LED 7" Round Headlamp Update

[Turboomni]

Has anyone tried these? I have been considering them.
Vintage car leds

7" LED Headlight Kits | 5.75" LED Headlight Kits | LED Headlights

LED headlight kits for all US and international vehicles with 7 inch and 5.75 inch Round Headlights. See specific specs to ensure a perfect fit.

vintagecarleds.com

 

[slantsixdan]

Has anyone tried these?

Those are ѕhіtty Chinese trinkets shaped like H4 halogen headlights, with ѕhіtty Chinese "LED bulbs" crammed in (that trick never works, not even with real halogen headlamps). If you want to keep your bodies (car and self) in one piece, steer clear of this fraudulent junk and pick real headlamps of one kind or another.

 

[Mattax]

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).

Thank you for clarifying that. I assumed anyone looking at the catalog pictured there would see the design voltage in the chart and understand that. What I meant by design voltage in the sentence you quoted was operating voltage. In the context of the paragraph I was specificly addressing the quoted statement about how much current one should expect a lamp to draw while driving. In a normally operating car power will be supplied at just over14 Volts. My point was the current draw will vary so its important to qualify the current at X voltage. A large portion of car owners think the car runs off the battery at 12 Volts. Understanding that first, then the P=VxI and geeky stuff about relays and voltage drops can make sense.

 

[slantsixdan]

In a normally operating car power will be supplied at just over14 Volts.

…at the alternator, yeah, and roughly that across the battery.

But by the time it goes through thin wires and iffy terminals and tiny switch contacts and marginal grounds for the headlamps, it's gonna be a lot lower, hence the P = V × I and relays and stuff. You and I both know that, is the problem—makes it easy to leave stuff out that makes the people who don't yet know it go "aha!".

 

[slantsixdan]

Yes, but they look horrible…

Well, there's some math involved here. Y'gotta decide whether you'll be spending more time in front of the headlamps, looking at them, or behind the headlamps, driving by the light they provide. Then multiply that by the number of people on the planet who will notice what your headlamps look like, then multiply that by the weight of those four random other people's opinion.

 

[Turboomni]

Those are ѕhіtty Chinese trinkets shaped like H4 halogen headlights, with ѕhіtty Chinese "LED bulbs" crammed in (that trick never works, not even with real halogen headlamps). If you want to keep your bodies (car and self) in one piece, steer clear of this fraudulent junk and pick real headlamps of one kind or another.

They offer German Hella H4 lens though.

 

[slantsixdan]

They offer German Hella H4 lens though.

So OK, they're offering a choice between German Shepherd ѕhіt and Shih Tzu ѕhіt. Please read the That trick never works, even with real halogen headlamps link I posted; "LED bulbs" in halogen headlamps are categorically not a legitimate, effective, safe, or legal thing.

 

[davescuda]

Good info in this post. Thanks

 

[65Val]

Well, there's some math involved here. Y'gotta decide whether you'll be spending more time in front of the headlamps, looking at them, or behind the headlamps, driving by the light they provide. Then multiply that by the number of people on the planet who will notice what your headlamps look like, then multiply that by the weight of those four random other people's opinion.

C’mon Dan… I want it all, ya know!!!…lol. I want stock looking lights for the car shows, and bright white, low amp-draw lighting for driving home from the car show, for cheap $$$…. (Isn’t that what everyone wants?)

 

[slantsixdan]

C’mon Dan… I want it all, ya know!!!…lol. I want stock looking lights for the car shows, and bright white, low amp-draw lighting for driving home from the car show, for cheap $$$…. (Isn’t that what everyone wants?)

Yes, I want that all, too. And six desserts. And a big stash of gold coins at the back of the freezer, behind the ice trays where I never looked before.

…and an aluminum Slant-6 cylinder head with fast-burn combustion chambers…

 

[72Duster440]

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.

Here they are in my Duster. Not great, but not horrible in the blocks department, but man do they throw a lot of light!

 

[slantsixdan]

Looks are a matter of personal opinion, of course. Personally, I think 72Duster440's car looks appropriate with those headlamps, and the similar-looking Truck-Lite 27s in @j_anderson 's '72 Dart (pics) look at home in that car, too.

Most of the very good American-made JW Speaker LED headlamps look like they were designed to go on a starship, but they do make a version with vintage-car camouflage that actually works pretty well. Not gonna fool anyone into thinking they're sealed beams when they're switched on after dark, but when they're off, in daytime, they blend in well with their textured, domed/convex lenses:

They're extra super spendy, though.

(The old pre-radial tires that came on our A-bodies look taller/rounder, while radials look almost 'flat' at the bottom near the road in comparison. These same kinds of unoriginal-look objections we see here today about headlamps were voiced about radial tires. Most of us run radials anyhow on cars we actually drive, because they're so hugely superior. We save the non-radial original types for trailer-queen cars that only ever get oggled, not really driven. I'm just saying, is all.)

 

[72bluNblu]

Here they are in my Duster. Not great, but not horrible in the blocks department, but man do they throw a lot of light!

View attachment 1716194753

Here's the Philips LED's on my '71 F100. It's in plow truck mode because we had snow a week ago, melted now but it's still January so it'll stay that way for a bit.