the g1 is not a good projector at all by any standards. they were reviewed on hidplanet. about 8 years ago before replicas really took off. nowadays even the acme projectors are superior to the g1 and require minimal to no modification to the reflector bowl. even the matchbox is superior. the introduction of threaded shaft projectors has made retrofitting fairly easy and affordable. i can see why you kind of have a bad taste in your mouth after dealing with that projector. i would encourage you to look into retrofitting that toyota truck—those housings are huge and would be easy. as far as cost, it’s not as bad as people might think—$50 no, but around 160 would get a setup that would please most people. also junkyards are getting more and more cars with ballasts. (scored some hellas from an audi for $60) right now i’m running hella ballasts from old retro, osram cbi’s (but might put the regular 66240’s back in) and md2s 4.0’s . about 15 yrs ago was valeo’s with a bent shield for color lol
Toyota truck? That’s not me. I have a thunderbird. The housings are not very big.
The hid still have the warm up issue that I don’t like. Led is instant on.
So I’m gonna test several led kits and if I can’t find a good one, then I’ll look into the current batch of threaded shaft projectors. Maybe I’ll even stick an led in the projector. Lol
Exactly! I hate being on the receiving end of halogen headlights that have been “upgraded” with LEDs. Massive glare to oncoming traffic.
SAE standards for LED retrofits are coming:
(above quote excerpted from drivingvisionnews)
That was me that you snarked at with your condescending remark. Take your holier-than-thou tint snobbism elsewhere.
Not all halogen headlights housings are the same. An HID or LED bulb installed in a reflector housing affects oncoming traffic differently than a projector housing with cutoff.
When my co-worker asked me to help him put in LED bulbs, I said no because his car has reflector housing and it would cause a lot of glare for oncoming traffic.
sorry wasn’t clear. The passive cooling fins.
I mean I’ve checked the location with the stock bulb, the one with passive cooling fins were way off but produces a clean floody low beam with useless high beam.
The other ones are adjustable and I’ve adjusted to match exact location of the leds to filament.
They are very nice in pattern. Close to the stock bulbs. Useful Low beam and massive throw on the Highs, just massive spill on the sides as if a shallow reflector flashlight.
Well H4 reflectors are designed to have 2 focal points anyway. low beam on the front and high beam closer to the reflector.
Just like with flashlights, you have to go whitewall hunting.
If a retrofit bulb can give you a sharp cutoff, then there’s no added glare. You just adjust that cutoff line so it stays out of oncoming drivers eyes.
My 86 bike with H4 bulbs:
No worries. The cutoff is sharp so I’m able to adjust properly. It is the sides where it starts blurring off
I’m glad to hear there is a task force for Led headlights. I’m guessing they can give DOT approval to lights using small emitters in just the right locations such as this.
Hopefully they will get all of the xhp50 and similar lights off of the market. This will make it easier for the average person to buy a set of LED bulbs that they can just slap in to their older cars and get stock OEM beam patterns.
The one issue I see may have to do with brightness. The only currently DOT approved LED retrofit bulb, the Philips Ultinon H4, is a bit on the weak side. It was specifically designed to not be very much brighter than the stock incandescent bulb. I don’t really agree with that. I would prefer something that is noticeably brighter, but the DOT may not allow that. We’ll just have to wait and see.
Very true. My reflector housings on my Tbird (9007 bulb) produce a very complex beam pattern that is actually different between the left and right side headlights. See below.
This is exactly the factory beam pattern which is more complicated than a projector. Notice the left side spill lighting which stays low. Then the right side spill kicks up a bit to illuminate signs and things off to the right.
The main beams shining forward have a slant to them. I would think a horizontal cutoff would be better, but ford decided to go slanted. I do have a little glare above the red cutoff lines (same as factory bulbs), but I made sure oncoming traffic isn’t bothered by it. It’s quite weak compared to squatting down and getting a blast from the main beams. No one ever flashed their beams at me either in the year that I’ve run them.
Assuming it’s not aiming up into oncoming traffic, isn’t having massive spill to the sides a good thing? It gives you a wider view. Your more likely to see a deer running toward your car for instance.
Can you repost a picture of the led model your currently using? Or maybe a beam shot?
(I feel like I’m talking about flashlights again. Lol)
It occurs to me that you guys might not know about the Philips Ultinon H4 bulb. I just remembered them myself. Lol
It’s a factory approved, drop in retrofit. The only one I know of. They run about $200 pair.
Specs are here:
https://www.hidplanet.com/forums/forum/general-discussion/leds/63637-philips-new-x-treme-ultinon-led-headlight-bulb-h4
just because cut off looks ok, does not mean there will be no glare. cut off does not affect light distribution within the beam in any way.
Uhh, light distribution within the beam is irrelevant to glare. Glare is the errant light above the cutoff pattern that oncoming traffic will see.
If you can have a sharp cutoff pattern and then adjust the line so the light is low enough that it’s not shining in the oncoming drivers face, then there is no glare.
Test it yourself. Get in another car and drive past your own car and see if there is glare. Or walk way down the road and stand in the opposite lane and adjust your height so you see what other drivers see. Then you will know.
Where can those be bought?
Lots of places. Even ebay. They are H4 size only, though.
Wasn’t intended to be condescending, sorry you took it that way.
My gripe is with the mfrs who sell blue-tinted halogen capsules, “bright white” LEDs, etc., to the point where the light is actually blue-tinted.
Light on the blue end of the spectrum is the lousiest to see with (why fog lights are often tinted yellow), reflect back the worst as far as rain and fog (ditto, foglights), and the human eye is just not geared to see best with blue light in low-light conditions.
(And before anyone gripes to me about high-sun daylight, we’re talking — again — low-light conditions.)
That ain’t me talking, it’s a brazillion years of evolution.
Niiiiiice!
Reminds me of the H4 assemblies in a 4×6 format that I ran for years. I really miss that “devil-horns” pattern. Lit up signs quite nicely.
Even using 90W/130W bulbs, I never ever got flashed because of glare. And they created a nice even blanket of light in front of me.
I switched from HIDs (35w/4500k) to LEDs (6000k?), then back to HIDs (55w/4500k) now.
It’s a let down for me. Immediately switching to LED from HID, I can see a drop of light output. Within a year one side is burnt out as well. Mine’s the fan type. Heard it’s prone to failure?
The HID seller I got from says LED aren’t suitable for projector headlights, something to do with LED light disbursement compared to HIDs. Unless it comes from factory as a projector LED headlights, then it’s different story from what I can tell. Those babies are bright!
I do have another friend who’s on reflector based headlights and he retrofitted LEDs in it. Much nicer and brighter than mine when it’s with LEDs.