LED Headlights
Discussion
Bassfiend229hp said:
They do sit quite proud of the mounting ring though - probably not much further than a normal sealed beam unit overall but I think that a normal sealed beam is more convex and not so obviously "shouldered".
Of course when being popped in the Chim then it can just be mounted further back if absolutely necessary...
Nice one Phil, they certainly look like the real deal Truck-lites to me and the mounting element can only really be resolved by whoever completes your Mk3 headlight conversion, but I cant see it presenting a massive challenge.Of course when being popped in the Chim then it can just be mounted further back if absolutely necessary...
In the mean time can you test the Truck-lites (say in your mate's MX5 if the TVR is still in bits) to see how they perform, everything I've read says the Truck-lites are great units offering excellent light improvements over traditional halogen bulbs yet with a proper cut-off beam pattern, an element that fractionally lets down the LED H4 bulb replacement units I've been testing.
We need a proper review mate
ChimpOnGas said:
Nice one Phil, they certainly look like the real deal Truck-lites to me and the mounting element can only really be resolved by whoever completes your Mk3 headlight conversion, but I cant see it presenting a massive challenge.
Eactly, his comment when I sent him the pics was "that's fine - just need to move the mount back a centimetre or two..."ChimpOnGas said:
In the mean time can you test the Truck-lites (say in your mate's MX5 if the TVR is still in bits) to see how they perform, everything I've read says the Truck-lites are great units offering excellent light improvements over traditional halogen bulbs yet with a proper cut-off beam pattern, an element that fractionally lets down the LED H4 bulb replacement units I've been testing.
Steve's MX-5 had been pre-booked as test-mule several weeks ago and all being well they'll be going in it this weekend ... whether I'll be hanging around to actually give them a try at night is another matter but hopefully one way or another they'll get a test this weekend.ChimpOnGas said:
We need a proper review mate
LOL - yes - but who can you get to do one ... ?I'm sure I can bring my eloquence and style to the party and run something up ... maybe we'll test them out at the nearest dogging site?
"... as you can see from the accompanying images, with the original halogen sealed beam units you can quite easily make out the door handles on the side of the car but ultimately detail is lacking however with the Truck-Lites you can clearly see Samantha's ample bosom pressed up against the side window as John takes her from behind and colour rendition is massively improved as you can quite clearly make out the outline of her ariola even through the foggy glass..."
Phil
Edited by Bassfiend229hp on Tuesday 2nd February 14:43
ChimpOnGas said:
Excellent Phil 
Of course we will need photos, but given your chosen test environment you may be forced to post them on a different type of website
As always Phil.... You, my friend... are pure filth!
...but hopefully a charming filth rather than a "Jimmy-Saville-in-a-mac" filth. Of course we will need photos, but given your chosen test environment you may be forced to post them on a different type of website
As always Phil.... You, my friend... are pure filth!
Helpful hints number one:
The Truck Lites are quite directional ... I just hacked up an old 12v PSU that would normally be used to power up one of our CD rippers so it's only 4.1 amps maximum and it lights up both bulbs on full beam quite happily.
Just don't accidentally look into the buggers - even briefly.
One of them flopped over towards me and I looked at it - I'm now typing this looking at my keyboard and screen in my peripheral vision with a bloody great big purple splat right in the middle of my field of view. It actually hurt and I swear I heard my brain whistle til I looked away...
The Truck Lites are quite directional ... I just hacked up an old 12v PSU that would normally be used to power up one of our CD rippers so it's only 4.1 amps maximum and it lights up both bulbs on full beam quite happily.
Just don't accidentally look into the buggers - even briefly.
One of them flopped over towards me and I looked at it - I'm now typing this looking at my keyboard and screen in my peripheral vision with a bloody great big purple splat right in the middle of my field of view. It actually hurt and I swear I heard my brain whistle til I looked away...
Bassfiend229hp said:
Helpful hints number one:
The Truck Lites are quite directional ... I just hacked up an old 12v PSU that would normally be used to power up one of our CD rippers so it's only 4.1 amps maximum and it lights up both bulbs on full beam quite happily.
Just don't accidentally look into the buggers - even briefly.
