LED Headlights?
Laughing Gas
Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 1,159
Likes: 33
From: Utah
I tried lifetime led bulbs in 04 housings and the pattern was poor. I switched over to 100W hella bulbs and a relay harness and they're better overall. A more yellow light for sure, but they are far better focused. I then run a 32" curved led light bar on relay to the high beams and this works well.
Banned
Joined: Dec 2018
Posts: 3,541
Likes: 458
You've got way more options for better headlamps if you get rid of the composite housings and go back to the "XL" style with the 200mm glass lenses. Trucklite makes a bolt-in LED lamp that works pretty good for the price. JW Speaker makes a pricey but super cool LED/projector lamp. (You've probably seen these on modified Jeeps) You can also install the Hella or Cibie E-code lamps if you want to stick with halogen. Personally I think high performance halogen is the best bang for the buck and I also like the warmer color of halogen. The JW Speaker LED's are pretty sweet though if you have some serious money to blow. They put out a very sharp beam pattern almost like Xenon HID projectors and have neat color effects at the cutoffs also.
Banned
Joined: Dec 2018
Posts: 3,541
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You can do what this guy did and convert to sealed beam harware and sealed beam LEDs:
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/s...1543015&page=3
I ran into issues looking for the sealed beam hardware so I put them into my aero headlight housings.
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/s...1543015&page=3
I ran into issues looking for the sealed beam hardware so I put them into my aero headlight housings.
Banned
Joined: Dec 2018
Posts: 3,541
Likes: 458
Remember, federal law limits the color tempatures to 4500k. That said here is a good comparison of bulbs.
https://betterautomotivelighting.com...oot-ones-best/
https://betterautomotivelighting.com...oot-ones-best/
Lead Driver
Joined: Apr 2011
Posts: 8,259
Likes: 346
From: Northern California
Most of those are a total waste of money and really not much better performing than a stock replacement halogen bulb. Against a high performance halogen bulb they're probably worse. You cant assume that just because it is an LED light source it is automatically better. The brightest LED light source in a housing with bad optics will still be a crappy headlight whereas a nothing-special OEM replacement halogen bulb in a housing with optics that are on point will be a very good headlamp.
Senior User
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 164
Likes: 0
From: Everett, Wa
LED bulbs suck because the patterns suck they blind everyone else.
LED headlights in housings designed for it are awesome, they are properly directed and have a cutoff to prevent blinding everyone.
Junior User
Joined: Apr 2018
Posts: 80
Likes: 0
From: Los Angeles county
I converted my 2001 headlights to the 05" style harley lights and I used Hikari eye of megatron h13 LED's in them. I was able to aim mine good enough so there is no light scatter and I have never been flashed in 8 months of driving. I drive about 30 miles mixed city/fwy 4 days a week at night in a very busy part of SoCal. Now my beam pattern isnt the greatest as far as how it looks against the wall ATM (I have to cut a little more out of my header panel to get it right) but its tons better output on the ground then my old 01' headlights were and I don't blind anyone. I have also heard that using them in a true projector housing like a Morimoto Mini gatling H1 projector gives them even better light output and pattern. I will be trying that out when funds allow me too.
Hotshot
Joined: Jan 2011
Posts: 18,849
Likes: 179
From: Puget Sound
Remember, federal law limits the color tempatures to 4500k. That said here is a good comparison of bulbs.
https://betterautomotivelighting.com...oot-ones-best/
https://betterautomotivelighting.com...oot-ones-best/
- We need to pay attention to the "cut" - this is where as you're hitting the car in front of you with your lights at a stoplight - you see bright light on the back, but not up into the back window. The difference between lit and not will be quite stark.
- A properly-engineered light won't just block the light to make a cut, it has to take all the lumens the light produces and aim everything into the areas you want lit. I have spec'd out many LED tube lights that have half the lumens of the florescent bulbs they are replacing, but they are still brighter - partly because all the light is aimed in one direction, as opposed to aiming everywhere and being reflected down.
