New Headlights?

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coalman

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Any recommendations for better headlights for 1966 Dart??? Thanks
 
slantsixdan is the go to guy on headlights. Check out his two threads below.

Before you whip out the credit card for those "headlights" (unsafe, illegal headlamp-shaped trinkets from China), please read this thread and this thread.

Before you whip out the credit card for those "headlights" (unsafe, illegal headlamp-shaped trinkets from China), please read this thread and this thread.
 
Let's try this...

Yes, listed and linked in post № 11 of this thread.



There are no legitimate 7" round LED headlamps to fit your Dart that have a full round LED ring like that, but if you've got the cash you can have a cool upper-half-of-ring white LED "eyebrow".
 
Got it, thanks a bunch!! Looks like information saturation, thanks again!!!
 
@abodyjoe and I had the same idea! Nighthawks for the price are a good choice.

Yup, @slantsixdan is a wealth of information, for sure!!!!! I love the way he breaks it all down though. You get the why and not just the what.
 
GE H6024NH is a great headlight. They are inexpensive and I suggest them when selling my headlight relay kits.

The kit and lights make a HUGE difference in performance. A lot of relay kits out there suggest pulling power from a horrible spot on our mopars.
 
GE H6024NH is a great headlight. They are inexpensive and I suggest them when selling my headlight relay kits.

The kit and lights make a HUGE difference in performance. A lot of relay kits out there suggest pulling power from a horrible spot on our mopars.

It's also possible he won't need new lights if the ones he has are put on relays.
 
Crackedback is right about relays and he's a good man to see for 'em.

Headlamps dim gradually with usage; new ones are a good idea even if the old ones get brighter with relays. The H6024 Night Hawk is about the only 7" round headlamp that is both cheap and decent. The Hella Vision Plus is less cheap but more headlamp, especially if you use these bulbs in them. Lamp aim is by far the main thing that determines how well you can (or can't) see at night with any given set of lamps, so it is well worth your time, money, and hassle to get the lamps are aimed carefully and correctly with an optical aiming machine per this info; sealed beams are the "mechanical aim" type (use "VOL" specs for the Hella units).

Also think about the other end of the car; see here. Be careful and skeptical about "LED bulbs" sold to replace filament types; almost all of them are useless and unsafe (that includes all of them sold for headlamps). For smaller lamps there are a few good ones; these work well in brake/tail lights and these work well in back-up lights; you will need to install this new flasher (2-prong like original; connect its ground wire conveniently).

Note there is no LED bulb that will work effectively in the front turn signals of a car (such as a '66 Dart and many but not all other A-bodies) that has Fresnel-type optics -- that's the kind where the lens has a central round bullseye with a series of round rings surrounding the bullseye.
 
Crackedback is right about relays and he's a good man to see for 'em.

Headlamps dim gradually with usage; new ones are a good idea even if the old ones get brighter with relays. The H6024 Night Hawk is about the only 7" round headlamp that is both cheap and decent. The Hella Vision Plus is less cheap but more headlamp, especially if you use these bulbs in them. Lamp aim is by far the main thing that determines how well you can (or can't) see at night with any given set of lamps, so it is well worth your time, money, and hassle to get the lamps are aimed carefully and correctly with an optical aiming machine per this info; sealed beams are the "mechanical aim" type (use "VOL" specs for the Hella units).

Also think about the other end of the car; see here. Be careful and skeptical about "LED bulbs" sold to replace filament types; almost all of them are useless and unsafe (that includes all of them sold for headlamps). For smaller lamps there are a few good ones; these work well in brake/tail lights and these work well in back-up lights; you will need to install this new flasher (2-prong like original; connect its ground wire conveniently).

Note there is no LED bulb that will work effectively in the front turn signals of a car (such as a '66 Dart and many but not all other A-bodies) that has Fresnel-type optics -- that's the kind where the lens has a central round bullseye with a series of round rings surrounding the bullseye.
Hey Dan, just a question. I came from a dealership background and always had a headlight aiming tool available to use. Is there a procedure the backyard mechaniccan use to get them close? Thanks in advance.
 
The problem is, it's hard to find 25 feet plus the car's length of true-level ground with a vertical wall at the end of it. But the visual aim method is described here.
 
GE H6024NH is a great headlight. They are inexpensive and I suggest them when selling my headlight relay kits.

The kit and lights make a HUGE difference in performance. A lot of relay kits out there suggest pulling power from a horrible spot on our mopars.
Nighthawks, are available ,still ?... I eventually will need Rob 's " Cracked Backs " kits. I prefer modern lighting, without China B.S....
 
The H6024 Night Hawk is about the only 7" round headlamp that is both cheap and decent.

