Semi-Scientific Headlight Bakeoff (1 Viewer)

[slcfj62]

I just concluded an experiment where I compared several flavors of sealed beam and several flavors of H4 headlights to each other. I set up my test inside my garage with the windows blacked out and aiming the headlights at a sheet of drywall up against the garage door about 12 feet away from the headlights. Power was supplied by a beefy 35A power supply with a constant voltage set at 13.5 volts. I measured reflected light intensity with a digital lux meter aimed directly at the most intense portion of the light pattern. The measured light was at the low end of the lux meter scale, but since the purposes of the test were just to compare the reflected intensity of the several headlights, the accuracy of the actual measurement is unimportant. Here are the headlights I compared. All of them are FJ62 rectangular headlights with the exception of the Sylvania XtraVision which is a round FJ60 headlight.

NOTE: Part 2 of the Headlight Bakeoff starts on post #48. See post #51 through #53 for 7 inch round headlights.

https://forum.ih8mud.com/60-series-...ientific-headlight-bakeoff-3.html#post6499540

And now to the headlights:

Sealed Beam:

Sylvania Silverstar H4656ST
Sylvania XvraVision H6024
Koito H4652
Wagner (No Part Number)

H4

AutoPal HL-106 H4
Hella Free Form (totally clear lens)
Cibie 082395


The Koito and the Wagner were on my FJ62 when I purchased it two years ago, so this test may not be fair to them because they have been used an unknown amount of hours. But, I threw them in the test just for comparison purposes.

My camera automatically adjusts the aperture opening to brightness, so the relative brightness of the various headlights is not accurate in these pictures. The pictures serve to show the light pattern. The digital light meter is used to determine relative brightness. In the pictures, the more of my ugly garage door with the cheepo cardboard insulation you can see above the hot spot, the more oncoming drivers will be blinded by the headlight.

So here we go with the pictures (LO beam first, HI beam second):

SECTION 1--SEALED BEAM

Sylvania Silverstar H4656ST

Notice the amount of stray light above the hot spot of the LO beam picture. This will appear as glare to oncoming drivers. It is interesting that with two of the three sealed beam rectangular headlights, the HI beam had less light intensity than the LO beam, it's just aimed higher and in some cases a little to the left. Also notice that the SilverStar has a whiter light than all of the other headlights.

LUX: LO=49 HI=36

LOW BEAM

HIGH BEAM

--------------------------------------------------------------

Sylvania XtraVision H6024

This is the only round headlight I had to test. There is stray light above the hot spot, but not as much as the SilverStar. Also the intensity of the light is higher than any of the rectangular sealed beam headlights, probably due to the round vs. rectangular design.

LUX: LO=63 HI=77

LOW BEAM

HIGH BEAM

---------------------------------------------------------------

Koito H4652

Notice the stray light above the hot spot. I don't believe this headlight is available, but I decided to show it because some vehicle lighting web sites that I have seen have high praise for Koito lights. I didn't see any visible superiority. In fact, the light pattern is very similar to the Sylvania Xtravision.

LUX: LO=49 HI=41

LOW BEAM

HIGH BEAM

---------------------------------------------------------------

Wagner (no part number on the light)

This headlight is terrible on LO beam. Notice how much of the garage door it lights up.

LUX: LO=25 HI=26

LOW BEAM

HIGH BEAM

---------------------------------------------------------------


SECTION 2--H4

All of the following headlights are H4 headlights. The exact same light bulb was used to test each headlight housing and is an AutoPal 60/55W H4 lamp.

AutoPal HL-106 H4

I bought this headlight on ebay. This headlight is very inexpensive compared to the other H4 headlights that I tested. You can see that the vertical cutoff is fuzzy and not much better than the sealed beam headlights. The low light intensity indicates a poorly focused beam. Both the Cibie and the Hella have much higher light intensity using the exact same lamp.

