LED Headlight Review

[salans7]

No way I'd touch any of the high performing projector options, as they look absolutely awful.

I much prefer the Phillips and TruckLite reflectors, and will go with those when the time is right.

[Gary Lewis]

No way I'd touch any of the high performing projector options, as they look absolutely awful.

I much prefer the Phillips and TruckLite reflectors, and will go with those when the time is right.

That's where I am. But others value the better lighting of the projector versions. To each his own.

But, the main point in all of this is that there is junk and there are good options. Out of 16 candidates only 5 made the cut, and they are all expensive.

[Rusty_S85]

No way I'd touch any of the high performing projector options, as they look absolutely awful.

I much prefer the Phillips and TruckLite reflectors, and will go with those when the time is right.

That's where I am. But others value the better lighting of the projector versions. To each his own.

But, the main point in all of this is that there is junk and there are good options. Out of 16 candidates only 5 made the cut, and they are all expensive.

Yep I got some cheap LED flood lights that ended up being basically useless, my KC Apollo 6" 100w driving lights put more light out than those flood lights even up close. People dont understand just cause its LED doesnt mean it will be superior.

I buy those 5 SMD LED bulbs for my instrument illumination as they provide more uniform 360* illumination over what you typically buy at the local part store that is just one chip facing foward.

I do actually have a pair of 90W LED 1156 bulbs in my mercury for the cornering lights and those things are bright, put the headlights on and flip the right turnsignal on when the cornering light illuminates that 90W LED bulb lights up not just my front yard but part of the neighbors yard as well. This one uses 4 SMD chips under a projector lens facing head on and around the barrel of the bulb has 2 SMD on each "corner" for a total of 12 SMDs.

But with headlights you need something designed for LEDs as throwing an LED bulb in doesnt mean it will have the right pattern. Ive seen so many people do this and blind people if they have super bright LEDs or they are just dim to the point of being useless.

[salans7]

That's where I am. But others value the better lighting of the projector versions. To each his own.

But, the main point in all of this is that there is junk and there are good options. Out of 16 candidates only 5 made the cut, and they are all expensive.

I would much prefer a projector as their light pattern is usually top notch. But the projectors shown are just weird in appearance, and I'm confused on why there is a need for multiple lenses? Do the separate lenses serve separate functions (spot vs flood) to create the overall lighting pattern? Most vehicles I see with factory projector housings have one single lens and that works (and looks) fine.

 

[Rusty_S85]

That's where I am. But others value the better lighting of the projector versions. To each his own.

But, the main point in all of this is that there is junk and there are good options. Out of 16 candidates only 5 made the cut, and they are all expensive.

I would much prefer a projector as their light pattern is usually top notch. But the projectors shown are just weird in appearance, and I'm confused on why there is a need for multiple lenses? Do the separate lenses serve separate functions (spot vs flood) to create the overall lighting pattern? Most vehicles I see with factory projector housings have one single lens and that works (and looks) fine.

The multiple projectors is cause OE projectors dont use an LED bulb at least Ive yet to see one, they use a HID bulb. When it comes to LEDs you are limited on the count of diodes you can place with in a projector like wise many use mulitple projectors to help create a pattern. With a HID you still have a reflector you are just using the projector to help focus the light more but with a LED you dont have this reflector to create a pattern before the projector.

Personally I dont like the projector design I have always felt it looked weird on upgraded composite housings. The angel eyes/halos I thought were cool but they can look questionable on some older vehicles.

[Gsmblue]

No way I'd touch any of the high performing projector options, as they look absolutely awful.

I much prefer the Phillips and TruckLite reflectors, and will go with those when the time is right.

That's where I am. But others value the better lighting of the projector versions. To each his own.

But, the main point in all of this is that there is junk and there are good options. Out of 16 candidates only 5 made the cut, and they are all expensive.

Yep I got some cheap LED flood lights that ended up being basically useless, my KC Apollo 6" 100w driving lights put more light out than those flood lights even up close. People dont understand just cause its LED doesnt mean it will be superior.

I buy those 5 SMD LED bulbs for my instrument illumination as they provide more uniform 360* illumination over what you typically buy at the local part store that is just one chip facing foward.

