Why isn't their L.E.D. headlight upgrade kits for old cars?
- Thread starter Soft Cars
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If you are wondering why you can't or should not retrofit an LED "bulb" into a reflector housing it is due to the optical incompatibility of the reflector and the LED emitter. Reflector housing works with incandescent bulbs that have a small filament that outputs light along the filament's longitudinal axis in 360 degrees. An LED emitter-based light source cannot match the required light output requirements and will produce a severely compromised beam pattern.
Projector lights can be designed for halogen, HID, or LED, or laser.
Projector lights can be designed for halogen, HID, or LED, or laser.
There are thousands of them out there.
When I search RockAuto, they're all incandescent.
They seem to make them for trucks, there's a lot of no-name trucking companies running them around here.
and thats the problem... People are installing these in none led housings and blinding people at night...
Holley makes some
www.holley.com
Retrobright Official Site: Sealed Beam LED Headlights
Holley RetroBright products are designed to bring modern lighting solutions to your classic vehicle, without taking anything away from its timeless looks. From LED headlights that have the appearance of a standard sealed-beam but have the output of modern technology, to replacement bulbs that...
www.holley.com
As @vavavroom and others alluded to, a proper upgrade kit would include a housing designed for the LED light source. Design, production, and marketing a product only works if there are enough sales to get a return on investment. As an example where it makes sense, Philips makes a few LED-based lights in sealed-beam formats, presumably because the application range is wide enough.
No. I don’t wonder. It’s pure economics. What do they cost to develop? How many will they sell?
Because the kits that do exist are junk, it’s quite clear that those manufacturers spent zero on R& D and just put out junk. They know the market for retrofit is small, so the only way to make $$ is to lower cost.
I don't want to chime in like a sycophant but that news is not only old but there were scads of people who would have to have know better but ignored all warning. They suffered not only bad beams (along with all the oncoming drivers they blinded) but some melted their housings from lousy units thrown onto the market.
Even today I'd be leery of buying any LED for my "pre-led" car (not entirely true as a few were added to the rear tail lights) because you might not be able to tell if you're getting old stock.
The one thing I noted when looking at LED units (2006-7) at a big shop was that almost all available screw on work-lights and such were flood pattern. There were only one or two which had any "beam". This told me a lot.
Even today I'd be leery of buying any LED for my "pre-led" car (not entirely true as a few were added to the rear tail lights) because you might not be able to tell if you're getting old stock.
The one thing I noted when looking at LED units (2006-7) at a big shop was that almost all available screw on work-lights and such were flood pattern. There were only one or two which had any "beam". This told me a lot.
+1
It comes down to the cost to develop vs. the amount they will sell.
I just installed some Holley Retrobright LEDs in my '98 Wrangler. They are a drop-in replacement for the sealed beam lights on many old vehicles. They weren't cheap, but they have the correct reflector for an LED bulb with a nice beam pattern and cut-off. I'm sure it only made sense to develop them since they fit a wide range of vehicles that require the standard sealed beam bulb, and many cars that are owned by collectors.
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Explain this to me like I’m 6 yo.
Do high end cars still have adaptive lights, or they’re just bright led bulbs that blind oncoming traffic. My cars are old. All 3 have HID and 2/3 swivel/level etc. I’m often blinded by cars such as Subarus chevys Toyotas Jeeps with LEd but was thinking maybe caddy or Porsche still level them out
Much as I hate to suggest it, DOT needs to catch up and may need to adjust the behavior of the car mfgs
Do high end cars still have adaptive lights, or they’re just bright led bulbs that blind oncoming traffic. My cars are old. All 3 have HID and 2/3 swivel/level etc. I’m often blinded by cars such as Subarus chevys Toyotas Jeeps with LEd but was thinking maybe caddy or Porsche still level them out
Much as I hate to suggest it, DOT needs to catch up and may need to adjust the behavior of the car mfgs
Rockauto won't stock them because they're DOT illegal.
An incandescent bulb has a filament (or two) that exist straight down the optical centerline of the reflector engineered for it.
LEDs are "pads" that are off this center line, and "out of focus" from the get-go. There's a chance, however small, that this light will actually correctly strike one particular reflector correctly.
But you typically get two "pads" for low beams so they only use a portion of the reflector. I have a set of these in my son's 99 camry, and they're "clockable", so I was able to find the "best" part of the reflector to use. As such, I get a good side-beam with a stock-ish amount of up-and-down.
But because the geometry's different, I had to aim the lights as low as they go so as to not blind oncoming drivers. The fact that the whole light needed recentering shows that LEDs by their nature are not the same.
An incandescent bulb has a filament (or two) that exist straight down the optical centerline of the reflector engineered for it.
LEDs are "pads" that are off this center line, and "out of focus" from the get-go. There's a chance, however small, that this light will actually correctly strike one particular reflector correctly.
But you typically get two "pads" for low beams so they only use a portion of the reflector. I have a set of these in my son's 99 camry, and they're "clockable", so I was able to find the "best" part of the reflector to use. As such, I get a good side-beam with a stock-ish amount of up-and-down.
But because the geometry's different, I had to aim the lights as low as they go so as to not blind oncoming drivers. The fact that the whole light needed recentering shows that LEDs by their nature are not the same.
On new cars the vertical cutoff of the low beams can be so sharp that you literally can't see anything more than about 200 feet ahead on low. It is like a curtain of darkness exists.
I think that to compensate a lot of drivers are leaving their lights on high all the time. It's a good example of Unintended Consequence.
This ^^^^^^^
It's not just lousy retrofits that are the problem. Far from it. It's new cars in general that are equipped with crappy headlights as an almost industry standard.
Complaints run the gamut from not being able to see beyond a couple hundred feet, like mk378 mentions, forcing you to either overdrive your low beams, or else risk blinding oncoming drivers with your high beams.... You pick your poison.
Here are over half a dozen articles saying much the same.
https://www.google.com/search?q=why...60l2.11445j0j15&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#ip=1
I put LEDs in pretty much every vehicle I’ve ever owned.
The thing is I research extensively, pick one with an LED pattern that closely matches a regular bulb, install it correctly with the proper orientation, and then perform testing to see if cutoff/glare is acceptable. I’ve send plenty back but in the end I have bright, usable, safe headlights that blow away regular bulbs.
The thing is I research extensively, pick one with an LED pattern that closely matches a regular bulb, install it correctly with the proper orientation, and then perform testing to see if cutoff/glare is acceptable. I’ve send plenty back but in the end I have bright, usable, safe headlights that blow away regular bulbs.
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I had a 2017 or so bmw 3 wagon loaner and back then the leds were adaptive. But the newest cars I am sensing don’t have that and are really white bright bulbs. Imho Subaru is the worst offender from observation but suburban is bad too…RAV4, just bread and butter cars…
Automotive Cancer = "Well, everybody else has 'em so we gotta include 'em in our vehicles".
The consumer contributes to this too.
The consumer contributes to this too.
