LED light bulbs - good brands / ones to avoid?
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LINUS
Waiting for the Great Pumpkin
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So my buddy who does 12v stuff for a living ordered these for me:
www.lucas-lighting.com
His opinion, these are the ‘king of the hill’ - my price wasn’t even close to MSRP, so don’t worry if you take tour time - you can find a decent discount.
That said, it still was over $100, but the simple Sylvania ones from Vatozone / Pep boys are $80 before tax.
Initially I’d been using this article:
automobileremedy.com
But you dig in & all are ~$30 a pair, while conventional Sylvania Silverstar are about that - so it’s a ‘get what you pay for’ situation.
Sidenote, I’m dropping Silverstars in the hi-beams since really my lo-beams & the Vision X foglights in the bumper are what I use 90% the time.
I’ll try to get a before / after pic - but it’ll be a little apples / oranges as I have a burnt out lo-beam already.
But the Lucas I understand are the KOH’s of LED retrofit bulbs. HTH.
L2 Series: $199.95/pr | Lucas Lighting
www.lucas-lighting.com
His opinion, these are the ‘king of the hill’ - my price wasn’t even close to MSRP, so don’t worry if you take tour time - you can find a decent discount.
That said, it still was over $100, but the simple Sylvania ones from Vatozone / Pep boys are $80 before tax.
Initially I’d been using this article:
Top 12 Best H11 LED Bulbs: Review and Buying Guide - AutomobileRemedy.com
Are your headlights and fog lights getting old? Or, are they too noisy, faulty, and not at all as br
automobileremedy.com
But you dig in & all are ~$30 a pair, while conventional Sylvania Silverstar are about that - so it’s a ‘get what you pay for’ situation.
Sidenote, I’m dropping Silverstars in the hi-beams since really my lo-beams & the Vision X foglights in the bumper are what I use 90% the time.
I’ll try to get a before / after pic - but it’ll be a little apples / oranges as I have a burnt out lo-beam already.
But the Lucas I understand are the KOH’s of LED retrofit bulbs. HTH.
I bought a pair of H11: S-V.4 low beams from a website that rhymes with bedlight revolution and they are great, I looked on an online retailer that rhymes with slamazon for hours and finally found one that looked the same but cost $150 less. Bought them too. They perform the same as the $180 ones. They are called 'Apezon H11/H8/H9 LED Headlight Bulbs 12000LM 72W Extremely Super Bright Xenon Cool White CREE 6500K Halogen Replacement Adjustable Beam All-in-One Conversion Kit.' Copy paste that and they might show up on the first page of the search. Message me if you have trouble finding them and I will send more info.
LINUS
Waiting for the Great Pumpkin
- Thread starter
- #5
^^^ Haha, I may just do that - turns out Lucas is backordered on H11’s presently - I let my buddy make ‘executive decisions’ on my junk, since it’s his world.
He has a Piaa that he likes with a 5yr warrenty, but it’s another $30 over what I’m in for Lucas units - and really my Vision X’s with the Euro-beam pattern lenses in that armor bumper do a ton of work, and i never get “beamed” by other drivers.
So I just leave them on permanently & almost never hit the inner set with the “narrow / long” -spot pattern (those get me “beamed“ by most everyone) - that‘s how much those lenses matter.
I’ll update on if Lucas gets H11’s or what I end up doing.
He has a Piaa that he likes with a 5yr warrenty, but it’s another $30 over what I’m in for Lucas units - and really my Vision X’s with the Euro-beam pattern lenses in that armor bumper do a ton of work, and i never get “beamed” by other drivers.
So I just leave them on permanently & almost never hit the inner set with the “narrow / long” -spot pattern (those get me “beamed“ by most everyone) - that‘s how much those lenses matter.
I’ll update on if Lucas gets H11’s or what I end up doing.
The Lucas ones look well made and are probably some of the best out there. They also have a compact housing which makes them compatible with more vehicles. The Apezon ones I have are only $31 and I have had them for almost a year with no issues. If they happen to fail, I would buy them again. I have tried others and think these are the most focused and brightest H11 bulbs under $180. They also happen to be the best H11 bulbs under $32.
I went with NINEO headlights off ebay ($30 with resistor for FOGS), and they work fairly decent. About 3x brighter than original and I like em enough to say the price was worth it. Easy swap - 30 minutes? No tools necessary except long screw driver to adjust the light.
