Headlight upgrade to H4 via harness

[nicnmike]

Hey folks,

I've been thinking about upgrading the headlights to the H4 type and using either LEDs or halogens. Lowrangeoffroad.com offers the replacement insert and upgrade harness at affordable prices. I was wondering is if anyone has experience with this setup. Initially I plan on installing the regular 60/55 W halogens, but I might want to use 100/80 W later on. My fear is it drawing too much power and melting the wires or insert.

It looks like the harness is for upgrading existing H4 systems, but I don't imagine it would be too hard to modify it to work with the H6 plug. It might even fit into the connector. It just uses the existing system to power the relays. Am I missing anything? Is it as simple as installing the inserts, the harness and bulbs? Thanks for any help on this.

-Mike

Here are links to the inserts and harness:

H4 Headlight Relay Upgrade Wiring Harness (DIY-H4HLRH)

IPF H4 Rectangular Headlamp Insert (820H)

 

[joeynational]

I did an HID upgrade on my headlights. I wouldn't go with halogen. However, if you went LED are you talking about getting LED bulbs or getting the LED headlight assembly? If you get bulbs keep in mind they are intended to be used inside a projector. So again i would recommend doing a projector retro fit. That way you can swap between LED and HID bulbs if you wanted. It is probably one of the best upgrades i did on my truck. There are many write ups on youtube and on the net if you search for them. Try 7x6 retrofit or H6054 retro fit. I did do a write up on mine over at hidplanet.com. Great site for tons of info!

 

[85RedRunner]

I just recently went through this and it was a pita. I didnt want to spend $300/headlight on a 32 year old rock crawler but I also didn't want to blind oncoming traffic with scatter.

Long story short, after returning 5 different housings (including the hella dot and euro - these suck with halogen and led) I ended up with these.. decent cutoff with my led bulbs and not too bright from the front.

My led bulbs have a little cup under the low beam to direct the light up into the housing if that matters. Led also draws like nothing for amps, hardly a need to upgrade stock wiring unless it's falling apart .

Retro fitting the projectors like mentioned above is the best option other than the trucklite housing imo.

 

[nicnmike]

Thanks for the replies! So here's my plan, I ordered the Rampage set and a relay harness from amazon and some halogen bulbs from Summit. Halogens are cheap and anything has to be better than what's in there now.

If I would like to do the projector retro-fit, I figured I'm half way there already. hidplanet.com does have some great info. Thanks for pointing me in that direction. It didn't take too long to figure out what projector lights were and how to set them up.

 

[RAD4Runner]

... I might want to use 100/80 W later on. My fear is it drawing too much power and melting the wires or insert... ]

the H4 conversion harness is ESSENTIAL to fix the poor stock wiring in classic 4Runners, especially crucial with higher power bulbs.

I did an HID upgrade on my headlights. ... So again i would recommend doing a projector retro fit. That way you can swap between LED and HID bulbs if you wanted.

... I also didn't want to blind oncoming traffic with scatter...JEEP RAMPAGE ...

joeynational and 85RedRunner,
So your retrofits ^^^ direct light properly on to the road and not scatter? Then, thanks for sharing. Too many people out there "upgrade" to lights that light up the heavens and blind others.

Speaking of Trucklites, they are pricey but the added safety and visibility are well worth it for me.

Look at Trucklites compared with Halogens in Auto-PAL H4 Conversion housing:
TRUCK-LITES 27450C, LOW-BEAM IN OCOTILLO, CA
https://youtu.be/m3t3sbnssIw

AUTO-PAL H4 CONVERSION HOUSING WITH SYLVANIA STANDARD SILVERSTARS:
https://youtu.be/WFxce_7jX7w

 

[Dropzone]

I had the Truck Lites LED's in my 81 Trekker. Next to high steer it was one of the best mods I did to that truck.
Well worth the $$$

 

[Cali 4runner]

Ok quick question speaking of headlights. I want to run HIDs and am curious if those lowrange housings would work? I know round eyes used to make housings but I saw on their website the company is being sold or is for sale. So I was thinking of buying the LCE headlight upgrade and use their housings. Here is the HID kit DDM Tuning: HID and LED Lighting
Anyone running HIDs? What housing are you using?