hey guys! Ive had my gq patrol for 4 months now and the head lights are terrible. Is there anything I can do to improve the light output, i.e change bulbs but to what?
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hey guys! Ive had my gq patrol for 4 months now and the head lights are terrible. Is there anything I can do to improve the light output, i.e change bulbs but to what?
Best thing to do that is legal mate is to upgrade the wiring loom to thicker wire and put in relays, then you can add higher output lamps.
Tappa tappa
When I got my gq, i thought they were the worse lights that i have ever seen on a stock vehicle. I upgraded to 80/100 bulbs and it made no difference. The headlights that i had on the MK Patrol, that i had owned before, were much better. I changed headlights a couple times, until I purchased a set of hellas, and put in some relays, It made a huge difference. Well worth the money spent. The only weakness, i think with the Hellas are the light spread,on low beam, but the hight beam is fantastic
my GQ has aftermarket lights in it and the low beam are still sh*thouse. High beam are great but low beams just floods about 10m in fron of the car and yhou can't see anything past that. So is it that the lights are not getting enough amps through the wiring?
I've also Been thinking about upgrading headlights in the GQ. I don't want to go down the H.I.D. path just yet so I was going to get some semi-sealed surrounds for $20 a pair and get some decent globes (Phillips 75/90 or 80/100s for about $80). But having read the above I'm wondering if it will make much difference?
I put phillips 75/90 in the commonwhore and it made a HUGE difference........?
Tap, crackle, pop
I fit those Narva Crystal lens driving lights to mine and they throw out gross more light than standard - only problem is after about 18months they have started to 'yellow' a little, but still bright as though as I had to screw them downwards as I was getting flashed by oncoming drivers as though they thought I was on high beam ...
$186 for the set I think with 35w blue halogen bulbs.
If you guys do decide to upgrade your bulbs don't forget to do as KRISTOFFA said and upgrade the wiring loom, plugs and install relays for your high and lo beams, otherwise there will be a good chance the headlight switch will stuff up and you could end up with a molten mess under the bonnet as happened to my truck.
Previous owner put higher wattage bulbs in and the plugs started to melt and burn. Also stuffed the switch and gave me no end of trouble till I found this forum.
Mark
The lens is more important than the bulb - get a good quality lens and no real need to increase wattage of the bulb - the output will be greater due to the greater reflective nature of the lens. There are a couple of blokes on here who sell lighting and they should be able to confirm this ... saves replacing wiring etc.
Yeah I'd like to avoid replacing the wiring loom. The globes I was looking at had the same wattage. Like I said, when I put them in the commonwhore, they were heaps brighter.And the new reflectors will help as you said bigrig.
Tap, crackle, pop
food for thought! Hey bigrig where do you get those narva crystal lens from? ebay?
Got mine through Redlands 4WD mate - would assume anyone who sells Narva gear could get them though ...Quote:
Originally Posted by 89gqpatrol4x4
Just my 2c worth.
Had the same problem when I bought the GQ, lights were worse than crap.
First I upgraded the wiring loom with heavy 6mm cable, relays and ceramic plugs.
Made a huge difference to the original sealed bulbs, much bighter but still yellow.
The original wires are a joke, they look like they wouldn't cope with LED's.
Next upgrade was the Narva reflectors and higher wattage globes, the higher wattage made no difference to light output.
Next came the philips 55/60w crystal 4300 globes, awsome white light, like daylight.
The Narva reflectors come with parkers, nice touch, but you need to grind the backplate to make them fit.
Narvas have a waterproof boot, but its not much of a seal, I used some Dow Corning silicon grease, the stuff sparkies use to waterproof wiring, to seal them, also works great at sealing and protecting door rubbers. Holden recommend the grease to stop door rubbers squealing and creaking.
either get some crystal lenses with better bulbs or just go hid, ive had hid for bout 6 months and havent been booked yet
hi , i just put 2 crystal semi sealed beams in for $30 each plusa set of narva plus 50% h4 60/55 watt globes at $10 each, these globes cause no extra load on your wiring at all , turned out the best set of lights i have ever had on any car/4x4 great spread on low beam and great hi beam . i live in the country do lots of night drivingwith no traffic or street lights but lot of roo and deer and i have not bothered to fit my spotties for 4 months now because i dont really need them , check my photo gallery you will see them !
Ok, I will pipe up here. IN SOUTH AUSTRALIA HID headlights, are not legal unless the vehicle came out of the factory with them. How do i know this ?? I got busted and a trip to regency park ( our RTA inspection center ) and $650 of other repairs later. Now you might be thinking I wont get done,.... well put it this way I aint young, I drive like a grandpa ( yes I am one ), some young prick copper knew the rules.. and i got done as i was pulling out of a service station near Elizabeth shopping center , the Shell near the aquadome for all you Adelaide peoples.
I now have a Hella H4 kit, with aftermarket Calibre Halogen Globe - 12V, 55W, Xenon Blue globes. low beam is ok now, high beam... thats what the spottys are for
Go HID, I got a kit from KPD 4x4 and they are great, dont require any loom upgrade as they have their own. Just don't opt for the blue tint globe and then they just look like the high output halogens.
Mate I've never seen a HID that looks like a halogen at all. HIDs are also illegal.
Well yeah they're not exactly the same.. but its really dependent on the temp of globes you get.
I should have worded it, that the ones I have are a very white light, and incomparison to the Phillips +100 halogens I put in my old commo they are both very close to each other.
Yes they are illegal, but i think going 80-100 halogens will be bliding people too...
It all depends on the reflector, really. The 7" inserts are not designed for HID light and will not disperse it well, that's why oncoming drivers are blinded.
Yeah thats it, you see a factory HID system and its a perfect line where the headlights are aimed to, HID is definately a gamble but they are wicked upgrade. The main reason I went HID was it was cheaper than buying a headlight loom upgrade and 80/100 sealed beams!