Defender headlights
 

Hi everyone,

I am shortly about to start rebuilding my Def 110 and want to fit better headlights. Some time ago I replaced the original sealed beams with Ring halogen units, but there wasn't a major difference.

Any suggestions for better lighting without resorting to seperate driving lights ? Powerful sealed beams would be good as the Ring units fill with water, I've been unable to find anything on the net though.


Andrew.

Hi Andrew, might be worth reading this thread
http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...nversion-32018

Cheers
Chris

the best way to go about this is to upgrade the wiring loom. devon 4x4 sell an ARB upgrade that is an easy fit or you can go about making one yourself buying the wiring and most importantly a RELAY yourself. i took the ARB route when i had a 110 and it made a noticable difference in the brightness of the standard bulbs.

PLUS is you go about fitting higher wattage bulbs, you'll be safe in the knowledge that your wiring can handle the extra current plus your light switch is protected by the relay preneveting a meltdown.

there is an Australian landie owners site; Australian Land Rover Owners that covers it in more detail. do a search for headlight upgrade.

the ARB unit has 3 relays. one for each headlight and a third for wiring your spotlights into.

more expensive than swapping just the bulbs but a proper job!

Sorry it's in French
 

Haven't tried it out yet, but looks a good idea.
No need to upgrade the wiring loom as the power consumption is only 40w per ballast (bulb)

KIT XENON POUR TOUT VEHICULE, UNIVERSEL H1 H3 H4 H7 ETC en vente sur eBay.fr (fin le 24-Jan-08 22:50:00 Paris)

Should do the trick
L

I've also got the ring halogens which were pathetic to the point of dangerous with standard bulbs - I've recently fitted some of the Halfords Brilliance bulbs though, 15 quid for two and what a difference!
I'm more than happy with the set up now, but I've heard the wipac crystal lenses are supposed to be ok, though made of plastic which bothers me a bit, but they're only cheap so I might give them a go.

Thanks to everyone who replied with their offerings...I never knew that there were such things as brighter bulbs with the same power consumption and therefore able to use standard wiring !

After a little research based on what you have told me I found the latest 80% brighter bulbs at
Philips X-Treme Power H4 from Power Bulbs which is what I have just ordered. I'll post an update when they're installed.

Thanks again to all.

Andrew.

I agree, the ARB headlight loom is good. i fitted one to my 90 and it instantly made the headlights a bit "whiter" instead of the dull yellow they were, and i didn't have to worry about the healght switch melting again.

I'm going to fit one to my project110, but just make it myself, it's only 3 relays (one for dipped and 2 for the main beam, one for each headlight)

Also, the crystal headlight conversions are supposed to give good light too. a few people on the LR4x4 forum have them and say the light is impressive, so i'd imagine a combination of these lights and an ARB type loom, you'd be laughing! (it's what i plan to run...eventually)

HID upgrade?
 

You can mess about with better bulbs and all sorts but......you'll never be that happy.

Try HID50.com 50 watt HID lighting and buy a pair of 50watt upgrades. You will not regret it.

Roger (A happy hid50 customer)

I just sent them an email regarding all manner of defender installations, so i'll post what they reply.


looks like a good kit, and not to badly priced either.

Bearmach also do a similar thing, but about £300 IIRC.

vw camper westside story - please contact me if you own this van
 

hi there andy, I am really keen to talk to you about your vw camper and think i have tracked you on this site somehow, please could you email me jrwmetal@yahoo.co.uk if you own or did own the van featured in volksworld, really appreciate it, johnrw

More lights!!
 

I believe that for driving in out of the way places you can never have too much light! I always try to avoid driving at night due to people, donkey carts, trucks with no lights, massive potholes etc. However like a lot of intentions sometimes it happens, and I have had some very unpleasant night time drives with many near misses. Twice I have almost run over passed out drunks asleep on the roadside. For this reason I have always fitted driving lights - to spread the light more to the side of the vehicle to see what is lurking at the roadside as well as for better distance vision. It generally makes things a lot safer, and when an overloaded bus with no dipped beam is barelling down the road towards you dodging pot holes good lighting is essential... KC Daylighters sold by Matt are good, I currently have a set of Lightforce 170s which are fantastic also. In addition I am also looking at HID kits, as it is a really important issue for me on my vehicle as well as work vehicles.
my two bob's worth,
Gil

The HID kits seem a bit over the top for me.

On my 2002 defender I fitted a HD loom, not ARB but similar even with the std 55/60w bulbs there was a noticable difference, it was a much whiter light not with the yellow tinge it had before.

Next step, I fitted a couple of 80/110w IPF bulbs I picked up from ARB in OZ last time I was back there and now the lights are excellent.

No need for spot lights now, and the main bonus is I now have a good low beam.

HID happy!
 

I fitted a pair of HID bulbs - the 50 watt ones from one of the eBay suppliers. they are Brilliant! I've got them in the Wipac clear lens headlamps - total cost about 110 pounds sterling for lamps and bulbs, and they really throw a great light. they also have a cunning 'flash' built in, so when you just flash to let someone out of a junction for example, they are REALLY bright for a 10th of a second, like a camera flash being fired - impressive!

I'd been trying to improve my lights for a while, working through 130 watt halogens etc - out in rural Ireland there are deer and dog walkers all over the place, plus the odd unlit tractor still, never mind getting to N Africa for surprises at night, so good lights were a bit essential...

Get the 'normal' light temperature type though - don't bother with the more popular 'blue' temperature type, I think mine were 5400k, that's already a lot 'whiter' than halogens, anything more blue would just be silly...

As a strange extra, the temp gauge on our Defender used to keep suddenly going off into the red when the headlights were on - fitting the HIDs solved that after a year of changing temp senders, replacing wiring and generally banging my head on the dashboard on a regular basis... (temp was always fine, but the gauge would go up after running with headlights on for a bit, until I pushed in the cigarette lighter, then it would return to normal - ah, LandRovers...)