SS Lancer
Well-Known Member
FYI !!!!!
New lighting technology
- Thread starter SS Lancer
- Start date
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SS Lancer
Well-Known Member
Good price !!!
@crackedback
How would these jive with your kit?
How would these jive with your kit?
That's for the 5.75". For our 7" application they are $200. Sold separately so it's $400.
And someone mentioned the area behind the headlight bucket would need to be cut to allow the back of these bulbs to sit in place.
That rings a bell. Ah yes. Sounded promising.
I will say I hate the marketing crap. Maybe it is 2 times brighter but is it on the road or scattered to the sides? Or maybe they're comparing with H6024s with 35 watt lowbeams.
Or maybe its two times brighter than some plastic junk, but not when compared with a good H4 bulb in a good lens housing.
I will say I hate the marketing crap. Maybe it is 2 times brighter but is it on the road or scattered to the sides? Or maybe they're comparing with H6024s with 35 watt lowbeams.
Or maybe its two times brighter than some plastic junk, but not when compared with a good H4 bulb in a good lens housing.
MopaR&D
Nerd Member
Another option is Dapper Lighting, I want to get these for my Duster: LED SEVEN
Expensive but wayyy more light output than any halogen and the current draw is also so much lower you don't need to worry about upgrading the factory headlight wiring, they do have less-expensive options as well. I'm sure more than a few here will complain about how they look but I like them and the reviews are great. The compare pics show a pretty drastic difference in light output and 'coverage'.
Expensive but wayyy more light output than any halogen and the current draw is also so much lower you don't need to worry about upgrading the factory headlight wiring, they do have less-expensive options as well. I'm sure more than a few here will complain about how they look but I like them and the reviews are great. The compare pics show a pretty drastic difference in light output and 'coverage'.
Ask for the photometry isographs. That would give a better idea of the effectiveness than the photos.
'Virgil' on candlepower forum or 'slantsixdan' here might be willing to help review and interpret them.
Dan has a little introduction here, and some examples.
The How and Why of Beam Isoplots
'Virgil' on candlepower forum or 'slantsixdan' here might be willing to help review and interpret them.
Dan has a little introduction here, and some examples.
The How and Why of Beam Isoplots
slantsixdan
=..=
…if you want to piss away major money on headlite-shaped trinkets from the People's Republic of Ha Ha Very Funny, yes. If you want legitimate headlamps, no.
This is what I mean when I say there's a mountain of garbage on the market. Context clues help winnow it down; legitimate suppliers usually don't do that Chinese thing of applying random-azz words grabbed out the English dictionary to themselves (such as "Dapper").
Oh, I'm sure they are. Problem is, what we feel like we're seeing isn't what we're actually seeing. The human visual system is a lousy judge of how well it's doing. "I know what I can see!" seems reasonable, but it doesn't square up with reality because we humans are just not well equipped to accurately evaluate how well or poorly we can see (or how well a headlamp works). Our subjective impressions tend to be very far out of line with objective, real measurements of how well we can (or can't) see. The primary factor that drives subjective ratings of headlamps is foreground light, that is light on the road surface close to the vehicle…which is almost irrelevant; it barely even makes it onto the _bottom_ of the list of factors that determine a headlamp's actual safety performance. A moderate amount of foreground light is necessary so we can use our peripheral vision to keep track of the lane lines and keep our focus up the road where it should be, but too much foreground light works against us: it draws our gaze downward even if we consciously try to keep looking far ahead, and the bright pool of light causes our pupils to constrict, which destroys our distance vision. All of this while creating the feeling that we've got "good" lights. It's not because we're lying to ourselves or fooling ourselves or anything like that, it's because our visual systems just don't work the way it feels like they work.
