upgrading headlights

[Jayce]

I know this has been done before, hence me asking the question. My headlights are so weak, that even on high beam it does bother oncoming drivers at night. I would like to upgrade these, for my comfort and discomfort for oncoming traffic, however would like a little direction on how to achieve this.

Thanks

[TerryS]

Your lack of significant light may be as much from weak wiring as poor lamps.
Hella Vision Plus is an excellent replacement for old sealed beam bulbs, but since series trucks weren't known for robust wiring, I'd suggest a relay, whose coil is operated from the headlamp circuit, and the switched circuit directly from the battery to the lamps. Pretty simple installation. As in any headlamp, alignment is important. Some people like PIAA, but I have found the Vision Plus, with H4 halogen bulbs to be a huge improvement over conventional sealed beams. The improvement is as much the lens as it is the Halogen bulbs.

[Greg S]

If all your wiring is in tip-top shape and all the connections are good, there is so much line-drop on the length of wire from the battery to the switch, to the dipper switch to the head lamps, that you don't get proper designed brightness out of the lamps from new.

To fix it you need 2 headlamp relays, about $5 each (2 pounds?). Same type of relay as would be used for fog or driving lights. Hopefully your battery is under the bonnet not under your seat. Under the bonnet make this SIMPLE job much easier to do because you only need to run about a foot of new wire from the battery instead of 12 feet from under the seatbox.

You need to find the 2 headlamp wires at the disconnect by the Breakfast. These are the wires coming from the dipper switch forward to the breakfast; a Blue with White stripe and a Blue with Red stripe. Unplug these wires and connect one each to the control side of the relays using a short wire (about 4-6 inches) with a baonette connection on one end for the wire and a spade connection on the other for the relay. (Make 4 of these connector wires) Wire should only need to be a few inches long depending where you choose to mount the relays on the breakfast. (note: you could just cut off the end of the wires and crimp on a new bayonette connector for the relay but then you might find your wires are a bit short somewhere.)You need a ground wire from each of the relays, I went from one relay to the other with a jumper and a single ground wire from there. Now you need to use those extra 2 short adapter wires to connect the output of the relay to the spot you unplugged the B/R & B/W control wires from. To power the units you run a fused 12 or 14 gauge wire from the battery to one relay and use a jumper from there to the other relay. Now secure the relays, I used a zap strap (tie-wrap) till I finally got round to drilling a hole and using a proper screw.

The above is to brighten a properly working set of headlamps. If you headlamps are not working properly, as in, they have the brightness of a candle. That is a different matter, you simply have a bad ground connection. A bad ground connection is very common and not just on Land Rovers.

[Jayce]

Originally Posted by Greg S

You need to find the 2 headlamp wires at the disconnect by the Breakfast. These are the wires coming from the dipper switch forward to the breakfast; .

Thanks for the advice Greg, your explanation seems fair enough but I have no idea what you mean by the "breakfast". Could you enlighten me on this.

Thanks

[Bogatyr]

breakfast = radiator panel

[TerryS]

Originally Posted by Bogatyr

breakfast = radiator panel

Which, incidently, was a designation, since adopted by other British auto owners, that originated with the Series Land Rover. It comes from the common use of the grill piece being removed for a cooking grate. I always used to think this was a 'romantic' rumor, but has since been confirmed by the folks at Dunsfold.

[AAXD]

Mmmmm... I love the taste of Zinc in the morning.