LED Headlights
Discussion
A word of warning: some insurance companies, if not all, regard the retro-fitting of LED headlight bulbs in place of the manufacturer's standard halogens as a modification to the vehicle so in order not to invalidate your insurance you must tell your insurance company.
If you fail to do this and are involved in a serious accident even if not of your own making, the police and your insurance assessor may well almost strip the vehicle looking to any contributory factor, the police so they can prosecute, and the insurance company so they can avoid paying out.
This happened to a friend of mine who had an accident in which the other party was killed. It was one of those inexplicable accidents that 'just happened'. The police prosecuted my friend even though they could find no cause after over a year of extremely detailed examination of the vehicle merely so the family of the deceased could feel justice had been done. Someone had to have been the cause no matter what the evidence suggested.
If you fail to do this and are involved in a serious accident even if not of your own making, the police and your insurance assessor may well almost strip the vehicle looking to any contributory factor, the police so they can prosecute, and the insurance company so they can avoid paying out.
This happened to a friend of mine who had an accident in which the other party was killed. It was one of those inexplicable accidents that 'just happened'. The police prosecuted my friend even though they could find no cause after over a year of extremely detailed examination of the vehicle merely so the family of the deceased could feel justice had been done. Someone had to have been the cause no matter what the evidence suggested.
Digitalize said:
I've been very close to ordering a set from HorizonLED, who stock the latest generation of CREE/Philips bulbs.
I started this post back in October 2014 promising everyone an honest review, fast forward to January 2016 and I've got a lot of testing and adjusting under my belt, I've also tried two different LED replacement units in two different Chimaera headlight setups (Mk1/2 and Mk3) so I feel it's been a pretty comprehensive evaluation too.Following all this testing I've come to the conclusion reflector design is just as important if not more important than the LED bulb replacement unit itself and how the emitters are positioned on it.
While these do look interesting....
http://www.horizonleds.co.uk/cree-leds/headlamp-cr...
They are also an expensive experiment, so I'll let someone else try them out.
Personally I think to really get the best from this technology you need a sophisticated reflector that's been specifically and carefully designed in partnership with the LED emitter right from the outset. Simply dropping a set of these LED bulb replacement units in a reflector designed for a halogen incandescent bulb is definitely not a complete solution to better headlights on a Chimaera
Knowing what I know now it comes as no surprise to me that companies like JW Speaker and Truck-Lite have spent years developing their LED headlight units to work correctly and throw good usable light right where you need it, so I've also come to the conclusion if you really want great LED headlights you'll probably need to spend a fair chunk of money on one of their properly designed LED headlight products.
Take a look at my comments on page 17 of this post to see what I mean...
JW Speaker and Truck-Lite have spent a lot of time and money developing LED headlights that by all accounts really do work properly, the downside is you're looking at £390 minimum for a set of the cheaper option 7" round RHD Truck-Lite units!
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/400779856794
So like most things in life... "If you want to do it properly, you better get ready to pay".
Of course these properly designed 7" round LED headlight units are only going to fit Mk3 Chimaeras or those Chims that have benefited from a Mk3 conversion, anyone still with the corrosion prone Chim Mk1/2 Bosch two part (reflector and glass lens) headlight units need not apply.
I've enjoyed the whole experiment and there's no doubt these LED bulb replacement units are mega bright, but there's a lot more to great performing headlights than just brightness. They also need to give a beam pattern that illuminates the road ahead properly while not blinding oncoming drivers.
And the only two ways I've found to do this with these drop in LED bulb replacement units is to:
A: Adjust your headlights so you get good main beam performance at the cost of dips that are a little too low
B: Adjust your headlights for good dip beam performance at the cost of main beams that just light up the trees above your head
I chose option A, the idea being I could solve the overly low dip beam pattern with some cheap driving lights, this didn't work out well at all
I was trying to use ridiculously small driving lights so they didn't stand out or spoil the look of the car, but as we all know with lights... the truth is size counts
My little Ring Micro Cruiselites (BRL0370) seem feeble in their output giving little or no discernible improvement in light and worse still may have even caused some other as yet unexplained electrical maladies
As any rally driver will tell you, if you want good driving lights that genuinely put a proper amount of light down the road the rule is..."The Bigger The Better"! (and more is better too)
The problem on a Mk2 Chimaera like mine is there really isn't an awful lot of room to neatly mount driving lights in the split grill aperture which has lead me to looking at what motorcyclists are using these days, apparently there number of small powerful motorcycle driving light options that actually properly light up the road ahead while still not blinding oncoming road users.
Unfortunately the ones I've selected aren't exactly cheap so it'll be a while before you see them on 'Ol Gasbag', but I'm confident they'll do the trick... so watch this space
Oh, and I forgot to say these new driving lights I've earmarked are LED because I still firmly believe in the benefits of going LED, but I've learned a few things since all this started so I've chosen something with LED specific reflectors that have been properly designed to work with the LED emitter
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXUGZZkJ02U
http://www.webbikeworld.com/lights/piaa-lp270-revi...
I have noticed there are a few people on this thread asking for beam pattern photos from these LED lights and in 18 pages not a single photo has been posted, I didn't think much of it until I bought a set the same ChimpOnGas bought in his first post.
I highly doubt the led bulb beam pattern would pass a MOT.
These are all the same car (Fiesta)
Halogen H4
HID H4
LED H4
I highly doubt the led bulb beam pattern would pass a MOT.
