LED Replacement headlights

tallyho8 · Sep 17, 2022

About 10 years ago I burned out a headlight in my 1995 Ford F250 diesel and wanted something brighter so I installed HID 6000K headlights. I probably don't drive it at night or with the headlights on 25 hours in a year. I tried everything I knew how to do but could not get the lights aimed properly but at least they were aimed too low and off to the side so I wasn't blinding oncoming traffic.

Now with probably less than 250 hours of use one of them has burned out and I decided to junk them. Looking for new bulbs on Amazon I found out that 95% of the ads were for LED replacement bulbs, 6500K, that are supposed to be much brighter than the originals, last longer and are easy to aim correctly. Some Halogen bulb ads state that it is illegal to use LED bulbs as a replacement for halogen bulbs but that is beside the point.

Have any of you had experience replacing halogen bulbs with LED bulbs and have any positive or negative comments about it?

jaxs · Sep 17, 2022

I've never felt there was need for lights any brighter than come in vehicles from the factory. Blinding other drivers with "hopped up" headlamps should carry a stiff fine.

RAEblue · Sep 17, 2022

Got a1992 f-150 Changed to clear head lights with led bulbs. Will not be going back to stock ones. You can see so much more including wild life trying to cross the road

seville009 · Sep 18, 2022

I had a 2006 F350 and a 2011 F350.

Probably around 2017, I replaced the stock halogen headlight bulbs in both trucks with plug and play led bulbs. No issues at all.

The led bulbs gave off a much whiter/clearer light - definitely an improvement, but it did not really extend the sight distance all that much. Adjusting the actual headlight aim was an improvement too.

I also replaced my reverse light bulbs with led bulbs in both trucks. That was a big improvement. I used both trucks for snowplowing, and I was able to see much better backing up.

seville009 · Sep 18, 2022

jaxs said:
I've never felt there was need for lights any brighter than come in vehicles from the factory. Blinding other drivers with "hopped up" headlamps should carry a stiff fine.

The stock dual beam led headlights that Ford started using in their F250 and F350 a few years ago are a blinding nightmare…..always looks to me like they have their hi beams on.

Richard · Sep 18, 2022

seville009 said:
The stock dual beam led headlights that Ford started using in their F250 and F350 a few years ago are a blinding nightmare…..always looks to me like they have their hi beams on.

I double that. I think the person who designed/engineered those, should be flogged. If they are deceased, they should be exhumed.....flogged, then reburied.

ROUSTABOUT · Sep 18, 2022

RAEblue said:
Got a1992 f-150 Changed to clear head lights with led bulbs. Will not be going back to stock ones. You can see so much more including wild life trying to cross the road View attachment 763030

Yeah and run folks off in the ditch that meet you at night.

Slowpoke Slim · Sep 18, 2022

The problem with just replacing the bulb, and not the entire headlight assembly is the internal reflective mirror on the original headlight bucket was designed for the "standard" light bulb element. Putting some "new" HID or LED light in that old bucket increases the glare dramatically towards oncoming traffic. And that's even if you CAN adjust the new bulb element for height and L/R angle.

They are a bane on civilization, and each and every one of these "conversions" needs to meet it's fate with a sledgehammer.

Oaktree · Sep 18, 2022

Slowpoke Slim said:
The problem with just replacing the bulb, and not the entire headlight assembly is the internal reflective mirror on the original headlight bucket was designed for the "standard" light bulb element. Putting some "new" HID or LED light in that old bucket increases the glare dramatically towards oncoming traffic. And that's even if you CAN adjust the new bulb element for height and L/R angle.

They are a bane on civilization, and each and every one of these "conversions" needs to meet it's fate with a sledgehammer.

Agreed. This subject comes up fairly often on classic car forums, and the general consensus is that these LED/HID conversions are junk.
Bad enough the LED light bars that blind oncoming drivers unless they're aimed almost straight down.

dieselcrawler · Sep 18, 2022

LED conversions are getting alot of hate on this thread, but I am personally a fan. A quality bulb (I've used BeamTech) in the stock housing can be adjusted to both light the road better, but also not blind others as bad as described by others.
In both my trucks (2016 F250 and 2006 F350) I used the LED bulbs, took the time to aim them properly, and am quite happy with the results.
The 2016 F250 responded better, with a clear 'cut-off' at the top of the low beam pattern, to not blind others, and amazing light coverage on high beams.
The 2006 is noticeably brighter on the low beams, again, aimed properly, but the high beams are not as impressive as is the case with the other truck. I blame this on the 'factory replacement' stock style aftermarket headlight housings, not the bulbs. They have had a funny light pattern ever since I bought them, even with the original halogen bulbs.
I think alot of the hate towards LEDs come from everybody and their brother using them but not taking the time to aim them. They WILL require adjustments, or the consequences will be as described by other in their dislike of them.

Slowpoke Slim · Sep 18, 2022

I think offenders who use them should be duct taped to a chair, sat in front of their own vehicle in a dark garage, have their eyelids glued open and forced to stare into their own light beams for 8-10 hours straight.

But what do I know...

There's a reason Every. Single. Kit. Is. Illegal.

None are DOT approved.

But the cops have way too much to deal with to worry about lights.