Dan I took your advice on the Night Hawks and they are a great light for occasional spirited driving at night at a reasonable price. Very satisfied with them, even without the relays, but I have a new forward lighting harness so that may help a little.

Also think about the other end of the car; see here. Be careful and skeptical about "LED bulbs" sold to replace filament types; almost all of them are useless and unsafe (that includes all of them sold for headlamps). For smaller lamps there are a few good ones; these work well in brake/tail lights and these work well in back-up lights; you will need to install this new flasher (2-prong like original; connect its ground wire conveniently).

I recently installed these for my tail/brake lamps and wanted to get your opinion of them? I've had good luck using them on my motorcycles and scooters so I thought I'd give them a shot on the Dart. They seem to be quite a bit brighter than the stock bulbs and everything functions like it should. Thanks for all of the info you dispense on this and other sites!

1157 LED Bulb - Dual Function 27 SMD LED Tower - BAY15D Retrofit | Brake Light Bulb | Rear Exterior LED Bulbs | LED Lights | Super Bright LEDs
 
I recently installed these for my tail/brake lamps and wanted to get your opinion of them?

Unsafe junk, please get 'em out of there pronto—seriously. Either put in spec incandescent bulbs or the LEDs I linked, or the (only) other potentially acceptable one for brake lights is this one (that's the only one that works acceptably if your car has Fresnel bullseye/ring lens optics in the taillights as decribed above for the front turn signals -- I didn't mention it at first because the '66 Dart in question doesn't have Fresnel-type taillights). I say "potentially" acceptable because it's not just a matter of "Yep, they light up and they look nice 'n' bright to me". Any incandescent bulb of the specified type (like an 1157) works acceptably in any lamp designed to take that filament bulb, but LEDs are a basically different kind of light source than the lamp was designed for, so even if it physically fits, even if it looks like it lights up OK, it's case-by-case as to whether it works safely and otherwise acceptably. Please see details here, then you'll need to assess the performance of the LED bulbs in your particular lamps by comparing them side-by-side with the original incandescents as reasonably well described here.

Even more detailed discussion of tail/brake/turn signal light performance here starting at post № 3.
 
I got the JW Evolution and my car is my DD. The cost was worth my safety and others. These LED lights are fantastic.
 
Leaving aside the "LED kits" and "HID kits" that turn replaceable-bulb halogen headlamps into safety hazards, there's a number of well-engineered 7" round LED headlamps on the market, that give considerably better performance than you can get from halogens. The fun part: all the good ones are made in America. The 701C from Peterson (in Peterson or Sylvania Zevo packaging -- same lamp) is good. The Truck-Lite unit is good. The king daddy of them all is the JW Speaker 8700 Evolution 2 in chrome or black.

Don't pick any of these if you do a lot of wintertime driving with heavy snow and slush; the LED headlamp lenses run cold so snow and ice can build up on them instead of melting off like they do from a warm halogen lens. There is a heated-lens version of the Truck-Lite lamp, and there'll soon be a heated-lens version of the JW Speaker lamp, as well.

(There's also a mountain of off-brand garbage from China, all hyped and promoted as equal or better than the legitimate lamps. Don't be fooled.)
 
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Unsafe junk, please get 'em out of there pronto—seriously. Either put in spec incandescent bulbs or the LEDs I linked, or the (only) other potentially acceptable one for brake lights is this one (that's the only one that works acceptably if your car has Fresnel bullseye/ring lens optics in the taillights as decribed above for the front turn signals -- I didn't mention it at first because the '66 Dart in question doesn't have Fresnel-type taillights). I say "potentially" acceptable because it's not just a matter of "Yep, they light up and they look nice 'n' bright to me". Any incandescent bulb of the specified type (like an 1157) works acceptably in any lamp designed to take that filament bulb, but LEDs are a basically different kind of light source than the lamp was designed for, so even if it physically fits, even if it looks like it lights up OK, it's case-by-case as to whether it works safely and otherwise acceptably. Please see details here, then you'll need to assess the performance of the LED bulbs in your particular lamps by comparing them side-by-side with the original incandescents as reasonably well described here.

Even more detailed discussion of tail/brake/turn signal light performance here starting at post № 3.

I agree! I ran the bulbs from Ebay that you are replying about and almost got rear-ended because somehow they switched functions and brake became dimmer instead of brighter! BAD NEWS for sure. I put 1157 back in and now my lights function properly. They strange thing is the LED's DID work for a while.
 
The car is parked and I'll be replacing the tail light harness this winter. I'll pull the bulbs and use the ones that Dan reccomended above. Thanks everyone!
 
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