HID vs LED vs Halogen
- Thread starter MAX1MVS
- Start date
off-roader
Expedition Leader
LOL...What are these for? Truck, bus, car, train, you got a train? Kool!
Mephisto
New member
HIDs are the most cost effective way of greatly increasing your light output and can be retrofitted into most headlights. The draw is significantly less than halogens as well.
LEDs are expensive and for the most part can not be retrofitted, thus you are stuck with auxiliary lamps. Personally I run LED auxiliary lighting on my truck, again LEDs have a much lower electrical draw than halogens, but to me their main strength is their toughness, much less to fail in LED lights. I've had mine underwater for a couple hours, pushed through tons of bush, have done thousands of kilometers of fast, bumpy off road driving and my LEDs have never failed me. I still say HIDs are the way to go if you're budget minded, and especially if you want to keep your factory lenses. In my case I can buy the 7" round LED headlights as a direct replacement for my truck (but they're big $$), while most of you in the states don't have the old school roundies on your 2nd gens.
LEDs are expensive and for the most part can not be retrofitted, thus you are stuck with auxiliary lamps. Personally I run LED auxiliary lighting on my truck, again LEDs have a much lower electrical draw than halogens, but to me their main strength is their toughness, much less to fail in LED lights. I've had mine underwater for a couple hours, pushed through tons of bush, have done thousands of kilometers of fast, bumpy off road driving and my LEDs have never failed me. I still say HIDs are the way to go if you're budget minded, and especially if you want to keep your factory lenses. In my case I can buy the 7" round LED headlights as a direct replacement for my truck (but they're big $$), while most of you in the states don't have the old school roundies on your 2nd gens.
off-roader
Expedition Leader
While this might be correct, most headlight designs are not very good when used with HID lights due to excessive stray light blinding other drivers.
Most OEM HID designs use a reflector & lens specifically design for an HID light which has a tighter beam control to avoid this.
That said, drivers running around blinding others w/ poor aftermarket HID setups that scatter a lot of bright light are a real pet peeve of mine and I will flash them back with my high beams or even off road lights when they blind me with with these 'overzealous' lighting setups.:ar15:
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Mrknowitall
Adventurer
Exactly right! Besides, almost none of the aftermarket HID kits are DOT. Also, HID is a cludge, at best for single lamp set-ups, as they usually use a damper of some kind to switch low and Hi beams. Or you lose hi-beams altogether. The geometry of the arc often doesn't match the filament being replaced, so the light patterns are unpredictable. If we're talking about a quad-beam setup (most mitsus arent), then things are different- you could use an HID in the high-beam, in combination with a good quality halogen lamp in the low beam. For light out-put, stay away from the higher color temps- stick with 4300K (6000K at the most)
The LED bulbs that plug into headlight housings are meant to be position/DRL only. THey will not produce usable light.
Make sure your stock lights are in best order- no haze on the lenses, rust on the reflector, and aimed correctly. Give your adjusting screws some liberal lubrication. Adjust your low beams to shine out 40-50yds when you're not loaded.
Think about some good quality, but reasonable add-on lights. A nice 55W pair of fog lights and a some HID converted driving lights will do wonders. Don't go overboard- remember, your alternator isn't sized for very much overhead. keep it to < an extra 200W at any time.
off-roader
Expedition Leader
For a Gen I LED light setup, I've heard the 7" round LED headlight from Truck Lite is pretty good although I'm not sure how accurate that was since I read it on the internet or if it has any kind of High Beam lamp replacement available as part of the package.
IIRC haven't some of the higher end european cars begun using LED headlights?
EDIT: Whups should have known... Audi makes cars w/ LED headlights.
IIRC haven't some of the higher end european cars begun using LED headlights?
EDIT: Whups should have known... Audi makes cars w/ LED headlights.
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Mephisto
New member
I will agree that in some cases an HID conversion will have stray light, but in most cases this can be adjusted so as to not blind oncoming traffic. The majority of the "blinding" HID conversions are not adjusted at all after they are installed, and yes most are not DOT approved. It's not that much more for the High/low kits. Before I get flamed too much on this hot topic, I've installed many HID kits on vehicles, but I don't run HIDs on my personal vehicles, I love my LEDs. As offroader said, TruckLight has the 7" replacement lenses, if you're interested in those only buy the newer models as the initial versions were far inferior, and those are DOT approved.
Elliot Brodie
New member
I think HID off Road Light much better than LED or Halogen
As far as I know,HID Off Road Light is very bright at night
:ylsmoke:
As far as I know,HID Off Road Light is very bright at night
:ylsmoke:Attachments
AFSOC
Explorer
Call in a headlight super freak for a consultation
If you need some credible data and recommendations on headlights, pm Hilldweller with a few questions. Bill is sort of the Lord of the Lumen and the recommendations he gives are based in science. Some of the HID and LED info you find on the internet lacks credibility.
If you need some credible data and recommendations on headlights, pm Hilldweller with a few questions. Bill is sort of the Lord of the Lumen and the recommendations he gives are based in science. Some of the HID and LED info you find on the internet lacks credibility.