DO THEY MAKE an LED Bulb / bucket to replace the round 7" that is on my 69 F250?

 

LOOKS to me like running LED bulbs would work great with the old wiring and alternator considering they usually run only 10-25% of the watts of a Reg or Halogen bulb.

 

I have no idea if they make LED bulbs that will fit were Halogen H4 bulbs mount. I have not seen any 7" round LED that will fit our buckets. May be out there, just have not seen them.

 

Lots of 7" round LED's out there, but I think old28 was commenting on "that fit our buckets" specifically? I'd say that needs to be tested, because we may have shallower buckets than some of the era, and some of the new stuff is pretty deep.
But there are lots of them that fit the Early Bronco housings, and those were pretty shallow as well.

Sorry to always be throwing my own website out there, but here are some that at least fit the EB housings: WH Headlight Page
The JW Speaker brand were one of the first out there a few years ago, and were priced accordingly. Even at the current sale price they're not cheap, but they were closer to $800-$900 originally!
As you see though there are others that are less expensive, and even companies like Petersen Lighting, KC recently introduced some, and one other well known company that's been around half of forever but I can't think of the name at the moment. Even GE's getting into the game now I think, but I have not seen them.

I can attest to the fact that at least the Speaker lamps are uber-bright and have a nice flat cutoff. And that was just in the warehouse in the middle of the day!
I have not spent much time behind the wheel of them, and other internet shootouts tend to point out the few weaknesses in some brands. Usually dark areas in the pattern, or too much flare-up in the middle, and stuff like that.
There is a great shootout over on Pirate4x4 and also on JeepForums if you want to get a rundown on different brand's performances. They do not tell you if it'll fit your bucket though, as the modern Jeeps tend to have a deep bucket compared to ours.

Up until recently at least, the cheaper you find them, the less desirable their beam pattern. I have not done much reading on them in the last year or so, but before that all the "cheap Chinese" models were just that.
The "expensive Chinese" models were much better. And with lights this bright, you definitely don't want poor beam spread and flare!

Regarding the use of relays or not, current draw is not the only criteria. More than just most people installing LED headlights found that they needed to upgrade their electrical system as well. It's not the wattage, but the "quality" of the power getting to the lights. More power, and more consistent power are better for LED's too. Apparently theyr'e very sensitive to that kind of thing.
So keep the relays.

Paul

 

1TonBasecamp -- Paul, thanks for the additional information on the 7" LED replacements. As I have my truck setup with relay harness and a few different Halogen bulbs on site I will be working on getting my current lens to work. Maybe LED in the future, not sure at this time.

Not happy with my current Halogen lens and may switch to a set of Hella Vision Plus lens. When looking at the Wildhorse 4x4 web site I saw that they carry a Halogen Ford lens that is 7" round. Have you seen them or tried them, they look real original. As I have said before I need to make sure all the original head light & new relay harness are all good. If voltage at the light plugs is good & grounds are fine I will move on to lens replacement.

 

Hello all,
I am running truck lite brand 7" round LEDs in my 68 Ranger. They are plug and play, fit right in with no issues. They are a great up grade over original sealed beam 7" head lights. I got them on amazon, they are a bit costly but the light out put is worth it to me. I also did the relay wiring up grade, I don't know if that helped the output any because I did them both the same time and have no base line for the LEDs only. A couple of things I must mention though, first off the lenses are a bit on the flat side. They are not domed like the sealed beams I am used to. Also the lenses are made of some type of plastic or lexan, They are however crystal clear and of good quality. The light output is amazing and I will never be going back to traditional type sealed beams again. In fact I use to avoid using my truck at night before the LEDs, now its a pleasure to go for a night ride! Some may not like the type of beam pattern and the physical look of them, but I got my truck to drive and enjoy. Upgrades beyond a stock configuration do not offend me if tastefully done. Besides they can be swapped back to a stock set up in just a few minutes with a screw driver. I hope this helps out some , thanks and good luck, JIM.......

