Need opinion on which LED headlight upgrade is the best?

[Yeller]

Thanks for amazon link. I put a set in my cart. My trucklites lost high beam, its probably the relay and 1 of my lights collects condensation in our wet weather. I tried to seal it with RTV but it's still doing it as I checked it today;
Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family Steve...

You’re very welcome. Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family Honario!

 

[lars]

I've had a set of Cibie H4 halogen headlamps with 55 watt lo/ 100 watt hi bulbs in my Bronco since the dawn of time. They have a nice low beam cutoff and the high beams, with the high power filaments, are pretty bright. I'm in no hurry to run out and spend money on something else. Still, I'm always curious. Can anyone here weigh in on how the current crop of LED headlamps compare to them?

 

[nvrstuk]

Lars, I used to run Eurocode lenses (not Cibies but a highly recommended lens) with Hella 55/100W bulbs. Bought them from a Porsche shop in Florida after reading that all the Porsche guys were going with these... back in the day. Great LED lenses by Grotes, Holley, etc literally weren't invented yet. Going with these was such a huge difference compared to stock sealed beams.

My Grotes outshine the Eurocodes all to heck (very good beam pattern). I used to run Cibie Bi-Oscars and really loved them for beam pattern back in the day. I think new tech has passed them by also.

I know when I put a 130/90W Halogen (Hella) bulb in my Eurocode lens that the difference was amazing. I would not be able to drive down the street w/o blinding people (literally) but what a difference. The beam pattern was great on mine with the Eurocode lenses. The problem was the 55/100w bulb wasn't bright enough even with the excellent lens/beam pattern.

 

[Howard2x4x4]

If looks and cost don’t matter JW Speaker is hard to beat.

Hokey-smokey! Do they include a Bronco for that amount?

 

[Broncobowsher]

The only ones that look right to me are the Holley Retrobrights.

 

[nvrstuk]

Check out posts #552 and on.

#556 has a close up of a std Westinghouse OE sealed beam and the Grote.
Here's a link to the page: https://classicbroncos.com/forums/t...5-wb-stretch-2-floor-lower-p-s.278607/page-28

 

[Timstrk]

Literally just installed the Holley Retro Brights and now waiting for it to get dark. They'll be aimed or just as bad as the ones they replaced. 5700K with wiring kit for highs/lows at the same time. Hoping for great things. On sale now, too.

 

[toddz69]

Literally just installed the Holley Retro Brights and now waiting for it to get dark. They'll be aimed or just as bad as the ones they replaced. 5700K with wiring kit for highs/lows at the same time. Hoping for great things. On sale now, too.

Looking forward to what you think of them.

Todd Z.

 

[toddz69]

I was researching Retro Brights awhile back too and came across this thread on a forum that's apparently devoted to headlights (like classicbroncos...but....headlights...):

https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/holley-retrobright-headlamps-good-bad-or-ugly.478539/

Post #9 from a guy whom I don't know but seems pretty reputable. And then recently, in post #40, someone posted some comments from Daniel Stern, who is one of the go-to guys in the world of automotive lighting. He's not crazy about them either. I think I'll stick with my Cibies/H4s for the time being.

Todd Z.

 

[mustanggarage]

Wow... I'd love to see them at night. The ability to see at night is priceless. I spent about that much for the headlight for my Harley. Worth it...

I have the speaker headlight system from wild horses on my Bronco. they are really nice and make a big difference. easy install as well. https://www.wildhorses4x4.com/produ...LED-Headlights-Chrome/early-bronco-headlights

 

[Broncobowsher]

I was researching Retro Brights awhile back too and came across this thread on a forum that's apparently devoted to headlights (like classicbroncos...but....headlights...):

https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/holley-retrobright-headlamps-good-bad-or-ugly.478539/

Post #9 from a guy whom I don't know but seems pretty reputable. And then recently, in post #40, someone posted some comments from Daniel Stern, who is one of the go-to guys in the world of automotive lighting. He's not crazy about them either. I think I'll stick with my Cibies/H4s for the time being.

Todd Z.

I was really hoping for more than that.

 

[MarsChariot]

!@#$%^! Looks like it Speaker headlights now. Not what I was planning on. Expensive for one. Odd looking for another. I can live with the second, but have to justify the first.

 

[lars]

As I think I mentioned before, I've had H4 halogen headlamps in everything I've ever owned that could accommodate them since the 1970's. Got in trouble for them back before the laws changed and LEOs were enforcing "only dim yellow sealed beam headlights are allowed."

