LED headlights

[Ehall8702]

LEDs are cheap on the electrical system - in fact, there's virtually no need to upgrade the factory wiring aside from the 4+hi mods. With all four of my bulbs active, current draw is only 6 amps. Compare that to 20 amps for 4 halogen bulbs....yeah

I went to all leds cause my stereo draws upwards of 900a ( that's some wave not music) and I only have room for two batteries and two alternators ( dual 300a, as much as budget afforded) so I needed EVERY amp I could get. Volt drops are severly impacted with regular bulbs, I gained over 2 volts going all led.

 

[bluetahoe]

Does anybody have the info on the wiring changes for direct battery hookup? As I recall everything for the lo beams goes through the DRL system. Is the DRL portion bypassed? Also, and hate to be asking too much but is the mod under the dash? I want to stay legal and have noticed how the LEDs can have a lot of light spray.

BTW, I plan on going with Rigid driving lights at some time to be installed on the valance with some angle mounts. These are legal here and are mounted low enough and angled low enough not to blind anybody.

https://www.rigidlightshop.com/p-28...ot-flush-mount-sr-q-pro-rigid-industries.aspx



Thanks,
Richard

 

[thegawd]

Drl fuse is pulled as it has enough power to trigger the relay and turn the low beams on in full, the module under the dash works by decreasing the voltage so it's not nearly as bright in the day. DRL are only required in one of the maritime provinces here in Canada and No Where else. Hence why most cop cars dont have DRLs as they are after all supposed to follow the rules of the highway traffic act. You will have the drl indicator on, on the dash like it is working properly. It dosent bother me. I dont think this is required for the 4Hi mod because when you hit the hi beams and when the low beams should normally turn off they are turned back on with the output of the relay triggered by the positive output of the high beams.

I thought I had a schematic on hand as I made one for both low and hi mods but I cant find the damn thing.

Al

 

[Poondart]

One thing I have not seen anyone say about choosing proper led bulbs is:
It is critical to match the led diode/chip position to the halogen filament position. The closer you match the two filaments/chips the closer the beam pattern will be to OEM. I keep seeing people say they need a special lens or housing. Although these things can improve the beam pattern and throw, they are not necessarily needed. As I stated the most important thing when purchasing led bulbs is to make sure the led diode/chip is positioned right where the halogen filament in positioned in whatever housing you have. That and making sure to properly aim and align your beam.
I have a set of XKglow 9006 and 9005 led rgb bulbs installed in my 98 gmt400. Since I matched up the led chip almost perfectly with the old halogen filament, my leds out perform the halogens in every way shape and form. I get better throw, better brightness, better color(white light), better distance. The old halogens aren’t even comparable. Literally like night and day. I should also mention I have an aftermarket housing, but, it’s just a cheap $180 Amazon housing. One other downside I need to mention about led bulbs is: they do not produce much heat compared to halogen and hid, so, when in harsh cold winter conditions, they won’t melt ice and snow nearly as well as halogen and hid. They actually really suck at melting snow and ice from the lenses. But, I live in Alaska and haven’t had too much of an issue with this yet. I’ve had this setup for almost 2 years now.

hope this helps the gmt 400 fam understand led bulbs!

Check out this site on YouTube, this dude explains it all. They have compared a million different led, hid, halogen, and even laser bulbs.

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[Stumpy]

I have a set of these https://genssi.com/g7-elite-led-headlight-conversion-kit-6000k-bulbs-8000lm/
in my UTV, that have been really good. I think I'm using an H13, but not sure, they've been in there a long time, and you can clock them, to get them where they need to be. They were only about $50 on ebay when I got them. I wouldn't be afraid to use this brand in my truck.

Stock bulbs...

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Genssi LEDs...

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[df2x4]

The old halogens aren’t even comparable. Literally like night and day.

Did you upgrade your headlight wiring and add relays for power while running halogens? If not then you're not really making a fair comparison. The factory headlight wiring in these trucks is borderline too small as-is and runs power through the switch which results in quite a bit of voltage drop. LEDs will run happily at full brightness on the factory wiring, halogens will not.

Regarding drop in LEDs not "needing" a specially designed reflector/housing... You can get them close, but no matter the design you'll never match the 360 degree output of a halogen filament. In addition what may create an "acceptable" beam in one housing may be complete garbage in another. In my experience the cheaper fanless two sided LEDs like you see from Auxbeam or Beamtech (or several other places really, they all come from the same Chinese suppliers) work best in the composite housings of these trucks (EDIT - Using Anzo 111004 housings), but like I said earlier IMO you can't beat a proper halogen setup.

