Spyder headlamps.....my take on 'em...and LIGHTING in general

[shovelbill]

looking forward to the end result. My SCSB is getting an lq4/4l80 swap now and will hopefully be restoring everything else in a few weeks. New lights will be on that list of things to do.

me too, trust me.....i hope everything goes smooth for you. i feel like a kid again doing these things....it's been many a year that i was actually excited about "building" a cage.....for the last few decades anything with 4 wheels was only for bad rain and snow.....

there was a time in my life that for 3 years all i had was my bike.

and i can tell you i'm enjoying that "fuzzy feelin" i have again for this rig......brings back vivid memories from when i was 16.

 

[JMiller]

Hold the phone...

I just noticed something in the first picture of the lenses that you posted. In the middle of the lens down low, there's the word "SONAR." Now the reason that jumps out at me is this...

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That's on the bottom of my elusive discontinued corner lenses that I have on the Suburban. To make things even weirder, the box they came in reads "YANGSON DESIGN." The reason this is interesting to me is that I've had a theory for a long time that there are only one or two factories in China making all this stuff, and then putting it into differently badged boxes and selling it all over the place. This seems to strengthen that theory if anything.

Just a strange observation. I wish I knew more about this parent company "Sonar," as I love those corner lights. I looked them up long ago but their website might as well have been non-existent. Seeing this kind of lets me hypothesize as to why... I'd guess that they don't want to bother with selling anything to individuals, but rather sell huge quantities to distributors like Spyder and Anzo.

I have been getting the same feeling about many parts lately. I recently discovered that ACDELCO Batteries are actually manufactured in Saudi Arabia by a black label (unlabeled product) company that is partly owned by Johnson Control Company out of Wisconsin. The company is called MEBCO. Thanks to the good Ole interweb I recently drew my own conclusions that the ACDELCO fuel pumps for GMT400's are manufactured by you guessed it another black label company in Mexico. With a little more boredom/insomnia I deduced that a fuel pump labeled and sold by Global Automotive in Miami is the exact same pump without a part number stamped into it. So I purchased one for literally 10% of the Delco part #. I am now looking to purchase some lighting and will definitely be looking into these lenses. I've browsed around this site quite a bit and from what I gather Shovelbill is a pretty respectable character. If he says it's a good part I think I'll give it a try.

 

[drewcrew]

Real cool!
interesting thing.....two nights ago Michael Hurd and myself had a PM-a-thon....and a lot of what we discussed were the LED options available today. it included my experience with Harley's line of LED headlights and auxillary lighting. i have been working for a couple of Harley dealerships for the past 4+ years.

we agreed that most of what we were talking about would have been good to be on this thread......i'm going to be copy and pasting the highlights of our conversation.

incidentally.....yesterday i received a comprehensive response to my e-mail to Daniel Stern. one of his main topics of upgrading our systems was to swap the grill/light assembly to the WT version.....there are real good options out there for the 5"X 7" lamps....the 4"x6's too.

in my '86 Jimmy i had some real good lighting.......Ciebi E-codes, Hella 220 fogs, KC Daylighter driving lights(aux high beams).....i even put a 1982 bumper on that truck so you could see my front signals....the 85/86 truck had the blinkers behind the grill inboard of the high beam......i put some thought into that truck, after spending money on garbage that didn't do what i wanted...and blinded the **** out of oncoming traffic.

here's the picture again, i loved this truck....and i like to post ****

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.....that Truck Light you referenced df2x4 is a good reflector LED....i happen to like the way those look compared to the R2D2 lookin projector varieties.

Harley has there own versions, made by some else of course, but these are a good option for a touring bike, like my black FLD:
https://www.amazon.com/Truck-Lite-2...rd_wg=jmRVf&psc=1&refRID=7N0FNQ8SVG5WKJANF0MQ
https://www.amazon.com/Truck-Lite-8...srs=2602725011&ie=UTF8&qid=1484516779&sr=8-91

i knew the WT setup would lend itself to much better lighting, but i own a Sierra with the slit lights and wanted to see how i could improve on it with what IS available.....

