About cars

[Bogie]

Someone was at the store looking for a taillight bulb for their 2022 car.
 
You don't want to know how much the whole LED assembly that looks really pretty costs, but it's three digits, almost four... No decimal in there...
 
Lights that are overly bright are not DOT compliant, and you can get ticketed or denied a safety inspection. That said, you can buy "plug and play" LED lighting. Here's what I'm planning for my car after I am able to get it legally on the road again.
 
(consider: If you go much over 55 watts, your car may have problems with the wiring)
 
https://www.amazon.com/Auxbeam-H7-Anti-interference-Conversion-Replacement/dp/B08QJ8GLPZ/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?crid=33A5XIJ0C1CCP&keywords=h7%2Bled%2Bheadlight%2Bbulb&qid=1673993365&refinements=p_89%3AAuxbeam&rnid=2528832011&s=automotive&sprefix=H7%2BLED%2Caps%2C156&sr=1-2-spons&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUExRUZTSTZDNEpJUzdZJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwOTc5NjUxMUhDRjJQNUk2SEpSUSZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwMDA3NTE1MUtETTFNRTY3V083MiZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX2F0ZiZhY3Rpb249Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU&th=1

[zahc]

Interestingly, i was just looking at super bright MTB lights. The good ones are hundreds of dollars and I was thinking something like this would be a lot cheaper. I just need a 12V battery to run them but 3s lipos are pretty cheap nowadays.

[zxcvbob]

Someone was at the store looking for a taillight bulb for their 2022 car.
 
You don't want to know how much the whole LED assembly that looks really pretty costs, but it's three digits, almost four... No decimal in there...
 
Lights that are overly bright are not DOT compliant, and you can get ticketed or denied a safety inspection. That said, you can buy "plug and play" LED lighting. Here's what I'm planning for my car after I am able to get it legally on the road again.
 
(consider: If you go much over 55 watts, your car may have problems with the wiring)
 
https://www.amazon.com/Auxbeam-H7-Anti-interference-Conversion-Replacement/dp/B08QJ8GLPZ/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?crid=33A5XIJ0C1CCP&keywords=h7%2Bled%2Bheadlight%2Bbulb&qid=1673993365&refinements=p_89%3AAuxbeam&rnid=2528832011&s=automotive&sprefix=H7%2BLED%2Caps%2C156&sr=1-2-spons&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUExRUZTSTZDNEpJUzdZJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwOTc5NjUxMUhDRjJQNUk2SEpSUSZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwMDA3NTE1MUtETTFNRTY3V083MiZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX2F0ZiZhY3Rpb249Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU&th=1

Interesting. Why are they very cool white (6500K) instead of warm or neutral white (3000k-ish), is it just so everyone knows they are not OEM?

[Bogie]

6500 seems to do better for visibility at night/in weather...
 
And... Customers ask for a WHITE light... The whitererer the better... Ergo, give the people what they want.

[zahc]

High power LEDs are intrinsically blue. So it's cheaper/more efficient to make bluer ones. Less blue is actually better especially in fog.

[K Frame]

There's talk that Virginia is looking at possibly banning those blue headlights. I know in oncoming traffic they can be a gold plated bitch to deal with.

[Nick1911]

I'm not a fan of banning anything, but I do find some aftermarket auto lighting dreadful and dangerous.  I'm not sure how much of this is just due to the beams being inappropriately aligned.  Really I'm not much of a fan of much aftermarket automotive crap, it seems to be as obnoxious as possible in order to draw attention to itself.

That said, you can have my tommy lift when you pry it from my cold deal hands!   ...Perd mentioned that pickups have crazy tailgate features now, do any stock pickup tailgates go fully to the ground and lift 600lbs?

[BobR]

I did not opt for the high dollar LEDs on my new truck but I have replaced the rear lights (tails, backup and license plate) with these . They work very well and look good in the housing. The backups are substantially brighter. I would do it again.


bob

[HankB]

There's talk that Virginia is looking at possibly banning those blue headlights. I know in oncoming traffic they can be a gold plated bitch to deal with.