For anyone who's truly interested (or truly bored) we've covered all this and more very in-depth in this thread. Lots of really good info in here, broken up by lots of rambling.

https://www.gmt400.com/threads/spyder-headlamps-my-take-on-em-and-lighting-in-general.36647/

 

[df2x4]

One more quick note about light color since I'm nerding out... While some people think the more blue output that most LEDs have looks better, it's actually much harder for your eyes to use. Especially at night. The human eye doesn't process or adjust to blue light very well. More yellow light like you get from halogens is actually ideal. There's a good Wikipedia article on this called "Selective Yellow."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selective_yellow

 

[Poondart]

Did you upgrade your headlight wiring and add relays for power while running halogens?

Yes, I did. I have owned this truck for 20 years now. For around 10 years I ran the complete stock OEM halogen setup. After around ten years of running the stock halogen setup, I finally upgraded to the 4 high mod with relays running all power directly from the battery. Ran that setup for around 7-8 years. This was a huge step up from stock, with much higher/stronger light output for sure. I still wasn’t happy with the light output from halogens though, mainly low beams(high beams were decent). I was doing a lot of nighttime driving in very remote areas with little to no other light sources around besides the moon(meaning it was pitch black, most of the time). 2 years ago I decided to go all out on upgrades, not just to my headlights, but decided to purchase a couple led light bars and a bunch of led pod lights. All with white light(actually rgb, but capable of pure white), equivalent to around 5500k hid color temperature. I am happiest with this setup, even without using the light bars or light pods. After many years of running stock halogens. I would recommend LED to anyone and everyone. As I said in my previous post, they outperform my old setup(even with relays and power direct from the batt) in every category. This is my personal opinion, take it as you will.
I don’t get flashed by anyone because I have matched the led chip with the halogen filament, and properly aimed and aligned my beams.

More yellow light like you get from halogens is actually ideal.

This statement is quite subjective as everyone has their own preferences and opinions.
For my own personal opinion, after running yellow halogens (3500-4500k equivalent hid temperature) for almost 20 years. I most definitely prefer white light over yellow light, and consider it ideal for me personally. My night driving experiences now are amazing. IMO, White light brings out much more detail in everything they shine on. Especially with brights on watching for moose and bear. I can see into the woods much better and much clearer with white light. The white light also makes hazards on the road pop out more(potholes, debris, roadkill, etc...).
The great thing with my setup is that it’s all RGB, from the headlights to the light bars. So I can tint them yellow during heavy rain, snow, or fog. I can also emergency strobe them in low vis situations, as to warn oncoming traffic I am there.

 

[df2x4]

This statement is quite subjective as everyone has their own preferences and opinions.

From a factual standpoint, not really. From what I understand it's pretty widely accepted that the human eye's sensitivity to colors in visible light peaks around 550 nm (greenish yellow) and declines as the wavelength gets shorter or longer. I know some people prefer a more blue light but IMO the science doesn't seem to back that up, nor do my experiments.

I do like the idea of being able to change the light color on demand for bad weather. I've seen switchable LEDs that do 3000K or 6000K but for some reason it never dawned on me that you could accomplish the same thing with RGBs. That's pretty clever.

 

[Trenton]

also I don't think LED headlights are illegal, cars came factory with them. I had HID's in a Cobalt, if had hi's on and switched to lows, there was a delay cause they needed to warm up, freaked yah out sometimes lol

In Texas, HIDs are only legal if they come from the factory with them. My '19 Impala has HID headlights, but theyre in a projector lens. Main reason is because people will put HIDs as low beams in crystal housings. HIDs need a projector housing to control the light output, otherwise the light spread will be awful and dangerous to the driver and oncoming traffic, at least that's what I was taught in my state inspection class.

As for LEDs, the factory LEDs on cars are usually a vehicle specific design, like the 2017+ Ford F-series or the Toyota Camry. The aftermarket LEDs are designed to mock a certain bulb, like 9005 or 9006 bulb, so the light spread can be wonky in a crystal lens, even if they're bright as hell.

As far as I was taught in Texas, LED bulbs are legal in cars, but HIDs are not, but as you know, the US government doesn't like us messing with anything on our vehicles, so nothing is legal in their eyes.

Buy what you want, just follow state rules if you have yearly inspections and make sure your headlights are aimed properly. If you have LED or HID low beams, buy projectors for them to go into.

My '02 Impala has LED highs, fogs, and reverse lights, and my '98 K3500 has LED reverse lights, high beams, and license plate lights.