and-play: no relays or harness funk to weave into old systems, no draw or heat to cook fragile light switches - and a pair of bulbs (plus mandatory H4 lenses like the Hellas - or Cibies) cost about $35. Cheapest safety/comfort upgrade you can do IMHO...
Stu, I have Cibies and with regular halogens the output is amazing. If you are recommending these LEDs then maybe I'll give them a try when these bulbs go. I must agree with Ben though, I'd rather the temperature be warmer though.
Trust me when I say - as a loooooong time halogen user - the difference with these LEDs in Monumental.
The halogens will seem positively yellow by comparison-
Plus added peace-of-mind that I am not baking those tiny, wee switch wires in the headlight switch assys on the column!
I installed a set of H4 housings and a set of led bulbs made by Oxilam in my 85. I have under $100 in the housings and the bulbs and im extremely happy with the results!
I myself, do not care for LED headlights. Don't like them on new Porsches, for sure not on an old classic rx7. that being said, I was driving out to the airport one night when one of my original Kotto's finally gave up. I stopped at a part's store and grabbed a couple Sylvania performance sealed beams. They work well enough (better then my euro H4's on the Benz), they are still on the car. FYI some of the H4 headlights come in LH and RH drive configurations. Careful with those Deer!
I'm trying my hand at some 7" sealed LEDs. While not Trucklite or JWSpeaker. But not $40 cheap either. The Audexen 7" LED purchased through Amazon had a favorable reviews though amazon and the general web at large. While this brand would not have been a first choice, It seems a good compromise.
As a point I did service the headlight switch unit. contacts have been cleaned and dielectric grease applied. Relays were added and while I incorporated the existing OEM wiring for the low amperage side, I added new wiring, 12awg and a new useable link, I believe for the lights. Being LED I felt this was a bit overkill, bit if I change to halogen I should still be safe.
My install experience was a bit sketchy. Installation did require a bit of dremmeling some tabs on the light. if not the lights mounted off axis by about 45 degrees. There was also an early failure as well that had me returning a light. From my observation my experience was not usual and I would buy these lights again based on price point and performance for the dollar. That is of course actually driving with these lights. I have not used them on the road yet.
I did the @7aull recommended setup. FWIW, the Hella H4 (unsealed?!) enclosures are a perfect fit, meet all the laws and each one comes with a halogen bulb. I used the Beamtech LEDs and I like that they draw just 1.6 amps each, high or low, which is 30% of what the halogens would draw. The combination of the Hellas and Beamtech do not blind approaching drivers and they have a nice beam spread that illuminates the RH sidewalk.
In the time of GIGANTIC pickups and SUVs, our little cars need all the visibility we can give them.
I shouldn't care about the spider eye design for LED lights, because they are hidden from view and if they are visible, they are lit and no one could tell anyways,,,, but the spider eye design does not move my soul.
I shouldn't care about the spider eye design for LED lights, because they are hidden from view and if they are visible, they are lit and no one could tell anyways,,,, but the spider eye design does not move my soul.
That said how do the work in practice?
For what I've seen on mine, still on the garage, and my friends that has them they are bright and evenly spread..
07-08-21, 05:14 PM