One of them flopped over towards me and I looked at it - I'm now typing this looking at my keyboard and screen in my peripheral vision with a bloody great big purple splat right in the middle of my field of view. It actually hurt and I swear I heard my brain whistle til I looked away...
And I can well believe it Phil, be careful mate FFS!!!The Truck Lites are quite directional ... I just hacked up an old 12v PSU that would normally be used to power up one of our CD rippers so it's only 4.1 amps maximum and it lights up both bulbs on full beam quite happily.
Just don't accidentally look into the buggers - even briefly.
One of them flopped over towards me and I looked at it - I'm now typing this looking at my keyboard and screen in my peripheral vision with a bloody great big purple splat right in the middle of my field of view. It actually hurt and I swear I heard my brain whistle til I looked away...
The next comment from me was taken from one of my first posts when I started all this way back in October 2014...
ChimpOnGas said:
First off a serious word of warning 
When you first hook up these LED units, under no circumstances look directly at them before you secure them in the reflector bowls
Yes you guessed it folks, this is exactly what I did
The result was I had a big yellow dot obscuring my vision for a good five minutes after, it was that bad I had to take a break from the project and at one point I thought a trip to A&E may me on the cards.
I AM NOT EXAGGERATING FOLKS, YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!
Remember Phil.. we need better lights, not sight loss When you first hook up these LED units, under no circumstances look directly at them before you secure them in the reflector bowls
Yes you guessed it folks, this is exactly what I did
The result was I had a big yellow dot obscuring my vision for a good five minutes after, it was that bad I had to take a break from the project and at one point I thought a trip to A&E may me on the cards.
I AM NOT EXAGGERATING FOLKS, YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!
OK - Steve popped them into his MX-5 this evening and we went out for a quick spin. Not exactly the best of weather to see how lights perform but hey - they're going to be used in all weathers!
First note - if you are going to use them in an MX-5 then your headlights might not close properly when turned off ... OK so for the purposes of testing Steve's going to leave them up permanently but it's not ideal. The thicker edge fouls the panel that runs side-to-side across the top of the radiator, there's a rubber strip across it where the lights are so it hasn't marked the lenses but the pop-up headlight covers wouldn't close correctly.
Now, I'm not used to Steve's headlights so I'm going by his comments which are basically "The MX-5 lights are crap" but his sealed beams are in great condition as far as the lenses and reflectors are concerned so probably a good place to start from.
He's recently changed the standard 60/55w bulbs to 100/90w bulbs which he reckons has made one hell of a difference to them and he reckons that he's only had one person adjust their mirror while he's been behind them so the likelyhood is that his lights are in pretty good fettle and alignment.
The first time we took it out the lights were a massive disappointment - absolutely naff all range on dipped beam so a trip back to his place and five turns of adjustment on each lamps bottom adjustment screw to adjust the beams up and we went out again.
Dipped beam seems good - decent illumination of the sides of the road, not a bad reach but has the illusion of not reaching as far as they do probably due to the very sharp cutoff of the light pattern. The light is very white and I was worried that - especially after adjusting them up - we'd get flashed but no, no-one did, the very sharp cutoff seems to work well, even tucked up behind a few cars no-one adjusted their rear view mirrors either.
Main beam seemed very good after adjusting them up ... definitely none of the searchlight sh*t that we had with the H4 LED replacements! He still rated his 100/90's as better but reckoned that the TruckLites beat the standard 60/55's hands down.
He's going to run them for a few more days to see how they fayre in some hopefully better weather - however I suspect that he'll be ultimately be sticking with his 100/90's once these come back out.
One thing to note - some reviews complain about a delay switching between dipped and main beam ... couldn't see any delay this evening, definitely seemed instantaneous as you'd expect!
Phil
First note - if you are going to use them in an MX-5 then your headlights might not close properly when turned off ... OK so for the purposes of testing Steve's going to leave them up permanently but it's not ideal. The thicker edge fouls the panel that runs side-to-side across the top of the radiator, there's a rubber strip across it where the lights are so it hasn't marked the lenses but the pop-up headlight covers wouldn't close correctly.
Now, I'm not used to Steve's headlights so I'm going by his comments which are basically "The MX-5 lights are crap" but his sealed beams are in great condition as far as the lenses and reflectors are concerned so probably a good place to start from.
