upgrading stock patrol headlights

[thehanko]

I have a GU ute.

as usual nissan dont think driving at night requires visability.

I have a set of spotties but want to improve low beam and general spread.

They come with std 55-60 H4 globes. Which I want to upgrade.

Who has increased their globes to 70-100 watts or even 100-130 globes.

Im chasing real world responces by people who have changed theirs and found it too high for the wiring or found it ok.

If anyone knows what the wiring is theoretically capable of would be great to know as well.

I know Hid would be great but this is a cheap improvment not hundreds of dollars.

Thanks

[Green as Grass]

I would have thought the 55-60s would have been okay. What condition are the reflectors in ?

[micks troll]

Defintely worth upgrading the harness you can now buy relay upgrade kits for as little as $120 ish I have had mine fitted for years now (made myself with good mate whos a fussy auto elecy) and ran 100/130s massive difference now have gone down to 90/100 still sh#tloads better.
I was running the 90/100 in standard harness but was only for a few months until i got my old harness put in the new truck, didnt fry anything and was marginally better but nothing like the harness and relay!
Cheers Mick

[thehanko]

Defintely worth upgrading the harness you can now buy relay upgrade kits for as little as $120 ish I have had mine fitted for years now (made myself with good mate whos a fussy auto elecy) and ran 100/130s massive difference now have gone down to 90/100 still sh#tloads better.
I was running the 90/100 in standard harness but was only for a few months until i got my old harness put in the new truck, didnt fry anything and was marginally better but nothing like the harness and relay!
Cheers Mick

Good to know.

Thanks

[ETU47]

hid kit from jaycar $150 35w very bright

[thehanko]

hid kit from jaycar $150 35w very bright

interesting, didnt realise it could be so cheap - so are you using that particular kit?

[ETU47]

yep in my gq, they are high beam and low beam ,no cutting wires either!!!

[Dirty]

I am running hi/lo HID, and it is much better than the standard lighting.

However I would HID your driving lights before the hi/lo's

- David.

[thehanko]

I am running hi/lo HID, and it is much better than the standard lighting.

However I would HID your driving lights before the hi/lo's

- David.

I want a better low beam as much as anything as so often you never even get to use high beam, let alone turn on some spotties.

My spotties are lightforce - came on the car. I dont know the exact details of them but they are definitely spots and useless at seeing anything other than their bright area. They are so bright compared to the nissan lights that i find the brighter patch is distracting me from being aware of the greater range of visability.

Hence why I want to upgrade the stock lights for better spread to accompany the spots and giove good low beam drivability.

I think I will look into these hid kits.

[GaryP]

Upgrading your headlights to HID is not legal, neither is upgrading to 100/130 w halogen bulbs. I have upgraded to 100/130w halogens with HD loom kit and the difference is amazing, and does not attract attention like a HID upgrade would. Road cars can get away with it easier as they are closer to the ground and large proportion of new cars have HIDs.

[sudso]

Upgrading your headlights to HID is not legal, neither is upgrading to 100/130 w halogen bulbs. I have upgraded to 100/130w halogens with HD loom kit and the difference is amazing, and does not attract attention like a HID upgrade would. Road cars can get away with it easier as they are closer to the ground and large proportion of new cars have HIDs.

And a pair of 100W halogens coming right at you at close range doesn't attract attention?

[GaryP]

I have them adjusted properly and to date I have not been pulled up or flashed. When I had my Honda with HID I was constantly being flashed and was pulled up by the police to check legality ( all Ok ). This was the main reason I went with the upgraded halogens rather than HiDs.

[create]

I changed the reflectors on mine and that alone was the biggest upgrade. I then made a custom loom with 4 relays. This has helped a bit too. I am still running 55/60w globes and it does a good job. I may change to 90/130w soon.

[GUtripper]

I have the upgraded loom and was running Phillips +80% globes, made a dramatic difference to low and high beam over standard Nissan junk. (GU4).

I then went to 55w HID kit in the headlights (already have 55w HID kitted LF XGT's) thinking that would be better again.

In reality.... not so sure. the HIDs give a cleaner, brighter light, I'm 100% sure.

However, I seem to have lost light focus, and have also had to adjust the headlights down to stop flashes from other cars---- down below where they should legally be (ie i did have them alligned after fitting the HID's and have wound them down further since.)

Given over, I would stick with the loom upgrade and fatter globes. Stick to HID for spot/driving lights only.

Oh, and as a side comment- dont know if I'd be using 100/130 w globes in polycarbonate lenses and reflectors. heat may be an issue.

[thehanko]

I have the upgraded loom and was running Phillips +80% globes, made a dramatic difference to low and high beam over standard Nissan junk. (GU4).

