Led Headight Question

[downsr]

Has anyone converted there h4 headlights to led. Can you just replace the bulbs with led bulbs. Or do you replace the whole light. Where can you buy the bulbs or light

 

[diymirage]

listen to what @slantsixdan has to say about lights and forget about the LEDs

 

[slantsixdan]

Nice idea, fun to think about, but halogen lamps need to use halogen bulbs or they don't work right—period.

The "LED bulbs" now flooding the market are not a legitimate, safe, effective, or legal product. No matter whose name is on them or what the vendor claims, these are a fraudulent scam. They are not capable of producing even a fraction of the amount of light produced by the filament bulb they supposedly replace, let alone producing it in the right pattern for the lamp's optics to work.

Same goes for "HID kits" in halogen-bulb headlamps or fog/auxiliary lamps (any kit, any lamp, any vehicle no matter whether it's a car, truck, motorcycle, etc.). They do not work safely or effectively, which is why they are illegal. See here -- the particulars are different for LED vs. HID, but the principles and problems are the same overall.

There's a ton of junk on the market, but there are also legitimate LED headlamps, good ones that work well, last long, are safe and legal: the 701C from Peterson is good. The Truck-Lite unit is good. The king daddy of them all is the JW Speaker unit in chrome or black. All these are DOT-certified, made in America, and take less power than the original sealed beams so the original wiring is plenty adequate.

 

[jos51700]

I hate China Garbage.

 

[Syleng1]

There you go again with the "facts" slantsixdan.

You are 100% true but do you always have to be so right? Now as for the headlights by JW Speaker; do you have to buy those lamp adjuster assemblies like Amazon recommends?
I'm worried about the lights pushing to far forward in my 66' Barracuda if I use them. I cannot find (and I only quickly looked) any dimensions on the bulbs let along a rear picture of the bulbs.
I too want a really good set of lamps for the front but everything is sub-par. Even the Trucklite units ( I installed for a client) were so/so. At night the difference between high and low beam seemed very little. I worry about oncoming traffic on a dark night. They did have a very "military" feel when installed in his truck. Looks I give a 9, working I give a 6.5.

Joe

 

[slantsixdan]

You are 100% true but do you always have to be so right?

I'm tryna quit, LOL

as for the headlights by JW Speaker; do you have to buy those lamp adjuster assemblies like Amazon recommends?

Nope. Plug/play without additional parts needed for any of the linked headlamps.

I'm worried about the lights pushing to far forward in my 66' Barracuda if I use them.

The Petersons are the only ones that have a lens that protrudes extra-far forward of the retainer ring. The Truck-Lites and JW Speakers have normal dimensions in this regard.

Even the Trucklite units ( I installed for a client) were so/so. At night the difference between high and low beam seemed very little. I worry about oncoming traffic on a dark night. They did have a very "military" feel when installed in his truck

That sounds like you might be remembering Truck-Lite's first version of a 7" LED headlamp, that looked like this. Not a very good headlamp. Their present lamp is much better, though the JW Speaker is still better.

 

[dukeboy440]

Nice idea, fun to think about, but halogen lamps need to use halogen bulbs or they don't work right—period.

The "LED bulbs" now flooding the market are not a legitimate, safe, effective, or legal product. No matter whose name is on them or what the vendor claims, these are a fraudulent scam. They are not capable of producing even a fraction of the amount of light produced by the filament bulb they supposedly replace, let alone producing it in the right pattern for the lamp's optics to work.

Same goes for "HID kits" in halogen-bulb headlamps or fog/auxiliary lamps (any kit, any lamp, any vehicle no matter whether it's a car, truck, motorcycle, etc.). They do not work safely or effectively, which is why they are illegal. See here -- the particulars are different for LED vs. HID, but the principles and problems are the same overall.

There's a ton of junk on the market, but there are also legitimate LED headlamps, good ones that work well, last long, are safe and legal: the 701C from Peterson is good. The Truck-Lite unit is good. The king daddy of them all is the JW Speaker unit in chrome or black. All these are DOT-certified, made in America, and take less power than the original sealed beams so the original wiring is plenty adequate.

Question for you. Why couldnt a guy take the 7 inch housing from a late model Jeep Wrangler with a good set of quality bulbs and put it in their A body? I did some research, dimesion wise, it'll fit, just have to make a harness and use the jeep bulbs. Surely that has to be better than the old sealed ones and much cheaper than 500 bucks in lights?

 

[slantsixdan]

Question for you. Why couldnt a guy take the 7 inch housing from a late model Jeep Wrangler with a good set of quality bulbs and put it in their A body?

You could, with socket adaptors, but those headlamps suck. They're pretty to look at, but their performance is the pits. A substantial amount of the food in my fridge is there because '07-'17 Wrangler owners rightly hate trying to drive at night with the stock headlamps.

Surely that has to be better than the old sealed ones

Don't bet!

and much cheaper than 500 bucks in lights?

There are plenty of good options for upgrade headlamps that don't cost a pile of money. If all you want is cheap and decent, the only sealed beam worth using is this one. If what you want is cheap and decent replaceable-bulb, that's this one with these bulbs and a good relay harness and careful aim job (that part's important no matter what lamps you have).

 

[dukeboy440]

You could, with socket adaptors, but those headlamps suck. They're pretty to look at, but their performance is the pits. A substantial amount of the food in my fridge is there because '07-'17 Wrangler owners rightly hate trying to drive at night with the stock headlamps.



Don't bet!



There are plenty of good options for upgrade headlamps that don't cost a pile of money. If all you want is cheap and decent, the only sealed beam worth using is this one. If what you want is cheap and decent replaceable-bulb, that's this one with these bulbs and a good relay harness and careful aim job (that part's important no matter what lamps you have).

