LED Lighting

[DuckRyder]

There are no DOT approved replacement leds for headlamps.

However there are good quality ones that can perform well without glare and would likely pass if allowed to test.

Probably not on the jungle website and decidedly not cheap.

 

[Carmudgeon]

To be clear, there is no formal lamp approval process in the U.S., where bulbs are said to be compliant with DOT specs, without having to go through any vetting.

By contrast, for the ECE bulb types, they must gain type approval, which includes independent testing, and granting of approval by a national authority, which is accepted by the other member states. The E-x mark denotes that the item has received type approval, and the number following indicates under in which country that was obtained.

 

[Asterix]

I'll second the LEDs from Superbright. I changed all my running/side/brake/turn lamps to LEDs on my '88 Supra and they've been working great.

The best reasons to change to LEDs on an old car is much lower current on the old wiring, and they stop roasting the old plastic housings that are already well-roasted. I figure the brake lights alone went from almost 10A to 600mA, better than 90% reduction.

 

[TazzySpazzy]

I'll second the LEDs from Superbright. I changed all my running/side/brake/turn lamps to LEDs on my '88 Supra and they've been working great.

The best reasons to change to LEDs on an old car is much lower current on the old wiring, and they stop roasting the old plastic housings that are already well-roasted. I figure the brake lights alone went from almost 10A to 600mA, better than 90% reduction.

I have had good luck with bulbs from Superbright. Most of my LEDs are on a flatbed and those are also marketed towards OTR trucks so they have to be of decent quality--just look how many individual lights a lit up tractor-trailer can have. However, I have yet to find a decent set of LED license plate lights as they all seem to fail in a year or less.
And in terms of upgrading older cars to LED there can be issues/problems due to insufficient draw in a given circuit. Two Ford specific cases are the E4OD will not shift properly without enough draw in the tail lamp circuit and the ABS light will come on at about 36mph without enough draw in the tail lamp circuit. It took me forever to figure out why my ABS light would come on but wiring in a Sylvania resistor took care of the problem.

 

[RobbS]

I use VLEDS.COM for my lamps. They answer the phone and provide helpful info on your specific needs. Good luck.

 

[wings&wheels]

There are no DOT approved replacement leds for headlamps.

However there are good quality ones that can perform well without glare and would likely pass if allowed to test.

Probably not on the jungle website and decidedly not cheap.

To be clear, there is no formal lamp approval process in the U.S., where bulbs are said to be compliant with DOT specs, without having to go through any vetting.

By contrast, for the ECE bulb types, they must gain type approval, which includes independent testing, and granting of approval by a national authority, which is accepted by the other member states. The E-x mark denotes that the item has received type approval, and the number following indicates under in which country that was obtained.

Thanks.. I almost went down the DOT "approval" vs. standards vs. platform specific Euro approvals rathole but did not.

Interesting that Phillips seems to have secured ECE approval for an H4 format bulb as well as others. I haven't tried LED headlamp retrofits as until now I wasn't comfortable w/ the quality and performance of what is out there, but I may have to give the Phillips LED headlamp retrofits a try. Curious as to how they weather seal the back of the lamp with the heat sinks as most H4 housings have some sort of rubber cap.

 

[johnmyster]

To be clear, there is no formal lamp approval process in the U.S., where bulbs are said to be compliant with DOT specs, without having to go through any vetting.

By contrast, for the ECE bulb types, they must gain type approval, which includes independent testing, and granting of approval by a national authority, which is accepted by the other member states. The E-x mark denotes that the item has received type approval, and the number following indicates under in which country that was obtained.

No, but a given standardized bulb type has specifications it needs to comply to. Self certification if you will.

 

[slomo]

did you read my full post or do you have reading comprehension issues? I said I aimed them lower so the cutoff is at the correct height. dumba$$

Oh so I'm at fault for YOU running illegal lights? Good one.

You knew they were a problem when you lowered them down. And you still run them. Tell all the elderly you pass you are sorry.

 

[Rmay635703]

Can you attest to those being DOT approved? Or some illegal iris burners WE have to put up with?

DOT approved LED Sealbeams exist

So if you have an antique you can get the real deal.

