Hey, guys.
It's Sara with extremeterrain.com.
And today, we have a review and install of the Axial LED Headlight in Black Diamond,
fitting your '18 to '20 Jeep Wrangler JLs.
These are perfect for the Jeep owner who's looking for a headlight with a more classic
Jeep look, but still wants an LED option.
These 9-inch round LED headlights have an output of 6,000 lumens on the high beam and
3,000 on the low beam, and a lifespan of 50,000 hours, which is sure to last for years to
come.
They feature clear polycarbonate lenses with black aluminum housings, and are DOT and SAE
approved, meaning they're 100% street legal.
They have a waterproof rating of IP67, meaning you will not see any water, moisture, or dirt
in your lens.
So, as far as price goes, these come in at around $325, putting them on the lower end
price-wise when compared to other options.
And for your money, you're getting the function of an LED headlight with classic Jeep style.
I'm giving this install a two out of three wrenches on the difficulty meter.
It does require some minor wiring, but it all can be done in approximately two hours.
So with that said, let's jump into our install.
For this install, you will need an impact gun or a ratchet, 8 and 10-millimeter sockets.
You may want some needle nose pliers, and you will need a pop clip removal tool.
All right, so the first step in our install is to remove the pop clips that are holding
on our grille, so let's grab a pop clip removal tool and get these out.
All right, so the rest of the grille is attached along the bottom and sides with pop clips.
Firmly grab the grille and pull back towards you, and you should be able to remove it.
All right, with our headlights exposed now, we can grab a 10-millimeter socket, if you
can find one, and go ahead and zip the three bolts that are holding on your headlight.
Pull your headlight off, locate the connector at the back, press down on the connector,
and remove it.
All right, so in order to power our running lights, we need to tap into the running lights
on the Jeep, which are in this wheel well area here.
And you wanna remove all of the bolts holding on this portion of the liner.
We have one that's not in there already, so removed that one, we're gonna remove this
one.
There's a pop clip right here.
And I'm also gonna take the 10-mil out that's up top.
You don't have to, but I think that gives us a little bit more room.
So let's start with our 8-millimeter socket.
We're gonna remove the two bolts right at the front.
Next up, we're gonna remove the pop clip that sits right here.
Grab your pop clip removal tool.
I'm gonna go right behind the liner.
I think it's a little easier that way, line up with the pop clip, and it's a Christmas
tree clip, so it should come straight out.
Finally, we're gonna grab the 10-mil that's all the way up the top.
You don't have to take this one out, but I think it helps, so let's grab our 10-mil and
remove it.
Now we can see the connector that we're going for.
We're gonna remove this plug so that we can test out which wire we wanna tap into.
Grab it and twist it counterclockwise and remove it.
There'll be a white plug behind here.
Just press down on the little tab and remove that.
So now that this is free and you can test in the end of this connector which one powers
your running lights.
Now, on our Sahara, it's this one on the end, the white with a brown stripe.
So we can grab our white with a brown stripe on outside here, and plug this back in at
this point.
All right, now, they've included in the kit this vampire clip and this piece of wiring.
Now, if you wanna do a little bit more waterproof of a solution, there's definitely lots of
ways to wire this.
We're gonna use what's included just to show you how to do it.
You could always do a more permanent job later on.
So we're gonna grab the wire that we need to tap into, run it inside our vampire clip.
All right, so once it's in the first open slot here, that's exactly how you want it,
just free-floating on that wire.
Next up, we're gonna grab the yellow wire that's included.
We're gonna slide it in the other side, and finally, we fold this piece of plastic over
so that the metal contacts both of these wires, and clamp it down.
Now, I like to take a needle nose and continue to squeeze to get a good connection, because
if the metal inside the vampire clip does not cut through the wiring, you're not gonna
get a connection.
All right, now we can twist this back in, and we can route the other end of our wire
with this connector through the wheel well liner.
There should be an opening to your headlight.
Then you can grab your liner and put it back in place.
Reinstall your 10-millimeter bolt up top in your wheel well.
Grab your socket and tighten it down.
Reinstall the rest of your 8-millimeter bolts.
Grab your socket and tighten them down.
Plug in the yellow wire that you used to tap into your running lights to the red pigtail
on your headlight.
Make sure you tuck this wire out of the way, probably throw a couple zip ties on there,
to make sure that it doesn't go anywhere.
Now you can connect your factory harness to the back of the headlight.
Line up your headlight on your Jeep.
There should be holes for the plastic posts to help you align it.
Grab your factory hardware, and reinstall it.
Grab your 10-millimeter socket and tighten these down.
All right, now that we have our factory headlight uninstalled from our jeep, we can check it
out side by side with our Axial headlight.
Now, this headlight, the biggest difference here is that it does take a step back from
the styling of the OEM headlight.
Jeep sort of went in a new, more modern direction here, and this one sort of brings back that
traditional Jeep headlight look.
Now, it still features LEDs, so it will give you that upgraded performance over the previous
Jeep's reflector headlight, but it does bring back that more classic Jeep look if that's
what you're going for.
So with that said, let's go ahead and get these installed.
Moving on to our driver side headlight, grab your 10-millimeter again, and we'll zip out
the three bolts holding it in.
Pull out your factory headlight, locate your connector here, press it down, and remove
it.
Now we can repeat that process in your wheel well on the other side, starting by removing
these two 8-millimeter bolts.
Now you can grab your 10-millimeter socket and remove the bolt that's up top.
And then lastly, there is one pop clip right behind here.
I like to go in between the wheel well liner and the fender if you can get back there.
I think it helps to get a little more pressure on the pop clip.
And then go ahead and peel back your wheel well liner.
So I'm gonna tuck it out of the way for now, so we can get to the harness.
All right, so we do not have to remove this plug off the Jeep, because we already know
what wire we're going for, the white with the brown stripe.
Grab your vampire clip, slide it over top of the wire.
Now, keep in mind that you do not have to use a vampire clip, as I said before.
You can splice or hardwire into this.
I'm not a huge fan of vampire clips, but as far as probably the fastest way to get something
wired, they are good for that.
Go ahead and install your yellow wire as well.
I'm gonna close this up by hand first, so that it will keep the yellow wire in its place.
And I usually follow it up with a needle nose, because if you don't get a good clamp with
the metal center of these vampire clips onto the wire, you'll not get a good connection,
and your lights will not work.
And then we're gonna go ahead and run our wire through the wheel well liner.
You should see the opening of the headlight, and run it right through there.
All right, go ahead and close up your wheel well liner.
We're gonna start by reinstalling the pop clip to hold it in place.
Go ahead and reinstall the 10-millimeter bolt on the top of your wheel well.
Grab your socket and tighten it down.
Reinstall the 8-millimeter bolts.
Grab your 8-millimeter socket and tighten them down.
Now you can plug in the line that you just wired onto the red wire for your headlight.
Again, make sure you tuck this away.
It's not hitting anything, I suggest zip ties to secure it.
Go ahead and plug your factory connector in as well.
Line it up on the Jeep.
There'll be two plastic posts that will help you line it up.
Go ahead and reinstall your factory hardware.
Grab your 10-millimeter socket and tighten them down.
Go ahead and install your grille.
Line it up up top, and press all the pop clips in place on the bottom.
Reinstall your pop clips.
All right, so that is gonna do it for the review and install of these Axial headlights.
And remember, for all things Jeep, keep it at extremeterrain.com.