- I said partly because of the aim. Floros are the worst light on the planet for reasons that are not worth going into - but the spectrum of light is the other key reason LEDs rock the light, even when the lumen specs are lower than the lights they replace. Incandescent bulbs "burn up" a lot of their lumens in the infrared range - making a lot of heat instead of light with your watts. Turning all the watts into light is the holy grail of lighting, and LEDs excel here. That's exactly why the whole world wants to LED up their lights, they use almost no power to make a lot of good light.
- I just touched on it. A lot of the people here suggesting LED headlights live in Florida, Oklahoma, western Oregon, and other places not so close to Winterfell. This winter has demonstrated the need to heat your headlights - and LEDs don't do that. Of the 55 watts that most halogen bulbs are rated, 30 of that is lost to heat. I've seen soldering irons melt metal at 30 watts, to put things in perspective. I really need the snow to melt off my headlights as I drive, or install mini-wipers that will jam up in freezing fog or rain.
- In order to get more lumens, LED purveyors frequently jack up the color temperature, and we all know how we feel about staring at hyper-blue headlights.
- Barring raising the lumens with color temperature, other methods exist - but they are generally very expensive and/or bulky.
- Chasing the lumens can also lead you down the troll cave - to excessive heat. While a thin strip of specialized wire inside a non-flammable gas in a light bulb does OK with a lot of heat - not so much with electronic devices. You might be thinking "But Tugly, you said we need heated headlamps in the North." Yeah, well... knock yourself out. You'll be replacing the lamp far more frequently, and I'll bet it's not cheap.
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Brett Foote
Fleet Mechanic
Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 1,753
Likes: 34
From: Los Angeles, Ca.
I've not seen any drop-in HID or LED bulbs that actually work well. Some people love them, but when I see them I see the huge flaws. Different strokes for different folks and some of the headlight stuff really does depend on the eye of the beholder. I've put Sylvania Ultras in a few vehicles and they're great. They run pretty hot and have a shorter life expectancy. I do little night driving so I don't care. Cheap LED headlights don't work at all for me, the good ones are great, but none of the drop-in replacements I've seen are worth a crap. They give the illusion of more light, but don't actually cast that light as well as the proper halogen bulb does.
Hotshot
Joined: Jan 2011
Posts: 18,849
Likes: 179
From: Puget Sound
I've not seen any drop-in HID or LED bulbs that actually work well. Some people love them, but when I see them I see the huge flaws. Different strokes for different folks and some of the headlight stuff really does depend on the eye of the beholder. I've put Sylvania Ultras in a few vehicles and they're great. They run pretty hot and have a shorter life expectancy. I do little night driving so I don't care. Cheap LED headlights don't work at all for me, the good ones are great, but none of the drop-in replacements I've seen are worth a crap. They give the illusion of more light, but don't actually cast that light as well as the proper halogen bulb does.
Hotshot
Joined: Jan 2011
Posts: 18,849
Likes: 179
From: Puget Sound
Without buying one to try out, it's click and read on the more technical websites. When I want to learn something about a product - Amazon and ebay are frequently the worst sources. The picture above shows perfect cutoff on the two LED lights, but I didn't read about the housing.
Here's a DIY fix for reference: https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/...rd-mod.395222/
Here's a DIY fix for reference: https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/...rd-mod.395222/
Senior User
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 164
Likes: 0
From: Everett, Wa
Here's a DIY fix for reference: https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/...rd-mod.395222/
They fixed one issue but they're still stuck with a reflector that doesn't control the beam.
FTE Chapter Leader
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 13,127
Likes: 4,726
From: Henderson, NV
Originally Posted by AIbandit
Pretty slick but even their consensus is the reach sucks.
They fixed one issue but they're still stuck with a reflector that doesn't control the beam.
They fixed one issue but they're still stuck with a reflector that doesn't control the beam.
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