Before & After headlight harness

[SHO92]

I finally got a chance to align my headlights tonight and install the SUV Headlights harness that I've had for about a year now. My lights were aimed rediculously low, and I'd pretty much been driving with my highbeams on all the time. NJSHO was over my house tonight so we decided it was time for me to be able to see properly at night.

The first 2 pictures are the after aiming/before harness install. You can see how yellow the light is.







The next 2 shots are after the harness was installed. Ther difference is very apparent. I can finally see where I'm going!






I'm really happy with the results! Aimming the lights properly helped tremendously, but I'm even more happy with the results from the harness. I wish I'd installed it sooner. Now I need to get started on the LED retrofit for my taillights, and maybe do something about those messy shelves.

 

[ManySHOs]

Looks good. Time for some silverstars now.

That reminds me that I still need to get another pass side headlight since I got shafted on eBay. It should be quite nice to have the suvlights harness, silverstars and new headlights. I can't believe how nice and clear the new driver's headlight is (that I bought on ebay) compared to the yellowed ones that are currently on my car. We should do a comparison with our cars side by side.

Ian

 

[SHO92]

Drive on up!

 

[N3FOL]

SHO92,
How exactly did you adjust your headlights? I always wanted to do the adjustment, but I am afraid that I might snap and break something.

 

[SolidState]

that is good to see. I have noticed quite a difference in colour with my car running vs not running, so I think I am going to put a new harness into mine. I ran my driving (fog) lights off there own relayed harness, and the difference in light output was astounding....

 

[F-22 Raptor SHO]

So what exactly do you need to purchase to do such a conversion? Gen I/Gen II the same?

 

[HoustinoJillian]

please correct me if i'm wrong, but i believe it is this: http://www.suvlights.com/product_info.php?products_id=112 in the 9007/HB5 size

 

[ManySHOs]

please correct me if i'm wrong, but i believe it is this: http://www.suvlights.com/product_info.php?products_id=112 in the 9007/HB5 size

Yeah, 9007 is for gen2. I forget what size the gen1 is. You should notice drastic changes with a harness on a gen1.

Ian

 

[92sho16]

do you need to buy two harness? 120 or even 60 dollars seems steep when you could pick up some relays for a couple of bucks and wire for a few dollars and those connetors at a junkyard, i know the pick show a great differenece but dang if you have to spend 120 to get that light you might as well throw down another 100 and get some hids.

 

[SolidState]

show me where you can get a good quality, safe and DOT legal set of HIDs including the bulb and ballasts for 220usd.

No, you don't need two harness'. Only one is required.

I myself have my eyes on the super heavy duty harness with the 12 guage wiring and a set of 80w Nokya superwhites. Less than 200cdn, and I'd probably be happy enough.

 

[HoustinoJillian]

do you need to buy two harness? 120 or even 60 dollars seems steep when you could pick up some relays for a couple of bucks and wire for a few dollars and those connetors at a junkyard, i know the pick show a great differenece but dang if you have to spend 120 to get that light you might as well throw down another 100 and get some hids.

the only way you could get HIDs that cheap is to get rebased bulbs. illegal, and IMHO, a bad idea, as it'll blind other people and can only lead to tickets or getting hit when the other guy cant see.
the thing is 9007 bulbs (stock or aftermarket) are built for reflector style housing where the filament is horizontal, and runs parallell to the bumper. this causes the light to be reflected straight out in front. HIDs are built to be used with a projector headlight, so thier "filament" is vertical, and sticks straight out from the car when mounted. a projector headlight focuses that light forward, but reflector housings do not, causing lots of beam scatter. on top of that, the reason HID headlights on stock cars have a sharp cutoff is because there's a shield that covers the top half of the projector, eliminating all light above a certain level.

to retrofit HIDs correctly, it'll cost more like a grand. and you'd have to fabricate a way to hold the projectors. in light of that, the 60 dollar wire harness is a very good investment.

 

[MaxOwnJoo]

Looks good. Time for some silverstars now.

That reminds me that I still need to get another pass side headlight since I got shafted on eBay. It should be quite nice to have the suvlights harness, silverstars and new headlights. I can't believe how nice and clear the new driver's headlight is (that I bought on ebay) compared to the yellowed ones that are currently on my car. We should do a comparison with our cars side by side.

