Have not tried SilverStars on the new JK however I did install them in the wifes 99XJ. Was not impressed with them at all. I guess I'm spoiled with the IPF lenses, lamps, and wiring harness in my 94XJ, but at the time did not want to spend the that much money on my wifes XJ. What a mistake. First thing she said after driving hers at night was "The new lamps were a bit better than the stock ones, but just". "If you don't want to spend the money on mine, then take your stuff out and put it in mine". Needless to say, I bought and put IPF's in hers the very next week-end.
Waiting for IPF to come out with a system for the JK.
Looks like the new Fatboy lamps are pretty good.
http://www.4x4xplor.com/ipf-h4.html

 

Here's what I've decided to try. I'm going to leave the stock headlights alone for now. Instead, I'm going to focus on the fog lights. Since they are the JK's saving grace in the lighting arena, I'm going to try to make a good thing better.

I've already got my Painless Wiring Axillary Fuse Box installed under the hood and wired up. The next step is going to be to wire in two relays into the fog light circuit.

Relay 1 is going to channel 12V from the fuse box to the fog lights, and will be energized by a signal from the stock fog light wiring... so when the fog lights are turned on, the power coming through the stock wiring will energize the relay and allow 12V from the fuse box to the fog lights.

Relay 2 will do the same thing, but will be energized by a signal from the high beams, so when the high beams are turned on, the power will be cut in the stock fog light circuit, but the high beam relay will keep power energized to the fog lights.

Next, since the power to the fog lights will come from a "computer clean" source, I will be able to use any bulbs I want without fear of blowing fuses, or circuit breakers, or adversely affecting the computer.

I figured that going with much higher powered bulbs is going to generate considerable heat (much more than that emitted from the stock 42watt bulbs). and not wanting to melt anything, I decided to go with 3000K HID fog light bulbs (see link) http://www.xtralights.com/index.asp?...OD&ProdID=1114

These should not only run cooler, but generate significantly more light (3X stock per their claims), use less amps than the stock fog lights once lit, last much longer than the stock fog lights (which I read somewhere can burn out quite rapidly), and most importantly, will stay on when the high beams are on thus filling the big bad black void in front of the JK when the high beams are on.

I will be ordering the lights in 1 week, and should be done inside two weeks. I'll post photos.

Any concerns or suggestions?

Tom
Bryson City, NC

 

I think you should pull your 12V straight from the battery and not from the fuse panel.

Is the fix the same as a TJ for the fogs when the high beams are turned on? Bending the tab thing?

 

are you kidding me poeple....haha, this is your perfect chance to install offroad lights..."Baby, i need to install a set of good offroad lights to keep not only myself safe but you and the kids as well, while driving at night...the stock ones are not very good"

 

The fuse panel I'm talking about is a new one I just installed from PAINLESS WIRING, not the stock fuse panel. MY fuse panel gets its power directly from the battery.

Tom
Bryson City, NC

 

I installed them in my LoD front bumper... they work great and they are pretty F-ing bright. Cant figure out how to do the headlights... im a bit slow.

 

I've seen driving lights, which have a long narrow beam, and fog lights, which have a short fat beam. Are there any other major kinds of lamps? Which ones are best for offroad?

 

Three things. . .

First, A brighter bulb only makes a light with a bad reflector brighter, not better. The fog lights aren't that bad. A little brighter bulb is all they need. They're certainly not bad enough to need some H.I.D. swap.


Second. They're called "Fog lights" for a reason. They're designed to throw a wide, low pattern to be used in inclement weather. . . not 100% of the time. They're as bad as running the brights to some other drivers.


Finally, running fogs and high beams together will lower your vision. There's a reason there's a "big bad black void" in front of you when running the high beams. . . they're high beams . . . they're for seeing a long distance down the road. If you want light in front of you then turn the high beams off. The point of the fogs turning off is because the more light "in your face" the less distance vision you have. Hence why it's harder to see with your dome light on. If you're on the highway, then anything that's lit up by a fog light - regardless of how bright a bulb you put is - is going to get hit, and hit hard. You simply don't have the time to react that fast.


DSY already explained a great setup if you actually want good vision. Cibie E-Codes are highly rated for a reason. (I'm running them, and some Lightforce Strikers for extra "high beams.")

 

I had Silverstar's on a previous vehicle and they burnt in about a month, I called Sylvania at their New Hampshire facilty and had a replacement within a week. So my only comment is ...save your receipt....

 

okay, now have had a couple of night outings where I was able to run the high beams for a fair amount of time.

They are not "as good" as I would like, in that I wish the light was a little brighter a medium distance down the road (the pattern seems to be "higher" than it should be as others have mentioned).

That said, they do light up the road farther down than my last few vehicles (this could of course be due to them being aimed higher), but even so, what is lit up a long ways down the road is noticeable. My wife commented that we should have no problems seeing a deer a long ways down the road....they seemed acceptable to me. As others have noted, I would like to be able to aim them just a hair bit lower, but since they are integral with the low beams, don't want to mess them up.

A good set of driving lights is still on the agenda though....was just waiting to see what may be coming out for bumpers before making the leap on off-road lights.