LED Headlight Converion Bulbs?

[worthingtontw]

Has anyone seen these in use in person? I'm really curious about the beam pattern. Seems light a great idea but I'm concerned that they would suffer the same light scatter issues that HID conversion kits do.

For those that don't know, HID kits change the position of the point of light emission causing the now unfocused light to be scattered. While they put out roughly 3x more lumens, it makes your headlights act like floods which is dangerous for oncoming drivers and decreases usable light thrown far down the road.

If they don't have the same problem these seem like a great alternative for Jeeps, FJs, anything with the old school 7" rounds vs a JL Speaker kit or Trucklight kit at $500+ a pop.

Example: https://www.superbrightleds.com/mor...-bulbs-conversion-kit-with-built-in-fan/2114/

HID kits in Halogen housing consequence.

 

[kojackJKU]

Flame suit on, batten down the hatches. Preparing for a massive **** storm in 3.......2........1........GO! I feel for you asking this question here....Gone to my bunker!

 

[fog cutter]

what's the problem?

 

[emtmark]

Often wondered the same. Also longevity durability with those tiny little fans they run


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[getlost4x4]

I'd like to know as well. I've been considering them for my Range Rover classic

 

[Hilldweller]

what's the problem?

The technology hasn't caught up yet; the light that comes out is non-compliant with requirements in all of the civilized world.
In other words, it doesn't work and isn't legal.

Philips is working diligently on a compliant H13 LED retrofit though. I'm not sure if they'll need to test it in each and every lamp that it gets certified for though.
When they get it to market, I'll try and get photometry results for JKs and FJCs at least.

 

[ejwebb]

sucks in winter

led bulbs are great except in winter when the snow covers the light,the LEDs don't but out enough heat to melt the snow off the headlight,A HID will, run good HIDs in the headlighs and run LED auxiliary lights. I run Vision X 4 inch light cannons,they work awesome.

 

[worthingtontw]

The technology hasn't caught up yet; the light that comes out is non-compliant with requirements in all of the civilized world.
In other words, it doesn't work and isn't legal.

Philips is working diligently on a compliant H13 LED retrofit though. I'm not sure if they'll need to test it in each and every lamp that it gets certified for though.
When they get it to market, I'll try and get photometry results for JKs and FJCs at least.

I wasn't aware that Phillips was working on this. Good to hear someone is trying to do it right instead of just making a part that looks like it will work and slapping "offroad only" on it. Will have to follow developments.

led bulbs are great except in winter when the snow covers the light,the LEDs don't but out enough heat to melt the snow off the headlight,A HID will, run good HIDs in the headlighs and run LED auxiliary lights. I run Vision X 4 inch light cannons,they work awesome.

Good point about not having the heat to melt snow off. Having said that HID is still not the answer. If your going to run them, you have to change the reflector to one designed to work with an HID bulb otherwise you'll be blinding oncoming traffic. Even halogen projector assemblies suffer this problem when bulbs are swapped. It's and issue of geometry within the housing. There's a reason DOT doesn't certify HID kits.

 

[WUzombies]

The technology hasn't caught up yet; the light that comes out is non-compliant with requirements in all of the civilized world.
In other words, it doesn't work and isn't legal.

Philips is working diligently on a compliant H13 LED retrofit though. I'm not sure if they'll need to test it in each and every lamp that it gets certified for though.
When they get it to market, I'll try and get photometry results for JKs and FJCs at least.

For those of you who are interested, the federal regulation is 49 CFR 571.108, most states have something in their laws recognizing the federal statute, for instance in Texas it is TC547.3215. The concern isn't DOT numbers, which I see people discussing incorrectly on the interwebs often, it is the SAE certification that recognizes the part is legal to use as complianced with the federal statute.

A side note, quite literally 99% of the aftermarket "retrofit" headlight kits are not legal. Same with goofy colors, tinted lenses and all the other stupid **** people do to the required lighting on their vehicles. For off-highway use I would use supplement lighting instead of jacking around with the required lighting.

 

[kojackJKU]

That happens with JW and truck lites too. Ice up. If that's the only issue....no big deal. I am going to try a set of LED retro fits in my F150 when I get it, to see how they work.

 

[worthingtontw]

For those of you who are interested, the federal regulation is 49 CFR 571.108, most states have something in their laws recognizing the federal statute, for instance in Texas it is TC547.3215. The concern isn't DOT numbers, which I see people discussing incorrectly on the interwebs often, it is the SAE certification that recognizes the part is legal to use as complianced with the federal statute.

Good info. Thank you for clarifying that.

That happens with JW and truck lites too. Ice up. If that's the only issue....no big deal. I am going to try a set of LED retro fits in my F150 when I get it, to see how they work.

I wonder if you could rig up a washer jet to de-ice and keep them clear. A mix of isopropyl alchol and windshield washer fluid would probably do it. Kind of a home brew version of propylene glycol like is used to prevent ice build up on planes.

 

[Hilldweller]

....

I wonder if you could rig up a washer jet to de-ice and keep them clear. A mix of isopropyl alchol and windshield washer fluid would probably do it. Kind of a home brew version of propylene glycol like is used to prevent ice build up on planes.

What size bulbs or lights are you looking at anyhow?
There might be some other interesting products (that I can't talk about yet) coming down the pike...

 

[kojackJKU]

I was thinking of using just a clear cover. The major issue is the Jeeps headlight pocket. Snow builds up no matter what light you have.

 

[worthingtontw]

What size bulbs or lights are you looking at anyhow?
There might be some other interesting products (that I can't talk about yet) coming down the pike...

For two vehicles. My Hilux I'm currently planning on the Trucklite v7 7" rounds. It's still a few months off from rolling down the road, so if something better came to market in that time I'd be interested. I've seen Trucklite has a new version on the way.

My B4000 is really the vehicle this all applies to though. It has 9007 bulbs in it. My old 90' Miata put out more usable light with sealed beams than the B4000 does.

I'm also just curious how close the market is to providing a decent LED upgrade for older vehicles where replacing the housing isn't an option.

 

[libarata]

Don't JW and Trucklites have heated lights now?