OK, so I scoured the forum up and down, sideways and across and I couldn't find what I was looking for.

I have a '12 JK and the headlights are lacking. I adjusted the after leveling out the JK and the lights are still lacking. The pattern hits the ground right but it's just dim.

Anyways - I don't want funky colored lights, not big into LED lights, don't want weird tint to the lights.... all I want is lights that let me see what's ahead of me. Through all the vehicles I have owned or rented (and I travel quite a bit) I have not had a vehicle with such poor headlights... and yeah - I made sure they are not covered by mud too

So any recommendations? Looking for reasonably priced light options.

 

You have 3 choices: LED(which 99% changes to), HID or just changing out for another reflector. There are plenty to choice from.
I personally have LEDs on both our Jeeps and love them. Lots of them without weird colors just white and bright. Look at ORA Night Guards or something like that. EBAY is your friend. Just my 2 cents. Good luck.

 

I went with Hella H4 headlights years ago, pretty much plug and play if you get the correct adapter. Sunpie makes reasonably priced LEDs which have gotten pretty good reviews and they specialize in Jeeps and Harleys.

 

I agree in that we have to have the worst headlights of any vehicle on the market. I'm convinced it's the housing. Back in the day I popped in some Silverstar bulbs.....changed the light from yellowish to white which helped just a tiny bit on the roads I drive in the dark, but it was about worthless. Ended up going LEDs.....now I can see just fine....but constantly worried about blinding people! I know I hate when I see LEDs coming at me. Pair that bright light with the fact that hard top is on/off....soft top on/off...topless...jeep is constantly changing weight in the back end....which means the lights are always being impacted.

 

LED's do not compare with a true projection Hid. Are they better than stock but if you want to have the best lighting and not compromise get Hids. Another benefit is if you live in a area of snow the Len's will not get covered with snow like LED's

 

Thanks for all the words of wisdom: what would help is to know what everyone is running specifically. While searching the wide deapths of the internet I find stuff that might be good (based on the description) but seems too cheap, stuff that is crazy expensive seems often more flash then function based on the description.... ugh.... too many choices and that's the first time I am actually at a point that I need to upgrade my headlights....

 

I have JW Speaker 8700 Gen 2's. They are bright AF to me. Most consider the cost ludicrous. The J-series are decent bit cheaper these days....but still what most people consider way too expensive. I personally don't want to trust my life to some cheap chinese knock-off light, but many people do and have success with em. I'd imagine in Cali you don't have snow issues. That really is a big knock on most LED's as TruckLite has the patent on heated LED lens.

And again....I didn't think the Sylvania Silverstar bulbs were worth the $40 or whatever they were.

Best of luck in your search.

 

These LED's are run on over 99% of JK's in my area.

Cheap and great light pattern. I have been running these on both mine and my wife's JK's for the last 3 years and have never had an issue. Direct fit with no flickering

$89 for a set (2) and include daytime running lights

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

I ran the light bulb replacement "upgrade" for awhile and they are a little bit brighter but they don't compare to the truck lites i use now. Your best bet is to drop the coin on a good LED or HID system.

 

I never understood the need to spend outrageous $ on led's. At first when Rigid was the only option I got it.. you had no other choice. But now, with the market filled with so much competition it just doesn't make sense. The honeycomb style are sold by 10 different vendors but are made by Phillips for less than a hundred bucks for 2. The have a sharp cutoff and I never been flashed, and I am running 4.5" lift with 40's. People still use the excuses "you get what you pay for" and don't buy "Chinese junk" (btw Phillips is Dutch) but I have never had a light bar fail and all of my light bars combined are a fraction the price of a Rigid 52" lightbar (hell I could replace them all annually with new ones and still go years ahead of the $). If you don't like the honeycomb style and want to look like you spent your paycheck on a set of JW Speakers or Truck Lights then there are hundreds of LED headlights to choose from that look exactly the same.... After all... IT's just Light! Just my 2 cents.