The "blue" headlights I think of are HID lamps - High Intensity Discharge. They seem to be less common now - for a while thieves were ripping them out of cars because they were so expen$ive. Dazzlingly bright to oncoming traffic, I think a LOT of them weren't properly aligned.

[dogmush]

I have used the Halogen replacement LEDs in two different vehicles.  A 2003 Mustang and a 2004 F150.  They are a cast iron bitch to get aimed with no dark spots.  Internet wisdom is that this is because the LED chips and the halogen filaments are not in the same place with the same light shape so the reflectors that are designed for halogen bulbs are pretty sub optimal for LEDs.  I had the best success with paying very close attention to the chip placement on the LED "bulb" and then matching that to Halogen filament location.

I also recommend the LED bulbs with active cooling, as at least in FL, the passively cooled LEDs like in that amazon link don't last.

[K Frame]

I've replaced two sets of halogen lights with LEDs -- first on my 2012 Forester, and then on my 2015 Forester.

In both cases the bulbs did a VERY good job of "plug and play" and no real gaps and crap in the light patterns.

The set for the 2012 were actively cooled; they were a pain to get into the light housings and I had to use a rubber boot to replace the hard shell dust cover. That was a real treat.

The assemblies in the 2015 changed so that there's now no hard shell dust cover, which made putting in the new LEDs a lot easier. I went with passively cooled ones, though, and I've been noticing some brightness fluctuation in at least one of the bulbs the last few weeks. It only happens occasionally, but it happens. I'm expecting one of the bulbs to fail sooner rather than later. When it does, I'll replace both with a set of actively cooled LEDs.

[zxcvbob]

I need to replace the rear turn signals in my 2010 Focus.  It's a 2-filament bulb, not sure if the other half is the brake light or tail light.  I might try LEDs this time.

[zahc]

To be honest if you care about your headlights working properly the only thing to do is use original replacement bulbs. There is no way for an led replacement for halogen to work properly in a halogen fixture.

A bigger issue with old cars is keeping the polycarbonate headlights polished and clear. I've resigned myself to doing a full headlight restoration every year.

[Brad Johnson]

I've looked into putting LED lamps in my F150 but haven't found a solid example of the PITA/durability factor being outweighed by performance, at least for my needs. There are, however, some excellent replacement headlight assemblies designed around LED. Morimoto makes a fantastic set of drop-in units, but at $1700 a pair the price is more than I can justify.

https://www.morimotohid.com/morimoto-ford-f-150-18-20-xb-led-headlights?quantity=1

Brad

[K Frame]

To be honest if you care about your headlights working properly the only thing to do is use original replacement bulbs. There is no way for an led replacement for halogen to work properly in a halogen fixture.

A bigger issue with old cars is keeping the polycarbonate headlights polished and clear. I've resigned myself to doing a full headlight restoration every year.

I've been hard pressed to really determine much, if any difference, between the halogen pattern and the LED pattern. The LED lights are, however, far whiter, which I find to be very beneficial.


Regarding the headlamp assembly polishing, are you finishing with a silicone sealer? If you're not, you should be. It makes the polishing job last a LOT longer.

[HeroHog]

My 2013 Ford Escape Titanium had those newfangle hi intensity lights and they are bright and cast a wide beam, BUT the low beam upper "cutoff" of the light pattern is VERY distinct and does NOT light up street name signs at all! Most irritating.

[zxcvbob]

My 2013 Ford Escape Titanium had those newfangle hi intensity lights and they are bright and cast a wide beam, BUT the low beam upper "cutoff" of the light pattern is VERY distinct and does NOT light up street name signs at all! Most irritating.

Is Titanium better than Platinum? (I'm confused)  LOL

[HeroHog]

Is Titanium better than Platinum? (I'm confused)  LOL

It was just the top trim level that year.