Adding Front and Rear Lights to the Cherokee
Adding Lights to the Cherokee with Switches, Wiring and an Auxiliary Fuse Panel
It's a simple thing to say, "I think I'll add some lights to my Cherokee." I never guessed that it would take so much effort or cost so much.
I've added Hella Rallye 4000 cornering beams to the front bumper. My first introduction to the Hella 4000 cornering beam light was in an article about Greg Friedman's Backcountry XJ. He mounted his lights directly to the front bumper, like mine, from Custom 4x4 Fabrication. I have created a custom grill guard, built by Mike at C4x4F, on which to mount the lights.
The cornering beams are fantastic. I expected them to be totally diffused, but they've
got a distinct bright spot... well, not really a spot, but a bright line... very wide.
They're diffuse, too, and throw tons of light everywhere... up, down and sideways. That
same amount of light, focused in a narrow beam, the pencil beam, must be insane. I don't
see how it could be useful, especially to a rock crawler. The trade-off for such high
quality? Price and size. At over 9" in diameter, you're really making a statement,
like it or not. List price is more than $200 each, but they can be had for
"only" about $125 each.
On my trip to Moab EJS, we drove throught the night. There were plenty of times on
desolate I-70 where I could use them (illegally, of course, and only when no other cars
were visible) and, wow, are they bright. They cast light a short distance compared to the
other beam patterns, but still further than my standard high beams. The entire road is
illuminated. Eyestrain is a major factor in road-fatigue, and a broad, full field of
vision makes a huge difference. Too bad I couldn't use the lights more.
Two big thumbs up for the top-of-the-line Hella Rallye 4000 lights... these lights really
are the best of the best. Another two thumbs up for the Cornering Beam light pattern.
I added switches to the Cherokee dashboard...
| Switch cluster light location/wire colors (the image is incorrect - rear colors were switched) |
|
| Front Left - Yellow | Front Right - Purple |
| Rear Left - Brown | Rear Right - Orange |
Routing the split loom conduit... The Rotabroach annular hole cutters made drilling through the sheet metal easy. I drilled two nearly burr-free holes in seconds.
I decided to wire each of the four lights independently. I only needed four fuses, but I bought a larger ten-fuse auxiliary panel, knowing I would want to add more electrical items in the future.
Total cost: $473
2 front Hella Rallye 4000 cornering beams, 100 watts each, including 4 relays - $260
2 rear rectangular tractor flood lights, 50 watts each - $54
Wire, split tube conduit, tape, grommets, crimp ends - $73
Fuse panel, main power cable, project box - $61
4 switches, 20A SPST, water & dust resistant (o-rings) - $25
Information on automotive wiring... wire gauge vs. amperage.
Greg's white Cherokee image from here.
B&W Hella images from here.
The white oval sticker found inside the Hella Rallye 4000 cornering beam
light assembly reads: Hella, 1F8 007 560-11, H1, (stamped in blue) 280.