Truck-Lite Jeep JK Wrangler LED Headlight Installation Write-Up & Testing

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
While the Jeep JK Wrangler is without a doubt, the best off road vehicle ever made, the headlights it comes with from the factory are anything but. In fact, I’d have to say that they are the one thing that everyone I know who owns a JK, hates about it. The light they provide are a sickly yellow at best, are really only focused at one point and do very little to fill in the road immediately in front of you. In fact, it is for that reason this that most people who own a JK tend to always use their fog lights in conjunction to their headlights and, are always in search of a good replacement.

Originally developed for the U.S. Military, the Truck-Lite LED’s are a completely solid-state unit, rugged and put out an impressive spread of clean white light while using very little power. The low beams do a great job of filling in the road immediately in front of you and wide out to the sides as well. Of course, the high beams do an even better job by projecting light far out into the distance while still retaining all the lighting up front as well. These may not be the cheapest set of headlights you can buy but, in my opinion, you really do get what you pay for. When it comes to a great all around set of replacement headlights, I’d have to say that the Truck-Lite LED’s are about the best I have found.

Installation of the Truck-Light LED headlights is super easy as the write-up below will show and typically takes about 15 minutes to do. Please note that 2 different JK’s were used in this write-up as I already had aftermarket headlights and wanted to keep this from a stock perspective as possible.

What you will need
• Torx T-15 Driver
• 10mm Wrench
• Phillips Screwdriver
• Flathead Screwdriver

Installation Instructions
This is a shot of everything you will get with your new Truck-Lite LED Headlights. As you can see, they come complete with a plug-n-play wiring harness adapter.
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1. Pop open your hood and then, using a 10mm wrench, disconnect the negative battery lead.
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2. Look behind the front grille, locate the wiring harness attached to the indicator lights and unlock the plug by sliding out the red tab as shown in this pic.
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3. Press the release tab on the end of the wiring harness plug and then pull it out.
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4. If you have an older JK, you will need to loosen the plastic retaining screws using a phillips screwdriver.
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5. If you have a newer JK, use a small flathead screwdriver to unlock the retaining tabs on top of grill by lifting up the pin in the center as shown in this pic.
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6. Once the retaining tabs have been unlocked or unscrewed, use a flathead screwdriver to pry up the back side of the grill just enough to pop them out.
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7. Carefully pull on your Jeep JK Wrangler’s grille until it breaks free of the retaining clips.
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8. Using a Torx T-15 driver, remove the 4 retaining ring screws securing your factory headlights in place.
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9. Pull the headlight out a bit, locate the wiring harness attached to the back of it and then unlock the plug by sliding out the red tab as shown in this pic.
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10. Press the release tab on the end of the wiring harness plug and then pull it out.
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11. Separate the retaining ring from the factory headlight housing as shown.
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12. Take the new wiring harness adapter and plug it into the Truck-Lite LED headlights.
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13. Plug the Truck-Lite LED into the wiring harness on your JK, place the factory retaining ring over the headlight and then position it so that all the indexing tabs line up with the appropriate mounting holes.
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14. Secure the retaining ring and Truck-Lite LED headlights in place using the factory screws. A Torx T-15 driver will be needed for this job.
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15. Reinstall your front grille, secure it in place using the factory retaining tabs or screws, reconnect your battery lead and test out your new Truck-Lite LED headlights.
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Light Test Shots
This is a shot on a wall to show what the projected low beam pattern looks like. As you can see, the spread extends wide to the outside and does well to fill in the space below as well.
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This is a shot on a wall to show what the projected high beam pattern looks like. As you can see, the low beam pattern is still retained in addition to the higher projection of light.
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The following 3 comparison shots were taken in a dark alley with the exact same settings so that you could get a better sense of what the overall spread is like. Please note that to the naked eye, the actual lighting that these headlights provided did appear to be brighter (way better than stock) but, in the interest of showing how the lights performed more accurately, we purposefully set the aperture and speed on our camera so that you could see where the actual beams of light were hitting.

No lights on.
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Low beam comparison.
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High beam comparison.
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As I said, this is a super easy install! Make sure to check the positioning of your new headlights and make necessary adjustments as needed.

Headlight Adjustment Write-Up


From the Manufacturer
Our headlamp was designed originally for US Military functions, as they needed an LED solution that did not “ever” break in the field, and wanted a completely solid-state lamp. They’ve been using them for night time combat situations, where previous lamps (such as halogen, and to a much greater extent, HID) couldn’t withstand the impact of common military functions, and literally left vehicles stranded until daylight.

The other focus of the lamp was the pure white light, that makes an incredible different on vehicles that trail for mines in the Middle East. The LED lights help show disruptions in sand better, and can make improvised explosives (IED’s) more noticeable. The lamps were developed for that purpose, and they wanted the solution put to market quickly, without needing to meet any DOT compliance.Since then, we’ve made incredible improvement in the optics of the lamp, adding to the common LED features, with a now DOT-compliant pattern. We just released an update to the line as well, with a significantly spread light output. It still shows some of the characteristic aiming within the pattern, but that’s what allows us to isolate and place extra light at valuable locations within the pattern.

