Who has tried LED head lights

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Pinger

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I've done something that I've not seen mentioned here - put 100W bulbs in the high beams. I've done this to a few cars before and always with good results. Requires relays but as I've already done the 4-hi mod, no reason not to sling in 100W bulbs.
Only fitted the new bulbs last week and haven't driven in the dark with them yet but from previous experience I expect an improvement over the standard 65W items.
Four 100W bulbs for around $10.
 

df2x4

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I've done something that I've not seen mentioned here - put 100W bulbs in the high beams. I've done this to a few cars before and always with good results. Requires relays but as I've already done the 4-hi mod, no reason not to sling in 100W bulbs.
Only fitted the new bulbs last week and haven't driven in the dark with them yet but from previous experience I expect an improvement over the standard 65W items.
Four 100W bulbs for around $10.

A couple thoughts about this... And by all means feel free to correct me because I may have this wrong...

I'm under the impression that with a basic 4-Hi mod, you're only adding one relay. That relay's purpose is to power the low beams directly from the battery whenever the high beams are engaged via the multifunction switch on the column. Point being, all the current to run your high beams is still flowing through the small factory wiring and the headlight switch if that's the only other modification you've done. Upgrading to 100W bulbs in the high beams might put extra stress on those items. Personally I would only feel comfortable trying this if I'd upgraded all the wiring and added relays to power everything, not just the common single relay 4-Hi mod.

One other concern I have is excess heat in the plastic headlight housings damaging them, especially if you're running all bulbs at the same time (4-Hi). It may be fine, it may not... But I wouldn't want to try the 100W bulbs in a nice (expensive or NLA) set of housings.
 

df2x4

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On a related note... @Cadillac Bob I'm with you, I prefer not to mess with wiring unless I have to. I can do it but it gets tedious. Luckily there is a member here (@5vortec7) who sells plug and play headlight harnesses for these trucks with larger wiring and relays to run everything. I don't have any of his products so I can't review them personally, but the response from other members has been universally good. I'm planning on buying from him whenever I get around to installing the Artebs on my trucks and going back to halogens. Here's a link to his thread.

https://www.gmt400.com/threads/hd-headlight-harnesses-w-4-high-mod.45669/
 

Pinger

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A couple thoughts about this... And by all means feel free to correct me because I may have this wrong...
I'm under the impression that with a basic 4-Hi mod, you're only adding one relay. That relay's purpose is to power the low beams directly from the battery whenever the high beams are engaged via the multifunction switch on the column. Point being, all the current to run your high beams is still flowing through the small factory wiring and the headlight switch if that's the only other modification you've done. Upgrading to 100W bulbs in the high beams might put extra stress on those items. Personally I would only feel comfortable trying this if I'd upgraded all the wiring and added relays to power everything, not just the common single relay 4-Hi mod.
I did mine from scratch (obtaining the USA kits would have been a ballache) and used three relays so all the column switch provides now is signals. In full agreement, the standard wiring is barely up to standard Wattage let alone more. In other cars, I've always included a relay when shifting to 100W bulbs.


One other concern I have is excess heat in the plastic headlight housings damaging them, especially if you're running all bulbs at the same time (4-Hi). It may be fine, it may not... But I wouldn't want to try the 100W bulbs in a nice (expensive or NLA) set of housings.
Only the high beams have been upped to 100W and they'll never be switched without the truck being moving at decent speed with accompanying cooling airflow. You may still be right though and the housings melt. No big deal as they will be replaced soon due to foggy lenses so I can afford to sacrifice them in the name of science.
Glass lenses would be nice but I am slightly restricted in choice due to driving on the left hand side of the roads. The USA beam patterns are acceptable here but not the European patterns that the Artebs have. Chances are it will be acrylics from Rock Auto that are fitted but with new clear lenses, 4-hi mod and 100W high beams - that will be as good as I'll need. MOT (annual inspection) checks beam pattern - making LEDs a dodgy proposition. That, and your comments about them being poor in bad weather makes optimising halogens my preferred route.
 

vaquero

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Still running LEDs for the moment, but I bought a few sets of the Brazilian Arteb headlight housings and am planning on going back to halogens whenever I get those installed. Going to upgrade the wiring before that happens as well.

If vision in bad weather is a concern I would really recommend staying with halogens. The slightly blue tint of most LEDs kind of makes them disappear in the rain. It's weird but that's the best way I can think to describe it. The more yellow light from halogens will light up the road a lot better in the rain.
Well, I had a discount available and found the Auxbeam S1's on sale for $22.95, so I pulled the trigger. I'll install them and if they don't work well in the rain, I'll go with halogens. I have a set of Baja Designs amber DOT approved fog lights that really do well in the fog/rain, and so I might get away w/ the Auxbeams. We'll see!
 

Cadillac Bob

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I made a thread but yet to have any bites yet but I figured since this thread has to do with lights I’d ask here for info
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Pinger

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One more word for 100W halogens over high output bulbs at the standard Wattage. 100W bulbs last. High output bulbs at the standard Wattage don't.
 

Dariusz Salomon

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I mentioned this earlier in the thread but honestly my viewpoint on this is the opposite. A proper halogen setup in these trucks IMO is much more effort than a drop-in LED, and will result in a brighter and more properly focused beam than drop-in LEDs. A huge issue with the factory halogen setup in these trucks is that the factory wiring harness is borderline too small and uses no relays so the entirety of the headlight current runs through the switch. Shovelbill and other members have tested the voltage at their headlight sockets and found that upgrading the harness gained them over one full volt, that equates to a huge difference in output. Re-doing the harness and adding relays is pretty much necessary to get full output from halogens. Drop-in LEDs don't need any of these upgrades to run at full brightness as they draw much less current than halogens do.

One other note, you also mentioned that the only halogen bulbs you tried were Sylvania Silverstars. You didn't say what kind specifically, but if it was the Ultras then those are notoriously one of the worst aftermarket options out there both in terms of brightness and longevity. The reason is the blue coating on the glass. That coating (while it does create a more bluish-white light that some people prefer the looks of) both reduces light output and traps heat. As a general rule you want to avoid any halogens that have a colored coating like that, the only exception I'm aware of being a small ring of it on certain bulbs like the Philips X-TremeVisions to keep them within the legal brightness limit. If a halogen bulb's glass is completely covered in a colored coating, don't buy it.
I'm not sure if I can agree with this statement,as I threw in those colored ones in my low beams, and got generally better,brighter light. Cheap and chearful. My lenses are in rather abused state by now,so it won't hurt them.
Mind you-those are 9012s so maybe that's why they are brighter-so your statemant may be true.
 

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kennythewelder

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The issue with LEDs is that people think that they need them in every place that has a build, and then they add a set of LED driving lights. This morning a F-250 is behind me with all 4 headlights on plus his driving lights on, all LEDs. Blinding the hell out of everyone on the road. All he did was swap out all of his OE builds, and install LEDs, so there is nothing to deflect the light, on low beams, and his driving lights, and all LEDs. 6 LED lights coming down the road, blinding everything within 100 yards.
 
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