Kommander

I won't mince words, I have been an outspoken opponent of LED headlights, drop in HID's and the like when dropped into a halogen housing. Glare, glare, glare and more glare. That is what I expect and what I see everyday while driving. 4x4TruckLEDS.com has commented on many threads made by people asking about LED bulbs. I get involved and we usually end up agreeing to disagree. I have always been adamant about OEM HID's being better than ANY drop in bulb in both brightness, road coverage, and no glare for oncoming traffic. And, just to be clear, I stand by that still.

However, I was issued a challenge and I accepted. I bought a set from 4x4 Truck LED's along with some License plate lights and reverse lights. If these indeed hold up to the claims, I will post it here. I was married twice so I have no problem being wrong, again.

I have a good friend who has a truck identical to mine and he has offered to let me install the bulbs and get some comparison pics between OEM HID's and LED drop ins. Pics will be night time, standing still, driving, and no rain. I will also get oncoming traffic pics. I will do side by sides of both low and high beams. I will not be getting pics of the OEM halogen bulbs, just the LED and HID. The comparison will be done this weekend providing the weather cooperates.

My goal is not to trash these LED's. While I do love my HID's and have no intention of replacing them, I do have other vehicles that would benefit from these if they prove me wrong and they are less expensive than the OEM HID route. Plus, I am giving them to the friend with the donor truck for helping me if he wants them.

The trucks:
Mine: 2014 F150 SCAB W/OEM HID's, TRS harness and TRS 5500K HID bulbs.

Donor: 2014 F150 SCAB W/OEM Halogens

My purchase from 4x4TruckLEDS.com:
The site is well designed and easy to navigate. Price point was good (compared once I got them with a quick Google search of identical products) and shipping was fast. I had a blonde moment where I could not locate the LP bulbs but a quick email back and forth and they had me squared away and I had all my lights. They were tucked away in the packing material and I was expecting bigger packaging so no harm done.

So here is what I have:

StreetGlow XHPH136K H13 LED bulbs. I was kind of taken back on the brand. I was under the impression they were Diode Dynamics brand but I have had SG products in the past and was not disappointed so I figure I will give them the benefit of the doubt. I have opened them but I have not checked to see if they need to be adjusted yet. It seems to me in another thread I read they came preset for the F-150 if you chose them by the truck rather than bulb size. So anyway, here are the bulbs:







And now the LP and reverse lights. I got these because I really want them. They will match my XB fogs and HID's pretty well I think.

Kommander

Feel free to comment good or bad but make no mistake, I am not paid by, nor do I work for, anyone but me. I have a 40 hour job in the IT field for the government and I am an FFL on the side. I deal with demanding customers all the time and in doing so I can come across as an *** sometimes, but I like to think of myself as an impartial ***, or I try to be.

Stay tuned...

lumpythetexan

I'm looking forward to your comparison. I had the raptor retro fit HID lights in my 13 and loved them, but when I bought my 16, I wanted to try something different after I had heard good things about CREE LED lights, so I cut loose the money from the same company you ordered from and like them more that the HID lights from the other company. not to say they were bad because they were not, I just happen to like the LED lights a little better.

elricfate

The thing about LED headlights that irks me is that there are a select few of them who have a decent retrofit design, but the prices vary so wildly based on who is selling them.

I have an idea what this thread will bring, so I'll just sit patiently and wait for your pictures.

lumpythetexan

When I was looking at going with the LED lights or the Raptor Retro fit lights, I looked at both of them and they both offer a 2 year warranty and the LED lights are expected to work for at least 50,000 hours. Also the lights from Raptor Retro fit were having issues with the DRL, so after a few emails between me and Dawson from Raptor Retro fit, I went with the LED lights because I like having the option of using the DRL in Tucson Arizona traffic.

Kommander

Hey guys. Sorry about the long delay in getting to this. I started a new job end of July and ended up taking a fall at work landing on my side against a curb the day I was supposed to do this review. I broke a rib and had a shingles outbreak the next day. It has not been fun. But, I am finally on the mend and felt good enough to do this tonight. Enjoy, I hope it helps others to make an informed decision before spending their hard earned money.

Anyway, I installed these all tonight. Firstly, the license plate lights and reverse lights are bright as hell, well worth the money. Diode Dynamics hit homeruns with both.

