Headlight upgrade

[johneliot]

Can H4 headlights with a 55/60 bulb be used without wiring relays in a stock 69 bug, assuming the generator is working to specs and new wiring harness? I've been searching past posts but I don't seem to be able to find an answer.
_________________
John

There is no distinctly American criminal class - except Congress.
Mark Twain

69 bug - "The Grey Ghost"

[windfish]

Yep, should work fine.

I'm running a pair of 55/60 (these) in mine with its' original wiring harness, no problems.

[Cali_Army_Guy]

I have H4's with 55/60 bulbs in my '71 with the original wiring with no issues.

[Chochobeef]

Just clean and put new connectors on as needed and stock wiring should be fine to handle them. I ran a new ground wire and put new terminal end on mine just because the old stuff was falling apart and corroded.

I have zero issues and a much better light output.

[EvileNV]

I put HIDs in mine, they're awesome! Spent about $80 for everything as a package on eBay.
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69 Beetle, 64 GMC 1000 (1/2 ton), 59 Ford Ranch Wagon (for the wife and kiddos), 92 Motorhome for vacationing.

[bikeboy480]

I put LEDs in my bus about 6 months ago and I seriously regret waiting as long as I did to upgrade. Got em from here.

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=1801829

Lower wattage, less draw on the electrical system and less wear and tear on the relay.

[Cali_Army_Guy]

[rockerarm]

Hi. All have agreed that the lower wattage bulbs will work ok. But, if you have a DVOM (digital volt ohmmeter) hook the positive from the meter to the positive batt terminal and the negative from the meter to either of the four conections on the back of the headlight ( low beam and high beam, rt and lt) and turn the lights on. The dvom will do the math and tell you what the voltage drop is in that circuit. So, doing this will give you 4 readings for the 4 individual circuits. You can do the same method for the ground circuit. I have seen voltage drops at the fuse box, headlight switch, hi/lo relay, and the ground circuit. Enjoy, Bill.
PS: youtube has videos on this process.

[Aussiebug]

[tom_hd02]

Last week I replaced the headlight halogen H4 bulbs with LED bulbs on my '74 SB.
HUGE difference. LED bulbs are way much brighter than halogen bulbs (although not as bright asHIDs) and have lower power consumption.

[gringoloco2000]

These look nice. Looking at their pictures there appears to be a cut off in the projection of the light. Can anyone confirm this? I don't want to get something that will blind other drivers.

[rockerarm]

Hi all. You state the led upgrade from halogen h4's are brighter. Ok. How are they brighter? When I upgraded to a European h4, such as Cibie, Hella, or Bosch, the, advertised, low beam reflective range was out to, somewhat like, 1000'. I would like to see what those led's look like. I'm not really concerned beyond 1000' but down at approx. 300-400 feet is respectable for low speed driving. As a former military contractor I viewed the newer big trucks called "HEMITT'S" are now using a led round headlight. But, I know I'm driving faster than that truck.
Bill.

[bikeboy480]

Bill, I'd be happy to shoot a short video of me driving around the neighborhood with the lights on, would that help?

[gringoloco2000]

I would like to see that also. If you could pull up to a wall too and show the cut off. Thanks.

[ps2375]

My Hella H-4's have a nice cut-off, but, they are units from the 80's. I have to remind myself that they aren't projectors when I see the cut-off when driving at night. I'm using Marchal relays left over from when the car used to 100w hi and 100w low bulbs in each light( they had separate low and hi bulbs in each). They are controlled by the stock hi/low relay. Not sure if I could justify the cost to change with what I have now and how little I drive at night. They also seem to put out plenty of light.