Tired of Dim Headlights?

[amcordo]

Check out what I found! Saw them on a national guard truck...

http://www.levineautoparts.com/ledheadlight4.html

[crankin]

I am going to have to disagree with you on this one. There is NO way that LED headlights will help you get girls. Can you imagine telling a girl that you have 12v LED Headlamps? Would never happen…NERD!

[greenmeanie]

The one thing they don't tell you is how many lumens these thing generate. Brighter and whiter is quite subjective unless you have actual numbers to back it up. If you want a laugh do a google search on headlamp replacement bulbs and find out how many of them actually are brighter.

For that kind of money I'd want something that causes vampires to burst into flames at at 1000yards.

[amcordo]

The one thing they don't tell you is how many lumens these thing generate. Brighter and whiter is quite subjective unless you have actual numbers to back it up. If you want a laugh do a google search on headlamp replacement bulbs and find out how many of them actually are brighter.

For that kind of money I'd want something that causes vampires to burst into flames at at 1000yards.


+1 on vampires or at least built-in laser blasters. I've no idea about lumens, Foot-Lambert, etc stats, but I can tell you they were pretty darned bright when I saw them in use and they do meet current DOT requirements so they probably something similar to a halogen at 50 watts. Here's a youtube video that in no way answers those questions, and also makes me chuckle (it's a hard-core jeep offroading video) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOKCEGeBp64&feature=related



If I get pink 12v leds the girls will swoon.

[yorker]

Wow- LEDs have really come a long ways. And I thought Fenix flashlights were cool...

[cscutt]

I have used both the 12v and 24v led light systems on my MRAP vehicles. they are comperable to the blue color headlights you see on new cars. both systems are very good but will have to be adjusted in order to be used on the highway...they are not street legal. on my route clearing vehicle i have the 20 light package which is putting out approx 7 million candles...gotta see those ied's and efp's before they can send you to heaven to recieve your 40 goats...all the virgins are gone. the headlights are available in different sizes as well as intensity and are very spendy to say the least. if you want some, get ahold of someone in Iraq and they probably can hook you up. i have had soo many of them that we used them to light up walkways, rooms, offices, etc..etc. most of them get tossed into the dump and it does not matter if they are still in the box. here in good old america, the public has absolutely no clue as to how much the military wastes, and frankly they do not want to know anyway or do not care. ..i am now off of the soap box

[amcordo]

Maybe a different type? These are street legal - they've got a DOT certification number. Either way, great to hear the feedback. Now if only I had $600 sitting around that wasn't already tagged to fix other issues on the vehicle...

[msggunny]

I have a set of those but they are for a 24v setup.

I was thinking about trying to "step up" my voltage some how to run them, but i gave up.

Still have them, pm me if anyone wants them. For a small finders fee of course.

[amcordo]

I have a set of those but they are for a 24v setup.

I was thinking about trying to "step up" my voltage some how to run them, but i gave up.

Still have them, pm me if anyone wants them. For a small finders fee of course.


PM sent.

[Tim Smith]

Very interesting. Levine Auto is my local supply shop. I might just have to try one out and do a product review.

As if I had that much time or money...

[adkrover]

I have a new LED flashlight from Streamlight that I take hunting because of the long hour life on the battery. According to the spec it is just as bright as my traditional halogen Streamlight but last fall I found myself out past dark on a long trail and I was really wishing I had my halogen with me. Up close, LED is very bright and almost blinding but at a distance, there isn't much illumination. Just me opinion on LED flashlights.

[cscutt]

I have a new LED flashlight from Streamlight that I take hunting because of the long hour life on the battery. According to the spec it is just as bright as my traditional halogen Streamlight but last fall I found myself out past dark on a long trail and I was really wishing I had my halogen with me. Up close, LED is very bright and almost blinding but at a distance, there isn't much illumination. Just me opinion on LED flashlights.
Much of the intensity of the beam has to do with how the way the cone reflects the light and of course the type of reflective surface it is bouncing off of. the lumen intensity is also a key player. i use a surefire hellfighter light on one of my route clearing trucks and it runs off of two batteries the size of a small cigar box. this light puts out about 500 lumens but what makes it such a crowd pleaser is how the light is focused on an object and this is due to the reflective properties of the silver liner in the cone. the same is true for the smaller hand held / weapon mounted lights..it is by far head and shoulders above a bulb using nichrome wire and unfortunately you will have to dig into your pocket for lots o cash

[kidrover86]

I've been doing lots of research lately on 7'' round headlight replacements for my jeep but it should crossover here. Everything I've heard about these DOT approved led headlights is that they are nice close range driving lights but don't cast far, their high beams left something to be desired. They also run very cool which normally would be good, but I've been told in cold climates they ice up more than halogens. So far the best option I've found is the e-code hella reflector. The beam pattern is comparable to the cibies that daniel stern imports but at $35 are about half the price. Part number HL79562

[KevinNY]

Cheapest way to better lights is to add a relay harness with new wires and just use the old wires as the signal wire for the relays. Full voltage to a set of halogens, whether Hella H4 replacement lamps or E codes is miles ahead of the originals.

