Putting this out there for anyone who might be considering upgrading their 2nd gen headlights:
Been hating my stock headlights for a while. Even though they are pretty clear they always seemed dim when driving in truly dark places. Decided to do an LED bulb upgrade and my head started spinning when looking at all the brands and options available. I also wanted to add some subtle auxiliary lighting up front, not a light bar but basically something I can turn out when I'm fishing at night and have enough light to change a lure or bait a hook on those nights where I forget to bring my head lamp, or the batteries or dead..
As I started looking at bulbs I also looked at headlamp assemblies with halos, thinking that rather than wiring as DRL i could just wire them to a switch and turn them on as needed. I even thought about mounting the switch in the grill so I could turn on from outside.
I ended finding projector headlight assemblies listed as "Like New" for more than half off new in the Amazon warehouse deals . They have 3 LED's and 2 halos per side. These cost me $83 + tax delivered and there was no doubt they were unused as the adhesive seals were still covering the bulb holes. Whoever bought them first must have been intimidated by the bare wires sticking out of these and afraid to cut into their factory wiring and just sent them back. Score for me.
I ended up wiring the 6 leds (3 per side) together. I then wired the 4 halos together ( 2 per side). And I also had a couple small LEDs pods laying around the garage so I stuck those in the grill on either side.
I was tempted to wire the halos into my turn signals, so they would flash when i signaled but decided to stick with my main plan. I wired all these groups back to toggle switches that I mounted in the overhead console in the black space in front of the HVAC controls. I was going to get some cool switch bank and put it up there, but i had some LED toggle switches laying around and decided to use those. What's great about this is I can mix and match the light output from 3 different sources to get the perfect amount for the situation
For headlight bulbs, I spent a total of $60 on two $30 sets that had good reviews ( 1 set of high beam, 1 set of low). I finished it off with a set of LED parking light/signals that are white until the signal turns on than they glow amber. These came resistors but I didn't want to deal with those so I simply swapped out the flasher relay for a Novita EP27
Because I got such a deal on the headlight enclosures , my total all in cost was under $200. As for the results, I couldn't be happier. They look great during the day, are crazy bright at night, and I think the projector lens do a good job distributing the low beams as no body has flashed their brights at me yet!
I am VERY pleased so far with set-up and thought I'd share as I know how confusing something so simple can be when there are so many choices
Links to everything I bought are below in case anyone is interested
Headlights price is $200 but the get returns on these so be sure to click on the New and Used from link if it shows a lower price
Turn signals
Low beam LEDS
High Beams
Flasher relay
Been hating my stock headlights for a while. Even though they are pretty clear they always seemed dim when driving in truly dark places. Decided to do an LED bulb upgrade and my head started spinning when looking at all the brands and options available. I also wanted to add some subtle auxiliary lighting up front, not a light bar but basically something I can turn out when I'm fishing at night and have enough light to change a lure or bait a hook on those nights where I forget to bring my head lamp, or the batteries or dead..
As I started looking at bulbs I also looked at headlamp assemblies with halos, thinking that rather than wiring as DRL i could just wire them to a switch and turn them on as needed. I even thought about mounting the switch in the grill so I could turn on from outside.
I ended finding projector headlight assemblies listed as "Like New" for more than half off new in the Amazon warehouse deals . They have 3 LED's and 2 halos per side. These cost me $83 + tax delivered and there was no doubt they were unused as the adhesive seals were still covering the bulb holes. Whoever bought them first must have been intimidated by the bare wires sticking out of these and afraid to cut into their factory wiring and just sent them back. Score for me.
I ended up wiring the 6 leds (3 per side) together. I then wired the 4 halos together ( 2 per side). And I also had a couple small LEDs pods laying around the garage so I stuck those in the grill on either side.
I was tempted to wire the halos into my turn signals, so they would flash when i signaled but decided to stick with my main plan. I wired all these groups back to toggle switches that I mounted in the overhead console in the black space in front of the HVAC controls. I was going to get some cool switch bank and put it up there, but i had some LED toggle switches laying around and decided to use those. What's great about this is I can mix and match the light output from 3 different sources to get the perfect amount for the situation
For headlight bulbs, I spent a total of $60 on two $30 sets that had good reviews ( 1 set of high beam, 1 set of low). I finished it off with a set of LED parking light/signals that are white until the signal turns on than they glow amber. These came resistors but I didn't want to deal with those so I simply swapped out the flasher relay for a Novita EP27
Because I got such a deal on the headlight enclosures , my total all in cost was under $200. As for the results, I couldn't be happier. They look great during the day, are crazy bright at night, and I think the projector lens do a good job distributing the low beams as no body has flashed their brights at me yet!
I am VERY pleased so far with set-up and thought I'd share as I know how confusing something so simple can be when there are so many choices
Links to everything I bought are below in case anyone is interested
Headlights price is $200 but the get returns on these so be sure to click on the New and Used from link if it shows a lower price
Turn signals
Low beam LEDS
High Beams
Flasher relay
