HID headlight bulb recommendation (1 Viewer)

[WTITW]

Anybody replace hid’s lately? These look like the two most reputable on amazon. Anyone have experience?

 

[rav8]

I ordered the same from amazon and they arrived in a bubble envelope. Both bulbs had escaped their boxes and were loose. They are pretty nasty for you if broken and I wasn't going to chance installing them in that condition. Returned them to amazon and picked up a set from Rock Auto for about the same price. Bulbs arrived well packaged and padded in a box. Disconnected the battery and installed (kinda high voltage
). They've been great for about a year so far and I noticed a great improvement in output over the thirteen year old factory units. Very satisfied.

 

[Hehena]

I used the Phillips on my GS with good luck.

 

[WTITW]

ordered the same

Diode dynamics or Philips?

 

[rav8]

Diode dynamics or Philips?

Philips.

 

[Rednexus]

Diode Dynamics is at least partially M-USA. They have a large facility here in the St. Louis area. I'm tired of cheap Amazon LEDs crapping out and will be swapping most of my bulbs over to their stuff.

 

[Cold Iron]

Diode Dynamics is at least partially M-USA. They have a large facility here in the St. Louis area. I'm tired of cheap Amazon LEDs crapping out and will be swapping most of my bulbs over to their stuff.

For headlights I replaced the OEM lights with Attica headlights for an updated look. But for all interior lights I replaced factory with Diode Dynamics. Not the full white harsh light but in the middle of the spectrum still white but not as harsh. Except for the top rear over the attic rack.

I too got tired of the cheap made in China LED's in my Taco and have sworn off them. First thing noticed with the DD bulbs is that there is no polarity they work no matter the orientation. That was a wakeup call for me.

Last ones I have to do are the backup lights but the ones I want are spendy waiting on them to go on sale. They offer 3 brightness ranges and of course I want the brightest XPR (720 lumens) which people say are as bright as headlights. People behind may not like it when I backup but I'm not too concerned. In the woods I want to see behind me when I put it in R.

 

[Banandalorian]

For headlights I replaced the OEM lights with Attica headlights for an updated look. But for all interior lights I replaced factory with Diode Dynamics. Not the full white harsh light but in the middle of the spectrum still white but not as harsh. Except for the top rear over the attic rack.

I too got tired of the cheap made in China LED's in my Taco and have sworn off them. First thing noticed with the DD bulbs is that there is no polarity they work no matter the orientation. That was a wakeup call for me.

Last ones I have to do are the backup lights but the ones I want are spendy waiting on them to go on sale. They offer 3 brightness ranges and of course I want the brightest XPR (720 lumens) which people say are as bright as headlights. People behind may not like it when I backup but I'm not too concerned. In the woods I want to see behind me when I put it in R.

The DD reverse bulbs are great. The OE reverse lights on the 14+ are basically enough to light up behind the reverse camera. Once I moved my rear camera up into the spoiler they became useless so I switched to the DD bulbs. They not only work for the camera but you can even look out of rear window and see things with your own eyes.

 

[r2m]

Are there LED options besides HID?

 

[WTITW]

Are there LED options besides HID?

I've had mixed luck with LED headlights. The LED's I tried on Jill's 3rd gen were nowhere near as bright as the projector HID's I eventually retrofitted, but the LED's were just in the housing without projectors installed so maybe they would work better in a projector lens? I'll probably just stick with HID's for the low beams but maybe consider LED for the DRL and high beam halogen replacements when they go out.

For headlights I replaced the OEM lights with Attica headlights

Those are sexy but they I haven't found any aftermarket housings for 10-13's. Mine are cloudy AF again after restoring a year or two ago so I need to do something. I'll probably have to do the ali-express lens replacements eventually. I'm a bit too cheap to spend $500 replacing the whole housing and a bit worried about how the AFS system will work with after market.

Last ones I have to do are the backup lights but the ones I want are spendy

Yeah, I saw those. $99/set is kind of crazy. I got the 9.99 Amazon specials that claim to be 520lumens so I'll let you know how they work out. FWIW, the cheap LED's have gotten a lot better. I replaced all my interior bulbs with Amazon special LED's when I got the truck four years ago and haven't had a single flicker failure.

 

[rav8]

Diode Dynamics is at least partially M-USA. They have a large facility here in the St. Louis area. I'm tired of cheap Amazon LEDs crapping out and will be swapping most of my bulbs over to their stuff..

Copy that but these are Xenon HID. Not as easy to mass produce as an emitter on a PCB, so sources are often rebranded.

By the way, found my photos from the amazon experience.

Product labels covering up the health hazards are a nice touch though.

 

[rav8]

I've had mixed luck with LED headlights. The LED's I tried on Jill's 3rd gen were nowhere near as bright as the projector HID's I eventually retrofitted, but the LED's were just in the housing without projectors installed so maybe they would work better in a projector lens? I'll probably just stick with HID's for the low beams but maybe consider LED for the DRL and high beam halogen replacements when they go out.