[jac04]

^^You would think so, and running a relay setup for the headlights is definitely a good idea. However, I have compared real world headlight output from stock headlight wiring to 'direct to battery' wiring and noticed no significant difference. Tried it on a 63 and 69 as well as a 2005 Subaru WRX. I ended up with Hella e-codes on all my Rovers and a factory HID setup on the WRX. I have e-codes on my Lightweight and I have been researching HID retrofit options.

If you don't mind the goofy look, HID projectors are the way to go.

[KevinNY]

You might not see the difference with "stock replacement wiring" but I think you would with "40 year old corroded factory original wiring and a knackered switch".:thumb-up:

[amcordo]

^^You would think so, and running a relay setup for the headlights is definitely a good idea. However, I have compared real world headlight output from stock headlight wiring to 'direct to battery' wiring and noticed no significant difference. Tried it on a 63 and 69 as well as a 2005 Subaru WRX. I ended up with Hella e-codes on all my Rovers and a factory HID setup on the WRX. I have e-codes on my Lightweight and I have been researching HID retrofit options.

If you don't mind the goofy look, HID projectors are the way to go.


I'd agree with the HID being the best in terms of light. I've installed these on my past three vehicles and they're by far better than halogen. Downside being that they're slightly more expensive, use a ton of startup power, and in applications like our land rovers you'll have to shell out big bucks to get an HID lamp that has an integrated halogen hi-beam. HID don't get to full intensity right away, and you should never switch them on and off repeatedly without letting them cool down or you'll kill them quickly - that's why they don't use them in high beam applications.

[greenmeanie]

Some interesting reading about headlight replacement bulbs.
Link (http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=36717)

Another link explaining the basic rule of volts to lumens. It doesn't matter how you do it but a feeder drop of only 1V has a significant impact. Without a light meter to measure lumens most 'comparisons' are pretty useless.
Link (http://madelectrical.com/electricaltech/brighter-headlights.shtml)

[kidrover86]

I'm gonna apologize ahead of time for the length, but I've spent alot of time on this recently...

Just to share my experience with HID's... HID's definitely have superior light output to halogens but I don't think they'd work great on series rovers. While companies offer kits, converting HID bulbs into a reflector housing is very dangerous to other drivers. The bulb is a different shape and is designed to emit light out, not reflected back. There will be significant hot and cool spots and glare in all directions ie at oncoming traffic, even if aimed down. I did this to a set of fog lights and while brighter, was unimpressed with the actual quality of the light output. HID's require projector lenses and, in my opinion, these would look silly on a rover (but thats me).

As far as the hi/lo beam, there are usually two kinds, a low beam hid with a separate halogen hi beam, or a single bixenon projector. Bixenon's use a single bulb with a solenoid that lifts and lowers a flap or guard over the lens. Low beam the guard is down creating a sharp horizontal cutoff, high beam the guard is up allowing all the light to pour through (very bright). In bixenons the bulb never turns on and off, it's just the guard moving. Hope that helps.

As far as retrofitting a projector into a 7'' round reflector, I'm all over it for my jeep haha. If anyone has questions let me know. I'm using e55 bixenon projectors with probably 5k bulbs. It's a lengthy process that requires attention to detail to make sure you get the beam pattern level and everything generally "clean" looking. Here is an example for reference:

http://www.forthehuynh.com/Jeep/HID/E55/IMG_5034.jpg

The only aftermarket projector I've seen is one that was designed for Hummers, but would work fine on a rover. These run about $600 and make the front look like a transformer. I think there was one for motorcycles too but they were equally outrageous in price.

[jac04]

There is a lot of really neat stuff at http://www.rallylights.com/
I've purchased a bunch of stuff from them.

[brucejohn]

I installed the Hella's our hosts offer (RN# RNC673) and have been very happy. I big improvement over whatever the PO had. I do have relays, though they haven't hit high enough on my to do list to install.

[TeriAnn]

Cheapest way to better lights is to add a relay harness with new wires and just use the old wires as the signal wire for the relays.

A few years back I started off doing the exact same thing. And I added a set of IPF headlights with a VERY sharp low beam cutoff and put in a pair of bulbs that are 90W low beam & 140W high beam. When I hit the highs I can see just about forever so I dip down to lows when an oncoming vehicle is very far away. The low beams are also very bright but the sharp cutoff keeps them from blinding oncoming traffic. I never been flashed by oncoming traffic with the 90W low beams and below the cutoff I can see better than I used to be able to with high beams. When I pull up behind a car at a stop I make a point of stopping just before my low beam cutoff climbs as high as their rear window.

Relays, IPF headlamps with high wattage bulbs left me a happier safer driver with less dazzle to oncoming cars than my old standard halogen lights.


http://www.britishpacific.com/BPSite/landroverparts/offrd_pictures/IPF_H4.jpg

[uralrover]

Well I found them (LED's) sorely inadiquate in my vehicle in Iraq. I had them in aHummer and a Defender 110 and ended up getting rid of them for conventional bulbs. They are bright but at a shorter range then a regular bulb. Because of this I have instead started looking at doing a HID conversion for my series in order to actually see the road. I let you know how that turns out...