LUX: LO=39 HI=87

LOW BEAM

HIGH BEAM

---------------------------------------------------------------

Hella Free Form (the one with the totally clear lens)

This headlight had more stray light above the hot spot than you can see in the pic. Because the hot spot has more intensity, the camera aperture closes some and you can't see the stray light very well. What is interesting is that using the exact same bulb as the AutoPal gives a significantly higher intensity hot spot. This is due to the headlight housing doing a better job of focusing the light energy in one place.

LUX: LO=55 HI =117

LOW BEAM

HIGH BEAM

---------------------------------------------------------------

Cibie 082395

This is the headlight I have in my FJ62. You can see the sharp vertical cut off with the LO beam and the even distribution of light below the cut off line. There is very little stray light above that straight cut off line. This headlight is top shelf.

LUX: LO=55 HI=113

LOW BEAM

HIGH BEAM

---------------------------------------------------------------

To satisfy my curiosity, I then redid the test with my Cibie headlight and replaced the AutoPal 60/55W lamp with the Osram 70/65W that I run in my headlights. The LO beam intensity was about the same as the AutoPal, even though it is 10 Watts higher. The big difference was the intensity of the HI beam: 139 LUX! Two of those with my 100W H1s really lights things up.

CONCLUSION: None of the sealed beam headlights have a very good vertical cutoff, which means upward glare and potential blinding of the driver coming toward you. Also, it appears that round headlights focus more light down the road than rectangular ones. The cheap H4 Autopal has marginally better cutoff than the sealed beams, and it is in the price range of the high end sealed beam headlights, like the Sylvania Silverstar. But unlike the sealed beam headlights, it has an inexpensive replaceable lamp. The Cibie and the Hella both had about the same intensity hot spot, but the Cibie does a better job of vertical cutoff, which means you could get away with using higher wattage lamps without blinding on-coming drivers.

CONCLUSION of the CONCLUSION: The Hella headlight came with a 60/55W bulb and was about $50 which is about half the cost of the Cibie headlight ($75) plus the cost of the bulb ($25). So my thinking is to buy the Hellas and put the difference in cost toward a good wire harness. But if you have the coins, the Cibies are definitely the best of the bunch.

Additional Note: If you are buying headlights for an FJ62, a very good combination would be to buy Cibie for the H4 HI/LO headlights and Hella for the H1 High Beam only headlights. This will save you about $100 over purchasing all Cibie, and you will have an excellent set of headlights. Couple this with a new headlight wire harness, and your headlights will rival any new vehicle for quality of the light pattern and intensity of the beam.

Final Note: The Hella Free Form 165mm only comes in H4 and NOT H1 configuration. So look for Hella ECE headlights. A full set of Hella ECE 165mm headlights seems to be about the best compromise between cost and quality for the 165mm headlights for FJ62s. The round headlights for FJ60s come in more choices including Roundeyes, Hella, Cibie and IPF.

 

[mot]

I've been looking at some of these lights and was leanig toward the FF Hella, but now am leaning toward the Cibie's.

Thanks for taking the time and effort in such a nerdy lighting experiment!

FWIW I appreciate it very much!

 

[h4lights]

Good test.
Real world performance is always the best.

I've attached a couple of examples of the differences between DOT and E marked headlights. For some reason the US has to be different than the rest of the world in lighting standards and from what I can glean from the rules vertical stray light is allowed to light signs in areas that do not have their own illumination!
So annoy oncoming drivers to save on the cost of a lit sign!
My recommendation has been to buy the best housings and bulbs you can afford. If you live in a state that has annual inspections for safety get DOT approved housings or be ready to change out your headlights for the inspection.
BUT... in my opinion an E code headlight is hands down the best on beam pattern both high and low and visibility, period.

 

[slcfj62]

A quick note on Autopal in an FJ62: Toyota uses switched ground for the headlights on our 60 series Landcruisers. What this means is when you turn the headlight switch on, 12V is supplied to the common connection at all the headlights. This is the inverse of most vehicles where the common connection typically goes to ground. In the 60 series Landcruisers, HI/LO is selected by switching the ground between the two, hence the meaning of "switched ground."

