Thanks Dan
LED 7" Round Headlamp Update
- Thread starter slantsixdan
- Start date
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Unconventional
Well-Known Member
Mine weren't very offensive in Lo beam, put those suckers on Hi and I could see into the next county
Very effective in Fog situations on Lo. They came out of my race buggy before I sold it. When we built the car the owner, before I bought it from him had the Cibies and 2 KC Daylighters on the racer, KCs were pencil beams. Racing class was "stock" 1200cc VW power, alternators were allowed. Long power line road in a desert race owner really wanted to be able to see. Cibies on Hi and he flipped the switch on those KCs. That 1200 almost died from the amp draw
B-i-n-g-o
Well-Known Member
If it was California, it's because they cause cancer.
bcschief
Well-Known Member
Everything causes cancer in California.
I agree with @RustyRatRod
LED's by their very nature can't look like sealed beam lamps and actually work (that is put light where it needs to be, and not where it shouldn't be).
You could use a relay harness with an old sealed beam lamp that's in good condition. That would be an improvement. By old I mean made in the 60s or 70s but still fairly new condition.
You can get the look, or at least reasonably close, using a good H4 type bulb in a good H4 type lamp.
The cheapest option that is still half decent (IMO) is the Hella "Vision-plus" 7" automotive headlamps. Buy a better bulb than they supply with the lamp and make or buy a relay harness.
This ^^^ is what the Hella's look like after a lot of use. I don't recall them being marketed under "vision-plus" but they are the same. I have some z-beams to replace them, but saving them until I am doing more night driving again.
If you want better H4's, then ask Dan what is currently available.
I think this was his most recent post on the subject.
plug & play head lights
I have a 73 duster but would like a brighter head light that is in the car now. Is there a head lamp out there that I can put in place of the stock one's maybe led that can just plug into the connection's in the car. Life's been busy the car has been ready for 4 year's ready to go. IT'S NOW...
www.forabodiesonly.com
All of these draw more current than most of our A-body headlight wiring was intended for. Installing the relay harness will not only produce more light, but take a load off the firewall connectors, and protect the original headlight wiring.
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If I remember my basic math right the Phillips bulbs Dan is referencing are pulling about 1.16 amps per bulb ~ 2.5 total. A Sylvania H6024 draws ~5 amps per bulb ~10 total. That is significant in our 50+ year old wiring harnesses.
That's why I used the upgraded relay harness. It takes all the load off the headlight switch. Puts it on the low amp side of the relay and makes it a trigger. The relay carries all the load. Before, the headlight switch got HOT. Now it's not even warm to the touch, plus, the headlights get full alternator voltage. It's a good upgrade, whether you run LED lights or not.
Looks like Bangin Headlights are coming out with 5-3/4 LED headlights.
www.banginheadlights.com
Bangin' Headlights - LED Headlights For Classic Cars & Trucks
LED headlights designed for classic cars and trucks. Real glass headlights for vintage looks combined with the latest in LED projector technology for sharp and bright light. Be safer and make driving at night fun again.
www.banginheadlights.com
jos51700
Green Bearing thread connoisseur
Dan, how about running the Truck-lite spotlamp LED on the driver's side and the Phillips on the Passenger side, for a blend of both? Does that work, or is it stupid?
While I'm posting, got any recommendations for ultra-bright probably not-legal spotlamp LED's that will fit in the foglamp holes in my '96 Neon? I need some distance vision in that car, BAD.
While I'm posting, got any recommendations for ultra-bright probably not-legal spotlamp LED's that will fit in the foglamp holes in my '96 Neon? I need some distance vision in that car, BAD.
Lets make this a more accurate.
LED Headlamps draw less current than traditional lamps. They do not take bulbs. The whole lamp has to be purchased. Just like when buying sealed beam headlamps.
For a sealed beam, halogen sealed beam or an H4 type lamp, current draw depended on the specifics. They are designed to work at approximately 14 volts. The voltage available drives the current draw and brightness. Other than the out of production Nighthawks, H6024 low beams are rated as 35 Watts. So they draw less current than either 6012 or 6014 lamps on low beam while supposedly meeting the same lighting standard. Most H4 bulbs draw a little more current than the sealed beams depending on which one we are comparing to.
Power = Voltage x Current
Four H4 bulbs compared.
Interesting headlight bulb test results
As part of a larger project, I needed to run photometric tests with different bulbs. All lamps and bulbs were run on the same goniophotometer, on the same power supply set to 13.5v. I can't share the entirety of the data, but here are some of the highlights from four bulbs tested in two new H4...
www.candlepowerforums.com
A-bodies through '72 came with 6012 headlamps.
This Wagner catalog lists them as 40/50 Watt. The * indicates they are just listed for reference.
Note power is given at the minimum design voltage (12.8 V) rather than the typical operating voltage (14-14.5 V)
6014 was a common replacement. 50/60 Watt
Chrysler started using 6014 bulbs in 1973.
Our cars have a long current path to the headlamp. Its not just age. The final leg of the headlight circuit in A-bodies is 18 gage wire. A relay harness takes the load off that 18 gage wire, shortens the path, and reduces the load at the alternator's bulkhead connection.
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They have a snappy name so I'm sure they'll sell some.Looks like Bangin Headlights are coming out with 5-3/4 LED headlights.
Bangin' Headlights - LED Headlights For Classic Cars & Trucks
LED headlights designed for classic cars and trucks. Real glass headlights for vintage looks combined with the latest in LED projector technology for sharp and bright light. Be safer and make driving at night fun again.
