mmcan

I installed the headlight upgrades that I ordered from DS, Cibie H4 bulbs (70/60 Osram plus 50 bulbs) and the Susquehanna harness.

Here's my original thread,...

https://www.jk-forum.com/forums/jk-electrical-lighting-sound-systems-13/daniel-stern-back-02-13-09-a-72762/

It is oh-so-easy to do this.

Only busted one knuckle, and the lights actually work!

Check it out!


First you have to remove the grill. There are several POS plastic screws that I just popped out with a flathead screwdriver. There are also a few clips that you just release by pulling gently on the grill to remove it all the way.



Remove the stock headlights. There are 4 torx 15 screws. No problem Then the stock headlights just unplug from the wiring.

Torx removed,...


Lamp unplugged by pulling the red tab to disengage and disconnect


The new harness needs to be threaded into position,... I used zip ties to keep it in place, roughly following the original wiring. NOTE,... I never tighten the zip ties until I'm sure the damn thing's in the right place.



Here's the deal,...

THe harness is plugged into the passenger side female lamp plug. Note the green stock female and the black Susquehanna harness male,..


Plug 'em in together,...


Plug in the lights,... The only other plugs to use,...


Red to power, black to ground, and test the lights!


Tuck up the zip ties and use the flashing from the stock lamps to secure the Cibies with the 4 Torx screws on each light,...


The only thing I would do differently is to adjust the beams prior to replacing the grill. So while this shows the grill re-installed, I will take it off tonight to adjust the lights. I tucked the rest of the harness into the engine bay with zip ties, and it is actually pretty tidy! (sorry no pic of this)




This mod is seriously easy to do. If I can do it, you can too.

Daniel Stern sent the complete package. The install took me about 1-1 1/2 hours because I am a dunce.

Atticka

nice writeup!

Looks super easy to do.

mmcan

As I have stated,...

DS makes the buying easy, and the install is no big deal at all.

I think I'll be very happy with this one! Waiting for dark to test it out!!!

whpony96

Are those new lenses glass?

mmcan

Yes they are.

CIJeep

Ok, where are the pics? It is dark now. lol

adamisadam

How's the real world difference? Worth the money? I HATE the OEM lights.

mmcan

If I had known about this mod when I bought my jeep it would have been the first thing I did. This is not just a "comfort" or "cool" thing to do. I couldn't see JACK with the OEM POS lights. The light quality from the H4 Cibies is great. The harness is plug and play. The only thing to deal with is adjusting the damn things. And that's not even all that hard.

It is worth it.

It is easy.

I highly recommend it.

OoPEZoO

I can't speak personally for how they are in a JK yet........BUT, I have a set of Cibies in my '86 BMW 325 and I think they light the road better than 90% of the headlights on the road, and that includes some factory HID headlights.

Its all about the reflector and the angles that are cut into the glass lenses. You can put the brightest bulbs known to man in your housings, but if the reflectors and lenses are junk, it will just wash things out and blind oncoming traffic. The light coming from the Cibies is concentrated and only goes where it is needed. On a dark backroad you can actually watch the beam cuttoff bouncing down the road in the distance. I think they were the best money I ever spent on my BMW and will be adding them to my JK shortly.

edwin907

Great write up. Very nice photos.
What's your next project, mmcan?

This mod was the best money you can spend on your Jeep unless you never drive it at night!

Glad to see that the harness no longer requires installing qd connectors at the passenger headlight bucket (that was a pain due to lack of room) but it's a shame it's nearly $40 more!

I'm running the 85/80 Osram bulbs, but I agree that the less powerful ones are a better idea. However, you can run the beam cut off a lot higher than you'd think because the it is so good, no matter bulb wattage.

With my 50% windshield tint night driving is a pleasure, other headlights, even the HID "kits" in stock buckets spilling light everywhere as well as poorly aimed low beams don't bother you, but the excellent lighting of the Cibies let you see everything clearly. Use of fog lights for "near" vision is totally not needed.

Hi beam performance is awesome as well, you lose the low beam peripheral illumination, but at the speeds you need the hi beams for you actually don't want the low beam illumination hurting your "long" vision.

If I just want to light everything up, my 90mm Hella 55w fogs, the Cibie 80w Osram low beams, and the KC 8" Rally 130w driving lights (used as high beams) do the trick.
For offroad add in the 130w KC 6" Slim long range lights on the KC windshield mounts and it's hard to see any need for more/better lighting.