The upshot of this is that most internet "reviews" of a headlamp are useless at best, and that would still be the case even if we ignore the bogus criteria people often use when "reviewing" headlamps: sharp cutoff on low beam! (also very low on the list of factors that determine a headlamp's actual safety performance, but it looks nifty on the garage wall), "H4" (there are at least as many bad H4 headlamps as good ones), "E-code" (irrelevant; both the US and the UN/"E-code" headlamp standards have lots of room for good and bad headlamps) "High color temperature" (irrelevant at best)…and so on.
Photographs are useless here, unless the purpose is to make a cash register ring. They're misleading even if the photographer has the best of intent. That's because photographic imaging systems (pixels or film) work in a fundamentally different way than human eyes, and have a much narrower dynamic range. Even a photographer who tries very hard to keep all the camera settings identical when photographing different beams on a road or up against a wall cannot present more than broadly general information about the beams, and then only by comparison (a sharper cutoff vs. a fuzzier one, for example, or a wider beam vs. a narrower one).
Fortunately there are enough good, legitimate LED headlamps to fit our cars that we don't have to piss away major money on pretend-headlites.
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Plain old incandescent bulbs forever. Work just fine. Just like 4-wheel drum brakes and countless other things in life. Rabbit ears for tv antennas, rotary phones......
And cheap beer that says it all!
And cheap beer that says it all!
Now I'll be watching out for Edelbrock to slap their sticker on these headlights.
MopaR&D
Nerd Member
Ok, what are the good, legitimate LED headlamp brands then? That don't look super weird like Truck-Lites, those are ugly for a classic car...
Not saying I still want them but from watching the demo videos it looks like an American company, the About Us page says they custom-assemble every headlight in the USA...
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furyus2
Well-Known Member
I have heard that late model Jeeps have 7 inchers that will fit with some minor trimming.
Anyone have any first hand experience?
Anyone have any first hand experience?
I've noticed the Jeep owners are often looking for something else!
The Jeep JK Wrangler headlamps will fit, for example, but they aren't worth messing with if you want to see well at night.
You can have replaceable-bulb halogens (the best ones are made in Japan by Koito);
you can have BiXenons (Hella);
you can have LEDs (JW Speaker; Truck-Lite, Peterson).
The best LEDs are the J.W. Speaker units in chrome or black. Less-expensive and still quite good are the Truck-Lite and Peterson units. The fun part: all these LED headlamps I've linked are made in America!
For 7" round I personally have been using Hella, US Standard SAE lamps (now called Vision Plus), but upgraded with Narva Rangepower bulbs bought from Dan years ago. I bought those lamps because I was unhappy with Hella's DOT Motorcycle lamps. The isoplot Dan shared helps explain why, although I didn't see those until many years later.
All in all probably still a decent option for the price keeping in mind bulb choices have changed.
Driving in the woods with winding roads a lot, I decided it was worth hunting down a set of Z-beams. They are no longer made so don't bother looking unless you thats really what you want.
I'm not Dan but this is snipped from what he posted on Monday.
The Jeep JK Wrangler headlamps will fit, for example, but they aren't worth messing with if you want to see well at night.
You can have replaceable-bulb halogens (the best ones are made in Japan by Koito);
you can have BiXenons (Hella);
you can have LEDs (JW Speaker; Truck-Lite, Peterson).
The best LEDs are the J.W. Speaker units in chrome or black. Less-expensive and still quite good are the Truck-Lite and Peterson units. The fun part: all these LED headlamps I've linked are made in America!
For 7" round I personally have been using Hella, US Standard SAE lamps (now called Vision Plus), but upgraded with Narva Rangepower bulbs bought from Dan years ago. I bought those lamps because I was unhappy with Hella's DOT Motorcycle lamps. The isoplot Dan shared helps explain why, although I didn't see those until many years later.
All in all probably still a decent option for the price keeping in mind bulb choices have changed.
Driving in the woods with winding roads a lot, I decided it was worth hunting down a set of Z-beams. They are no longer made so don't bother looking unless you thats really what you want.
I like nice and bright headlights......
Unless you are behind me...