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The only major downside to LEDs that I have encountered is that they don't generate enough heat to keep your lights snow/ice free. Depending on where you live this might not be an issue, but if you ever find yourself driving over a mountain pass in the middle of the night during a snowstorm it can get sketchy.
LINUS
Waiting for the Great Pumpkin
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- #9
@Mad Matt - good to know, I do hop the pass on occasion, but mostly Spring - Autumn in the Tundra.
Otherwise I’m in the 80 when the snow advisories or Mount Baker is where I’m pointed.
It took a short ~10days for my Lucas bulbs to show, but they are in and they exceeded what I expected for directed output (H11’s lows) - I did amber LED cornermarker bulbs while I had the housings out - amber is the way to go, looks like a incandescent bulb until you look intentionall.
White LED’s in the amber area of the cornermarker would have looked fakey or overly bright, for sure.
I did Silverstar Ultras in the 9005/ hi-beams just to do fresh bulbs in all but the daytime/turn signal since those are easy to reach w/o pulling the housing.
If you do bulbs, def pull the little plastic lower panel & then 3)10mm bolts hold the whole housing in - quick & painless, if you can be patient & not tweak any of the 4 clips the lower panels are held by.
Nobody has ‘beamed’ me so far for the LED’s - and I leave the outer pair of 4” Vision X fogs I have on most all the time - color between H11’s & the Vision X’s is about identical.
FWIW, I run a euro beam pattern cover on my outer Vision X’s & simple spot/focus on the inner pair.
Otherwise I’m in the 80 when the snow advisories or Mount Baker is where I’m pointed.
It took a short ~10days for my Lucas bulbs to show, but they are in and they exceeded what I expected for directed output (H11’s lows) - I did amber LED cornermarker bulbs while I had the housings out - amber is the way to go, looks like a incandescent bulb until you look intentionall.
White LED’s in the amber area of the cornermarker would have looked fakey or overly bright, for sure.
I did Silverstar Ultras in the 9005/ hi-beams just to do fresh bulbs in all but the daytime/turn signal since those are easy to reach w/o pulling the housing.
If you do bulbs, def pull the little plastic lower panel & then 3)10mm bolts hold the whole housing in - quick & painless, if you can be patient & not tweak any of the 4 clips the lower panels are held by.
Nobody has ‘beamed’ me so far for the LED’s - and I leave the outer pair of 4” Vision X fogs I have on most all the time - color between H11’s & the Vision X’s is about identical.
FWIW, I run a euro beam pattern cover on my outer Vision X’s & simple spot/focus on the inner pair.
LINUS
Waiting for the Great Pumpkin
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- #10
I was taking glamour shots of the truck anyhow for another guy, so I thought I’d post what amber LED headlight / cornermarker looks like (the little guy out on the very corner)
For compariso, the DRL is still the incandescent / factory bulb - I just did the little guys as I was pulling the housing to do the LED main low-beams & Silverstar hi-beams.
I think the amber LED looks right, even behind the amber plastic of the housing. White LED’s would look too bright IMO.
The goods:
I will add pics of my functional LED’s both the low-beams & all 4 of those Vision X’s in the bumper - I am happy with it, all pairs of bulbs have distinct patterns & right places to be used.
For compariso, the DRL is still the incandescent / factory bulb - I just did the little guys as I was pulling the housing to do the LED main low-beams & Silverstar hi-beams.
I think the amber LED looks right, even behind the amber plastic of the housing. White LED’s would look too bright IMO.
The goods:
I will add pics of my functional LED’s both the low-beams & all 4 of those Vision X’s in the bumper - I am happy with it, all pairs of bulbs have distinct patterns & right places to be used.
I was wondering if when you all replaced your bulbs with LEDs if you replaced the housings as well? The reason I ask is because I changed out the bulbs in both my Sequoia and Chevy p/u with LEDs. When looking at the lights they were much brighter. However the usable beam that they put out was much worse that the halogens. Matter of fact on the Sequoia, when i had the stock foglights on, I could not tell a difference in light when I turned the headlights on and off. The usable beam from the LEDs were that bad.
Everbody that I talked to said that if the reflectors in the housing were not designed for LEDs the beams in most cases were not usable. I ended up putting the halogens back in.
