So, I'm doing a little study on LED headlights
09-14-2014, 02:43 AM
#31
Senior Member
The question to be asked and answered is...what is objective to bulb changes?
If its to see clearer brighter and farther then HIDs are clearly the choice.
LEDs do not yet come close to the HIDs for performance lighting.
If you want super bright light right in front of you to make your truck look like something from star trek then the LEDs will certainly fill that need.
If you have stock non-HID housings and are looking for a good bulb that will provide good clean lighting both distance and side to side my recommendation is a PIAA Extreme Plus...about $90 a set and gives good clean light.
I personally do not like LED lights, seems everyone has their own do-it-yourself LED retro kit going on and most of them are burning the retinas off most motorists on the highways at night.
If its to see clearer brighter and farther then HIDs are clearly the choice.
LEDs do not yet come close to the HIDs for performance lighting.
If you want super bright light right in front of you to make your truck look like something from star trek then the LEDs will certainly fill that need.
If you have stock non-HID housings and are looking for a good bulb that will provide good clean lighting both distance and side to side my recommendation is a PIAA Extreme Plus...about $90 a set and gives good clean light.
I personally do not like LED lights, seems everyone has their own do-it-yourself LED retro kit going on and most of them are burning the retinas off most motorists on the highways at night.
Its also amazing how it seems to be ok to put led bulbs into halogen housings but if it was hid's, people would be vilified.
09-14-2014, 09:21 AM
#32
Chive So Hard
Thread Starter
Maybe this will clear up the tension in here a little bit. I bought this kit because they are a new product on the market and not much has been known about them nor has anybody actually gotten around to testing them. I have found myself to prefer these as opposed to HIDs because they don't scatter near as much. My original plan was to put these into a projector but because they are the wrong size bulb. What I'm finding out about these as they are not a competitive alternative to an HID in a projector but rather a viable, longer lasting replacement to halogen. The ups are that these are far brighter than a halogen and don't cause near as much scatter. The cool thing about LED is that the light can be focused from the source of light unlike a halogen or LED. A simple understanding of how light reflects in a concave area will show you that these are a lot safer to oncoming drivers than you might think. Before I took the truck out on the road, I had friends get in their cars and face opposing me as if they were oncoming traffic and I had them let me know if these were too much in their face. A simple tweak of the beam aim and they were golden. I really hope this clears it up for the HID fan boys in the room and helps others keep an open mind.
The following 2 users liked this post by KCCOFox:
06BigRed (09-16-2014),
Jared Hall (09-15-2014)
09-20-2014, 12:28 PM
#33
Maybe this will clear up the tension in here a little bit. I bought this kit because they are a new product on the market and not much has been known about them nor has anybody actually gotten around to testing them. I have found myself to prefer these as opposed to HIDs because they don't scatter near as much. My original plan was to put these into a projector but because they are the wrong size bulb. What I'm finding out about these as they are not a competitive alternative to an HID in a projector but rather a viable, longer lasting replacement to halogen. The ups are that these are far brighter than a halogen and don't cause near as much scatter. The cool thing about LED is that the light can be focused from the source of light unlike a halogen or LED. A simple understanding of how light reflects in a concave area will show you that these are a lot safer to oncoming drivers than you might think. Before I took the truck out on the road, I had friends get in their cars and face opposing me as if they were oncoming traffic and I had them let me know if these were too much in their face. A simple tweak of the beam aim and they were golden. I really hope this clears it up for the HID fan boys in the room and helps others keep an open mind.
I'd still like to see some pics against a wall at night, about 20ft back, just to see what the cutoff and pattern looks like. If these are brighter than halogens but at the same time are NOT creating excessive glare like HID's in a halogen lamp do, then I'm pretty much sold on them. That would mean they would have to be brighter than halogens but dimmer than HIDs+halogen lamps.
The pic you posted looks great, but the beam does seem too high in the middle...(do they need to be aimed down more, or is that uncorrectable glare)?
Also, I'm guessing that would suck if the fan on those things failed.
Not to get too OT, but if we're talking halogens, the Philips Crystal Vision Ultra gives the exact same performance as the PIAA's but for 1/4 the price. I have owned both. And after 1 year when those types of bulbs have worn thin and lost most of their initial brightness, $22 for replacements sure beats $90.
Last edited by johndog82; 09-20-2014 at 12:42 PM.
09-22-2014, 04:00 PM
#34
Chive So Hard
Thread Starter
They do need to be aimed down a bit more. I also had my fogs on in that pic and they are Genssi LED cubes so they do produce a wide flood of light.
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DJ SS (09-23-2014)
10-01-2014, 11:33 AM
#38
To my eye the cutoff in that pic looks just like the halogen cutoff. Not sharper, not duller. But I'm not complaining! I may have to get a pair. Can you give a link to the bulbs you purchased? And do they have these in 4300 or 5000k? If they only have 6k that would be disappointing ..
Last edited by johndog82; 10-01-2014 at 11:48 AM.
10-01-2014, 03:29 PM
#39
Chive So Hard
Thread Starter
Mine are a 5k and I wouldnt change that for anything in the world. Heres the link
10-01-2014, 04:49 PM
#40
Mine are a 5k and I wouldnt change that for anything in the world. Heres the link
Video Link: http://www.amazon.com/PlasmaGlow-H13-LED-Igniters-Headlight-Conversion/dp/B00KNTQ8JU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1412191757&sr=8-1&keywords=plasmaglow+h13
Video Link: http://www.amazon.com/PlasmaGlow-H13-LED-Igniters-Headlight-Conversion/dp/B00KNTQ8JU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1412191757&sr=8-1&keywords=plasmaglow+h13
And are yours pure white or is there some blue in it? some reviewers are saying they have a bit of blue despite the advertised 5k rating.
Last edited by johndog82; 10-01-2014 at 04:52 PM.