I have a friend who has just bought LED bulbs and installed them in place of halogen head lamps with success. But I've also read that you have to buy a conversion or adapter kit for older cars. Not just put an LED bulb in. What's the real story?
Upgrading halogen to LED headlights
- Thread starter himemsys
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The general consensus (my opinion included) is that you should NOT put LED bulbs into a housing designed for halogen bulbs. Unless you can adjust the LED bulb in such a manner as to absolutely duplicate the exact focal point of the halogen ones, it will produce diffuse light (glare) and reduce the ability to put light where it should be. They may be brighter, but that can fool the eye to believe it is better when it is not.
The LED headlight bulbs I have used all pluged in and worked without issue. Maybe not all do..
A light bulb filament runs down the center of the glass, and its light evenly radiates outward in 360 degrees where it catches the reflector designed for it.
A LED replacement has a couple surface mounted LEDs in the approximate same locations, which project at, say, 3 and 9 o'clock, and catch some of the reflector. Does it work? Sometimes. But the LED seed is generally bigger or displaced from the optimum position, so the light it gives off will be out of focus compared to halogen.
Can you then aim the headlamp down to compensate? Out of focus is out of focus, so you've got a less than ideal pattern.
A LED replacement has a couple surface mounted LEDs in the approximate same locations, which project at, say, 3 and 9 o'clock, and catch some of the reflector. Does it work? Sometimes. But the LED seed is generally bigger or displaced from the optimum position, so the light it gives off will be out of focus compared to halogen.
Can you then aim the headlamp down to compensate? Out of focus is out of focus, so you've got a less than ideal pattern.
VLEDS.COM do a great job providing customer service. I use them for all my LED needs. Calling them provides all the information you need for your vehicle. Check out the Switchback LED's, they're sharp.
LEDs have built in drivers and cooling now. You can just plug them in. They might interfere with some radio frequencies.
Putting an LED in a reflector housing is illegal and a jerk move. In my truck I sit 12 feet in the air and I still get dazzled by people doing this. I would rather stare into high beams than retrofitted LEDs.
Putting an LED in a reflector housing is illegal and a jerk move. In my truck I sit 12 feet in the air and I still get dazzled by people doing this. I would rather stare into high beams than retrofitted LEDs.
It's not the connection-it's the headlight housing that is not faricated for LED lights. This is what blinds the drivers coming towards you.
We all have experienced it.
I'm not sure if they were ever successful but there was a company trying to get DOT certification for a led retrofit. It's generally very expensive and time consuming. Years ago when I worked for emissions testing a number of older jeeps came in with epa paperwork as they had converted from carburetor to fuel injection which allowed them to remove the air pump as on some older vehicles they aren't manufactured any longer. The company spent a boatload maybe a half million dollars to get their retrofit epa and carb certification compliant.
I went back to halogens.
You can only do this with sealed beams because there are LED sealed beam replacements such as JW Speaker.
Dumping the idea of fitting LEDs to other systems' reflectors should be a "Car Commandment".
Care should be taken when fitting LEDs to smaller bulbs as many run hot and can melt sockets and fixtures.
Care should be taken when fitting LEDs to smaller bulbs as many run hot and can melt sockets and fixtures.
I TRIED to use LEDs in my 5th gen Camaro, that had halogen headlights (reflector and clear lens) and it was a disaster. Looking AT the lights, it was a lot brighter, but the beam-pattern was non-existent - couldn't see a thing, quickly went back to halogens.
HOWEVER ... my 6th gen Camaro has PROJECTOR headlights, where the headlight beam is tightly focused by the specifically designed lens, not a reflector. So I have a nice, tight, and controlled beam pattern that I adjusted to make sure it didn't blind anyone.
I would not recommend LEDs in a reflector headlight, BUT in a projector headlight, they are 1,000% better than halogen.
HOWEVER ... my 6th gen Camaro has PROJECTOR headlights, where the headlight beam is tightly focused by the specifically designed lens, not a reflector. So I have a nice, tight, and controlled beam pattern that I adjusted to make sure it didn't blind anyone.
I would not recommend LEDs in a reflector headlight, BUT in a projector headlight, they are 1,000% better than halogen.
LEDs are directional and "piercing". Putting them in a housing meant for halogens might result in your car blinding other people with the light.
Holley was able to get DOT certified for their retrofit LEDs. Got them on my Porsche and LOVE how well they light up the road while looking stock!
Thanks, guys. I learned a lot. The only reason I'd even consider switching is for potential power draw savings. Less load on the battery. I drive so seldom in the dark that it wouldn't be worth it otherwise. I'm guessing 10% of my driving time is with headlights on.
I always use HID.
Phillips has managed to get European approval for their LED headlamp "bulb" retrofits, understanding that the approvals are for specific platforms. If I were intent on LED headlights, I would do it right by either getting one that meets DoT standards or starting with the Phillips offerings and see how they perform. Avoid no-name, Amazon, eBay.....
Do it.
A lot of OEM LED headlamps are terrible and blind people just the same as these LED retrofit bulbs. But of course the peanut gallery will defend the terrible OEM LED implementation at all times. It never fails.
In another thread they told me not to trust my eyes when these OEM LED lights blind me, but they have no problems trusting their eyes to determine the aftermarket LEDs are blinding people. Can't make this stuff up LOL.
A lot of OEM LED headlamps are terrible and blind people just the same as these LED retrofit bulbs. But of course the peanut gallery will defend the terrible OEM LED implementation at all times. It never fails.
In another thread they told me not to trust my eyes when these OEM LED lights blind me, but they have no problems trusting their eyes to determine the aftermarket LEDs are blinding people. Can't make this stuff up LOL.
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Stay away from aftermarket LED and HID bulbs in halogen housings (ie: halogen reflector or projector housings). If you put them in you'll glare other drivers, you'll think you see better when you're just flooding the direct area in front of your car with uncontrolled light and also it's illegal for obvious reasons.
Look into Philips Xtremevision or Osram Nightbreaker performance halogen bulbs for your car. You'll get shorter life the brighter it is, so if you don't want to change your bulbs as often, go with a middle ground option for balance. Then have your headlights correctly aimed and you should be quite happy.
Look into Philips Xtremevision or Osram Nightbreaker performance halogen bulbs for your car. You'll get shorter life the brighter it is, so if you don't want to change your bulbs as often, go with a middle ground option for balance. Then have your headlights correctly aimed and you should be quite happy.
I’ve had Hikari led bulbs in my 17 Accord sport for several years now. They have ballasts and fans on them to keep them cool. Super bright, light up the whole road.
They did have a recall on some bulbs as they “may cause excessive glare or brightness for oncoming traffic” but I’ve never had anyone flash their high beams at me or anything so I’ve kept them in.
I’ve got the stock halogen bulbs in the Hikari box in the trunk in case the bulbs ever go out but over 3 years now still going strong. If/when these go out, I will get the same
They did have a recall on some bulbs as they “may cause excessive glare or brightness for oncoming traffic” but I’ve never had anyone flash their high beams at me or anything so I’ve kept them in.
I’ve got the stock halogen bulbs in the Hikari box in the trunk in case the bulbs ever go out but over 3 years now still going strong. If/when these go out, I will get the same
