So, my truck has really terrible 1990s sealed beam halogens. I would like to not have my headlights overpowered by random street lights.
Is there a decent way of getting rid of the garbage there now without spending a couple hundred bucks? Do the newer 1st gen Dakota headlights bolt in?
Mild stupidity on my part, I'd like to play around with leds on it but have no idea where to start with stuff like that.
What kind of truck is it?
Yep. Name the truck and the budget, and we can find you the best bang for the buck.
1990 Dakota
You should be able to buy ECE (Euro) spec housings that drop right into the spot where a sealed beam goes. They'll typically take H4 bulbs (which opens up options for higher wattage high beams if you upgrade the wiring) and they'll have a much better (more effective) beam pattern than stock. They're not technically legal in most states in the US, but they'll look stock enough that nobody will ever question it.
rslifkin said:You should be able to buy ECE (Euro) spec housings that drop right into the spot where a sealed beam goes. They'll typically take H4 bulbs (which opens up options for higher wattage high beams if you upgrade the wiring) and they'll have a much better (more effective) beam pattern than stock. They're not technically legal in most states in the US, but they'll look stock enough that nobody will ever question it.
I did the same with my Disco. The lights look the same, but the beam pattern rivals that of some projectors.
Honestly, call these guys. Yes, like on the phone.
They're a local business and the guy will actually answer the phone and sell you the right stuff for the same price as amazon except you're supporting somebody who's fanatical about upgrading your old cars lights. Seriously, call the dude. I've bought 4 or 5 sets of ECE lights now from him along with countless bulbs. Guy knows his stuff.
Very likely you'll end up with some sort of Hella ECE H4 lamp and some sort of nice bulb to go with it. On my miata you can run 80/100W bulbs on the factory wiring, or they may recommend an aftermarket harness so you can run better lamps. It's stunning (ha ha ha, night and day difference) how much better it is once you ditch the sealed beams.
In reply to mad_machine :
Agreed on the beam pattern. I run a set of the ECE lights in my Jeep (although the originals weren't sealed beam). Glass lenses instead of the original plastic and 90% of projector performance but with stock looks. With 80/100 bulbs it's quite a bit of light.
Ah, you're in the happy place before they went to aero headlights. Those are standard 4x6 drop-in lights, so you have a LOT of options. Fun fact: you use the same headlights as a 1985 CRX.
Cheapest and easiest is a set of Hella H4 housings with good bulbs. This is the minimum for all my cars. Bonus points for a relay, but honestly I think pattern is more important than sheer wattage. Go too high on the wattage and you get real glare problems off signs.
Unfortunately, my fave LED Nighthawks don't come in 4x6, only 5x7. There are certainly a lot of ugly looking LED options out there, and I expect quite a variety of quality. But a good set of LEDs can let you see as much or more than you get out of H4s but with less glare and a more restful color.
I mean, I'm not 100% ugly is an issue since this thing still has a thin layer of house paint on it to cover up the oh so standard 90s Dodge self removing paint.
4x6 replacement LED projectors, ~$300 and supposed to be good.
https://www.theretrofitsource.com/assemblies/headlight-assemblies/jw-speaker-8800.html
What do you have to do to upgrade to stuff like that? Keith mentioned relays in his post.
Most I've ever done is just change bulbs so I have no idea.
E: Also that 300 one you linked only has low beams, high beams is a separate buy it looks like
For anything that draws the same or less power as the stock lights, you can just re-wire the connectors. If it draws more or the stock wiring is kinda small / crappy, you can add a relay harness to power the lights through better wiring.
Looking through stuff I think I'm just going to stick with the conversion to h4, since I can't justify spending 400 plus on combined high/low lights for my turdwagon truck.
Ok... thank you very much for that link! It to derail this thread, it I’ve been searching for some rectangular to do a crazy headlight conversion on the celica.
Grizz said:What do you have to do to upgrade to stuff like that? Keith mentioned relays in his post.
Like I said, just call the guy at the site above. He'll set you straight!
Yeah, the guys at Rallylights know their stuff. The fact that they were a sponsor of the Targa Miata does not color my thinking at all. They are my go-to for a lot of bits.
Yeah just looking through the reference part of their site, it seems like any of my questions can be answered there. http://www.rallylights.com/reference-center
This is what I love about GRM forums.
I wondered about the LED Nighthawks, like, how good are they, really? I really like to see all the stuff when my high beams are on, and I like to at least be able to see deer with the low beams.
Also, I'd rather be behind a pair of regular rectangular sealed beam halogens than most of the aero lights in the world. The more modern HIDs and such suck less, but some of them (2000 Excursion, 2001 Taurus, 2014 Impala, 1994 Taurus, 1988 Thunderbird, to name a few) SUCK.
Dude, if you still have sealed beams in a Chrysler product, you are so lucky. The nineties were a decade of darkness. They didn't build a single vehicle for that entire decade that didn't required flashlights taped to the fenders to illuminate a road sign.
To the original question, Bosch still makes H4 lights. They are cheap and easy and they work very well.
Keith did a quick write up on the Nighthawks. Sounded and looked pretty good.
I've got Nighthawk LEDs on two cars. One of them is the camper, which regularly does long night drives through the dark, DARK Southwestern wilderness. The other is my daily driver Miata, which has to endure 5 miles of unlit country roads equipped with deer every day. I'm a huge fan. It's not OMG SO BRIGHT like you can get with an LED light bar or 200W H4 bulbs on 4 ga wire, but it's very useable. The color temperature somehow is both easy on the eyes and very revealing. I don't get harsh glare off street signs.
Looking at them, I suspect the Trucklights with the horizontal divider are identical and easier to find. Neither one are a cheap date but if you do enough night driving, good lights are more valuable than good tires - and they last a lot longer.
I'm currently trying to upgrade the lights in a 2000 Jeep Grand Cherokee. What a pain. I've gone to projectors, but the Jeep has some plastic in the way of the back of the headlight so there are a very limited number of bulbs that fit. I'm looking at going LED on them if I can work out the packaging.
For regular bulbs I've been a fan of sylvania silverstars. They make a world of difference on my moms van and my last few trucks without being glarey.
Keith Tanner said:Ah, you're in the happy place before they went to aero headlights. Those are standard 4x6 drop-in lights, so you have a LOT of options. Fun fact: you use the same headlights as a 1985 CRX.
Ugh. The lights on my '86 are horrible. I'm slowly hunting down all of the parts to do an '84-'85 light conversion. The funky little adjusters that Honda used are broken so I can't re-aim the lights.
And used/NOS lights are stupid expensive.
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