Input on HID and LED headlights

[ENDLIFE]

So, after watching a ton of YouTube videos I'm still stuck on what type of headlight I want to go with. I build HID headlight for (cough cough) Jeeps, but I always had clearance issues with the battery and battery tray. Long story short, I went to an AGM battery, relocated my tray back as much as I could, and made sure I had clearance with the HID reflector.
I'm looking for some input as to led quality, reliability, and, longevity. A friend of mine bought a set of most likely Chinese made led headlights. They worked great for a while, then they started flickering, but it turned out to be an easy fix. Sometime later one of the headlights completely died and had to buy a whole new headlight.

I want opinions on what you would choose and why?

This
https://www.flickr.com/photos/95625640@N05/28827894388/in/dateposted-public/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/95625640@N05/40892125590/in/dateposted-public/


or this?

 

[sykanr0ng]

LED is my pick, they have a longer expected lifespan and handle vibration and bumps better than HID.

 

[DirtDonk]

I think both are great for light output and available beam patterns, but would go with LED's now for having fewer components (usually) in the form of no ballast, and have a quicker light-up time than HID's when cold.
Easier then to use flash-to-pass methods in my opinion.

Not having spent much time behind HID's however, I can't say that the warm-up time is always an issue.
And beam pattern as well as reliability are relative. I've seen many an HID burn out and need replacing. Never seen an LED burn out, but have heard of a few (such as the one you mentioned here) but they have not been around as long either. So the database is incomplete as of yet.

Beam pattern is my pet-peeve and ultimate goal. And aside from price, is why I still run H4's. Because I haven't found any cheap Chinese knock-offs that have a good pattern yet. And the ones that do put a good light on the ground are definitely out of my price range by a factor of three!

The best headlights I've ever driven behind so far however, are LED's on a Lexus LX570 hands down. But I'd sure hate to be someone in front of that vehicle when it hits bumps. It's got adaptive lighting that lowers the beam as the rear end goes up or down, but it's not a quick reacting kind of thing, so probably not a good thing for oncoming drivers.
I notice these days that just sitting at any given traffic light in the city is going to be a blinding opportunity. Seems the street rises up invariably just enough to make everyone with modern headlights look like their high-beams are on. And with so many different configurations, it's really hard to tell if they are or not. They're just bright.

I know that's not part of the question. It basically just comes down to brightness and beam pattern working together to make the best light.
For my money then, those two conditions being met by either type, I go with LED's

Paul

 

[Heus33]

Gather 'round my friends and I shall tell you a tale.

First thing to note is that with anything, you get what you pay for.
Buy cheap lights (regardless of type), expect cheap results.

Fact 1:
Aftermarket LEDs are not as bright as a PROPER HID setup. Period.
Proof: https://www.hidprojectors.com/pages/product-guide

That said, IF you are sold on LED lights, the following are what I would recommend given my 10 years of lighting experience:

Best performing LED headlights:
1) JW Speaker 8700: https://www.hidprojectors.com/products/jw-speaker8700
2) HD10: https://www.hidprojectors.com/products/hd10-7-led-headlights


But - if you want a better performing setup, HID is still the way to go. Our Revision 2.0 products give you lighting depth and width that LED cannot compete with. There's no comparison.
https://www.hidprojectors.com/collections/revision-2-0

In addition, we offer a large number of custom options which allow you to customize the lights to compliment your build.

If anyone has more questions, please let me know!

 

[ENDLIFE]

Thanks for the input Heus33, as I know you have been in the HID game for a long time. I’m pretty happy with my HID projectors, but I wanted to see if the grass was greener on the LED side.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Yeller]

Since we're on the subject of HID's and LED's. There's one more question. To run HID's do you need to(or should you....) run relays on our old trucks like you do for H4's?