Ian

Remember when you were driving in front of me at 30mph in a 50...

 

[jedhead]

the only way you could get HIDs that cheap is to get rebased bulbs. illegal, and IMHO, a bad idea, as it'll blind other people and can only lead to tickets or getting hit when the other guy cant see.
the thing is 9007 bulbs (stock or aftermarket) are built for reflector style housing where the filament is horizontal, and runs parallell to the bumper. this causes the light to be reflected straight out in front. HIDs are built to be used with a projector headlight, so thier "filament" is vertical, and sticks straight out from the car when mounted. a projector headlight focuses that light forward, but reflector housings do not, causing lots of beam scatter. on top of that, the reason HID headlights on stock cars have a sharp cutoff is because there's a shield that covers the top half of the projector, eliminating all light above a certain level.

to retrofit HIDs correctly, it'll cost more like a grand. and you'd have to fabricate a way to hold the projectors. in light of that, the 60 dollar wire harness is a very good investment.

The sharp cutoff is not just on HID lights. My 1975 vintage Cibie 7" european headlights on my 240Z has a very sharp cutoff and the beam rises at a 15 degree angle to the left. IMHO the sharp cutoff is more of the european headlight specs headlight design since many halogen equipped european cars have the same cut off. I was suprised that the 2003 Accord I have also have a sharp cut off.

Bob

 

[ManySHOs]

Remember when you were driving in front of me at 30mph in a 50...

Uh, to clarify (for everyone else), it was a dark rainy night on a heavily wooded back road. I couldn't see anything, my headlights were so bad at the time. :cry:

Actually, yes, I was thinking about that-I'm just suprised that you found this thread (or did you have some help?)

That harness made a huge difference on my car. So much so that my HID retrofit project has become a back shelf project for now.

Ian

 

[ManySHOs]

HIDs are built to be used with a projector headlight, so thier "filament" is vertical, and sticks straight out from the car when mounted. a projector headlight focuses that light forward, but reflector housings do not, causing lots of beam scatter. on top of that, the reason HID headlights on stock cars have a sharp cutoff is because there's a shield that covers the top half of the projector, eliminating all light above a certain level.

to retrofit HIDs correctly, it'll cost more like a grand. and you'd have to fabricate a way to hold the projectors. in light of that, the 60 dollar wire harness is a very good investment.

Almost.
D2S xenon capsules are designed to work in projectors. Many manufacturers took this step initially but Mercedes wanted to stick with a reflector based setup and designed the D2R capusule. Years later, they've adapted the DS2 setup with projectors. It is far superior than a standard reflector based setup. You are correct though; retrofitting rebased bulbs into a headlight not designed for xenon is a bad idea.

Also; there is no filament in a xenon capsule. The xenon gas filled tube and voltage return wire are horizontal in D2S and D2R capsules. On a projector, the shield is on the bottom half of the unit because the light inverts as it is projected. Pretty neat stuff!

I'll send you those pictures of my HID stuff soon, promise!

Ian

 

[Markus]

The sharp cutoff is not just on HID lights. My 1975 vintage Cibie 7" european headlights on my 240Z has a very sharp cutoff and the beam rises at a 15 degree angle to the left. IMHO the sharp cutoff is more of the european headlight specs headlight design since many halogen equipped european cars have the same cut off. I was suprised that the 2003 Accord I have also have a sharp cut off.

Bob

You are correct. The sharp cutoff and rise to the right (or to the left in the UK/Australia/Japan) is an E-Code requirement and has been since the late 60s or early 70s. Back then, as we all know, there were no HID and/or projector headlights. I too am surprised about the Accord lights. Looks like Honda is taking the cheap way out.

<rant>
When the US govt finally allowed replacable headlight bulbs in the mid/late 80s (only 15-18 years after the Europeans allowed it) I was very disappointed to see no E-Code type light pattern requirements with the new headlight housings. And then there's the yellowing plastic lens issue. IMO the US govt really screwed that up too. One of the reasons the US resisted H4 bulbs and housings for many years is that the housings were not airtight and thus the reflectors could become tarnished over time. This would reduce light output, they said. Well, we all know how well the plastic lenses have retained their clarity over time... </rant>

 

[jedhead]

You are correct. The sharp cutoff and rise to the right (or to the left in the UK/Australia/Japan) is an E-Code requirement and has been since the late 60s or early 70s. Back then, as we all know, there were no HID and/or projector headlights. I too am surprised about the Accord lights. Looks like Honda is taking the cheap way out.