Those are sexy but they I haven't found any aftermarket housings for 10-13's. Mine are cloudy AF again after restoring a year or two ago so I need to do something. I'll probably have to do the ali-express lens replacements eventually. I'm a bit too cheap to spend $500 replacing the whole housing and a bit worried about how the AFS system will work with after market.

Yeah, I saw those. $99/set is kind of crazy. I got the 9.99 Amazon specials that claim to be 520lumens so I'll let you know how they work out. FWIW, the cheap LED's have gotten a lot better. I replaced all my interior bulbs with Amazon special LED's when I got the truck four years ago and haven't had a single flicker failure.

Save your lenses! Before and after.

Kit: Sylvania

I've had to do it twice. I did a better job this time and expect it to last a bit longer. If I can find some JDM/RUS glass housings in the future, I will definitely go with those.

 

[WTITW]

Save your lenses!

Did that about 2.5 years ago. Now they’re just as bad as they were. Guess I could try again but mine have a lot of spider cracks so I thought changing the lenses would last longer.

Did they use glass on the same housing for JDM/RUS models? Seems like it would be hard to form the glass for the projector pop outs.

 

[rav8]

Did that about 2.5 years ago. Now they’re just as bad as they were. Guess I could try again but mine have a lot of spider cracks so I thought changing the lenses would last longer.

Did they use glass on the same housing for JDM/RUS models? Seems like it would be hard to form the glass for the projector pop outs.

Not sure. A friend who had been in the area made the observation but couldnt recall whether it was a 120 or 150, so I may be looking for something that isn't.

 

[WTITW]

I installed my "Amazon's choice" back-up lights today (921 LED). Used a light meter and found a 3.5x increase over the halogen, much better than the claimed 2x. That could be becuase the LED's are more directional than the halogens were. Pretty darn good for $10. Hopefully they last and don't flicker.

 

[re_guderian]

Did that about 2.5 years ago. Now they’re just as bad as they were. Guess I could try again but mine have a lot of spider cracks so I thought changing the lenses would last longer.

Did they use glass on the same housing for JDM/RUS models? Seems like it would be hard to form the glass for the projector pop outs.

Cerakote has a kit I'm really impressed with, but I'm not 2.5 years into, either...

 

[K Dub]

I installed my "Amazon's choice" back-up lights today (921 LED). Used a light meter and found a 3.5x increase over the halogen, much better than the claimed 2x. That could be becuase the LED's are more directional than the halogens were. Pretty darn good for $10. Hopefully they last and don't flicker.View attachment 3726361

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I love to see the old Sekonic in use! What's the exposure speed for ISO50 at F-22?

For a slightly more serious contribution, I used Diode Dynamics back in 2011 or '12 for both my (now) wife's Integra as well as my SVX. Out of the 6 bulbs purchased, 2 came with bad ballasts and one bulb died within a year. A lot can change over a dozen plus years, but I'd probably still go with Phillips. My old Phillips Sonicare toothbrush is about that age and still runs like a champ.

I love the improvement for reverse lights and might follow your lead on those.

 

[rav8]

I love to see the old Sekonic in use! What's the exposure speed for ISO50 at F-22?

For a slightly more serious contribution, I used Diode Dynamics back in 2011 or '12 for both my (now) wife's Integra as well as my SVX. Out of the 6 bulbs purchased, 2 came with bad ballasts and one bulb died within a year. A lot can change over a dozen plus years, but I'd probably still go with Phillips. My old Phillips Sonicare toothbrush is about that age and still runs like a champ.

I love the improvement for reverse lights and might follow your lead on those.

I was going to reply with "someone takes pictures" but missed the chance.

 

[K Dub]

I was going to reply with "someone takes pictures" but missed the chance.

I just went back to check. Homie has it in film mode. One pic at 24fps, one at 30. He's measuring lumens, so it doesn't really matter, but maybe this YouTuber isn't such an idiot after all and cares about his craft.

The plot thickens...

 

[WTITW]

Oh snap, you guys were film dorks this whole time and never said anything?

Yes. That's a Sekonic L-758c (c stands for “crap, that was the expensive one"). As @K Dub correctly stated, fps doesn’t matter in this case as I was measuring absolute value, but I was measuring lux, not lumens. Lux is a function of intensity over area and takes into account real-world factors like LED emitter placement, lens clarity, etc. I measured with the dome down at the exact same incident angle and placement relative to the source for an accurate comparison. I could have used foot candles, but no one except film dorks know what those are. lumens can only be measured in a lab and even then it's not that accurate unless you're doing it at CERN.... which is why light manufacturers always measure in lumens.... so they can bull**** you.

And no, I don’t care about my craft when Im making camping videos, just craft beers. I make slightly less s***ty videos in my side hustle, producing commercials, but you guys don't care. You're more interested in busting my bulbs