 

[ENDLIFE]

I do because I already had the relay system from my halogens. A sad fact is the stock Bronco wiring is insufficient for most modern lighting systems. I’m not sure about the amp draw of the ballast, but I’m sure someone (Hues33) knows.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[sykanr0ng]

I do because I already had the relay system from my halogens. A sad fact is the stock Bronco wiring is insufficient for most modern lighting systems. I’m not sure about the amp draw of the ballast, but I’m sure someone (Hues33) knows.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

LEDs are the only ones that draw less than the original lights.

 

[Heus33]

LEDs are the only ones that draw less than the original lights.

Not necessarily.

Most HID setups will draw 3 amps to operate although they do require a larger amp draw for initial ignition.

Most halogen lights draw much more than that. I dont know the exact number of amps for our Broncos though.

We include relays with our kit which has a 20A fuse. We have installed these with our ''plug and play'' adapters in many Broncos and Mustangs without issue though.

 

[DirtDonk]

The early earlies would have had 45w low beams. Not sure what the highs were, but probably still 60-ish.
Later would have had 50-55 watt lows, with most, if not all aftermarket bulbs/lamps using the 55w max low beams.

Now, Heuss and others will likely know what that equates to in the AMPS department, but maybe too they can tell us what, if any, additional amperage some extra resistance in the wires brings to the table?
With the original setup, all that long wiring going through the switch and back out to the lights would theoretically(?) have added amperage over and above the calculated load based on the wattage?

Stock amperage would have been anywhere from 6-8 then for the pair of low beams. Does that number go up with resistance?
If so, that's another good argument for relays.

Is that how it works Tom?


Thanks

Paul

 

[BRONCOBERT]

Need some advice, I have the TruckLite headlight HB5 with 9007 bulbs
I bought the Lumen 9007HLC G10 LED bulbs to relace the yellowish 9007's
The harness that comes with the Trucklight plug has a Black, green and brown wire
The Bronco wireing to the headlights has a Black, red and green
How should I wire it? Black is obviously the ground but should I wire the green to green and brown to red?

 

[bigmuddy]

Do any of HID headlights look stockish? All of the ones I am familiar with look like spaceship lights on a classic... Not for me.

 

[DirtDonk]

The harness that comes with the Trucklight plug has a Black, green and brown wire.
The Bronco wiring to the headlights has a Black, red and green.

Is those wires perhaps Red with a black stripe, and Green with a black stripe?
You're correct that on the factory lights the Black is ground. And stock low beam would have been Green w/black and high-beam the Red w/black.

Normally, with two of the three new wires being the same, you would think logically that the Black would go to Black, Green would go to Green, then the only left over wires would go together. Brown with Red.
But I don't like to assume with all this new fancy Chinese-made junk where the wires don't match. Almost ever!
Lots of electrical stuff for autos goes halfway by house wiring standards even. Black is hot and White is, well, ground. Luckily at least in this case two of the colors match and there are no other house wire colors!

Did they come with instructions? I don't think we can assume that the orientation of the three connections is consistent, but that would be nice if they were.

How should I wire it? Black is obviously the ground but should I wire the green to green and brown to red?

Did the new lamps have instructions? If so then just go by the layout I gave you above for the stock wires. Or even if not, does their website perhaps have any tech sheets?

Paul

 

[DirtDonk]

Sorry, I missed where you were replacing just the bulbs. I saw it, but mentally ignored it since I was thinking that new lights were one-piece and that your Trucklite harness was also new.

Not sure why the old lamps needed a new harness or adapter. Got a picture of said harness and new bulbs?

Thanks

paul

 

[BRONCOBERT]

I found the instructions and they say Make sure to maintain color continuity, black is ground, Green is hi beam and Brown is low beam

The American Autowire is more of a plug for the bulb and the other end has male push conectors for the factory headlight plug

 

[sprdv1]

since this was resurrected, where you been brother...

Gather 'round my friends and I shall tell you a tale.

First thing to note is that with anything, you get what you pay for.
Buy cheap lights (regardless of type), expect cheap results.