Testing Cheap LED Headlights From Amazon

Lumencraft-Matt · 2018-12-20T15:30:39.000Z

Hi all,

I just got these for my truck and thought I’d share my test results. Please let us all know what you think of this type of headlight.

Muto · 2018-12-20T15:58:40.000Z

Thanks for this review.
Been waiting for someone trustworthy to give honest review and you have done that.

Have been considering going to LED on 2012 Chev 3500 because I run with lights on every trip regardless of time of day and can’t get more than 6 months out of the Sylvania’s Have tried the Silverstar, Ultrastar, Suckastar, etc. They all suck when it comes to longevity.
Anyone here have experience with the Phillips brand of halogens?

For going to the LED setup the big risk, for me at least, is to trust those fans to keep running in 105 degree heat of in –15
Just do not think the technology is there yet overall.
Must admit the beam looked better in your test than others I have seen advertised and the price is right in line.

Also the color rendering on your factory bulbs (which I noticed were Sylvania) was way better in the review, grass was not washed out looking, etc.
The locking collar is needed, they will no doubt vibrate out in time.

For now I’ll just keep stocking up on the Sylvania’s off epay as they are affordable.
It just never fails they blow just before a night run. Had one go down last Saturday, thing worked in the afternoon but right at dusk, boom no driver side light and was going on a 100 one way trip. Had to suck it up and pay auto store price to get me by.
Mad at myself for not having spare stock on hand.

Anyway, thanks again for the review!

Keith

ImA4Wheelr · 2018-12-20T17:02:00.000Z

Really great review. Thank you VOB.

Texas_Ace · 2018-12-20T17:14:42.000Z

Nice review.

There is a thread on here where someone went to great detail testing LED headlights and figured out how to find and focus them to the best possible results. It might be worth looking into. Although with that large die LED in the ones you have I doubt you will get much better then they are now.

About those foggy headlights, you can get headlight polishing kits for around $10 at harbor freight. You put it on a drill and it is super quick and easy to restore the headlights to like new shine. Works great on other things as well, I used the same kit to polish some glass and taillights on one of my RX7’s once and it works great.

Lumencraft-Matt · 2018-12-20T17:41:50.000Z

Muto:

Have been considering going to LED on 2012 Chev 3500 because I run with lights on every trip regardless of time of day and can’t get more than 6 months out of the Sylvania’s Have tried the Silverstar, Ultrastar, Suckastar, etc. They all suck when it comes to longevity.

Something you might consider if your really wanting to stretch the life of those bulbs. It may be possible that you have a short or a weak connection somewhere that is causing the current over the filament to be high. For example my moms house had an electric furnace and one of the clamps that held the 50 amp fuse in place was loose. This cause it to draw more like 60 amps and kept killing the fuse. The clamp screw was tightened and it dropped the current to acceptable levels. If you don’t have a short or bad connection and you still wanna stretch the life you might be able to add a resistor just prior to the bulbs to drop a slight bit of voltage. You can see here on this chart Photo Storage Taken from lux luthors testing here Destructive Incan Bulb Tests - Updated 8/27/2010 (Newer Info Added) | Candle Power Flashlight Forum

That a small drop in voltage only results in a marginal drop in output, but a substantially longer bulb life. On the chart I linked specifically the drop from 15 volts to 14 volts there is only about a 17% decrease in brightness but the increase in bulb life is almost 130%. Just and idea

Texas_Ace:

Nice review.

There is a thread on here where someone went to great detail testing LED headlights and figured out how to find and focus them to the best possible results. It might be worth looking into. Although with that large die LED in the ones you have I doubt you will get much better then they are now.

About those foggy headlights, you can get headlight polishing kits for around $10 at harbor freight. You put it on a drill and it is super quick and easy to restore the headlights to like new shine. Works great on other things as well, I used the same kit to polish some glass and taillights on one of my RX7’s once and it works great.

Been thinking about giving that a shot… I had an RX7 too. Biggest rush I eve got from driving a car. More than driving one of the newer (at the time) corvettes or my 300zx. Talk about an expensive hobby though. Man those cars were a pain to work on. Seems like they always needed something too LOL! No one can really understand the draw of that rotary engine till you’ve experienced it.