 

Truck Lite! That's the other brand I could not think of before. Thanks Jim-Pro.

Old28, I have not tried the retro lamps personally. And most of the guys at the shop are running H4's with a couple now running the LED's too.
I'm not a big fan of the look of some of them, but others are not such a big change that I could not put up with the great light output. Bottom line is that they are very bright and put a lot of light on the ground.
As always, but more so... Proper aiming is a must. Not only because proper aiming is good for the driving experience, but also a tiny bit too high and they can truly be blinding.

I don't know if the retro-halogens are sporting an improved beam pattern too, or if they're simply clones of the original sixties Ford lamps, but with a halogen setup instead of standard incandescent. They may simply be brighter versions of stock. Which in itself is a good thing. Just not great for me, because I'm all about the beam pattern.
I used to have time to play with this stuff (have an 8-light shootout of my own many years ago) and would like to have more experienced information on them. Maybe at some point, but that could take some time.

Paul

 

Jim-Pro --- Are the Truck Lite 7" round LED # 27270C listed in Amazon the correct units and the same one you used? Sound real nice on there pattern. What size alternator are you running with the LED headlight?

1TonBasecamp -- Thanks Paul for the extra information. I think you hit it right on the ball that the retro lens are original seal beam bases made to take the H4 halogen bulbs. Sure they would work OK but may not have the best beam pattern. I think if I stay with my halogen setup I will go with the Hella Vision Plus lens that have some good reviews on our site and will be very good for the 5-10 times a year I drive at night. As I have read they have a real nice beam pattern with a good cut off line. Tom

 

A little different from what you're thinking. They are halogen lamps, but still sealed-beam just like the originals. No separate replaceable bulb then, just a light like they used to be.
If you break a lens, the light burns out. If they get old and die like any other, you need to replace the entire lamp. Just like the old days.

What halogen refers to is the family of gasses (halides I think?) mixed up inside the sealed unit. In the early days of the new replaceable bulbs (like the H4 for example) they were called "quartz-halogen" for the combination of higher quality quartz glass that could take the higher temperatures generated by the filaments in the halogen gasses.
But a halogen lamp can be either sealed-beam, or replaceable element. In the case of the retro-light, I'm pretty sure it's a sealed-beam.

Paul

 

Hello old28,
Yes the 27270C are indeed the units I have. I believe I have a 60 amp alternator on a stock small block v8 set up (289) out of a 67 mustang. Truck Lite also has a listing for a heated LED unit. I guess the regular non heated ones can get snow or ice build up on them if you run em in the winter. Not a concern for me as I keep my truck off the road in the winter. May be that style would be a better choice for some. If you are considering the Truck Lite LEDs I bet you will be pleased with them. Good luck, JIM.....

 

Thanks for the info "Jim-Pro!

 

1TonBasecamp & Jim-Pro --- Thanks again for the additional information

 

Spent the morning working on the Halogen head lights & testing harness light plug to see what voltage is getting to the halogen bulbs. First I tested all the ground points for the harness relays and plug grounds. All are good.

Then I tested battery voltage with motor off & running at idle. Battery (motor off) -- 12.96 (motor on) -- 14.48
Then I tested voltage at light plug with motor off -- Pass side --12.36 Dri side -- 12.14
Then I tested voltage at light plug with motor running at idle -- Pass side -- 14.42 Dri side -- 14.47

I don't think I could ask for better voltage readings than I got and that should be fine to run a halogen light system.

I did plug one of my original seal beam headlights into one side & one halogen into the other to compare brightness and the halogen was brighter but the pattern was more spread out than the seal beam. From all of this I feel like the Top Gear Motorsports lens that I currently have mounted are not the quality of Hell Vision Plus lens when it comes to beam pattern & brightness.

 

I had a Bronco ll yrs. ago that, I installed the brighter xl blubs an still was happy until, I installed a pair of driving light below my bumper did the trick an filled all those dark spots.
Orich

 

LED is also an option.