And I'm sure you get out and "properly re-adjust" your lights Every. Single. Time. You put a load in the truck bed, or hitch to a trailer, that changes your ride height or angle, even a millimeter, right?

dodge man · Sep 18, 2022

I tend to agree that LED bulbs in stock housings are going to blind other drivers 99% of the time.

dieselscout80 · Sep 18, 2022

dodge man said:
I tend to agree that LED bulbs in stock housings are going to blind other drivers 99% of the time.

Yes I agree that one needs to get complete housing that were designed as LED from the start.

Code54 · Sep 18, 2022

I have an aftermarket LED replacement light assembly kit in my Jeep Wrangler - it is DOT approved and works perfectly. It wasn't some cheap Chinese knock-off kit, but no one ever flashes their lights at me, and my ability to see while driving is drastically improved. I was rather impressed with how sharp of a cut-off the LEDs had when I was installing them. Far sharper than the factory non-led headlight assemblies, so aiming them was relatively simple and even covered in the directions if you had any questions on how to do it. Personally, I won't buy a vehicle with non-LED headlights any longer. When we bought my wife's car, I wouldn't even look at lower trims without the LEDs as they offer too big of a jump in nighttime safety in the rural area we live and drive.

Slowpoke Slim · Sep 19, 2022

Code54 said:
I have an aftermarket LED replacement light assembly kit in my Jeep Wrangler - it is DOT approved and works perfectly. It wasn't some cheap Chinese knock-off kit, but no one ever flashes their lights at me, and my ability to see while driving is drastically improved. I was rather impressed with how sharp of a cut-off the LEDs had when I was installing them. Far sharper than the factory non-led headlight assemblies, so aiming them was relatively simple and even covered in the directions if you had any questions on how to do it. Personally, I won't buy a vehicle with non-LED headlights any longer. When we bought my wife's car, I wouldn't even look at lower trims without the LEDs as they offer too big of a jump in nighttime safety in the rural area we live and drive.

Do you have a link?

I'm curious. What company, and what model lights did you go with.

5030 · Sep 19, 2022

jaxs said:
I've never felt there was need for lights any brighter than come in vehicles from the factory. Blinding other drivers with "hopped up" headlamps should carry a stiff fine.

As well as the 'off road' labelled light bars people install that are poorly aimed.

5030 · Sep 19, 2022

tallyho8 said:
About 10 years ago I burned out a headlight in my 1995 Ford F250 diesel and wanted something brighter so I installed HID 6000K headlights. I probably don't drive it at night or with the headlights on 25 hours in a year. I tried everything I knew how to do but could not get the lights aimed properly but at least they were aimed too low and off to the side so I wasn't blinding oncoming traffic.

Now with probably less than 250 hours of use one of them has burned out and I decided to junk them. Looking for new bulbs on Amazon I found out that 95% of the ads were for LED replacement bulbs, 6500K, that are supposed to be much brighter than the originals, last longer and are easy to aim correctly. Some Halogen bulb ads state that it is illegal to use LED bulbs as a replacement for halogen bulbs but that is beside the point.

Have any of you had experience replacing halogen bulbs with LED bulbs and have any positive or negative comments about it?

Stock Kubota headlights have always been woefully poor. I changed out both of my M9's to LED lights and they are much better. The ones I bought fit the stock headlight buckets and I think they were about 35 bucks a set when I bought them a couple years ago. In fact I've retrofitted all the lights on mine to LED's For me, good thing about LED's are the low amp draw compared to the light produced.

sd455dan · Sep 19, 2022

ROUSTABOUT said:
Yeah and run folks off in the ditch that meet you at night.

It is to bad the US laws around headlights have been so slow to catch up with Europe.

The "smart" ADB (Adaptive Driving Beam) technology can literally draw a line and section where the beam stops. so oncoming traffic isn't night blinded.
It can also section additional light on the side of the road which can help a driver see wildlife approaching before they try to become part of the vehicles grille.
I guess the Fed regulators did approve the tech in January but put some additional limits on light output as well.

here is Toyota's system demo.

U.S. Approval of Smart Headlights Has a Catch: They Can’t Be Too Bright

Adaptive beam headlights continually reshape the light they throw to avoid blinding oncoming drivers.

www.nytimes.com

Code54 · Sep 19, 2022

Pro Comp 7

Get the lowest price and fast shipping on Pro Comp 7

www.4wd.com

They are the Pro-Comp lights - if you look at the photos, you can see they are stamped DOT. They are also a lifetime warranty (and Pro-Comp is a fairly large company so hopefully, they will be around for a good while if needed)

Slowpoke Slim · Sep 20, 2022

Code54 said:
Pro Comp 7

Get the lowest price and fast shipping on Pro Comp 7

www.4wd.com

They are the Pro-Comp lights - if you look at the photos, you can see they are stamped DOT. They are also a lifetime warranty (and Pro-Comp is a fairly large company so hopefully, they will be around for a good while if needed)

That is interesting that the lens is marked as DOT (looking at the picture), but the literature doesn't mention if it is or not?

With your jeep lights, there is no separate headlight bucket that a bulb gets inserted into.

Not sure why they're (Pro-Comp) not bragging on being DOT approved?