Best place to get new head lights?

[Dixiedog]

My buddy and I both bought a HUMVEE (his is nicer than mine) but both need head lights. Was wondering what vendors I should contact or if I might find such a thing at a local parts store. Any help would be great!

 

[DatGuyC]

Do you need the bucket and everything or just the glass part?

 

[Dixiedog]

Just the glass part. It was crazy how many trucks were missing the glass bulbs when we picked up our trucks.

 

[Scar59]

Just the glass part. It was crazy how many trucks were missing the glass bulbs when we picked up our trucks.

You'll find that true mil 24 v bulbs with the correct connectors are expensive. Hence the bulbs are the first thing robbed off out of service units. Popular auction site has them.

 

[clinto]

eBay and military vehicle swap meets. We bought a bunch of brand new in the box GI surplus headlights at the 2012 MVPA National Convention super cheap.

 

[DatGuyC]

Honestly I wouldn't go back to stock sealed beams, they suck. I used Hella vision plus conversion headlights with some 100w Hella H4 bulbs and used H4 headlight harnesses to make my own plugs. It probably cost me $100 and the lights are much better than anything else I've tried, even the Trucklight LED's I have in my M35.

 

[Dixiedog]

DatGuyC,

Can you point me to a thread on how to do the Hella lights? It sounds like a great idea. I am going to keep my truck and do mods that make it better and it sounds like this could be the first one.

 

[DatGuyC]

There isn't a thread on the lights, I pieced it together myself. The hella glass housings I got were part number 002395031, you can find them on ebay. The bulbs I used are Hella 24v 100/90W h4's part number H83140041. I got them from amazon for less than $10 each. If you search on Ebay for "h4 headlight sockets" you should get a lot of results, I went with ceramic sockets so they can take the heat better, they were less than $1 each from china. Lastly if you don't have any military type packard connectors you are going to need those to plug into the headlight housings on the hood. Those can also be found on ebay but I found eriks military supply to be cheaper, part number MS27142-2 for a pack of 10 of the female 14 gauge connectors. One pack should be enough, each headlight only needs 3 connectors. You can either crimp or solder the metal parts onto the end of the wires, I solder because I dont have the correct crimping tool and it was just easier for me. I'll have to look at the wiring diagram but I believe wire 17 is low-beam, 18 high-beam, and 91 ground. They should be marked in the headlight housing. Heres a picture of the wiring for a h4 bulb.

 

[Dixiedog]

Thank you so much for taking the time to relay all this info! I will start getting my stuff together tomorrow and can not wait to work on my new lights for my new HUMVEE!

 

[DatGuyC]

Nice looking truck, its more put together than mine was when I got it haha. I would recommend sanding and painting those headlight buckets before you put the new headlights in, its thin metal and can rust through with time. Also there is a guy selling both mirrors on ebay for a little over $100. From getting my truck back into operational condition I found some things you might want to check are your hub seals and hub oil, and your harmonic balancer on the crank. If your harmonic balancer is old and the rubber is cracked it can break and put stress on your crankshaft which can break your crank.

 

[Dixiedog]

Thanks for the kind words on the truck and the heads up on what to look for as I start restoring/fixing/having fun with it.

 

[leo4x4]

those military guys.com have them i got them for my hummwv

 

[Artisan]

Yep, always check what those military guys.com are doing, they sell quality stuff.

Keep in mind if you go LED and if you live in freezing rain / snow, remember that
due to lack of heat they can become fouled w/ ice and snow. There is a resolve
for that, and it is to buy Truck-Lite heated LED lights. They have a thermostat
that comes on AUTOMATICALLY when it gets too cold, I do believe...