Headlights - upgrades

[phyler]

Ok. Drove the Bronco in the dark for the first time in a long time. The stock headlights are truly pathetic. I know I should upgrade the harness but I'm curious what bulbs/lights folks are liking? Wild Horses has a bunch on sale for Black Friday. Others I should consider? Assuming led over the H4 stuff just due to longevity and less heat.

Thanks!

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[Gunnibronco]

I can't speak to the LEDs, but I switched to H4 without the wiring harness upgrades about 20 years ago and they are a great upgrade. I've actually never had a bulb burn out. The heat is probably a good thing if you drive in the cold & snow.

Still running those lights, now with the wiring upgrade.

[Digger]

Trucklite LED headlights are amazing. I drove several vehicles with these before buying a set for the Bronco. The Bronco easily has the best headlights of my fleet right now.

[phyler]

Trucklite LED headlights are amazing. I drove several vehicles with these before buying a set for the Bronco. The Bronco easily has the best headlights of my fleet right now.

Do you have a part number for those? They look pretty nice. I was looking at these from Wild Horses:

https://www.wildhorses4x4.com/product/17899/Bronco_Front_Lights - I liked the halo if you connect it as a day time running light

https://www.wildhorses4x4.com/product/WH-Revolution-7in-LED-Headlight-Kit-Chrome/Bronco_Front_Lights

I plan on doing the Night Lighter harness upgrade from them as it's only $35 and switches the power draw for the headlights from switch to the battery directly with the relay.

[Jesus_man]

LED's as well. Rob got us a mass-buy a few years ago. I think they were J.W. Speaker knock-offs, but they still have worked amazing! I really don't drive mine at night much at all, but the couple times I have, it was a night and day (LOL) difference between them and the old sealed beams.

Plus the LED's aren't pulling the power thru old wiring as much as the OE stuff.

[Eck]

I have the same Knockoffs from a while back. I’d agree with LED’s but I think if I were to do it all over, and I had the money, I’d pay a little more for a name brand and choose my pattern.

I admittedly probably need to go someplace really dark and try to set my beam pattern a little better but the ones I have seem to have the triangular dead spot.


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[Digger]

Trucklite LED headlights are amazing. I drove several vehicles with these before buying a set for the Bronco. The Bronco easily has the best headlights of my fleet right now.

Do you have a part number for those? They look pretty nice. I was looking at these from Wild Horses:

https://www.wildhorses4x4.com/product/17899/Bronco_Front_Lights - I liked the halo if you connect it as a day time running light

https://www.wildhorses4x4.com/product/WH-Revolution-7in-LED-Headlight-Kit-Chrome/Bronco_Front_Lights

I plan on doing the Night Lighter harness upgrade from them as it's only $35 and switches the power draw for the headlights from switch to the battery directly with the relay.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007K ... UTF8&psc=1

These are the un-heated version. If you plan to drive a lot in snow and ice, you would want to buy the version with the heated lens. ($$)

For the few times I will be out in the ice, I went with unheated units.

[phyler]

Thanks! I don't plan on driving in the snow and ice frequently unless it's like Super Cel two years ago. [emoji1787]

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[BOBS 2 68S]

I am running the WH h4 non-led kit #6086w. They are ok. I went with these for the heat when driving in the snow and ice.

[Kinder]

Running a modern sealed replacement like a Sylvania SilverStar is a good start, as well as making sure all the electrical contacts (power & ground) are clean. Eck mentioned correct aiming, which is something I mess with since my rig changes so much.

I just recently added the aftermarket wiring to bypass the factory circuit on BSD, I got tired of chasing poor connections and cheap replacements at the headlight switch and/or dimmer switch.

The next step is obviously LEDs, heated for me as I roll in all weather conditions.

[B.O.B.]

LED’s are definitely the way to go. I run the Pro Comp ones and they work phenomenal. Lot better price than the truck lite and JW. I would agree though if you plan to run them in snow, go for a heated pair. Mine worked fine when I last drove it in the snow but did see a drop in brightness. However, still brighter than the halogens.

Thought I had a better pic but this shows the brightness of them.

[BOBS 2 68S]

I changed to the H4 style because the sealed beams are getting harder to find. The Brighton stores had very few. And I can carry a replacment bulb in the glove box.

[phyler]

Well, after a lot of reading, I pulled the trigger and went and picked up these Grote's: https://shop.advanceautoparts.com/p/grote/11194826-P

I showed the wife the various ones I was considering and she liked the more classic look of the Truck-lite and Grote's. After doing some digging, it looks like the people selling the Truck-lite's on Amazon aren't actually resellers and some folks have reported having issues getting their warranties honored. While you hope it never comes to that, I wasn't willing to risk it. I was able to get the Grote's at Advanced Auto here locally with a 20% off which got them close to the Wild Horses deal. I'll look forward to installing them once I get my Bronco back (it's currently being stored while the garage gets new concrete).

I'm sure it will be a far better no matter which way I go. I also saw on CB that Holly now has some as well that have the classic look and are about $200/each. Look super nice as well.

[Eck]

I like the classic look as well. I had seen some people from CB.com that went with these as well. I will be interested to hear/see how you like them. Do you have to add any sort of pigtail?

[phyler]

I like the classic look as well. I had seen some people from CB.com that went with these as well. I will be interested to hear/see how you like them. Do you have to add any sort of pigtail?

Shouldn't need a pig tail. Should be plug and play. Key word being "should". [emoji1787]

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[landshark]

Grotes look and work great, also they pull significantly less amperage.

[Jesus_man]

Found some pics of mine with results:



Low beam:


High:

[phyler]

Found some pics of mine with results:



Low beam:


High:

That's an amazing amount of light. I'll look forward to being able to see like that at night. My current lights are like walking through a fog with a candle.

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[BroncoRaider]

Found some pics of mine with results:



Low beam:


High:

That's an amazing amount of light. I'll look forward to being able to see like that at night. My current lights are like walking through a fog with a candle.

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That’s not so bad, mine are like walking through fog WITHOUT a candle…

[Kinder]

I recently saw a thread on CB.com that discusses Holley’s new retro LED headlight. There aren’t any reviews yet because they are new and available to purchase on preorder. I like the look.

https://www.holley.com/products/restora ... trobright/

[Jesus_man]

Those are a good look! Noticed they come in different light colors (degrees Kelvin), so make sure you are getting what you want. I'd like to see patterns and output when people start installing them. The 5500-6500K is what sunlight is, which is what our eyes are designed for.

[Justin]

Those 5.75" lights are interesting. Seems like a good size to build into a bumper for driving lights that have a cutoff so that you don't blind incoming traffic.

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[phyler]

Can't wait to really see these in action. Way brighter. It helps that I fixed one of the grounds as well.

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[Jesus_man]

Did you add the screens or did they come with? Looks nice!

[phyler]

Did you add the screens or did they come with? Looks nice!

Those were on when I bought the Bronco in 93. I dig them. [emoji16]

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