I have an 08 and it doesnt bother me lol. Course I'm coming from a 2nd gen Ram that truly has shitty lights for comparison. I am however, wanting to upgrade my Jeep's so I was considering putting those on the dart. It's not that I want cheap, I just want something better thats gonna last.

 

[slantsixdan]

Yeah, Chrysler started "getting religion" on lights in '11 -- that year I saw a bunch of dramatically better lighting on the cars at the Detroit auto show, called up my bud in Chrysler's lighting department and said "I'm not complaining, but what happened?", and he said "Oh, Fiat bought us and they care about lights, so now we have money to spend on lights". But not every vehicle got good lights starting in '11. The Jeeps (except for the fancypants Grand Chicory) and the Ram trucks still got/still get not-very-good lights. :-(

If you're wanting to try out the Wrangler lights on your A-body, put in these bulbs...but also keep in mind these headlamps are a decade old, they don't start out very good, and they don't age very well.

The 7" round size was introduced in 1939 and is still the headlamp format with the biggest installed base, and there's a decent-to-excellent lamp to fit whatever budget anyone might have.

Unfortunately, there's also a mountain of junk!

 

[dukeboy440]

Yeah, Chrysler started "getting religion" on lights in '11 -- that year I saw a bunch of dramatically better lighting on the cars at the Detroit auto show, called up my bud in Chrysler's lighting department and said "I'm not complaining, but what happened?", and he said "Oh, Fiat bought us and they care about lights, so now we have money to spend on lights". But not every vehicle got good lights starting in '11. The Jeeps (except for the fancypants Grand Chicory) and the Ram trucks still got/still get not-very-good lights. :-(

If you're wanting to try out the Wrangler lights on your A-body, put in these bulbs...but also keep in mind these headlamps are a decade old, they don't start out very good, and they don't age very well.

The 7" round size was introduced in 1939 and is still the headlamp format with the biggest installed base, and there's a decent-to-excellent lamp to fit whatever budget anyone might have.

Unfortunately, there's also a mountain of junk!

im actually running thos every bulbs in my jeep as we speak.

 

[AJ/FormS]

The only experience I have with LED lights is that they are very bright to look at, but they don't seem to penetrate very far into the darkness.
And I was very frustrated with an LED worklight. The assembly was very bright to look at, but again,the color and intensity was just not good for seeing into dark recesses.
I see LEDs as pretty good for telling me that I left the stereo on, and that's about it.
IMO LED and headlight should never be found in the same sentence.
Halogens on the other hand......they were the standard on sportbikes almost as soon as they were invented.And I retro-fitted a lot of bikes back then. First 55s then 65s then 100s. Yeah a pair of 100s can light up the hiway pretty good. And 7inch M/C reflectors have a pretty good focus.
But the baddest of the bads were 130s,IIRC. I think that was about 10amps. That's baaaaad!Don't put those on a metric bike, unless you also upgrade the "generator", cuz they won't put up with that for long and then Poof! On an old GoldWing I seem to remember having to take the engines out to replace them, good for me, but not so good for the owner.
Just make sure not to install them in an enclosed plastic housing,lol.

 

[downsr]

I think I am going to stay with my old ones

 

[AJ/FormS]

Halogens RULE!
OK that may be overstating it somewhat. Halogens make a lotta heat too, which keeps the lenses clear in winter..... But I don't think they are very efficient. So your alternator is always chugging out the electrons and making heat. And it cost's gas-money to move those little tiny balls of energy. What can you do, you gotta have lights.........

 

[crackedback]

Everyone that buys a relay kit from me and asks which sealed beam light to buy, I suggest those GE Nighthawks.

I've yet to have someone say they don't work great.

 

[Syleng1]

Just my 2 cents:

The halogens with a relay kit work great as long as you have the generator or alternator to support the draw. Most dim regardless of the relay kit at idle if you don't have a good source of power. Also, with all that power you need good grounds and power cables to move that power. Using the factory 10ga wire is not enough to get the100 amps from a high output alternator to the battery and the restriction (especially thru the charging gauge in the dash) will slow everything down.

As for the led. LED light is straight light. Cheap LED's (like from china) have made possible cheap lights. The LED lights slant six Dan is using (or talking about) are not cheap and are well made. Good LED drop lights or flashlights or headlights are not cheap but work well. I have a Harborfreight 3ft under hood light. Super bright but stinks for anything other than 2ft away lighting. My Snap-on 3 ft underhood lamp (same style and 9times the cost) works as you expect - long distance, little shadows and is small and the battery lasts after a full charge.

I prefer Halogens on cars because to me they look right. It's also the reason I don't like 20" rims on old cars either... my opinion they look ghetto. Besides, how much do you drive your car at night? Me, I try not too because as a welder almost my whole life, my eyes at 47 are not as receptive to light like they used to be. Anyhow, choose what you like but remember, either pay now or pay later with quality vs. power draw and lack of light.

Okay- I'm off the soap box.

 

[AJ/FormS]

Syleng
I hear you
But when the MacTool man demo'd his LED worklight I said come on you're kidding right? By the time I could see anything with it, it had to be between me and the thing I was wanting to see, and it was as big as a house obscuring everything. I told him I didn't think much of his LED light.
But I did get me a headband-mounted,battery-operated LED light with 3 power settings, whoot! Altho why it has 3 settings is a mystery, cuz the first two have never been used. And I did have to buy a second one to be rotated, as the battery life was somewhat limited,running WideOpen all the time. Mostly I carry a mini mag-lite and my teeth have pretty good aim. Altho I sometimes have to wipe the slobber off the customers paint,lol.