Texas_Ace · 2018-12-20T17:51:08.000Z

lol, I have had something like 9 or 10 RX7’s back in my hayday, oh how right you are, they always need something. Although the NA versions of the FC could be pretty reliable if left stock, I daily drove one for some time at one point. The turbo models on the other hand were not so reliable. I can understand the V8 swap guys, just could never bring myself to do it.

I had a MINT 91 FC black on black that I was wanting to V8 swap but ran out of money before I could make it happen. One of the few cars I regret selling, it was just so mint it was silly.

My last FD was such a nightmare it is partly responsible for me moving away from modding cars. I almost lost a lot of money on that car when an apex seal let go after just having repainted the car and having it almost ready.

RX7’s are an attention grabber for sure and an amazing chassis when they are running. A money pit the rest of the time lol.

I also had a 300zx, Although the most attention I ever got was from my MR2. That car was a magnet for comments from people that either did not have a clue what it was or people that used to have one and loved it. So many comments of “is that a Ferrari?” as well lol.

I still want to get that car running someday, it is the only one I hung on to.

Lumencraft-Matt · 2018-12-20T22:40:02.000Z

Mine was a 91 also… Totally my favorite body style. If I ever restore a car I think that would be on the top of my list. That and I hope to do my F150 some day….

Muto · 2018-12-21T00:38:24.000Z

Texas_Ace, what year is your MR2?
Always liked those cars.

Had a Fiat X/19 it was hands down the biggest POS that I ever had, but it had 2 great attributes;

1. Attracted women like crazy.
2. Easy to push to the side of the road when it died.

Learned the true meanings of the word Fiat;
Feeble Italian attempt at transportation
Fix it again Tony
Fix it again time

Nothing against Italians, they just had a bad run of cars for a spell.
So did us Americans so it’s all good.
Co worker also had an Alfa-Remeo and it was money pit also.

X/19 was however fun to drive when it ran properly,c could totally slam it into corners until you are in 4 wheel drift with the Michelin’s howling in delight.
Being under powered kind of made it want to be pushed and she burned oil bad so I got to do a field test of which oil burned the least/best/longest.
Verdict was Castrol 20/50, would run it till the oil sensor light would come on after a hard right hander, then you needed to add 2 quarts.

Other best part of that car was you could sit on the rear crossbar and steer with your feet if you were on a back road where you could see 1/2 mile ahead to be sure no cars were in the area. When you were done being up there just dismount and slide back into position.
Also put a quarter keg in the front trunk, filled it with ice and ran the tube through the passenger side vent for easy pouring.
People were impressed with that set up. For the record that was on roads within a friends deer camp of 600 acres.

Had fun driving an RX7 when they first came out and it was a blast as well.
Thanks for the memories.
Now pics of that MR2 please!

Later,
Keith

BurningPlayd0h · 2018-12-21T01:13:10.000Z

Is anyone aware of any decent LED replacements out there that aren’t disgusting cold white/green/tint shifted?

I can literally SEE the rainbow in oncoming cars’ LED headlights when I’m on the road. Seeing that shifting drives me nuts in a flashlight, can’t imagine it when driving at night on a consistent colored road.

Texas_Ace · 2018-12-22T14:38:01.000Z

A few pics of the MR2 and one of the RX7’s, you can see the 91 in the background. Can’t seem to find some better pics right now.

The MR2 is a 93 turbo t-top stripper model, pretty rare actually. No power steering ect but still has AC. I wish it was a hard top but the t-tops are fun.

At the time of these pictures it was making around ~350whp and running 11’s but was set to up the boost and go for 500whp a few weeks later, then the ringland let go after the intercooler got overheated and I did not realize it and I had to start over with a built motor, then that one slipped the timing belt and it has sat without and engine ever since. Mostly because my friend made 828whp in his MR2 and I of course had to beat that and that is a $25k build which I don’t have lol.

Muto · 2018-12-22T15:03:15.000Z

WOW!
That’s a lot of juice from a small displacement.
Car looks fast sitting still.

Thanks for the pics.

EasyB · 2018-12-22T15:17:01.000Z

Awesome MR2. One of my hobbies is watching YouTube videos on modifying and tuning cars, but it’s way too much time and money for me to actually do it. Maybe some day!

