LED headlights

[eternal21]

A buddy of mine and I will be ordering 2 sets of these for our trucks: http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Super...560435513.html

I'll report back when they come in and we have a chance to test them out. If all works out, it would probably be good idea if we had some sort of g/b on the forums, so that anyone that wants a set can get in and the shipping price could be divided between everyone. Given that there are LEDs being sold on this site for more than twice this amount, these are *very* inexpensive.

And no, I'm not volunteering to host the g/b, b/c we're guinea-pigging the lights

[LittleBeast]

You should consider supporting one of our own:

http://www.vehicross.info/forums/sho...=led+headlight

[eternal21]

You should consider supporting one of our own:

http://www.vehicross.info/forums/sho...=led+headlight

I did consider that, and have purchased from him before, but he's also probably ordering in bulk, from pretty much the same places, and charging us 2.5x his cost. To me, that's price gouging. Given that, please explain how I would be fiscally responsible in purchasing his set vs the sets we found.

[LittleBeast]

I did consider that, and have purchased from him before, but he's also probably ordering in bulk, from pretty much the same places, and charging us 2.5x his cost. To me, that's price gouging. Given that, please explain how I would be fiscally responsible in purchasing his set vs the sets we found.

Yeah, you might be right. Not sure on the details, but looks like you found a great deal. I hope they are quality. Looks kinda weird coming with a fan for the heat, does that concern you?

[yellowgizmo99]

I tried to put some in my foglight housing and they did not last long, the guy said they did not get enough airflow and that was the problem so the fans would help.

[bartmanS4]

I tried to put some in my foglight housing and they did not last long, the guy said they did not get enough airflow and that was the problem so the fans would help.

Are the fans inside the enclosure? Otherwise there is just no chance an electric fan will last. And if it is in the enclosure than there isn't much air to push around.

[eternal21]

Are the fans inside the enclosure? Otherwise there is just no chance an electric fan will last. And if it is in the enclosure than there isn't much air to push around.

I don't think the purpose of the fan is to blow air, I think it's to pull warm air away from the heatsink. If not, a simple wire snip will remedy that

Yeah, you might be right. Not sure on the details, but looks like you found a great deal. I hope they are quality. Looks kinda weird coming with a fan for the heat, does that concern you?

The one's you were referring me to purchase have fans also. You can clearly see the black fan on the bottom of the heatsink. Here's the blown up pic from his site:

[FlyingV77]

Let me know how they work out, and if they are plug and play. one of my headlights just went out last night.

[yellowgizmo99]

Are the fans inside the enclosure? Otherwise there is just no chance an electric fan will last. And if it is in the enclosure than there isn't much air to push around.

Yes that was the problem of where the foglights are located, no airflow to get to them, if in fact it pulls air out it may help more than no airflow.

[eternal21]

We ended up going with a different company. This guy, on eBay. http://www.ebay.com/itm/291086022096The price was $78 shipped. My buddy's arrived the other day and he put them in his 2000 Trooper, and it was a night and day difference. My set arrived today. I plan on polishing out my headlights over the next couple days, then taking before/after pics to have an accurate representation.

[blacksambo]

Please keep us posted. Thx

[LittleBeast]

Thanks for the info, hope they work out. Did you already have HID Xenon bulbs? Or are you going from Halogen to LED?

[eternal21]

Thanks for the info, hope they work out. Did you already have HID Xenon bulbs? Or are you going from Halogen to LED?

Going from stock headlights, so it'll be a change.

And.....I made a mistake. My buddy and I thought that since the Trooper has 9004 connectors, the VX does, as well. Nope...the VX has 9003 connectors. So, the purchased units are going back. Ordered these 9003s for $77 shipped: http://www.ebay.com/itm/371010587695 They're 1800 Lumens and 25w per side, just like the others, and should be here in a couple days. They are also 6000k, which match the Hella MicroDEs I converted to HIDs to take the place of the regular bumper lights.

[eternal21]

The correct kit arrived:


I started to work on this last night. First, I went to get some "before" pics to have a point of reference. Pre-LED, regular headlights in a dark field, not a lot of light pollution except for what's in the distance.


Here's what they look like augmented by my Hella MicroDEs I converted to HID (side note: I converted these a few years ago to use on another car project). I noticed that while they're bright, they don't have the sharp beam cutoff normally associated w/HIDs b/c the normal MicroDEs have a lens to disperse the light. Hella is now making HID MicroDEs with smooth lenses, so at some point, I may take these apart and get the backside of the lenses ground smooth and polished):


Then I went home to start the work. It was a pain in the.....to try and get the headlight bulbs out, so after 45 mins, I wrote it off until this morning. I got up before work and went ahead and removed the bumper so I could remove the headlights. This worked out a whole lot better.


The fans screw into the base, so I Loc-tited them in place, and then put together the connections. Pretty easy as they're keyed w/a notch and a tab so it slots together correctly.


They screw together for a watertight connection junction.


The three prongs, not so much. It would probably be wise to wrap 'em in electrical tape. While I was at it, picked up a few sets of these:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/181291048009 Most likely going to convert the 3 prong male/female connections to make them waterproof, as well.

I'll take "after" pictures this evening and post 'em so we can see the difference.

[eternal21]

Big difference

LEDs by themselves


Highbeams


With HID fogs


The difference between them isn't that noticeable. Since the LEDs face up and down in the housing, the bottom LED functions as the low beam. Therefore, when the high beam is activated, there's a lot more light directed up.

And they look like 5000k, not 6000k.