DailyDrive

Funny, I still have my stock factory bulbs in the headlights. Haven't burned out since 1999.

Plenty of 2014 vehicles still have halogen bulbs all around. They are pretty effecient even when comparing to LEDs. And in a non-electric vehicle power is almost free, so it's doesn't make much sense. Halogen head and tail lights also warm up the housings. They don't let snow to build up on it.

SHAWNB

Very good point daily drive about the warming affect for snow issues

reaj

iTrader: (6)

Can't wait to try the LEDs on my to buy list for sure!

DailyDrive

LEDs don't throw any forward heat. Practically none. So headlight will be blocked any time it snows. Even the electric Tesla uses HID headlights, probably for this very reason. An electric vehicle consumer 20,000+ watts to drive 55mph. 50w saved for LEDs won't make a difference.

They had this problem with traffic lights that were converted to LEDs also.

reaj

iTrader: (6)

That doesn't bother me too much considering I get snow half of the year, I swap them anyways now between halogen and HIDs. Plus the price difference is worth of not constantly buying HIDs blubs, they burn out so quick with convenience set-up of the Python 594. Like the idea of the blubs lasting longer.

Robb235

Good thing I don't get snow.

Sent from my iPhone using YotaTech

Texas_Ace

This is not a problem for some of us that see snow maybe one day a year lol.

The shear idea of headlights being blocked by snow is quite funny, just like the thought of rust eating through an entire frame/car.

reaj

iTrader: (6)

Haha I wish it snowed maybe once a year here! since it's so dry (humidity) in colorado frame rust is usually minimal my 96 is still rust free thank god! And who can't brush the snow off their headlights not too worried about it, rarely do we get ice storms here.

MistaMota

this may be a silly question. but do these LED light bulbs do high/low?? or is it just on and off??

SHAWNB

Mistamota

yes these are high/low headlights just like stock.

pdyebrasil

Ok... So I hate to rain on everyone's parade, but let me bring up a few issues, just for education's sake. Please don't take this as a personal attack, but I have a good amount of knowledge and experience in the lighting area.

1) Glare. You are still putting a light source into your stock housings that they were not designed for. You WILL have glare, just like throwing any HID kit into a stock housing. Light Optics are extremely sensitive to placement and other properties. A proper HID projector retrofit is still the best option out there.

Just look at cars that come with LED light from the factory. Generally each LED in the headlight has it's own projector and lens. You never see OEM LED headlights designed with reflector housings. (Acura MDX, Escalade, etc...)

2) Output. A good OEM D2S HID bulb (4300k) will put out 3,200 lumens @ 35W. For both lights that's 6,400 lumens, compared to 3,700 for yours. I definitely find LEDs intriguing, and I have converted ALL of my exterior lights on both of my cars to LEDs, EXCEPT the headlights and fog lights.

This is most evident in the width of your output picture. Your output is rather narrow compared to a good HID projector.




3) Longevity. CREE LEDs are some of the best, and have very good longevity... under the right conditions. CREE only makes the LEDs, not the rest of your kit. Just looking right now at your pic I can tell that the heatsinks on your lights are much too small to dissipate the heat produced from a high-power LED properly (even with the fans). Heat is the #1 enemy to LEDs, and will cause them to fail MUCH sooner than advertised. Anyone who has messed around with Plug 'n Play LED bulbs can attest that they fail at a pretty high rate.

HID kits have a pretty high failure rate as well. Getting OEM parts is the key. There are one or two manufacturers that do make quality aftermarket HID parts, but they are a bit more expensive of course.

4) LEDs are the new fad. Yes, I agree that "LEDs are in". I love LEDs and how manufacturers are using them to make new lighting designs and such. I disagree that HIDs are out though. I mean, even halogen headlights aren't out! The vast majority of new cars today come with halogens, with HIDs as an option. LED lighting (for headlights) is still very much in its infancy, and only available on a very small percentage of cars.

HID lights still outperform LED headlights in most regards, ESPECIALLY for aftermarket replacement.

Robb235

I know this is going to come off as abrasive, but let me get this right... You've never tried this LED kit, yet you're telling someone who has the kit (and compared it against HIDs), that it's essentially deficient and not as good? No offense, but it seems to me like you fall into the "It works in practice, but does it work in theory?" camp.

1.) Glare - you stated that by putting in this LED H4 bulb into the headlight, that the reflectors, ect. aren't designed for it. But it's my understanding that it's the other way around. This bulb is designed to work for the headlights that use H4 halogen bulbs. The LEDs are staggered like the H4 halogen filaments are. I don't think this is the equivalent of just ramming an HID capsule into a reflective housing (which scatters like hell).

2.) Output - Typical H4 bulbs put out around 1100 - 1500LM. These put out 1800LM, and have a better color IMO.