He's recently changed the standard 60/55w bulbs to 100/90w bulbs which he reckons has made one hell of a difference to them and he reckons that he's only had one person adjust their mirror while he's been behind them so the likelyhood is that his lights are in pretty good fettle and alignment.
The first time we took it out the lights were a massive disappointment - absolutely naff all range on dipped beam so a trip back to his place and five turns of adjustment on each lamps bottom adjustment screw to adjust the beams up and we went out again.
Dipped beam seems good - decent illumination of the sides of the road, not a bad reach but has the illusion of not reaching as far as they do probably due to the very sharp cutoff of the light pattern. The light is very white and I was worried that - especially after adjusting them up - we'd get flashed but no, no-one did, the very sharp cutoff seems to work well, even tucked up behind a few cars no-one adjusted their rear view mirrors either.
Main beam seemed very good after adjusting them up ... definitely none of the searchlight sh*t that we had with the H4 LED replacements! He still rated his 100/90's as better but reckoned that the TruckLites beat the standard 60/55's hands down.
He's going to run them for a few more days to see how they fayre in some hopefully better weather - however I suspect that he'll be ultimately be sticking with his 100/90's once these come back out.
One thing to note - some reviews complain about a delay switching between dipped and main beam ... couldn't see any delay this evening, definitely seemed instantaneous as you'd expect!
Phil
Excellent review Phil
I'm pleased to hear the cut-off on dip performed as expected but a little surprised the main beam wasn't as good as a set of the £50 LED bulb replacement units just dropped in a standard reflector bowl headlight.
The main beam on my TVR with these relatively cheap LED H4s in my Mk1 Golf headlights is... er.. devastating!!
The only downside to my current setup is I've had to adjust them so the dips are fractionally lower than what I'd consider ideal, it's not like these low dips make the car undrivable, far from it. Even on dip and adjusted as they are (with respect to other road users) my setup is streets ahead of a set of standard Chimaera headlights.
Being hypercritical I'd like to see my dips have a little more reach which is why I'm fitting a set of PIAA LP270 driving lights mounted in the corners of the upper grill aperture, these LED driving lights are well reviewed and while they're designed to enhance long range headlight performance they have a good sharp cut off so adjusted correctly they should work well for my needs. And according to motorcycle users these lights also work very well to fill out dip beam if you fit them upside down, this sounds odd but apparently it does work, I'll be testing them fitted in both orientations to see what works out best.
If it works out as hoped I will have uprated my Mk3 headlights for £300 (£50 for the LED H4s and £250 for the LP270s), that's not what I'd call cheap but my setup competes directly with a set of Truck-lites at £290 and it sounds like I'd want to fit something to improve their main beam performance anyway (probably fit a set of LP270s).
My Mk3 conversion was done a while back and is designed specifically to house the Mk1 Golf units, based on your observations fitting the Truck-lites would require some additional fibreglass work to make them fit adding yet more cost. Perhaps not such an issue if you are doing the conversion from scratch using the Truck-lites but for me it's far easier just to add the LP270's to fill out the dips on my existing setup of LED H4s in quality German made Hella Golf Mk1 headlights.
Very soon I'll let everyone know if my PIAA LP270s are the answer to perfecting these excellent and very cost effective LED H4 bulb replacement units. To be perfectly honest I only expect to use the the LP270s when I'm on very dark country roads, for all other situations the LED H4s in the Golf Mk1 headlight units are a fantastic setup as is.
Thanks for trying the Truck-lites Phil, I think they make sense for someone like yourself who's about to have the Mk3 headlight conversion fitted so the pods can be easily and cost effectively modified before they go in. But for me the Truck-lites are an expensive option requiring too much work, this makes them impractical especially if I then find their main beam isn't actually as good as a set of £50 H4s simply dropped in my current headlight units.
As such I think I'll pass on the Truck-lites and press on with the PIAA LP270 idea, but thanks for trying them mate
I'm pleased to hear the cut-off on dip performed as expected but a little surprised the main beam wasn't as good as a set of the £50 LED bulb replacement units just dropped in a standard reflector bowl headlight.
The main beam on my TVR with these relatively cheap LED H4s in my Mk1 Golf headlights is... er.. devastating!!
