LED Headlights - heated, or not...
- Thread starter Hopeless Diamond
- Start date
Cottontail
Easy Street on Mud Tires
I just looked these up. $500 a set? Holy crap. According to the KBB private party sale value, my daily driver 1996 ZJ with 255xxx mile on it is worth $655. I can't imagine spending almost the value of my truck on a set of headlights.
I just put the top of the line Sylvania Halogens in my 01 XJ. Got them out of a wrecked XJ in the junkyard for $2.50 each...
unkamonkey
Explorer
So, you have some sanity and didn't go for an overpriced headlight. Good for you.
Hopeless Diamond
Explorer
No, they do have a thin heater element in the lens, a finer version of a rear window defroster.
It's not quite the same with non-heated LEDs. Because they do not give off any heat, snow doesn't stick to them - at least the regular stuff. I would have cleaned the stock ones a dozen times by now. All I've done so far this winter is clean the dirt off a bunch of times. Not really sure how my non heated ones would do with wet sticky snow - we just do not get it that often up here.
These are the ones I have too. I used to have the TLs before too. I'm just not entirely sure how these would work if I was in a really heavy snow fall where it's all wet. We've had that a few times up here and I've driven in it and never had an issue, but I'm hesitant to say it couldn't happen to someone else, elsewhere due to how dry/arid it typically is up here.
ApexWrangler
New member
The heated version of the Truck-Lite's are completely worth it if you have to do any sort of driving in snow or icy conditions.
I've had the JW Speaker & the Truck-Lite's in my XJ, and I've driven Wranglers with the heated 7" round Truck-Lites. They really do make a difference in the snow. Without the heating element in the lens, the LED's just don't project enough heat to keep the headlights free from getting packed with snow.
Check out this video we did for them a little while back
I've had the JW Speaker & the Truck-Lite's in my XJ, and I've driven Wranglers with the heated 7" round Truck-Lites. They really do make a difference in the snow. Without the heating element in the lens, the LED's just don't project enough heat to keep the headlights free from getting packed with snow.
Check out this video we did for them a little while back
Coachgeo
Explorer
People say..... works for me and I live in snow country..... others say no it doesn't work for me and I live in snow country........ and the correct answer probably is...... BOTH
Snow country varies. Average type of snowfall in some places I'm betting is very different than the average type of snowfall in other places. Wind direction may even play a part.
Snow country varies. Average type of snowfall in some places I'm betting is very different than the average type of snowfall in other places. Wind direction may even play a part.
Justincredible
Adventurer
I switched from LEDs to Hella H4s for that reason. The light isn't as good, but it's better than the factory halogens and they don't pack with snow.
It only took me 1 work commute and 1 trip home from St. George in snow (stopping every 20 miles or so to clear the headlights) to figure out I needed to switch.
I have been wanting to make the same switch.
Do you mind stating what components are required?
Thank you in advance for the help.
Hilldweller
SE Expedition Society
JW Speaker has two rectangular LED headlights on the market right now with heated lenses and will release a heated 7" round sometime in the future (soon, I hope).
I'm still running their prototype 8700-J lamps and we had a 22 hour wet snow event recently. I drove about 25 miles at oh-dark-thirty and had to get out (in my gym shorts) 7 times to scrape the ice off them.
Dry snow doesn't stick to them in my experience.
Those lights were phased out long ago and replaced with the 8700 Evolution, plastic lens, small body, two more projectors. Better light but no warm lens.
JWS and TL use a heated grid now.
I'm still running their prototype 8700-J lamps and we had a 22 hour wet snow event recently. I drove about 25 miles at oh-dark-thirty and had to get out (in my gym shorts) 7 times to scrape the ice off them.
Dry snow doesn't stick to them in my experience.
The original JW Speaker model 8700 did that; they had a glass lens and very large body. The JK had to be modified (grinder and relocation of the airbag sensor) to fit them. But the fan thing worked great.
Those lights were phased out long ago and replaced with the 8700 Evolution, plastic lens, small body, two more projectors. Better light but no warm lens.
JWS and TL use a heated grid now.
Justincredible
Adventurer
I just have these headlights and bulbs.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001G72SKQ/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
And This adapter harness.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009EVJC3C/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Hilldweller
SE Expedition Society
The Hellas work quite well. But, if you like them, you'd probably like a Cibie better.
BulldoginaJeepwithaColt
Observer
I had the Hella Vision Plus' installed on my 1998 Jeep TJ back in 1999. Still running the same exact pair of headlamps and same bulbs for almost 20 years.
Only issue I have had was with dirt collecting in the reflector inside the housing due to high water crossings in the Pine Barrens of NJ.
I removed them and then the bulbs and used a bottle brush to clean them and then reinstalled just as new.
Replacement LED's might be the cats meow to some, but money wise and performance wise I'll stick with my Hellas and save the cash for something else like maybe auxiliary off road LED's.
I would think that street legal headlamps would only be allowed to be so bright by federal regulation or am I wrong?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using Tapatalk
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