Or its raining....
Or if you are headed towards me....
Or if I am trying to judge how far away you are from me when taking a right on red.....
wait.....maybe I dont....
great if you are the only one on the road though!!!
BTW they have this other kind of beam when you need em......highbeams.
Unless you are behind me...
Or its raining....
Or if you are headed towards me....
Or if I am trying to judge how far away you are from me when taking a right on red.....
wait.....maybe I dont....
great if you are the only one on the road though!!!
BTW they have this other kind of beam when you need em......highbeams.
Dfr360cuda
Diagnosis... Plum Crazy.
My truck, front grill guard, I have two LED light bars. The difference between high beams and light bars is unreal. I also have two 48 watt LED lights on my rear bumper. Comes in handy for tailgaters.
BTW... I am not endorsing using Chinese products. There is nobody that hates Chinese crap more than me.
BTW... I am not endorsing using Chinese products. There is nobody that hates Chinese crap more than me.
slantsixdan
=..=
See my earlier post in this thread with names and links. Don't like how they look? OK, that's fair enough, but keep in mind headlamps are life-safety equipment first, fashion accessories second.
Sure, it's an American company…importing Chinese trinkets by the FCL and slapping on that "Dapper" name.
Uh-huh. And the AlphaRex people say the same thing. It's a simple yet powerful marketing technique known as lying.
MopaR&D
Nerd Member
Well dang, guess I won't be upgrading my headlights anytime soon since I hardly drive my Duster at night any more and I'm not eager to dump $400 on headlights or redo the undersized old factory wiring. I'll keep those in mind though... J.W., Truck-Lites, Peterson, Hella, Koibo.
slantsixdan
=..=
Might be able to do a little better than that in cost.
The Hella 'Vision plus' (002 395 301) lamps are about $50 each. $100
The H4/HB2 bulbs are included but not considered particularly good, so add another 30 for a pair. (see Dan's post here for specific bulbs)
IIRC Crackedback's relay harness or a Dan Stern's kits are in the 100- 150 range. If you do it all from scratch less, but more time and work.
Total will be $ 250-300.
So that's not a big reduction in cost, but something. Its a shame there is nothing decent in sealed beam market. But we see this in lots of the replacement parts - not just lights.
Maybe if you are motivated, just do a relay harness. That will help make the most of whatever lamp you have up front, and keep that load off the main feeds.
Be careful about the 'vision plus' 7" lamps. I just looked at Summit and saw they listed several under that name that do not have the aiming tits, and going to Hella's website confirms they are a different lamp.
MopaR&D
Nerd Member
Might be able to do a little better than that in cost.
The Hella 'Vision plus' (002 395 301) lamps are about $50 each. $100
The H4/HB2 bulbs are included but not considered particularly good, so add another 30 for a pair. (see Dan's post here for specific bulbs)
IIRC Crackedback's relay harness or a Dan Stern's kits are in the 100- 150 range. If you do it all from scratch less, but more time and work.
Total will be $ 250-300.
So that's not a big reduction in cost, but something. Its a shame there is nothing decent in sealed beam market. But we see this in lots of the replacement parts - not just lights.
Maybe if you are motivated, just do a relay harness. That will help make the most of whatever lamp you have up front, and keep that load off the main feeds.
Be careful about the 'vision plus' 7" lamps. I just looked at Summit and saw they listed several under that name that do not have the aiming tits, and going to Hella's website confirms they are a different lamp.
Yeah thinking about it more I probably should upgrade the harness with relays regardless of whether I upgrade to LEDs or stick with halogens or HIDs. I did sort-of redo some of the wiring in the charging circuit (added a relay between the ignition switch and voltage regulator as I had an overcharging issue) but need to get around to doing the rest, especially from the alternator itself.
71DodgeDemon340
Well-Known Member
if you want bright lights it's as simple as GE Night Hawks and a relay kit such as Mr Crackedback's .
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