I then went to 55w HID kit in the headlights (already have 55w HID kitted LF XGT's) thinking that would be better again.

In reality.... not so sure. the HIDs give a cleaner, brighter light, I'm 100% sure.

However, I seem to have lost light focus, and have also had to adjust the headlights down to stop flashes from other cars---- down below where they should legally be (ie i did have them alligned after fitting the HID's and have wound them down further since.)

Given over, I would stick with the loom upgrade and fatter globes. Stick to HID for spot/driving lights only.

Oh, and as a side comment- dont know if I'd be using 100/130 w globes in polycarbonate lenses and reflectors. heat may be an issue.

I did wonder about heat of the higher watt globes be curious to hear if any one ha them and has any feedback on it.

At this stage I think Ill upgrade the wiring and go 70/100's

[DanwinGQ]

Far out, I didn't realise HID headlight upgrades were illegal!
I was going to mention there is a member in Misc stuff for sale selling HID upgrades for spot lights and headlights. I thought they were fairly well priced and was going to sort something out.
Is there any legal upgrades for headlights and have any people actually been pinned by the fun police for these HID upgrades????????
Sorry if this hi-jacks your thread mate but thought it may be an interesting factor into headlight upgrades!!

[Green as Grass]

Sorry for the hi-jack but I just read GUtripper's post on headlight adjustment. I know mine must be out of whack. If it's a misty night I feel like I'm driving a cross-eyed car !
How hard is it to adjust them ?

[BrettInUte]

I had a GQ and upgraded the reflectors, globes (conventional) and put in a heavier custom loom.

Made a massive difference. (unbelievable). Took half a day for 2 of us to build the loom and fit everything up.
Cost < $200.


My GU has pitiful low beams. And I have had issues with the factory headlight loom already.

I dont know if you can get aftermarket reflectors GU.

I will upgrade the loom, and globes in the future. (in that order !)

[GUtripper]

Sorry for the hi-jack but I just read GUtripper's post on headlight adjustment. I know mine must be out of whack. If it's a misty night I feel like I'm driving a cross-eyed car !
How hard is it to adjust them ?

10mm bolt on the back of the headlight unit, turn it to adjust the beam. Bit of a pain to get to esp on LHS.

[Mrowka]

I have had some IPF halogen bulbs in my '94 Patrol for a few weeks now.

So far, no worries and much better lighting than before (Philips bulbs, if I remember correctly.)

[chachi_70]

i still dont know why people bother with upgrading wireing looms the benefit to cost is hardly there.

I have upgrade my GU with HID head lights and so have many of my mates, the best thing to do is get the correct setup.

1. Go with 35w high/low beam setup not a 55w kit as they are to bright ideal for comp trucks though
2. adjust your head lights, go to a car park at night and adjust them takes 5 mins
3. make sure you get either 5000k or 6000k globes the higher the range the blue/purple is where you become cop bait.
4. HID kits well most these day come with a new loom and wiring kit so your not modifying your loom its just plug and play.

Yes i agree HID are not legal they need to be approved by your local road authorities however changing your globes and wiring loom has to be done also, and going down that path also means your putting your wiring at risk i.e. engine bay fires caused by electrical issues.

[Potter]

I upgraded the wiring loom my self and ran 90/100w its my old GU wagon. It was great low beam was now closer to high beam and high beam was just bright,
Ill try and find the wiring diagram and post it up, or i could make 1 for about $100,


Edit: ok found the wiring diagram it has an upgrade for headlights and spotlights

[Jake GQ..]

i have got hid spotties and the glare from road signs is realy bad i would defentely not hid your standard lights

[thehanko]

i have got hid spotties and the glare from road signs is realy bad i would defentely not hid your standard lights

Yeah i get that from my spotties... i keep bounding between ideas.

[DA22LE]

Hey,

I also added some relays to go to the headlights. My battery is in the rear of the vehicle, and with some semi-decent sized cable from jaycar, rnning from my junction box, the headlights are 10X better. I have some 90/130's, but havent bothered to fit them yet, if at all.....

I have some blue vision narva bulbs(55/60), they are awesome on low beam.....
Aftermarket hi/lo HID's should be banned!!!!

Cheers

Daz

[UncySpam]

Ipf globes are just rrebadged philips, with a 50% markup.

Personally I'd say replace the standard globes with philips crystal vision. Remove and clean the glass and reflectors if you need too. I don't think there is enough voltage drop in the loom to justify replacement, but I'd suggest you test this for yourself (a multimeter will be able tell you better than guessing after fitting a kit)

[hokey]

not sure if anyone's mentioned but the headlight reflectors they sell at patrolapart and ebay (same ones) are a major upgrade especially if your std reflectors are dirty/rusty/have water in them

also very cheap