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740 sealed beam headlight upgrade options

M

Magnanimous

Member
Joined
Dec 21, 2015
I've got an '87 740 wagon with the old sealed beams, and the light output is... anemic at best, dangerously low at worse. Even the high beams seem significantly less bright than the low beams on a more modern car.

I find myself driving on unlit two lane backroads at night a LOT so I really need the extra light.

Are there any decent drop-in upgrade options that won't break the bank?
 
Autopal e codes. You can buy a low beam pair for around 50-60. Buy the high beam pair when your budget allows. Look on eBay for 4x6 e codes. There's only seller who sells the autopal brand e codes. I would get the DS harness last as it's the most costly .
 
white855T said:
Autopal e codes. You can buy a low beam pair for around 50-60. Buy the high beam pair when your budget allows. Look on eBay for 4x6 e codes. There's only seller who sells the autopal brand e codes. I would get the DS harness last as it's the most costly .
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Or beg in wanted like a true broke-assed turbobricker.
 
http://a.co/emdsIbK

hella_700ff_driving_lamp_kit.jpg
 
I like the Autopals, they work nice on my C10 and I have a set for my Z28 as well.

I've been lazy about the 740 and think the sealed beam output is enough for me.
 
white855T said:
Autopal e codes. You can buy a low beam pair for around 50-60. Buy the high beam pair when your budget allows. Look on eBay for 4x6 e codes. There's only seller who sells the autopal brand e codes. I would get the DS harness last as it's the most costly .
Click to expand...

Don't go for this Chinesium crap. Do the harness upgrade, because early 740 headlight wiring sucks and will cause problems, pretty much whenever it feels like it. Then, get a good set of Cibie E-codes. Daniel Stern can help with that part.

Alternatively, JW Speaker LEDs won't require upgrading the wiring harness, and will give you modern car lighting, but they're expensive.
 
darksider415 said:
Do the harness upgrade, because early 740 headlight wiring sucks and will cause problems, pretty much whenever it feels like it...
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Is that where you install a secondary relay near the battery and run power more directly to the lights?



I wouldn't mind doing an LED projector upgrade, but $250 a pop for the JW ones is... a bit steep.

I've seen a few on amazon that are reasonably decently rated. Has anyone had any experience with something like this?

https://www.amazon.com/GENSSI-Projector-Headlight-Sealed-Replacement/dp/B019EH29KS
 
Ursan said:
Get good ones. Do it right or not at all.

http://a.co/4jhscV1
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x2 or x3 for the LED light kits.

I have the Truck Lites on my C10 and Jeep Cherokee and LOVE them!!! Totally worth the cost.

The GOOD quality LEDs laugh at H1 and H4 setups. Really, not even close.

If you need to purchase in steps, get the Low beams and high beams when money allows. 95% of the time I am on Low due to traffic anyway.
 
Indeed, do the relay(s) up front, bring 14.3V directly to the lamps of your choice (the only knock I've heard on the AutoPal clones is the glass is thinner and more chip prone than Hella) and you will be amazed at the improvement. Recycle the DOT lamps and go E-code for light where you need it, not 50% shining up at overhead signs (the genius of DOT).
 
darksider415 said:
Don't go for this Chinesium crap. Do the harness upgrade, because early 740 headlight wiring sucks
Click to expand...

Autopal e codes are not made in China. I've owned plenty of 740s with quad squares and have never had any issues with headlight wiring. Your thinking of 240s which do consistently have issues with headlight wiring.

You also assume that the op has an unlimited budget. The autopal e codes will work for most who want an improvement without breaking the bank.
 
white855T said:
Autopal e codes are not made in China. I've owned plenty of 740s with quad squares and have never had any issues with headlight wiring. Your thinking of 240s which do consistently have issues with headlight wiring.

You also assume that the op has an unlimited budget. The autopal e codes will work for most who want an improvement without breaking the bank.
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India, China, they're both terrible.

I've had five quad square 740s, and all of them had terrible headlight wiring... Headlight relays, on the other hand, are something the 740 crowd doesn't have as a worry, unlike the 240s... Anyway, I've run Hella, Autopal and Cibie H4 housings between those five quad square 740s and the three quad square 240s I've had, and the Cibies are really the only ones worth spending good money on. On my stock 740s, I was getting ~11.8v at the lights instead of 14.4 with a relay harness.

If it were /my/ car, and I were messing with a safety-related system, which lighting is... Here's my ranked list of options.

1 - JW Speaker LED - By far, the best. No headlight wiring upgrade needed.
2 - Truck-Lite LED - Still impressively good. See above about not needing to upgrade the headlight wiring.
3 - Bosch DE outers/Cibie or Bosch H1 inners with Philips XtremeVision H1s and a wiring upgrade - Rare, hard to find, but modern halogen projector.
4 - OEM Volvo E-Codes with good Philips bulbs and a wiring upgrade.
5 - Cibie or Bosch H4 outer/Cibie or Bosch H1 inner. Philips XtremeVision or Osram Nightbreaker in all four, with a good wiring upgrade.
6 - Hella H4/H1 quad combo with the aforementioned Philips bulbs and a wiring upgrade.
7 - Sylvania XtraVision sealed beams with a wiring upgrade.
8 - Crush your 740 and get a 240, upgrade the 240 with proper lighting.
9 - Autopal "E-codes"
 
Will the truck-lite low beams work without any modifications to the existing wiring harness? Or will I need to get a new connector?

Also, I notice that they seem to be low beam only, will the truck-lite low beams shut off when the high beams are turned on?

Since beam pattern doesn't matter as much for high beams, would there be any disadvantages to going with a cheaper route for the high beam lamps?
 
Magnanimous said:
Will the truck-lite low beams work without any modifications to the existing wiring harness? Or will I need to get a new connector?

Also, I notice that they seem to be low beam only, will the truck-lite low beams shut off when the high beams are turned on?
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They'll just plug and play, IIRC, and they'll stay on with the highs.

One of the sealed beams requires two pins to be swapped on the car side, but I can't remember if it's the square or round ones that need the pin swap. Same physical plug, though.
 
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