I do actually have a pair of 90W LED 1156 bulbs in my mercury for the cornering lights and those things are bright, put the headlights on and flip the right turnsignal on when the cornering light illuminates that 90W LED bulb lights up not just my front yard but part of the neighbors yard as well. This one uses 4 SMD chips under a projector lens facing head on and around the barrel of the bulb has 2 SMD on each "corner" for a total of 12 SMDs.

But with headlights you need something designed for LEDs as throwing an LED bulb in doesnt mean it will have the right pattern. Ive seen so many people do this and blind people if they have super bright LEDs or they are just dim to the point of being useless.

Great video. I am happy with my halogen upgrade though.

[Machspeed]

Great video. I am happy with my halogen upgrade though.

Curious, what route did you go in the halogens?

[salans7]

The multiple projectors is cause OE projectors dont use an LED bulb at least Ive yet to see one, they use a HID bulb. When it comes to LEDs you are limited on the count of diodes you can place with in a projector like wise many use mulitple projectors to help create a pattern. With a HID you still have a reflector you are just using the projector to help focus the light more but with a LED you dont have this reflector to create a pattern before the projector.

Personally I dont like the projector design I have always felt it looked weird on upgraded composite housings. The angel eyes/halos I thought were cool but they can look questionable on some older vehicles.

Thanks, I guess I forgot about HIDs for a second while writing the post. Haha.

 

[Rusty_S85]

The multiple projectors is cause OE projectors dont use an LED bulb at least Ive yet to see one, they use a HID bulb. When it comes to LEDs you are limited on the count of diodes you can place with in a projector like wise many use mulitple projectors to help create a pattern. With a HID you still have a reflector you are just using the projector to help focus the light more but with a LED you dont have this reflector to create a pattern before the projector.

Personally I dont like the projector design I have always felt it looked weird on upgraded composite housings. The angel eyes/halos I thought were cool but they can look questionable on some older vehicles.

Thanks, I guess I forgot about HIDs for a second while writing the post. Haha.

Sure thing, most people forget about HIDs cause they are expensive to own. I dont know how many at work we convert back to regular Halogen bulbs cause the ballast goes bad so often and half the time you cant buy that specific ballast cause people buy the cheapest ebay units offered. I personally thought of going with HID on my truck but I have this haze that keeps forming on my composite Hella housings and I dont know if the problem has since been corrected since I got mine some 8 years ago or not.

For example this is the first set of Hella ECE composite housings I got they looked like this out of the box with this haze on the inside of the glass.

This is the set I got a few months later to replace them and you can see there is no haze out of the box but these lights today some 5 years later (this photo was taken April 12, 2016) the haze is just like on the ones above. I dont see how it can be getting this haze on the inside its a film of some kind I know but it has a rubber dust boot that fits tight enough that should prevent any kind of moisture and if it was moisture it should evaporate with the heat of the bulb but it doesnt which tells me its not moisture based but some kind of film.

I love these headlights they put out amazing light and look great with the cut glass, the haze how ever I found out cuts down on light output, when i switched from the first set I had with the haze to the second set without the haze out of the box it was like day and night. I just dont know if I want to have to spend $80 every 5 years to swap these housings out if they are going to haze up like this. Hopefully Hella has fixed what ever is causing this issue by now. I saw some people leaving reviews about this haze issue around the time I bought mine but no more since then but that doesnt tell me much though.

If they could make a LED headlight that has a cut class reflector like these have I would so switch to them, I just dont like the clear look it looks out of place on older vehicles in my book.

[FuzzFace2]

Great video. I am happy with my halogen upgrade though.

Curious, what route did you go in the halogens?

I had to replace a head light bulb on my truck and being they should be replaced in pairs I did so.

I went from Wagner's halogen sealed bulbs to Sylvania halogen sealed bulbs.

The Wagner's were a whiter light and the beam was a little more centered and farther down the road than the Sylvania's.

I also ran relays with both sets of lights so apples to apples.

I have used a name brand high end light with the bulb in from the back side in my 86 Blazer and on low beam could not tell they were on most of the time. high beam they were better than the factory sealed beams, cant remember now if the factory were halogens or not?

I will not go with that type of bulb again if I can help it.

Dave ----