<rant>
When the US govt finally allowed replacable headlight bulbs in the mid/late 80s (only 15-18 years after the Europeans allowed it) I was very disappointed to see no E-Code type light pattern requirements with the new headlight housings. And then there's the yellowing plastic lens issue. IMO the US govt really screwed that up too. One of the reasons the US resisted H4 bulbs and housings for many years is that the housings were not airtight and thus the reflectors could become tarnished over time. This would reduce light output, they said. Well, we all know how well the plastic lenses have retained their clarity over time... </rant>

I also wished that the gov would have required the european headlight patterns back then, because I would not be stuck with scatter beams on the SHO.

Bob

 

[SolidState]

agreed.....DOT pattern is severly outdated. And of course, Kanada has to follow in the US footsteps.

I was going to import some E-code Hella Celis lamps for my GTI a while back. They are absolutely stunning...

 

[Markus]

agreed.....DOT pattern is severly outdated. And of course, Kanada has to follow in the US footsteps.

I was going to import some E-code Hella Celis lamps for my GTI a while back. They are absolutely stunning...

While here in Canada we do allow DOT lights we also allow E-Code lights. In the early 80's car like Jaguar and Saab would ship to the US with sealed beam headlights and ship to Canada with E-Code lights. Once the US allowed replacable bulbs Jags and Saabs shipped to both the US and Canada with DOT lights.

I miss the days of the old sealed beam lights. A person could replace the ****** sealed beams with a set of E-Code lights with very little effort and end up with truly decent headlights. On my old 87 IROC I replaced all 4 sealed beam units with Hella E-Code lights. Low beams were 100/130 watt and high beams were 160 watt. I needed a special harness, of course, which I made myself. Those headlights were amazing. The only problem I encountered was a very short life span of the 160 watt bulbs. When I really needed more light than that I'd bolt on my Hella Rally 2000 driving lights. With the driving lights and high beams illuminated I was consuming about 900 watts of power.

 

[Markus]

do you need to buy two harness? 120 or even 60 dollars seems steep when you could pick up some relays for a couple of bucks and wire for a few dollars and those connetors at a junkyard, i know the pick show a great differenece but dang if you have to spend 120 to get that light you might as well throw down another 100 and get some hids.

You can make the harness yourself but you really won't be saving much money (if any).

You can get headlight connectors at junk yards but you'll want to remove the old wires from the pins and solder new wire onto the pins. This can be very time consuming. You'll want to use as a minimum 14 gauge wire. I'm a bit of a lighting fanatic and I use only 10 gauge wire. You'll need relays which are fairly cheap. You'll need a really good in-line fuse holder or a circuit breaker - don't even think about using a harness without short circuit protection. Some harnesses use fusible links for their circuit protection but I recommend againt this. Fusible links were never intended to be a replacement or a fuse/breaker and they are almost impossible to repair in the field. You'll have to buy the connectors for the relay pins. To do a good job that will last more than a couple of years you'll need to both crimp and solder the connectors. The soldering makes the connections waterproof. You'll want to cover the connectors in heat shrink tubing or make sure that there is no way moisture can get between the connector and the insulation of the wire. Most harnesses you can buy have very short ground wires. The intent here is to ground the lights to the chassis. I recommend that you ground the lights directly to the alternator or the battery which means you'll have to extend the ground wires. Similarly, take power for the relays from the alternator. When you mount the relays you'll want to find a waterproof location for them. This cannot sometimes be found and I put relays in waterproof boxes and then mount the boxes as close to the lights as I can. I've been building custom harnesses for people for over 15 years and I've never had one fail. I recently fabricated a custom harness for an '05 Accord and I charged my client $200. Of the $200 only $50 was actual hardware cost. It took me 2 hours to properly fabricate and install the harness. The advantages of the custom harness are that the wires end up being only as long as they need to be and that there is more flexibilty in routing the wires.