Here is a pic of one stock, one replacement.


And now on to the elephant in the room, shall we?

I will start by saying I didn't get as many pics as I said I would. Not because they were not there to be had but because they were not needed. Once I got through the pics and videos you will see here, you will hopefully take away the same conclusion I did.

The new headlights were not both properly aligned for the truck out of the box, but I do not know if it was the way they came or if one of us turned the base, so I had to learn to align them and it was stupid easy. Brilliant design actually. These first pics are of one aligned and one misaligned. It really shows off the glare difference between the two alignments:

Misaligned drivers side


Misaligned close up


Misaligned beam spread. The left side is what is throwing all the light everywhere. The right side is properly aligned.


We pulled the drivers side out and then checked the passenger side. Drivers needed major adjustment, passenger only minor.

Fixed


Beam Pattern aligned


Another shot of the cutoff


And finally, a picture of my OEM HID cutoffs to compare


I captured this picture for another reason until I saw the lights it was casting way up high. This is what got to me in some of the other pics I have seen here. If you look off to the side of the beam you will see all those weird lights and what not. That is not nearly as visible in person. Not sure why the camera captured it so well here but it suited my purpose for this review. Anyway, it IS indeed glare but not the blinding kind I would attribute to aftermarket drop in lights.


Still a naysayer? Good. I have three videos as well. The first one shows the truck backing out of my driveway with the camera at eye level. Take special note just as the video ends. when he puts it in drive and the video stops, there is a fence directly to his right, like maybe 8 feet from his truck. You cannot see any of it. No light is escaping or being reflected over to the side, even with what appeared to be alot of glare in the above picture.

This video is of the truck coming back. You get to see the fence here. Take note of the cutoff of the lights on the fence even from a good distance.

And another one. Again, take note of the cutoff of the lights against surrounding objects.

The Verdict
Are they bright? Yes, very. Comparable to my HID's in color and brightness. 2 thumbs up.

Are they as focused as HID's? No, but they are close enough that had I not already bought my HID setup, I would be hard pressed to justify spending $2300 over $150.

Is there glare? Yes and no. As seen in the pics, there is reflective light in some places. As is evident in the videos, it is a very low amount and nothing near as what I have seen with drop in HID's and the like. And certainly not enough to worry about. And, as in the before and after alignment pictures, it can managed very effectively, but not to the extreme that HID Projectors can.

So yay or nay? If you are looking for a sharp cutoff and crisp white light, you cannot go wrong with OEM HID or retrofits, but it is going to cost. And in my opinion, still the best option with regards to performance.

If you are looking for the look of high end and not the cost but still want to be considerate to your fellow driver, I would HIGHLY recommend these LED's over any brand of drop ins I have ever run across, bar none. Be sure to use the aligning technique in the box, that is the key to getting the best output and reducing your glare to oncoming traffic.

I should add that the donor truck owner got to keep these lights. He loves them. He is going to let me know if he gets flashed at all. I will report back here but I do not anticipate him getting flashed.

I will be ordering another set of these for my daughters 2011 Kia Soul as well. I hope they perform as well as these did.

And as promised, yes I was wrong. I freely admit that there is no glare to these lights that would lead me, as a hater of drop ins, to crank up my high beams and 32" LED bar to teach said driver a lesson in proper lighting.

It is a good solid product and one that does what it says.

230748

Not as focused as HID? They are actually more focused than HID... what you may be referring to are HID/LED in PROJECTION housings, in which case... no they won't be as focused as a projection system. But they are definitely more focused then an HID when used in halogen housings, and you can adjust them (as you learned).

Out of the box they are lined up for most vehicles... with the Fords you need to turn them 180 degrees to align the beam properly... they are a universal kit don't forget so that's why you had to turn them... but as you saw, real easy to do.

Glad you like them. It's tough to get people to switch over because they've been burned so many times with crappy bulbs. Once they try these though, they usually love how they work.

RVerz

I was supposed to turn em? Mine are at 9 and 3 o'clock on my 16. I was supposed to adjust them?

Summers22

iTrader: (2)

They should be at 9/3 with the chrome cutoff shield on the bottom on the diode so it looks like the chrome cutoff shield has the diode sitting in it.

RVerz

I don't have a cutoff shield. We must be talking high/low combined units.