BurningPlayd0h · 2018-12-22T22:54:04.000Z

Damn, I’m not much of a car guy (way more practical there vs flashlights and other toys ) but the MR2 is one of a few cars that really gets me hot and bothered. That is SO nice Ace.

JasonWW · 2018-12-22T23:40:28.000Z

Texas_Ace:

Nice review.

There is a thread on here where someone went to great detail testing LED headlights and figured out how to find and focus them to the best possible results.

Maybe me?

I’ve done lots of testing on H4 and 9005. I’ve gotten factory beam patterns on both.

Here’s the H4, two posts.

The BLF Automotive Car LED headlights, results, opinions and beamshots! LED Headlamps

Here is a repost that I had to rebuild from 2016. This is from a motorcycle forum about by 1986 Honda VFR700F2. It uses an H4 bulb and has a fluted glass front reflector. Part 1: Hello all, I just finished a headlight bulb upgrade using the latest 7th generation Philips Luxeon Lumiled ZES fanless H4 bulb. These are really great as they don’t use a fan, are very bright and maintain the correct beam pattern of the stock H4 bulb. They also turn on instantly with no warm up and flashing the high b…

Here’s the latest version of the 9005.

The BLF Automotive Car LED headlights, results, opinions and beamshots! LED Headlamps

I was able to make my 3rd set of lights work. These measure 4 times the lux of the stock bulbs. I used my “dremel” tool to cut out the plastic retaining ring in order to slide it on further. I had to cut more than I originally thought. [image] [image] [image] Stock location: [image] New location: [image] The plastic base slides all the way down flush with the tapered edge of the aluminum housing. [image] I was able to get the leds to line up perfectly. [image] The end result is a st…

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JasonWW · 2018-12-22T23:51:28.000Z

BurningPlayd0h:

Is anyone aware of any decent LED replacements out there that aren’t disgusting cold white/green/tint shifted?

I can literally SEE the rainbow in oncoming cars’ LED headlights when I’m on the road. Seeing that shifting drives me nuts in a flashlight, can’t imagine it when driving at night on a consistent colored road.

You may actually be seeing the prismatic effect of a projector headlamp.

You see this often right at the transition point like when a car is coming at you on uneven road. You get that flicker of blue, usually. Sometimes it’s rainbow. It depends on the lens and the focus of the cutoff shield.

When your behind the wheel you don’t see that slim little region. You see white.

Before I got into LED bulbs a few years ago, I was doing hid projector retrofits for a long time.

With leds, there is no market I know of for buying the specific replacement leds used in these lights. If I could buy raw leds in a more neutral color, I would. Then just reflow them into place. My current ones are not overly blue, luckily.

JasonWW · 2018-12-22T23:54:37.000Z

Muto:

For going to the LED setup the big risk, for me at least, is to trust those fans to keep running in 105 degree heat of in –15
Just do not think the technology is there yet overall.

Keith

I do not trust fans to last very long either. Especially not the cheap Chinese fans that are probably used in these kits. So far it seems like the best cooled versions are the ones that use the large copper braids that you spread out.

Cereal_killer · 2018-12-23T03:06:27.000Z

Jason can you recommend a brand of led bulb that have the cooler / sink like you’re saying?

I’m shopping for led Replacements for my Subaru with halogens (H11) behind projectors.

JasonWW · 2018-12-23T03:55:21.000Z

Cereal_killer:

Jason can you recommend a brand of led bulb that have the cooler / sink like you’re saying?

I’m shopping for led Replacements for my Subaru with halogens (H11) behind projectors.

No, every application is different. I go by the led and heatsink style.

What year and model of car do you have? Is there air circulation behind the headlight or is it sealed?

I look for “fanless” then search them for ones that use the Luxeon ZES or Philips CSP led.

The H11 has a slightly offset single filament. I then look for models with that offset and some type of adjustability. Also USA only sellers in case you need to return them.

All the H11 I see don’t have an offset, the leds are all centered. So you might have to adjust the headlight angle to compensate. I also did not see any with the rated copper heat sinks. Maybe something like this would work.

eBay

50W High Power CSP H11 H8 LED Headlight Fog Driving DRL Light Upgrading Bulbs ...

Using advanced CSP LED technology, each xenon white LED headlight bulb feature a smaller illuminated surface on the light bulb so you get a more focused beam pattern with brighter lighting output. The pure aluminum heat sink absorbs heat using its...