LED headlight upgrade?

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/72Scamp

/72Scamp

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Have any of you guys upgraded to an LED headlight or bulb on your car? If so what brand or kit did you buy? Don't want to replace entire light if I don't have to seeing mine are original and in great condition but I will if I have to.
It drives me crazy how dim my headlights are on my 69 valiant.

Thanks!
 
Check out what /6dan has to say. He's pretty knowledgeable.
 
Whew that's a pretty penny for each light but I guess you can't put a price on safety.
 
/72Scamp said:
Whew that's a pretty penny for each light but I guess you can't put a price on safety.
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They are pretty much the best aftermarket option. Another good light approved by slantsixdan is the TruckLites, they're a bit cheaper too.
 
You may not need to replace your lights. There is a member here, sorry his name escapes me at the moment. He sells a headlight relay kit for a-bodies. It's supposed to send more power directly to the headlights and it makes a big difference. I'll be ordering his kit soon for my car.

Anyone remember who it is?
 
I put Truck Lite headlights in my 74. I bought them off of Amazon. They are way brighter than the halogens that I had before. The best part is they DOT legal. There is a guy on youtube that does reviews on the led 7" headlights. The videos are under a company called "Headlight Revolution". He does a very in depth review of each DOT legal headlight. I went with the Truck Lites because of the way they look. There are brighter and better DOT legal bulbs out there like the JW Speaker headlight, but I didn't like how they look.

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bozvaliant said:
I put Truck Lite headlights in my 74. I bought them off of Amazon. They are way brighter than the halogens that I had before. The best part is they DOT legal. There is a guy on youtube that does reviews on the led 7" headlights. The videos are under a company called "Headlight Revolution". He does a very in depth review of each DOT legal headlight. I went with the Truck Lites because of the way they look. There are brighter and better DOT legal bulbs out there like the JW Speaker headlight, but I didn't like how they look.

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What did you pay for them if you don't mind me asking?
 
If you can get the JW's for 253 a pair and like how they look, go for it. Are they the Series 1 or Series 2. I have seen a lot of crap from oversees being sold on Amazon and Ebay that look the same but aren't. The guys at Headlight Revolution even review some. They said that most of the copies aren't worth a S#$%. When I originally ordered my headlights from Amazon, one of their suppliers sent me a set for a great price. I believe it was about $100 cheaper than the actual price of Truck Lites. I received a set of Chinese copies. They looked the same, but didn't have DOT anywhere on the bulbs and didn't come in any marked boxes. I hope the prices are dropping. I sure can't afford led headlights that are DOT legal for every project that I plan on getting when I retire ! LOL
 
lilnoah said:
JW is $253 for the pair
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They're sold individually. That's $253 for ONE. $506 for the pair.

bozvaliant said:
If you can get the JW's for 253 a pair and like how they look, go for it. Are they the Series 1 or Series 2. I have seen a lot of crap from oversees being sold on Amazon and Ebay that look the same but aren't. The guys at Headlight Revolution even review some. They said that most of the copies aren't worth a S#$%. When I originally ordered my headlights from Amazon, one of their suppliers sent me a set for a great price. I believe it was about $100 cheaper than the actual price of Truck Lites. I received a set of Chinese copies. They looked the same, but didn't have DOT anywhere on the bulbs and didn't come in any marked boxes. I hope the prices are dropping. I sure can't afford led headlights that are DOT legal for every project that I plan on getting when I retire ! LOL
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Yes, you have to be very careful about all the copies out there. I think he was referring to your link though, it shows $253. But that's a single headlight not a pair. Although even that price has come down a bit, I seem to recall them being over $600 for the pair not that long ago.

I'm going to convert mine Duster over to LED's here at some point. Originally I was going to get the truck lite's because the look a little more traditional, but I may go with the JW's just because nothing else on my car is stock and with a black car I think they'll work pretty well.
 
Do the headlight relay kit first.
Not only will your stock lights be a LOT brighter, but you will need the upgraded power supply for the Cree lights anyway.
I considered the LED route on my headlights until I did the relay kit and it made so much difference I didn't bother.
 
TrailBeast said:
Do the headlight relay kit first.
Not only will your stock lights be a LOT brighter, but you will need the upgraded power supply for the Cree lights anyway.
I considered the LED route on my headlights until I did the relay kit and it made so much difference I didn't bother.
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No relays needed for the Truck Lite. They only pull , 1.80a (low beam), 3.60 amps (high beam).
 
bozvaliant said:
No relays needed for the Truck Lite. They only pull , 1.80a (low beam), 3.60 amps (high beam).
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Similar for the JW speaker headlights, the 8700 Evo 2's show a draw of 2.0a for low and 3.0a for high. The 8700J's are a little more, 2.7a on low and 4.0a on high. They have a "anti-flicker" module you can install (not required), but that's a filter not a power supply or relay.

That's actually one of the reasons I want to convert everything to LED. Not only are they brighter, but in most cases they draw less power too. Your basic Wagner H6024 pulls 2.7a on low and 4.7a on high beam, with approximate candle power at 27,000/35,000 (low/high). The JW speaker 8700's are 35,000/60,000.
 
I went with nighthawks (also per /6dan) and that was a huge improvement over stock...and only 30 bucks or so
 
diymirage said:
I went with nighthawks (also per /6dan) and that was a huge improvement over stock...and only 30 bucks or so
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I've had more than a few people say that the relay kit and Nighthawks work better than some of the fancy and expensive headlights in their more modern cars.
 
bozvaliant said:
No relays needed for the Truck Lite. They only pull , 1.80a (low beam), 3.60 amps (high beam).
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I get that, but why let it get even worse as time goes by, as it's old undersized wiring that causes the voltage to be low at the headlights and it only gets worse as time goes by.
Pretty much everything including my dash, interior light, tail/brake/turn/ except the headlights are LED on my car, and guess why I didn't go with LED headlights. :D
(Didn't need them after the relay installation.)

Not trying to convince you of anything, just telling how it is. :D
 
There won't be a comparison between the standard and LED bulbs. Look at the candlepower difference. The JW speaker LED's are as bright on low as the standard Wagner's are on high beam. I'm sure Dan would say that just because they put off more candlepower doesn't necessarily mean you'll see better, but, the LED's are definitely brighter. And, again, if the draw of the LED's is less, then, the wiring doesn't need to support as much amperage.

Not saying that the relays won't make the standard bulbs brighter, they will. And if that's good enough for you then great. But the LED's will still be brighter, and they'll still draw less power. And if you can lower the current draw by a few amps on these cars you're doing a great benefit to your wiring, not to mention reducing the need for a higher amp alternator. I'm sure even the LED's would benefit some from the relays, and anytime you can run less power through the bulkhead connector it's a good thing.
 
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