3.) Longevity - I think your arguments are all speculative at best. Have you actually felt how warm these get? I'll pick up a set and shoot it with my temperature gun and see.

janagyjr

Hi all, don't mind me, just an electrician weighing in on the LED heat output:

The other poster is absolutely correct on the heat dissipation issue. While the LEDs themselves will last the stated hours, the housing kit is generally made by someone else with no idea how much heat high-intensity LEDs put out (which is quite significant). I have done the research (links not handy at the moment, but they are out on the Internet) that addresses this issue and the conclusion was that the typical housing for residential use LED bulbs causes the LEDs to fail in half (or less) of the rated time because of improper heat dissipation.

I will say I've not done the research for car LED kits, though I would hope given the chance for slightly more room for heat dissipation apparatus, it shouldn't be that much of an issue especially on the higher end kits.

Of course I could be wrong.

As for light beam width, I'm sure the LEDs, properly arrayed, would do better than my sealed-beam headlights.

pdyebrasil

You are correct, I have not tried out this particular kit. I am going off of the many hours of research I have done myself, PLUS all of the real-world experience I have. I have messed with many types of halogen, HID, and LED bulbs made for cars. I've made my own LED arrays for my 4Runner and other vehicles. I've had many fail; be it someone else's design or my own. That's what I'm basing my argument off of, if only to just present an alternate opinion to the readers of this forum. Plus, he posted output shots which at least show us the beam pattern of his kit.

You are giving the makers of these kits too much credit. They grab whatever parts will FIT into the headlight that will somewhat "work". Same goes for HID bulbs. No reputable bulb manufacturer (Osram, Philips, Sylvania, etc...) makes an H4 HID bulb, or an H4 LED bulb. Only no-name aftermarket parts companies do. Mostly in China. An H4 bulb is a HALOGEN bulb designation. Period. In this case, some company took some decent CREE LEDs and made an H4 bulb with them. LED light and incandescent light properties are HUGELY different, and will thus react differently in the same housing.

These may be brighter than some halogen bulbs, sure. They're probably also brighter than someones 10,000K HIDs as well. Heck, even though the LED bulbs the OP has are only rated at 1,800 lumens they may work better in the light housings than his HID kit did because the light isn't as scattered? Who knows. My point was that a proper HID projector retrofit is still MUCH better output wise.

Once again, from my prior research and from actually building my own LED arrays, high-power LEDs like these need fairly large heatsinks in order to last their rated lifetimes. They also need to have a very specific amount of power allocated to them (proper use of resistors and such). In my experience most of these kits overpower the LEDs in order to make them brighter, which in turn decreases the life expectancy.

pdyebrasil

That's exactly why I have generally avoided using high-power LEDs in my cars. I do, however, use them in my turn signals because they are generally only flashed on and off for less than a minute at a time. I wouldn't use them in an application where they were on steadily for more than that.

The beauty of LEDs is that you can pretty much make whatever light pattern you want. You just need enough individual LEDs and proper optics (lenses) for each LED to make up that "part" of the whole beam. It's just not possible to do with a drop-in kit into a halogen reflector housing.

Texas_Ace

There are points on both sides.

The LED's DO have heat sink issues. Anyone that has even used a high powered LED flashlight for an extended period can tell you that they get hot. Not nearly as hot as Incandescent of course but still hot enough to be uncomfortable to hold.

The glare argument has some water and unless the OP gets a shot on a wall it will never end. I will say from the shots he posted it doesn't look that much worse then standard halogen glare. Nothing comes close to a real projector setup for cutoff and anti-glare obviously.

I love HID's but I have held off on converting for the simple reason that the high beams suck on 99% of them. In Texas high beams are super important for seeing dear in the road ECT. The HID's always seem to peter out long before even standard bulbs when it comes to distance.

Thats why I like the LED's, it looks like the high beams may actually work better then standard bulbs along with the better color ect.

Robb235

Found these on Southeast Overland. Looks like these go up to 2600LM, but for almost double the price ($150).

http://www.southeastoverland.com/ind...=114&Itemid=33

Sent from my iPhone using YotaTech

pdyebrasil

I definitely see what you're saying here. It especially holds true for HID kits thrown into a halogen headlight. Even with HID projectors you might not get a "great" high beam. The key would be to find a projector designed with a "hot spot" in the high beam.

Not sure which would be best, but I know that both of my vehicles with projector retrofits have a much better high beam than they did stock with the factory halogen. Of course here in Utah the terrain is quite a bit different than Texas, but we also have to deal with the deer everywhere, and I feel much safer with my setup.

I'm using the Porsche projectors (same as Murano, 350Z) in my 4Runner, and the FX-R 3.0 in my 300. The Porsche's are a good deal wider, so you can see of to the side of the road more, but the FX-Rs have a much more focused and brighter high-beam.

Here's a comparison on the FX-R:


I'm not sure how LEDs would perform compared to HID, but I'm sure with the right lenses/optics you could get the light to be properly focused so that it "penetrates" further.

Texas_Ace

That FX-r high beam is better then some I have seen but still not sure how far it would penetrate in the real world.

Around here it is flat roads for miles so the longer the range the better. Thats why I have the extra lights on my grill guard aimed so I can see basically as far as you want. The problem is they are a pain to use if anything else is around since I have to manually flip the switches anytime someone else is in sight.

MistaMota

Hey shawnb did you replace your stock lenses too?