View attachment 1716139266
I’ve got a buddy running them in his Dart and Valiant and he’s been real impressed by them.
65Val
Average Length Member
@slantsixdan What's your opinion of the Holley Retro-Brights 7"?
He posted his opinion on the Holley Retro-brights in this thread. They’re cheap Chinese made garbage.
Holley Retrobright Price Match
His exact comments…
65Val
Average Length Member
Guess I missed it...Apologies....
No worries! Not always easy to find things here, I only remembered that Dan had already passed judgment on the retrobrights because I ended up buying another set of headlights LED headlights he'd recommended, the Philips H6024's Amazon.com . I bought those for my '71 F100, they're not nearly as expensive as the JW speaker headlights I run in my Duster and they look quire a bit more "traditional". Not as traditional looking as the retrobrights, but the Philips are much better quality based on Dan's assessment. They seem to provide really good light too, although I don't drive my F100 a ton.
J-c-c
Well-Known Member
I seldom see much attention here given to beam cutoff. Because most of the LED's I meet oncoming at night are horribly blinding, and I can't understand why all that candlepower is useful lighting up the air.
To each their own, and to heck with everyone else, I guess. They are probably the ones that think they own the left lane.
I installed Grote 5x7 LED's on all my trucks and I love their pattern control most, #90951-5, their price has nearly been cut in half in past 5 years.
To each their own, and to heck with everyone else, I guess. They are probably the ones that think they own the left lane.
I installed Grote 5x7 LED's on all my trucks and I love their pattern control most, #90951-5, their price has nearly been cut in half in past 5 years.
65Val
Average Length Member
Yeah, I like the more traditional looks of the RetroBrites, but up here in Canada, they’re $300 each… just a bit much. Would like to find something similar for a bit cheaper.
Honestly the LED's seem to be better at not "lighting up the air", at least the good ones are. The JW Speakers and the Philips both have a very straight, horizontal beam cut off. The JW speaker LED's are mostly straight across and then tail up at the far right side, so they illuminate the shoulder better/higher without blinding oncoming. The Philips cut-off is almost perfectly horizontal, with a very sharp distinction between what's lit and what isn't. Both have a much sharper cut off than any incandescent beam that I've see, factory or not. @slantsixdan I'm sure would have a better explanation.
slantsixdan
=..=
I don't see anything the matter with your explanation, @72bluNblu .
Why thank you sir!
But you're the expert, I just enjoy being able to see where I'm going!
Dartsun
Mopar Dude
They sell the Phillips LED on Roackauto for 120$ each. Summit has them also same price as Amazon.
slantsixdan
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The design voltage for all automotive lamps in the US and Canadian regulations is 12.8v. Lifespan testing (not regulated; it's purely for commercial purposes) is done at 14.0v because that makes the testing easier (takes less time) and represents a worst-case scenario (vehicle with hyperactive voltage regulator temperature compensation, operated in very cold weather).
Yes, but that doesn't mean equal performance. The lighting standard in question allows a giant range of performance; that is, every test point that makes up the beam pattern definition has a huge allowable range of intensities. The range is too big at some of them, for a really dumb eye-roller of a reason, which is why useless headlamps and high-glare headlamps are out there on the roads along with effective headlamps and low-glare headlamps.
The really stupid reason: the relevant US regulatory agency, NHTSA, occasionally adjusts the lighting regulation to allow higher performance (whatever that might mean for the specific question at hand—better seeing, less glare, amber rear turn signals instead of red ones, etc), but almost never adjusts the regulation to require better performance (minimum acceptable low beam performance and max allowable high beam performance haven't changed since 1978, for example) because they feel that doing so would imply the previous requirements were inadequate, which might expose the agency to neglect-of-duty lawsuits.
Well, 50/40 (high/low beam). And then, as you say, came the 60/50w 6014. And then along came Ford and Sylvania, who together over the years foisted an enormous amount of poor lighting onto US drivers. Unlike the Yurpeens who, in 1962, went "Hey, neat, halogen technology gives more lumens per watt, so we can give drivers a whole lot more light to see at night!", the Americans in the late 1970s (having spent 15 years going "Haw haw haw, stupid Yurpeens can't quit messing around with their headlamps; they should just use our sealed beams which are obvs superior", went "Well, fine, yeah, halogen technology gives more lumens per watt, so we can reduce the headlamp wattage and specify thinner wires and cheaper switches, while still meeting the minimum requirements". Then they straightfacedly claimed this was a great idea in the public interest because lower-wattage headlamps would save fuel. Yes, Ford really argued that the 9 mpg of a '79 Lincoln Town Car with a 460 V8 would improve with 35w versus 50w low beams. (What would it change to? Oh, y'know, 9.000000000001 mpg).
Result: the halogen H6024 with 35-watt low beam gave a peak intensity of about 20,000 candela, versus the non-halogen 6014 with 50-watt low beam, which gave about 26,000 candela. The low beam of the quad round system skidded even worse.
All true and correct. More geeky details about it here.
(Speaking of geeky details about sealed beam headlamps…)
I actually think they look pretty good in person, I’ll take a picture of my truck and post it up. They don’t look original, but they don’t look out of place in my opinion where some of the other LED headlights that look nothing like the original lights can definitely look out of place in the wrong kind of build. I love the look of the JW speakers on my Duster, but it has a pro-touring vibe to it, not original.
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