Here is where this can be a problem for an FJ62: The AutoPal headlight housings are aluminum with a glass lens. The base of the replaceable lamp is also metal, and with the H1 lamp (which is the Hi beam only headlight), it is also electrically the same as the common or ground connector. So, if you are following along here, you have already guessed that as soon as you turn on the headlights, 12 Volts is supplied to the common connection on the H1 headlight, which travels through the metal base plate of the lamp, through the metal housing of the H1 headlight (in the case of AutoPal and Hella) and directly to ground through the metal mount bracket. This promptly blows the fuse. The H4 lamp does not have this problem because the common connection is electrically insulated from the lamp base plate.

So, the take-away is this. Because of the switched headlight ground that Toyota designed our 60 series Landcruisers around, you cannot use an H1 headlight with a metal housing in an FJ62 with a stock wiring harness--you will need an upgraded harness that changes the switched ground to switched hot for the H1s. My harnesses will accommodate H1 headlights with metal housings.

 

[slcfj62]

And a further note on H4 vertical cutoff and sign illumination. You will notice in the light pattern of the H4 headlights that the left side of the beam pattern is flat and the right side angles up. For countries that drive on the right side of the road, the angling up to the right is to illuminate road signs. So if you live in a country such as Great Britain or Japan and drive on the left hand side of the road, you will need H4 headlights that angle up to the left, not the right. Bottom line is, make sure your H4 headlights are correct for where you live or you will be blinding everyone.

 

[mot]

And a further note on H4 vertical cutoff and sign illumination. You will notice in the light pattern of the H4 headlights that the left side of the beam pattern is flat and the right side angles up. For countries that drive on the right side of the road, the angling up to the right is to illuminate road signs. So if you live in a country such as Great Britain or Japan and drive on the left hand side of the road, you will need H4 headlights that angle up to the left, not the right. Bottom line is, make sure your H4 headlights are correct for where you live or you will be blinding everyone.

I appreciate your concern if you were directing it at me!

I was (and am still hoping) to get my truck to my sister who lives in Calgary and let her drive it around until I can get it into the US. So I would actually be needing the LHD, i.e., driving on the right side of the road.

Now if I can find a good online source for those Cibies that would be willing to ship to Japan (and take PayPal!)

Thanks again for the experiment/comparisons.

Do you have any recommendations on the (H1) high beams for with the same shape as these???

 

[slcfj62]

If I understand your question about the H1s correctly, the H1 headlights do not have the same light pattern as the H4s for the simple reason that when you turn your headlights on HI beam, you don't care about blinding anyone because you don't have your headlights on HI beam if there is oncoming traffic--that is what the LO beams are for. The H1s are HI beam only headlights, so they don't have a vertical cutoff pattern.

As far as where to buy, if you are having difficulty finding a vendor that will ship to Japan, maybe have your sister in Calgary make the purchase for you and forward the package on to you? There are not too many sources for Cibie headlights here in the US. Daniel Stern is where I got mine, and I have also seen them a time or two on ebay. The ones on ebay were a smoking deal, so if you are patient, you may find them for a better price on ebay.

 

[OyajiJon]

Erik, this is a really cool post! I have a set of Delta housings that came on my 60 when I bought it and a set of Hella Vision Plus housing that I just bought to replace them. I actually didn't know that I didn't have sealed beams when I bought the Hellas. At any rate, I won't be using them until I get my engine in, so if you'd like, I can pack up one of each housing and mail them to you if you'd like to add them to your test. I, for one, would like to see the difference.

 

[Spook50]

...for the simple reason that when you turn your headlights on HI beam, you don't care about blinding anyone because you don't have your headlights on HI beam if there is oncoming traffic...

That is, if you have any measure of common courtesy. It's not uncommon that I get some douche coming at me who refuses to turn off their HI beams. So in response I leave mine on as well (Hella E-code H4s and H1s). My GF gave me a funny look the first time she heard me say "Mine are brighter, dick!"

 

[alaska60]

That is, if you have any measure of common courtesy. It's not uncommon that I get some douche coming at me who refuses to turn off their HI beams. So in response I leave mine on as well (Hella E-code H4s and H1s). My GF gave me a funny look the first time she heard me say "Mine are brighter, dick!"