 

[MrGraybeard]

I drive a pickup out in the country. I wanted more light to reveal wildlife but I didn't want to jack up oncoming drivers with excessive glare.
I installed some LED fog lights from Diode Dynamics. DD claims they're street legal, and they shine up the shoulders of the road so I can spot deer, raccoons and opossums waiting to leap into my path. The lights are mounted low in the bumper. I'm quite happy with the result, and I don't get flashed by oncoming motorists.

 

[Asterix]

And in terms of upgrading older cars to LED there can be issues/problems due to insufficient draw in a given circuit.

With any car, it pays to read the wiring diagram to determine what the lower current will affect. In my '88 Supra, I had to bypass the tail light failure module and modify the flasher.

I wanted to keep the tail light failure module, but the way the Superbright LEDs work, it just wasn't possible. Maybe someday, I'll design a direct replacement.

Many turn signal flashers sense load current and flash double speed when it's too low as a failure indicator. I measured and replaced the current sense resistor with a larger one to keep that function. I could've bought a direct plug-in "LED flasher", but none I found have the fast-flash failure mode.

 

[johnmyster]

did you read my full post or do you have reading comprehension issues? I said I aimed them lower so the cutoff is at the correct height. dumba$$

Why would the cutoff have moved? Perhaps because the new "bulb" doesn't maintain the light distribution intended by the manufacturer. Gee, can't see how that would negatively impacted glare for oncoming drivers. You can't correct distribution with a vertical aiming screw.

You're so close to realizing the reason, while completely not willing to admit the reason.

 

[b_b]

i really dont understand the problem, if i say the i adjusted the light and they have a good cutoff and have beam pattern the same as the halogens while being brighter, what is the need for the snarky comments? you have no idea what my headlights look like and have never seen them so how do you have any idea what you are talking about? and dont say ive seen other vehicles with headlights that glare. that has no bearing on mine. ive checked mine using a garage and tape, i know the cutoff height is correct. I also have driven down a long wall to check that the light beam is straight and cut off and doesnt bleed upwards.

 

[slomo]

Why would the cutoff have moved? Perhaps because the new "bulb" doesn't maintain the light distribution intended by the manufacturer. Gee, can't see how that would negatively impacted glare for oncoming drivers. You can't correct distribution with a vertical aiming screw.

You're so close to realizing the reason, while completely not willing to admit the reason.

ha-ha-ha, the kid is a winner LOL.

 

[Sequoiasoon]

i really dont understand the problem, if i say the i adjusted the light and they have a good cutoff and have beam pattern the same as the halogens while being brighter, what is the need for the snarky comments? you have no idea what my headlights look like and have never seen them so how do you have any idea what you are talking about? and dont say ive seen other vehicles with headlights that glare. that has no bearing on mine. ive checked mine using a garage and tape, i know the cutoff height is correct. I also have driven down a long wall to check that the light beam is straight and cut off and doesnt bleed upwards.

My wife's Pilot with factory LED's. Headlights were aimed too high, fog lights WAY to low. Readjusting made them max visibility with least glare.

Same thing the halogens in multiple vehicles that had to be re-aimed correctly when I got the vehicles. Putting brighter versions in LED and HID didn't change the pattern or cutoff.

I'm with b_b.

 

[KrisZ]

The consensus seems to be, that if OEM leds blind you, that’s OK because they are DOT approved.
If aftermarket LEDs blind you, that’s because they are not DOT approved and it is very bad.

Cannot argue with such watertight logic.

 

[mjk1967]

I have been looking around at LED lights this morning.
Wow, have they jumped in price.

 

[crashz]

Yeah, the good ones are not cheap.

I've played with the LEDs a little more this spring. Both cheapo LED tail lights have failed now and I bought the Superbrights to replace them. While they work well, it did not solve the quick flash of the directional. So I went back to the plain old filament bulbs. Which do no solve the quick flash any longer.

To add insult to this, plugging in my trailer which worked to slow the flasher speed down to normal before, now does not. At best, I probably need to change all the lights in the flasher circuits back to incandescant, or at worst I damaged the BCM.