Everbody that I talked to said that if the reflectors in the housing were not designed for LEDs the beams in most cases were not usable. I ended up putting the halogens back in.
LINUS
Waiting for the Great Pumpkin
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- #12
@BillW73 -
I just used my stock housings (‘12 Tundra) - only have <75K on truck so no yellowing of the plastic yet.
But LED’s really made a huge improve - are you sure you got the right size for your housing? IIRC mine are H11, or something -11 & they are workhorses - I even swapped the hi-beam to the Ultra Silverstar but never had a good reason to use them, aside from 2 times just to see & really they just “bloomed” some yellow light aside from the white, focused light of my low-beam LED’s.
I’ll go take some pics of the different ways all my junk plays on the side of a light colored building / show beam patterns.
I leave the Vision X with the euro beam pattern on all the time, I’ll pic the FR of the truck so you get what all is mounted.
I’m totally satisfied w/ the ~$130 /short wait for them to resupply - they have some ~3000 hr / 3yr warrenty - and I’d get them again, no question.
I just used my stock housings (‘12 Tundra) - only have <75K on truck so no yellowing of the plastic yet.
But LED’s really made a huge improve - are you sure you got the right size for your housing? IIRC mine are H11, or something -11 & they are workhorses - I even swapped the hi-beam to the Ultra Silverstar but never had a good reason to use them, aside from 2 times just to see & really they just “bloomed” some yellow light aside from the white, focused light of my low-beam LED’s.
I’ll go take some pics of the different ways all my junk plays on the side of a light colored building / show beam patterns.
I leave the Vision X with the euro beam pattern on all the time, I’ll pic the FR of the truck so you get what all is mounted.
I’m totally satisfied w/ the ~$130 /short wait for them to resupply - they have some ~3000 hr / 3yr warrenty - and I’d get them again, no question.
I bought the LEDs from a shop that specialized in after market lighting and such. I bought bulbs for both the 13 Sequoia and a 05 chevy. The owner told me that I would not be happy unless I replaced the housings also. I figured he was just trying to upsell me stuff. But he was right. He took the bulbs back because I also bought 2 20 inch Rigid light bars from him.
I later tried some bulbs I got off Amazon and I was not happy with those either.
I just went back to the stock bulbs and have the light bar wired into my high beams.
It seems like all the vehicles that I have driven that have LEDs or HIDs, the beam is very bright, but it is also very low. They only light up the moose from the knees down. Kind of weird to see 4 light colored legs standing on the side of the road with no body lit up.
That is why I just decided to rely on the light bar.
I later tried some bulbs I got off Amazon and I was not happy with those either.
I just went back to the stock bulbs and have the light bar wired into my high beams.
It seems like all the vehicles that I have driven that have LEDs or HIDs, the beam is very bright, but it is also very low. They only light up the moose from the knees down. Kind of weird to see 4 light colored legs standing on the side of the road with no body lit up.
That is why I just decided to rely on the light bar.
LINUS
Waiting for the Great Pumpkin
- Thread starter
- #14
Oh, yeah - I suppose you could call the beam cutoff low-ish, but I get “hi-beamed” by oncoming traffic if I use the in-cab adjuster & rotate the lo-beams/headlights up.
Not sure if Sequoias have that switch - I never really paid attention when I was in one. It’s that one numbered ~1-6.
-Are you a G1 or G2 Sequoia? - wondering if we have same housing & that switch.
I bet my ~6” lift also has some effect.
Good to hear your situation - I’ll screw with the lense height switch & take pics both ways. I got to where “3” is the best I can do & not get ”beamed” by oncoming since.
I’d mounted arms for a 30” bar, but I have enough light with the 4) 4” round Vision X & the LED lo-beams.
Not sure if Sequoias have that switch - I never really paid attention when I was in one. It’s that one numbered ~1-6.
-Are you a G1 or G2 Sequoia? - wondering if we have same housing & that switch.
I bet my ~6” lift also has some effect.
Good to hear your situation - I’ll screw with the lense height switch & take pics both ways. I got to where “3” is the best I can do & not get ”beamed” by oncoming since.
I’d mounted arms for a 30” bar, but I have enough light with the 4) 4” round Vision X & the LED lo-beams.
SQRRRL
SILVER Star
IPF have been fantastic