I'm with ya buddy!!! I love saying that!

 

[Spook50]

I'm with ya buddy!!! I love saying that!

That's why I love having clean, bright headlights.

Oh a tech note, I'm very curious how the E-code Bosch H4 housings look compared to the other assemblies in this writeup. For the driving I do, Dan Stern recommends the Bosch units over the Cibie's.

 

[slcfj62]

I really wanted to test the Bosch ones too, but I couldn't bring myself to cough up another $75 since I was already into the experiment over $200. I am pretty sure the Bosch headlights would come out about the same as the Cibie. Stern seems to recommend both. He recommended the Cibie to me.

And flashing my brights at someone has to make them wonder if a UFO is coming in low or something. It certainly gets their attention.

 

[ad20k]

So, the take-away is this. Because of the switched headlight ground that Toyota designed our 60 series Landcruisers around, you cannot use an H1 headlight with a metal housing in an FJ62. AutoPal is the only one I know of that makes the metal housing.

Erik, Thanks for the harness. Great product. The install went great except the Hella H1s I got appear to also have electrically conductive housings. Two burnt fuses and an ohmmeter verify this. The Hella part number on the boxes is 72116. Can you tell me if this is the same as your Hellas with the glass housing? I wonder if there was a manufacturing change or if I have the wrong version.

Thanks,

 

[slcfj62]

[STRIKE]Nuts, I didn't know that Hella made H1s with metal housings. I tested the H4 Hellas. It was the Free Form model and had a totally clear lens. The housing was plastic. Yeah, that is a gotcha with any H1 headlight with a metal housing. It'll blow your fuses whether you use my harness or the stock harness. So if you didn't get the Hella Free Form, maybe try those. The H4s have a plastic housing, not sure about the H1s.

I am so sorry if I steered you in this direction. I have talked to two or three other guys with Hellas, and they didn't have the problem, so I thought the Hellas would be golden. Can you post a pic of the headlight?[/STRIKE]

UPDATE: Since Hella is such a popular headlight, I have modified my FJ62 headlight harness to accommodate H1 headlights with metal housings and will update any harness for free that was purchased from me before this modification. Just send me PM. This is only an issue if you want to use H1 headlights with a metal housing. Hella (non Free Form)--see post #19-- or Autopal H1 headlights have a metal housing. Cibie headlights do not have this issue.

 

[overhanger]

The metal housing Hella and others like it will work just fine with a wiring harness built to deal with the metal housings and the Toyota ground scheme. The harness built by Wayne Tangen a few years back works great and he shared the plans for it on the 3FE list and here, too, I think.

 

[slcfj62]

Yep, Wayne's harness will work with metal housing H1 headlights because he changes from Toyota switched ground to switched hot for the H1 headlights. You can build his harness by following this thread from the FAQ section:

Headlight Wire Harness Upgrade - Land Cruiser Tech from IH8MUD.com

 

[ntsqd]

The retaining ring meets the headlight's lens, so that side shouldn't be a problem, just the rear mating surfaces. Something insulating, like Glyptal paint, placed between the H1 housing and the headlight bracket would solve the shorting problem.

 

[slcfj62]

The retaining ring meets the headlight's lens, so that side shouldn't be a problem, just the rear mating surfaces. Something insulating, like Glyptal paint, placed between the H1 housing and the headlight bracket would solve the shorting problem.

True, or even a thin piece of rubber sheeting or mylar cut with a hole in the appropriate place.

 

[ad20k]

I am so sorry if I steered you in this direction.

No worries.

Can you post a pic of the headlight?

Here are a couple of pics of the Hella H1 lamps with the metal housings. They appear to also have a chrome plating over portions of it. It looks like it would be difficult, but not impossible to insulate it. I think I'll send these back.

 

[ntsqd]

Looking at those lights above, do they index into the light brackets on those diagonal ribs at the corners? (Never owned 165mm quad rectangular headlighted vehicle.) Seems like if that is the case that it would be fairly easy to insulate just those. Search Mcmaster.com for "insulating film", there's lots of adhesive thin film choices.