The only downside to my current setup is I've had to adjust them so the dips are fractionally lower than what I'd consider ideal, it's not like these low dips make the car undrivable, far from it. Even on dip and adjusted as they are (with respect to other road users) my setup is streets ahead of a set of standard Chimaera headlights.
Being hypercritical I'd like to see my dips have a little more reach which is why I'm fitting a set of PIAA LP270 driving lights mounted in the corners of the upper grill aperture, these LED driving lights are well reviewed and while they're designed to enhance long range headlight performance they have a good sharp cut off so adjusted correctly they should work well for my needs. And according to motorcycle users these lights also work very well to fill out dip beam if you fit them upside down, this sounds odd but apparently it does work, I'll be testing them fitted in both orientations to see what works out best.
If it works out as hoped I will have uprated my Mk3 headlights for £300 (£50 for the LED H4s and £250 for the LP270s), that's not what I'd call cheap but my setup competes directly with a set of Truck-lites at £290 and it sounds like I'd want to fit something to improve their main beam performance anyway (probably fit a set of LP270s
).My Mk3 conversion was done a while back and is designed specifically to house the Mk1 Golf units, based on your observations fitting the Truck-lites would require some additional fibreglass work to make them fit adding yet more cost. Perhaps not such an issue if you are doing the conversion from scratch using the Truck-lites but for me it's far easier just to add the LP270's to fill out the dips on my existing setup of LED H4s in quality German made Hella Golf Mk1 headlights.
Very soon I'll let everyone know if my PIAA LP270s are the answer to perfecting these excellent and very cost effective LED H4 bulb replacement units. To be perfectly honest I only expect to use the the LP270s when I'm on very dark country roads, for all other situations the LED H4s in the Golf Mk1 headlight units are a fantastic setup as is.
Thanks for trying the Truck-lites Phil, I think they make sense for someone like yourself who's about to have the Mk3 headlight conversion fitted so the pods can be easily and cost effectively modified before they go in. But for me the Truck-lites are an expensive option requiring too much work, this makes them impractical especially if I then find their main beam isn't actually as good as a set of £50 H4s simply dropped in my current headlight units.
As such I think I'll pass on the Truck-lites and press on with the PIAA LP270 idea, but thanks for trying them mate
Hmmm ... I think maybe I wasn't clear or maybe you misread what I put...
When you and I both tried the H4 replacement LED bulbs we found exactly the same issue - that if you adjusted them for best dipped beam performance then when flipped to high beam you had "searchlights" which lit up everything and would give Tim Peake enough light to read by.
When adjusted so that the main beam was good then you would end up with a dipped beam that was very bright on the road but so close that you could trip over it and - as you have found - you have to fill in with auxiliary lights.
When we first popped in the Truck-Lites the whole beam pattern was very low - both dipped and main beam - but after quite roughly adjusting them up then dipped beam was perfectly usable (but not up to Steve's characteristic rapid progress down the back roads at night however *NO* dipped beam is) and main beam performance was great with excellent throw up the road without taking down low-flying aircraft.
He rated the Truck-Lites as being much better than what he was getting with the original 60/55 bulbs that he had been running previously but he still rated the performance of the 100/90 bulbs that he'd fitted earlier last week as "better" at that point (however he hadn't used the 100/90's in the same abysmal weather that we had last night and we hadn't taken the MX-5 out in the crappy weather beforehand as a yardstick) so he's going to run them for a few days so he can get a better idea in some hopefully more normal weather.
At the moment it looks (certainly from what I've seen) that they're probably going to be a good solid (legal) improvement on a normal (legal) sealed beam however as always if you're happy going "illegal" then you can probably do something better.
Phil
When you and I both tried the H4 replacement LED bulbs we found exactly the same issue - that if you adjusted them for best dipped beam performance then when flipped to high beam you had "searchlights" which lit up everything and would give Tim Peake enough light to read by.
When adjusted so that the main beam was good then you would end up with a dipped beam that was very bright on the road but so close that you could trip over it and - as you have found - you have to fill in with auxiliary lights.