Just as with the latest crop of LED lamps, all H4 lenses aren't created equal.

I had a couple of sets of Hella 7" H4 lamps in my Bronco over the years (a couple because rocks followed by water intrusion did the reflectors in). I never really liked them on low beam but lived with them because of the high beam pattern. I should've just found a vendor for Cibies (thank you Andrew if you are reading this). I'd had them decades ago. The Cibie low beam cutoff is just enough higher that they are manageablef with a 55 watt low beam filament and with 100 watt high beams I'm not left wanting.

Ok, back to the topic of LED lamps. Though I'm sticking with my incandescents for now.

 

[Timstrk]

To say I'm highly disappointed would be an understatement. I waited to get these for over a year. Finally jumped when they went on sale. For starters I had Sylvania base bulbs in place. Wiring harness with the relays for high/low at the same time. Love that upgrade. Got the Holley bulbs in and man are they pretty. Installed they look awesome. You would have to be within a couple feet to see they are anything but original glass bulbs. At 5700K they have the white white light I wanted. That's where the good news ends. The low beam pattern starts about twenty feet in front of the truck. Very lit up but leaves a not so lit area from the bumper to that point. Wide and flat pattern out to seventy five-ish feet that fades into the night rather quickly. Very easy to overdrive the low beams into the darkness. Not something I need to be doing in deer infested SC. Rally the high beams. Come on with the lows to extend the light to a couple hundred feet. Thought they faded too fast for highs until I realized I was lighting the tops of forty foot pine trees. I can't figure a way to get the highs on the road without stuffing the lows into the dirt. This doesn't even take into account the amount of light being put forth. The volume of light, if that makes sense, was weak. Should have been much more out there in front of me. These are going back if that's an option. I have a pair of Sylvania Silver stars on order. $28/bulb and I already have more confidence in them than the Holley bulbs.
Hope any of this helps.

Tim

 

[DirtDonk]

Bad news, but it’s good news to know.
Thanks.

But perhaps they have the same quality control problems so many others seem to have these days, where some are good and some are bad.
Even Hella has that now.
I had a set of Hella H4’s in my bronco for 25 years and they’re awesome. Got another set, and they truly sucked.
Went back to the old ones just to get the beam pattern back. Tried contacting them about the bad ones but never got a response.

 

[Eoth]

I've been meaning to get around to it but life keeps happening... People have been converting their buckets to use the H4 bulbs. There are direct plug in LED H4 replacement bulbs. Why not just do both... $60 bucks doesnt seem much risk...

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071R3KTBB/?tag=cbama-20

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07F322727/?tag=cbama-20

 

[MarsChariot]

Not to side track too much, but while we are dissing the available LED headlights, does anybody have a review of available LED taillight and side marker lights options they want share? I almost dread to ask.

 

[Rsmith]

Has anyone tried the KCs that Toms is offering?

 

[nvrstuk]

I've been meaning to get around to it but life keeps happening... People have been converting their buckets to use the H4 bulbs. There are direct plug in LED H4 replacement bulbs. Why not just do both... $60 bucks doesnt seem much risk...

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071R3KTBB/?tag=cbama-20

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07F322727/?tag=cbama-20

I tried a half dozen LED bulbs in buckets they weren't designed for... what a disaster. Better off holding a candle and driving by it's light!

I'm pretty sure there are lights out there with a better pattern than the Grote but they rival my F150 and new Honda lights sitting on the same perfectly level bridge deck shooting out there 1200ft. The Grotes beam pattern and cut off lines are REMARKABLY better than my F150 truck.

No way I'm spending 500 bucks for a single headlight only to have a tree branch or rock break it...

 

[nvrstuk]

Not to side track too much, but while we are dissing the available LED headlights, does anybody have a review of available LED taillight and side marker lights options they want share? I almost dread to ask.

I went with the Tom's parking light upgrade. LED lights are amazingly bright. Super simple install but in my case I made new buckets for them that are much shallower. I had to do this for my install. I have pics of how bright they are compared to stock on my build & I'll look for the post #662 on this build thread: https://classicbroncos.com/forums/t...5-wb-stretch-2-floor-lower-p-s.278607/page-34 only shows a pic in my modified housing.

I can't believe that I didn't post any pics of them "lit up". I try to document with pics and all I can think of is it's hard to capture the blinker intensity & brightness when you can't post a video. Gotta be the reason cause I've sent the video to a couple buddies and they used the same Tom's front lights and are impressed with them also.