I e-mailed Daniel Stern and told him I wanted to upgrade the lights on my 91' that has the composite lights. He sent me more info than you can believe. To get the best lighting I'd have to switch to a W/T grille and that just not in the budget. I asked him what he thought about the Philips 9011 and 9012. He said the 9012's were not a good idea. He recommends Philips X-TREME Vision. There only $27.31 for a pack of two on Amazon. For the highbeam he recommends AC Delco HIR1 and there only $28.78 each on Amazon. Since these are what he recommends that's good enough for me. I'm going to try and get in touch with him and see if he will post all the info he sent me on this site. If you order off of the e-mail he sends he gets a small amount of money from Amazon and it doesn't cost you anymore....Win-Win.

 

[shovelbill]

I have been getting the same feeling about many parts lately. I recently discovered that ACDELCO Batteries are actually manufactured in Saudi Arabia by a black label (unlabeled product) company that is partly owned by Johnson Control Company out of Wisconsin. The company is called MEBCO. Thanks to the good Ole interweb I recently drew my own conclusions that the ACDELCO fuel pumps for GMT400's are manufactured by you guessed it another black label company in Mexico. With a little more boredom/insomnia I deduced that a fuel pump labeled and sold by Global Automotive in Miami is the exact same pump without a part number stamped into it. So I purchased one for literally 10% of the Delco part #. I am now looking to purchase some lighting and will definitely be looking into these lenses. I've browsed around this site quite a bit and from what I gather Shovelbill is a pretty respectable character. If he says it's a good part I think I'll give it a try.

a character, yup....thanks for the kind words. if we were talking Harley parts there'd be no doubt, that's my deal.

it's really scary as to the information that you can actually GET......caveat emptor for real. it's actually quite exhausting having an inquisitive mind....more so when you're capable of critical thinking, LOL.

since i've outta circulation(and work) for the last month due to my back surgery, i'm sick of what i've seen on the interweb. never have i spent this much time glued to this computer.....i think i was better off without know what i've learned.....no joke.

i'm happy with my choices for the lighting system....as i mentioned before i may try the AC Delco HIR1's that drewcrew just referenced, we chatted about those somewhere in this thread...i think MichaelHurd brought them up too......but i already purchased the the Philips high beam bulbs based on my research.....we'll find out soon enough.

 

[shovelbill]

I e-mailed Daniel Stern and told him I wanted to upgrade the lights on my 91' that has the composite lights. He sent me more info than you can believe. To get the best lighting I'd have to switch to a W/T grille and that just not in the budget. I asked him what he thought about the Philips 9011 and 9012. He said the 9012's were not a good idea. He recommends Philips X-TREME Vision. There only $27.31 for a pack of two on Amazon. For the highbeam he recommends AC Delco HIR1 and there only $28.78 each on Amazon. Since these are what he recommends that's good enough for me. I'm going to try and get in touch with him and see if he will post all the info he sent me on this site. If you order off of the e-mail he sends he gets a small amount of money from Amazon and it doesn't cost you anymore....Win-Win.

i got a very similar response from Mr Stern....took me some time to find his addy, but he got back to me in a few days........VERY comprehensive e-mail.....too bad i had already bought my stuff before i even thought to seek his advice. years ago i used e-codes from him and did wire my trucks properly, as he has always stated.......

i have some "wish" in my little brain to see what a 4 lamp setup could produce with the Bosch H4 high and low beams....i may even get a set of the assemblies to try out if i get bored. i always have 10 extra projects waiting in the wings to never get too.......i have a Road King to finish and sell, help offset the cost i'm incurring from this truck, LOL....true story.

i'd love to do a dual 5 3/4 setup like the ol' rigs........when i go out for my PT walks now all i do is look at headlights on vehicles.....it's a fu@kin disease.......LMAO.

 

[shovelbill]

just an update.....


gmachinz sent the harness out.......and as a surprise he built one and that included a switch for inside the cab to turn off the hi4 modification. i wasn't expecting that.

i'm looking forward to doing this job of work on my truck. let's hope the new bolts in my back are going to cooperate with my enthusiasm.....LOL.

 

[mars2878]

can't wait to see

 

[deejaaa]

.......when i go out for my PT walks now all i do is look at headlights on vehicles.....it's a fu@kin disease.......LMAO.

it's called OCD.

 

[shovelbill]

can't wait to see

pun intended?

LOL

 

[shovelbill]

it's called OCD.

thank God i can turn that off......when i need to, that is.

..........and i don't line my tools up like little soldiers, LMAO.