When we first popped in the Truck-Lites the whole beam pattern was very low - both dipped and main beam - but after quite roughly adjusting them up then dipped beam was perfectly usable (but not up to Steve's characteristic rapid progress down the back roads at night however *NO* dipped beam is) and main beam performance was great with excellent throw up the road without taking down low-flying aircraft.
He rated the Truck-Lites as being much better than what he was getting with the original 60/55 bulbs that he had been running previously but he still rated the performance of the 100/90 bulbs that he'd fitted earlier last week as "better" at that point (however he hadn't used the 100/90's in the same abysmal weather that we had last night and we hadn't taken the MX-5 out in the crappy weather beforehand as a yardstick) so he's going to run them for a few days so he can get a better idea in some hopefully more normal weather.
At the moment it looks (certainly from what I've seen) that they're probably going to be a good solid (legal) improvement on a normal (legal) sealed beam however as always if you're happy going "illegal" then you can probably do something better.
Phil
Edited by Bassfiend229hp on Monday 8th February 13:43
I took my Cerb in to have my headlights adjusted as they seemed to be too high and I was being flashed by quite a few people.
I'm running Russ's new reflectors (redrilled by him) and the LED lamps.
When put on the MOT headlamp machine it showed that they were spot on, in terms of level (so not too high) but had absolutely no pattern to them. No kick off one one side that you would normally see.
We left them as they were, but the mech mentioned that they would not pass an MOT as there was not pattern. Not a problem as I can swap the bulbs for the next MOT, but I wondered if there was an issue with the reflector, causing no pattern, or if it was simply the LED lamps causing this?
Considering dropping them slightly to stop people feeling blinded, although I suspect as they are the right height, people are reacting to how devastatingly bright they are.
Thoughts team?
J
I'm running Russ's new reflectors (redrilled by him) and the LED lamps.
When put on the MOT headlamp machine it showed that they were spot on, in terms of level (so not too high) but had absolutely no pattern to them. No kick off one one side that you would normally see.
We left them as they were, but the mech mentioned that they would not pass an MOT as there was not pattern. Not a problem as I can swap the bulbs for the next MOT, but I wondered if there was an issue with the reflector, causing no pattern, or if it was simply the LED lamps causing this?
Considering dropping them slightly to stop people feeling blinded, although I suspect as they are the right height, people are reacting to how devastatingly bright they are.
Thoughts team?
J
OutlawFlat4 said:
I took my Cerb in to have my headlights adjusted as they seemed to be too high and I was being flashed by quite a few people.
I'm running Russ's new reflectors (redrilled by him) and the LED lamps.
When put on the MOT headlamp machine it showed that they were spot on, in terms of level (so not too high) but had absolutely no pattern to them. No kick off one one side that you would normally see.
We left them as they were, but the mech mentioned that they would not pass an MOT as there was not pattern. Not a problem as I can swap the bulbs for the next MOT, but I wondered if there was an issue with the reflector, causing no pattern, or if it was simply the LED lamps causing this?
Considering dropping them slightly to stop people feeling blinded, although I suspect as they are the right height, people are reacting to how devastatingly bright they are.
Thoughts team?
J
The 'no pattern' issue is down to the LED lights not having the LED chips in exactly the same positions as the filaments in a halogen bulb and so they're not at the focal point of the lens / reflector combination which basically ends up with there being no focused beam pattern. Some LED bulbs seem worse than others for this - both Dave and I have tried some LED bulbs that seem to give a half decent pattern on dipped but could be used as WW2 searchlights on main beam as the focus ends up p*ssed...I'm running Russ's new reflectors (redrilled by him) and the LED lamps.
When put on the MOT headlamp machine it showed that they were spot on, in terms of level (so not too high) but had absolutely no pattern to them. No kick off one one side that you would normally see.
We left them as they were, but the mech mentioned that they would not pass an MOT as there was not pattern. Not a problem as I can swap the bulbs for the next MOT, but I wondered if there was an issue with the reflector, causing no pattern, or if it was simply the LED lamps causing this?
Considering dropping them slightly to stop people feeling blinded, although I suspect as they are the right height, people are reacting to how devastatingly bright they are.
Thoughts team?
J
Phil
OutlawFlat4 said:
I took my Cerb in to have my headlights adjusted as they seemed to be too high and I was being flashed by quite a few people.
