Coco gets a set of Trucklite LED headlights

[Dusty]

Some of you are familiar with "Coco", my wife's rig. I've been slowly converting all of the lighting on it over to LED, and had been wanting to do the headlights too. LED headlights are so damned expensive though! So normally the cost would keep me away from them altogether, but Trucklite just released the latest version of their LED headlight. And we just happen to be an OE distributor of Trucklite products at the place where I work, so I was able to get a pair at a relatively low(er) price. So I thought I'd take a pair of them home to see if they would fit in the Bronco, and to compare them to the light thrown by my old school halogens. I thought some of you might find this interesting so I took some photos...

The Trucklite is designed to be a direct replacement for the regular round H4 bulb. Dimensionally its exactly the same...



Same overall dims on the back too but the aluminum housing of the Trucklite is pretty impressive.



Same 3-blade H4 connection, although the Trucklite's is on the end of a pigtail.

 

[Dusty]

Most of you have replaced headlights before, its a pretty simple process. But as long as I had the camera out...

All you need is a phillips screwdriver. The trim ring comes off with 3 screws...



Then the retainer ring, with three more screws...





Some of the retainer rings are slotted like this. If you have these you don't even have to remove the screws, just loosen them a bit, rotate the ring slightly and pull it off. For some reason I had one of each kind.



With the retainer off the bulb simply falls right out of the bucket.



Unplug the wiring harness from the back of the bulb. If you don't have enough slack in your harness it may be easier to pop the hood and unplug it from behind.

 

[Dusty]

Installing the Trucklite is pretty much just the reverse process. Plug the Trucklite's pigtail right into the harness connector.



Place the Trucklite into the bucket.



Like the H4 bulb, the Trucklite has small protrusions to index into the slots on the Bronco's headlight bucket so you align them correctly.



Reinstall the retainer ring.



Don't mess with the headlamp adjuster screws unless you need to adjust the aim. I'm showing them here just for clarification. If after installing the Trucklites you need to adjust the beam a little lower to keep from blinding oncoming drivers, here's where you do that.



Reinstall the trim ring.



All done. Here's a visual comparison between the halogen and the Trucklite:





Light comparisons next...

 

[Dusty]

How about some light comparisons.

Low beam halogens:



Low beam Trucklites:



High beam halogens:



High beam Trucklites:



Low beam halogens:



Low Beam Trucklites:



High beam halogens:



High beam Trucklites:

 

[drajj5]

dusty, Looks good but I think that you put your steel beauty ring on wrong on the driverside. I think that the FAT part of the ring goes to the outside.
corect me if I am wrong.

Great write up!!!!

 

[Dusty]

My LED marker lights and taillights (still need to convert the license plate lamp):



Here they are installed. I think they look kinda cool.







My overall impressions is that they are very high quality. The lamp feels heavy and well built. I'm not so sure how well the polycarbonate lens will resist scratching. The light quality is excellent, powerful and with a much better beam pattern. I like the crisp white light versus the dull yellow glow of the halogens. The big question though is are they worth the money. In my opinion probably not. That is, not for your average Bronco guy, at regular retail price for these (about $600 for a pair). But I didn't pay that much for them so I think I'm going to keep them!

 

[malonejy]

Looks like a great upgrade Dusty!

 

[Dusty]

dusty, Looks good but I think that you put your steel beauty ring on wrong on the driverside. I think that the FAT part of the ring goes to the outside.
corect me if I am wrong.

Great write up!!!!

Does my Bronco look like I care about the beauty ring? LOL

Thanks! I thought it might come in handy in case anyone else is considering these.

 

[xcntrk]

Wow what a difference, looks awesome! Too bad those little suckers cost so much!

 

[J-man]

Both headlight rings on wrong sides I think

 

[phred]

Wow those have a great pattern and are very bright. Give us the low-down on retail cost!!!!

 

[custom-cruiser]

My eyes say YES....My Wallet says NO....


Hmmm...I wonder who will win?

 

[Heus33]

Those are very nice Dusty - nice writeup too. They have a nice beam pattern and a great cutoff. The high beams don't seem very high though...I would have expected the high beams to light up to the windows on your garage door.

 

[Dusty]

Hues, I probably should have noted that my driveway slants downward toward the garage somewhat, making the beam land lower on the door than it should. But even if it's still to low you can use the adjuster screws to aim them upward more if you want.

 

[drajj5]

I do like the eyebrow look, with the lowbeams on... Kinda nostalgic. By the way I had to, 'google' that word. teehee;D

 

[broncotom]

wow. What a difference. That makes me want a set. how much did that upgrade cost you?

 

[Dusty]

broncotom, regular price on those is $599 for a pair. I didn't pay that much, and I'm not at liberty to say what I did pay

FWIW, I can't pimp my company on here because we're not a paid vendor on CB (we sell mostly Jeep parts). But we do have a special running where we throw in a pair of Rigid Dually's with the Trucklites. I give you this information purely for informational purposes, not for pimpage LOL

Oh yeah, I work for Poison Spyder.

 

[DonaldDouchebag]

Wow those have a great pattern and are very bright. Give us the low-down on retail cost!!!!

I see them for $242 each on a certain internet auction site.

 

[DonaldDouchebag]

Great writeup. Thanks!

 

[joshd1971bronco]

Ho-ly-crap. That's some light output. Amazing.

I upgraded my 2011 Ram 2500 to HID's with about the same result. It's amazing the confidence and clarity I have while driving at night. It's hard to underestimate the value of bright light and visibility at night. Yup, the price is steep.

Still, impressive difference. Thanks for the photos and the writeup.