RRC Lighting upgrades

Hi all,

I got caught in unexpected fog last night, which highlighted the lacking nature of my original factory spec lights. I'm aware of some of the upgrades out there and without going down the route of an LED upgrade, what are the most cost effective upgrades out there in 2019 for a Range Rover Classic?

In truth, I don't use my RRC much at night and ideally, I'd like to just upgrade the headlight and fog light bulbs without having to mess with the wiring, if at all possible.

Is that realistic, or will I have to fit relays in order to avoid cooking the wiring?

Any suggestions would be most welcome.

Seasons greetings to everyone.

Marsh

Brighter lights are no help in fog. Philips Night Breaker headlight bulbs will give you a lot more light without stressing the electrics or being illegal.

On car SOS they put some of these in to improve a classic, how much better they are i dont know might be worth reading up on them.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Land-Rov...282931&hash=item239189a141:g:nDYAAOSwxOFaf03p

thanks gents - it looks like the Philips version of the H4 Night Breaker has been replaced by the Osram version. The ratings for these appear good, so i may go doen this route. In terms of the fog lamp bulbs, is there an upgraded bulb for these too that won't cook the electrics?

Sorry for all the questions - I'm new to this!

Marsh

Having had the 'melting dipswitch' issue on mine - 1987 RRC fitted with this type of dipswitch which is known for the problem http://www.mgb-stuff.org.uk/dip.htm (all but the first pic) - I converted it so the dipswitch only switches relays & power is now via fused circuits.
Improvement in light output on dip & main.
I followed the instructions on the same MGB website but I believe the 'boomslang' kit now does the same job.
http://www.mgb-stuff.org.uk/lights10.htm

H4YVB said:

thanks gents - it looks like the Philips version of the H4 Night Breaker has been replaced by the Osram version. The ratings for these appear good, so i may go doen this route. In terms of the fog lamp bulbs, is there an upgraded bulb for these too that won't cook the electrics?

Sorry for all the questions - I'm new to this!

Marsh

Click to expand...

Hi. I've replaced my RRC main beam lights with these from Euro Car Parts- 'Ultra Ultra H4 5000K Halogen' - They are around £8 for the pair but they always have discount codes. Amazing visibility and a straight swap! Afraid I can't help ref the foglights.

One point worth mentioning here, the RRC spoiler lamps are not intended as fog but driving lamps, hence the factory wiring them to complement the main beams.

Good point. They are indeed. They come on with main beam & go off when dip is selected - providing of course that they are switched on!

Off topic, but the rear fog on my 1987 goes off when main beam is selected & back on when dip beam is selected.
When I bought the car in 1994 I thought it was a fault but a work colleague said that the company ones they'd had did the same.
They too thought it was a fault & queried it with LR.
Apparently the reason they were given was that if visibility was good enough for main beam the fog light didn't need to be on.

Ratae said:

Good point. They are indeed. They come on with main beam & go off when dip is selected - providing of course that they are switched on!

Off topic, but the rear fog on my 1987 goes off when main beam is selected & back on when dip beam is selected.
When I bought the car in 1994 I thought it was a fault but a work colleague said that the company ones they'd had did the same.
They too thought it was a fault & queried it with LR.
Apparently the reason they were given was that if visibility was good enough for main beam the fog light didn't need to be on.

Click to expand...

Your exactly right with the operation of the rear fog, should only come on with dip.

As far as I'm concerned there are 3 steps to get better lighting from the headlights.
1/. Easy and cheapest, as others have said fit Osram nightbreaker bulbs.
2/. For a bit more work and expense combine them with Wipac cristal lamps.
3/. Bit more expense and effort fit a Boomslang loom, this protects your switch as well.
I made up my own loom with bits from Vehicle Wireing Products.

Ratae said:

Good point. They are indeed. They come on with main beam & go off when dip is selected - providing of course that they are switched on!

Off topic, but the rear fog on my 1987 goes off when main beam is selected & back on when dip beam is selected.
When I bought the car in 1994 I thought it was a fault but a work colleague said that the company ones they'd had did the same.
They too thought it was a fault & queried it with LR.
Apparently the reason they were given was that if visibility was good enough for main beam the fog light didn't need to be on.

Click to expand...

You live & learn, in my 19 years of RRC (4 off) ownership I never knew that

Yep been down the routes listed above, first upgraded to crystal reflectors then later added the night breaker bulbs.
Made a big improvement but still felt they were lacking, often drive up the A9 in Scotland with a caravan in the twilight/dark and with the upgrades to the A9 the opposite lanes are now level so main beam is often out of the question, fitted white light LEDs that were a straight replacement in November, again a little more light than the previous set up and so far no issues with strains on the electrical system, replaced the driving lamps with a similar but not OE set of lamps and that helped as well, the glass on the old ones was past its best!

Seems the Prince of darkness was quite clever