LED headlight recommendations?

yubert · Jul 2, 2017

I want to replace my headlights (H4/9003) with LED bulbs. I saw a variety of LEDs on Amazon, ranging from 7,200 to 12,000 lumens, for the pair. My experience with LED bulbs is some brands burn out quickly, and others are not as bright as advertised.

So just wondering if anyone has used LED headlights and would they recommend them?

squirt · Jul 2, 2017

Recommendation? Don't.

You'll spend big money to get headlights that are bright (safe) enough for on-road use. Sellers' claims about brightness will be difficult to substantiate, and can be all over the map.

If you want brighter lights, create harness with heavier gauge wire and dedicated relays for your existing bulbs. The factory wiring is somewhat limiting.

gimebakmybulits · Jul 2, 2017

Not LED's but a nice improvement for not a lot of money.
http://store.candlepower.com/64205.html

4Runner · Jul 2, 2017

Cyclops LED bulbs are what you want. DOT compliant, crazy bright, never had a complaint from oncoming traffic. Been running them for 1.5yrs. Didn't do the harness rewrite trick because they are only 35 watts each. I have picts of the beam patterns of one night vision halogen and one Cyclops if you want to see the difference.

yubert · Jul 3, 2017

4Runner said:
Cyclops LED bulbs are what you want. DOT compliant, crazy bright, never had a complaint from oncoming traffic. Been running them for 1.5yrs. Didn't do the harness rewrite trick because they are only 35 watts each. I have picts of the beam patterns of one night vision halogen and one Cyclops if you want to see the difference.

Is this the LED bulbs you're using? I might get the 7000 lumens at 50 watts. Does that mean I'd need to do the harness rewire trick?

https://www.cyclopsadventuresports.com/3800-Lumen-H4-LED-Headlight-bulb-_p_83.html

And yes, I'd like to see the beam pattern of the halogen vs. the Cyclops. Thanks!

--Yubert

4Runner · Jul 3, 2017

If you are doing 50watt bulbs then I would do the wiring upgrade. I am not near home for a few days and can't remember exactly which ones I ordered. I will let you know. The first picture is low beams. Halogen is on the left. The second picture is high beams. Third picture is the boot trimmed to fit the bulb for my Rangie. Don't have pictures of the disco lamps.

p m · Jul 6, 2017

I would hate to meet a vehicle with low-beam pattern like this.

Blue · Jul 7, 2017

p m said:
I would hate to meet a vehicle with low-beam pattern like this.

I was thinking the same thing. The low beams actually reach higher than the high beams.

ERover82 · Jul 7, 2017

There are no LED/HID H4 lights that are road legal or effective. Headlamp reflector and lens are designed around very specific filament placement, which other bulb types cannot even come close to matching. The only way to legally switch to LED/HID is to replace the entire headlamp housing. It's a waste of time though really. Get some +100% halogen bulbs and harness upgrade. Legal, cheap, effective.

p m · Jul 7, 2017

Many (or most or all) lamp manufacturers use a simple trick to increase brightness temperature of incandescent bulbs (halogen included) - make the filament thinner and shorter. The result is indeed brighter light; Sylvania Silverstar bulbs definitely beat regular ones.

The downside is noticeably shorter life and poor vibration resistance. I have not yet tried the King Kongs of halogens - IPF lights sold by Expedition Exchange. On paper, they should be stellar if not necessarily cheap.

ERover82 · Jul 7, 2017

The "trick" employed by the best bulbs is infrared reflectance.

p m · Jul 7, 2017

ERover82 said:
The "trick" employed by the best bulbs is infrared reflectance.

Not only - throw in thicker quartz glass and a lot more xenon than in regular bulbs.

BTW, what happened to your username?

4Runner · Jul 7, 2017

Ok. I stand corrected. I guess there are people that complain about my headlights. lol.

yubert · Jul 15, 2017

p m said:
Many (or most or all) lamp manufacturers use a simple trick to increase brightness temperature of incandescent bulbs (halogen included) - make the filament thinner and shorter. The result is indeed brighter light; Sylvania Silverstar bulbs definitely beat regular ones.

The downside is noticeably shorter life and poor vibration resistance. I have not yet tried the King Kongs of halogens - IPF lights sold by Expedition Exchange. On paper, they should be stellar if not necessarily cheap.

Maybe the thinner filament explains why the Sylvania Silverstar Ultra bulbs I had didn't last very long. I burned thru 2 sets in 5 years. It could also be because I drove on a lot of washboard roads in Death Valley. One time, a week after coming back from Death Valley, a policeman pulled me over because the my brake/tail lights weren't working. Turns out the filaments on 8 of the bulbs ere broken! Fortunately the police let me go with a warning.

yubert · Jul 15, 2017

Thanks for the comments and suggestions everyone. I decided to give LEDs a shot and got a pair of Auxbeams because they were on sale last weekend for $41.40. Figured if they didn't work, I wasn't out a lot of $$.

https://www.auxbeam.com/headlight-bulbs/H4/88621849

Installed them yesterday and tested them last night on busy streets as well as dark alleys and unlit streets. So far, no one as high-beamed me. They're not as bright as the HID's on my LR3 but both low and high are a big improvement over the halogens.

I'm concerned the desert dust may damage the fans, only time will tell how durable they'll be. They come with a 1-year warranty. BTW, didn't need the Canbus driver.

ERover82 · Jul 17, 2017

Air horns are cheap too. You should blast one off in the evening, and if no one complains, that's your approval to continue indefinitely.

p m · Jul 17, 2017

yubert said:
Maybe the thinner filament explains why the Sylvania Silverstar Ultra bulbs I had didn't last very long. I burned thru 2 sets in 5 years. It could also be because I drove on a lot of washboard roads in Death Valley. One time, a week after coming back from Death Valley, a policeman pulled me over because the my brake/tail lights weren't working. Turns out the filaments on 8 of the bulbs ere broken! Fortunately the police let me go with a warning.

Yeah, washboard will kill your lights in a hurry. One of the worst to go is the 21W brake bulb in the taillights - on one of my trucks, I replaced nearly all bulbs with LED bulbs. Talk about a vast improvement.
Same experience with Silverstar bulbs. I like the light, pattern, and color temperature - but it gets old quick.

ERover82 · Jul 17, 2017

https://www.amazon.com/Philips-X-treme-Vision-Headlight-Bulbs/dp/B00QJWUPC6

Use these and don't look back. Friends don't let friends retrofit LEDs into halogen engineered lamps.

p m · Jul 17, 2017

Thanks Eric, will give them a try.

yubert · Jul 17, 2017

ERover82 said:
Air horns are cheap too. You should blast one off in the evening, and if no one complains, that's your approval to continue indefinitely.

Do you have recommendations for air horns? I'm thinking that'll be useful if someone complains about my LED headlights.

LED headlight recommendations?

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