I'm running Russ's new reflectors (redrilled by him) and the LED lamps.
When put on the MOT headlamp machine it showed that they were spot on, in terms of level (so not too high) but had absolutely no pattern to them. No kick off one one side that you would normally see.
This is why I suggested the Truck-lites have the potential to be the ultimate answer, they have been specifically designed to work with their LED chips. Phil (Bassfiend229hp) is currently testing them and the cut off on dip sounds like it is properly managed as I expected. Just keep in mind the Truck-lites aren't really a practical option for most Chimaera & Cerbera owners because they are smaller than the original TVR headlights.I'm running Russ's new reflectors (redrilled by him) and the LED lamps.
When put on the MOT headlamp machine it showed that they were spot on, in terms of level (so not too high) but had absolutely no pattern to them. No kick off one one side that you would normally see.
OutlawFlat4 said:
We left them as they were, but the mech mentioned that they would not pass an MOT as there was not pattern. Not a problem as I can swap the bulbs for the next MOT, but I wondered if there was an issue with the reflector, causing no pattern, or if it was simply the LED lamps causing this?
As Phil says it's an inevitable function of simply dropping these LED H4s in a reflector designed for regular incandescent bulbs.OutlawFlat4 said:
Considering dropping them slightly to stop people feeling blinded, although I suspect as they are the right height, people are reacting to how devastatingly bright they are.Thoughts team?
This is exactly what I did and it certainly solved the issue of dazzling oncoming drivers, the pay off is you end up with dips that are a little low. The solution (I hope) will be to add a set of driving lights to fill in the spread & reach deficit of the headlights adjusted in this way.To make it work I needed driving lights with a really good beam pattern and a sharp cut off line or I'd be back to troubling oncoming traffic again, I also wanted something LED as I'm a great believer in the benefits of this technology.
That's why I've chosen a set of PIAA LP270 driving lights, if they work out well anyone with LED H4s in their standard Chimaera/Cerbera headlights could copy my set up to achieve the same results. As yet my idea remains untested and I still can't help feeling the proper designed LED Truck-lite headlight units will prove to be the the better option.
That said, for those who just want to improve their standard headlights at a reasonable cost these LED H4s (with a little help and adjusted as described) represent an excellent way to get much better headlights on their Chimaera or Cerbera/
They may not be legal, but I really can't see the harm in them if they've been adjusted so the don't cause dazzling of oncoming road users, adjust the dips low and find some auxiliary lights you like to fill out the overly low dips.
When you see what these H4 LEDs do on main beam you'll never go back to incandescent bulbs, they really do work brilliantly.
blitzracing said:
You have to ask the question then- if you are going to design a LED bulb to be plug compatible with a filament fitting, how did the wrong focal point for the LED get beyond the design stage?
Because all reflectors are slightly different and these LED H4s are cheap Chinese drop in replacements with no real R&D behind them.That's not to say they're rubbish, far from it.... at £50 or so they are as easy to fit as a standard H4 bulb and give a massive improvement in light so it's well worth persevering with them.
LED technology is progressing literally day by day, the manufacturers of the LED bulb replacement units can see their huge potential but also understanding the limitations of their product.
This is why in the last month or so we've started seeing LED bulb replacement units where you can actually adjust the LED positions to tune them to your specific reflectors.
Knowing what I know now and having done a lot of LED H4 testing, this latest tunable LED position idea looks very promising indeed.
These new breed of LED headlight bulbs are 5200lm lumens each on high beam and are effectively adjustable for focal length, this allows them to be tuned precisely to your reflectors to deliver best light and safe beam performance.
blitzracing said:
You have to ask the question then- if you are going to design a LED bulb to be plug compatible with a filament fitting, how did the wrong focal point for the LED get beyond the design stage?
Because as long as it's bright and shiny and appealing to the unwashed masses and you can make some money out of it then that's all that matters on the whole.Cover your arse by saying that they're for off road use only then you don't have to worry.
You sell products and some bloke has LED headlights 'like a BMW has' for £50 and never even thinks about why they're not legal or why they cost him £50 when BMW (etc.) probably spent several million developing the technology and getting it approved and probably even thinks that people are flashing him in appreciation of his bangin' lookin' ride...
Phil
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