Truck-Lite LED Headlight Installation Write-Up for a Jeep XJ Cherokee

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
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If you're tired of your old factory headlights just not providing enough light for you at night, a set of modern and extremely durable Truck-Lite LED Headlights are what I would recommend. 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 10 minutes to do with just a simple Phillips screwdriver.

What You Will Need
Truck-Lite LED 5x7 Headlights
• Phillips Screwdriver

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Instructions
Here's a shot of what the Truck-Lite LED Headlights for a Jeep XJ Cherokee look like.
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1. Using a Phillips screwdriver, remove the 2 screws located at the top corners of the headlight bezel and securing it to the front clip of your XJ.
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2. From the top, pull the headlight bezel forward and then lift up to remove it.
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3. Using a Phillips screw driver, remove the 4 screws (2 on top and 2 on the bottom) securing the headlight retaining ring in place. Make sure you do NOT attempt to remove the 2 adjusting screws (1 on top center and 1 on the side center).
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4. Separate the headlight retaining ring and set it aside.
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5. Firmly grab the wiring harness plug and remove it from the back of the headlight.
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6. Plug your new Truck-Lite LED headlight into your XJ's wiring harness.
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7. Place the headlight retaining ring over it and position it in place. The headlight housing is indexed so make sure that the light fits in place as well as the retaining ring tabs before proceeding.
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8. Use a Phillips screwdriver to secure your new Truck-Lite LED headlight in place using the 4 factory screws.
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9. Reinstall the headlight bezel and secure it in place with the 2 factory screws. A Phillips screwdriver will be needed for this job.
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That's it, you now have a set of awesome Truck-Lite LED Headlights installed in your Jeep XJ Cherokee. When you turn them on, I think you'll be really surprised at just how well they work over stock and even upgraded halogen headlights.
 

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
Here are some after shots of what they look like installed.
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Here's what they look like with the lights on low beam.
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Here's what they look like with the high beams on.
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wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
Before upgrading to Truck-Lite LED Headlights, I had been running Sylvania headlights and I should say that they provided much better lighting over the factory headlights but, they simply cannot compare to what the Truck-Lites put out. Below are side by side comparison shots of the two and you can decide for yourself just how much better the Truck-Lites are. Please note, all the photos were taken on a tripod and with the exact same ISO and F-stop settings.

Here's a low beam pattern comparison shot of the Sylvania and the Truck-Lites up shining up against a garage door.
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Now, here's a high beam pattern comparison shot up against the same garage door. As you will see, the Sylvanias simply project the light beam higher whereas the Truck-Lite's retain the low beams while ADDING the high beams. This provides a much brighter and fuller pattern.
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Here's a low beam test with the headlights shining down a dark street. Notice how much whiter, brighter and fuller the Truck-Lite LED headlights are by comparison to the Sylvania's.
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Now, here's the same test only with the high beams. Because the Sylvania's only project their lights higher, everything immediately in front of you is illuminated a lot less. Of course, being that the Truck-Lite ADD a higher beam in addition to the low beams, you can still see very well immediately in front of you as well as way out in front of you.
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I think these comparison shots show the CLEAR advantage the Truck-Lite LED Headlights have even over upgraded halogen lights. Sure, they aren't cheap but if you ask me, they are worth every penny!
 

OverlanderJK

Resident Smartass
This XJ looks great! You have me wanting to pick one up to mess around with.

Those lights almost look brighter then the Jk lights!
 

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
This XJ looks great! You have me wanting to pick one up to mess around with.

Thanks! There are some good deals to be found in the SoCal area. :yup:

Those lights almost look brighter then the Jk lights!

No joke, they are! So much so it's almost distracting. :crazyeyes: I almost feel like I need to angle my lights a bit lower being that they are so bright.
 

Rockrunner8

New member
Heat Emission

I've been thinking about getting Truck-Lites for my JK.

But I'm concerned they won't put out enough heat to melt the Colorado snow/ice build-up during winter driving.

What do you guys think?
 

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
I've been thinking about getting Truck-Lites for my JK.

But I'm concerned they won't put out enough heat to melt the Colorado snow/ice build-up during winter driving.

What do you guys think?

Although they are LED's, they still put out some heat. I may not get as much snow as you do but, of the snow I've gotten, it didn't seem to effect the Truck-Lites that I have on my JK's or, enough to matter. At its worst, I did find a thin film of ice build up on the lens but, enough light was able to get through to do the job.
 

4X4HEEP

New member
Can you please confirm the part / model number for me...just want to be triple sure I order the same one since I love this set so much.

Truck-Lite 55003 ? or different
 

4X4HEEP

New member
These are what you need http://amzn.to/2BX0duZ

Dang, got an itchy trigger finger last night and ordered this model:

https://www.quadratec.com/products/97061_9020.htm

Can't see any difference though. What I surmise from looking at Truck-Lite's and Rigid's websites is that it's two different model numbers for the same parts. I think they probably made an additional part number for JEEP part vendors so customers know the part fits their truck specifically and/or make them think the part is exclusively for JEEPs (often people don't like something they think is a universal part).
 
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