We feel it’s the best solution for LED forward lighting, and when mated with the other military-tough features, it’s more than worth the investment.
 

Bessie

New member
I really like the look of the old style lights but the new ones do seem to be brighter with a wider spread.

Thanks. I was thinking about upgrading. 4 Wheel Parts had them on sale at the end of the year but sold out. That is when I realized they were offering the old style.
 

cj2jk

New member
Old ones

I installed the old ones great upgrade superbright white light, in addition I installed Rigid Industries dually diffused with Rigids fog light mounting kit. I highly recommend both of these upgrades much cleaner / clearer driving at night.
 

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OverlanderJK

Resident Smartass
I like the older style better as well. I need this too. Driving in the rain with the stock headlights is horrible!
 

Skid_Kid

New member
Just thought I would share about my install today. Here is where I put the tape cause I had a wobble on my 2013. 5 or 6 strips in each location will do fine. Make sure you do the same amount or your headlight aim will be off and you will have to make adjustments.

ImageUploadedByWAYALIFE1361565217.753833.jpg


Sent from my iPhone using WAYALIFE mobile app
 

rlast

New member
Were you able to re-use those M8 x 21 plastic push pins

This is the best write-up I've seen yet on the installation. Were you able to re-use those M8 x 21 plastic push pins when you removed the grill? Or did you just buy new ones?
 

OverlanderJK

Resident Smartass
This is the best write-up I've seen yet on the installation. Were you able to re-use those M8 x 21 plastic push pins when you removed the grill? Or did you just buy new ones?

Yeah you can reuse them. They aren't the christmas tree style they have grooves in them so they slide back in.

And after driving with mine for a few days, these are a great investment. If you can stomach the $450 price tag you won't be disappointed.
 
Just did this install today, super easy. 45 minutes start to finish. That counts the time dropping a Torx in a snow pile and dropping one of the tabs into the JK body. :naw:

Pro tip, use a driver in the Torx not an attachment if you have that option..... Just an easier fit.
 

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
Just did this install today, super easy. 45 minutes start to finish. That counts the time dropping a Torx in a snow pile and dropping one of the tabs into the JK body. :naw:

Pro tip, use a driver in the Torx not an attachment if you have that option..... Just an easier fit.

Snow? What's that? :idontknow: :crazyeyes: :D

Totally agree that a fixed driver is the way to go when working on the headlights. :yup:
 

rlast

New member
anyone running the anti-flicker harness from TLG?

Is anyone running the anti-flicker harness from TLG? I ordered a set at the same time I ordered my Truck-Lites, waited a week or so, inquired about the delivery, and found out they haven't shipped yet because there seems to be a problem with them. They told me the problem had been resolved and they were going into production. Then, when I went back on the site today, I saw that they now only offer the harness for the JW Speakers (used to be an option there for either Truck-Lites or JW's). Now, I'm not sure where my order stands....

Yeah you can reuse them. They aren't the christmas tree style they have grooves in them so they slide back in.

And after driving with mine for a few days, these are a great investment. If you can stomach the $450 price tag you won't be disappointed.
 

OverlanderJK

Resident Smartass
I wouldn't waste my money on it but if you want to go ahead. :thumb:

I only notice the flicker if I am parked right in front of the garage starring at the lights from the drivers seat.
 

GCM 2

New member
I wouldn't waste my money on it but if you want to go ahead. :thumb:

I only notice the flicker if I am parked right in front of the garage starring at the lights from the drivers seat.

You know I have been running my gen2 LEDs since last September and was 100% certain I didn't have the flicker. Then as I was waiting for my garage door to open this weekend, I noticed I had the flicker too. Apparently I have to be about 6 feet (or closer) from a perfectly flat surface to notice it, doesn't seem like I will be bothered by it one bit. It's just too subtle of something to even think about.
 

OverlanderJK

Resident Smartass
You know I have been running my gen2 LEDs since last September and was 100% certain I didn't have the flicker. Then as I was waiting for my garage door to open this weekend, I noticed I had the flicker too. Apparently I have to be about 6 feet (or closer) from a perfectly flat surface to notice it, doesn't seem like I will be bothered by it one bit. It's just too subtle of something to even think about.

Yup. Thats the first thing I tested as I read so much about it and I didn't think it was a big deal. Very hard to notice.
 

rlast

New member
Awesome. I think I'll just go ahead with the install without it, as soon as I get some time. If it ends up begin something that bugs me, I can always add the harness later. Thanks for the advice, gents.

You know I have been running my gen2 LEDs since last September and was 100% certain I didn't have the flicker. Then as I was waiting for my garage door to open this weekend, I noticed I had the flicker too. Apparently I have to be about 6 feet (or closer) from a perfectly flat surface to notice it, doesn't seem like I will be bothered by it one bit. It's just too subtle of something to even think about.
 
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