These are all the same car (Fiesta)
Halogen H4
HID H4
LED H4
I don't think shinning headlights against a garage door can be considered a scientific test, I'd rather see how they compare on a professional beam setter.
I've proved you can definitely drop a set of these LED bulb replacement units in a set of standard reflector bowl headlights and see good improvements without dazzling oncoming drivers, it's just being hyper-critical they're not 100% perfect in every respect.
I'm still a big fan of LED technology, but it's fair to say to get it working to it's best you really need dedicated LED headlight units from the likes of JW Speaker or Truck-lite.
Here is a useful comparison of how these two respected dedicated LED headlight brands perform on the road compared with a Jeep's stock 7" H4 incandescent bulb headlights:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=It1gNeBVnQI
The projector style JW Speaker units looks like they work well, but would be an aesthetic step too far for me..
However, the more conventionally styled Truck-Lite units also look to perform great so perhaps represent be the ultimate answer for those of us with Mk3 faired headlights that use this common 7" round headlight size.
Only the strong £390 price tag stops me fitting them.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/400779856794
http://www.truck-lite.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servle...
Until the price comes down I'll stick with my drop in LED bulb replacement units adjusted to ensure I dont trouble oncoming drivers, because even like this they are a still big step forward over the best H4 incandescent bulbs on the market.
I tend to think my setup with a decent set of driving lights to fill out the slightly too low dip beam will make for the ultimate solution, if I added a set of Truck-Lite's dedicated 7" LED units it would be even better
Lights - Brakes - Wipers.... Improving these three critical elements is the way to turn any classic car into an everyday proposition!
I've proved you can definitely drop a set of these LED bulb replacement units in a set of standard reflector bowl headlights and see good improvements without dazzling oncoming drivers, it's just being hyper-critical they're not 100% perfect in every respect.
I'm still a big fan of LED technology, but it's fair to say to get it working to it's best you really need dedicated LED headlight units from the likes of JW Speaker or Truck-lite.
Here is a useful comparison of how these two respected dedicated LED headlight brands perform on the road compared with a Jeep's stock 7" H4 incandescent bulb headlights:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=It1gNeBVnQI
The projector style JW Speaker units looks like they work well, but would be an aesthetic step too far for me..
However, the more conventionally styled Truck-Lite units also look to perform great so perhaps represent be the ultimate answer for those of us with Mk3 faired headlights that use this common 7" round headlight size.
Only the strong £390 price tag stops me fitting them.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/400779856794
http://www.truck-lite.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servle...
Until the price comes down I'll stick with my drop in LED bulb replacement units adjusted to ensure I dont trouble oncoming drivers, because even like this they are a still big step forward over the best H4 incandescent bulbs on the market.
I tend to think my setup with a decent set of driving lights to fill out the slightly too low dip beam will make for the ultimate solution, if I added a set of Truck-Lite's dedicated 7" LED units it would be even better
Lights - Brakes - Wipers.... Improving these three critical elements is the way to turn any classic car into an everyday proposition!
Hi Chimpongas,
Followed the ebay item link that you sent through to Dave for the fanless LEDs. Is it the H4/9003 ETI 2s or H4 ETI 2nd spec that I need ?
Going to install a pair. Thanks ever so much for your highly informative post - just the ticket for a newbie like me !!
Best Wishes
Jeremy
Followed the ebay item link that you sent through to Dave for the fanless LEDs. Is it the H4/9003 ETI 2s or H4 ETI 2nd spec that I need ?
Going to install a pair. Thanks ever so much for your highly informative post - just the ticket for a newbie like me !!
Best Wishes
Jeremy
As we're into the New Year and have hit my first anniversary of being Tivless (bloody hell ... it's a year that it's been off the road!) then I'm adding to the list of jobs to be done before the Renault finally expires...
I'm looking at getting the Mk3 light conversion done and I was thinking of trying to get a HID sealed beam unit in there but given that I'm planning on her lasting me a lifetime (Bwahahahahaa! Whose lifetime?) then has anyone actually seen those Truck-Lite's in use?
I'm quite tempted to just go the whole hog and splurge on a set of them from the outset... I *THINK* I can handle the rather odd looking styling on them if they're shielded from direct view by the Mk3 style covers. What's the general thoughts / opinions?
Phil
I'm looking at getting the Mk3 light conversion done and I was thinking of trying to get a HID sealed beam unit in there but given that I'm planning on her lasting me a lifetime (Bwahahahahaa! Whose lifetime?) then has anyone actually seen those Truck-Lite's in use?
I'm quite tempted to just go the whole hog and splurge on a set of them from the outset... I *THINK* I can handle the rather odd looking styling on them if they're shielded from direct view by the Mk3 style covers. What's the general thoughts / opinions?
Phil
ChimpOnGas said:
<<SNIP>>
Knowing what I know now it comes as no surprise to me that companies like JW Speaker and Truck-Lite have spent years developing their LED headlight units to work correctly and throw good usable light right where you need it, so I've also come to the conclusion if you really want great LED headlights you'll probably need to spend a fair chunk of money on one of their properly designed LED headlight products.
Take a look at my comments on page 17 of this post to see what I mean...
JW Speaker and Truck-Lite have spent a lot of time and money developing LED headlights that by all accounts really do work properly, the downside is you're looking at £390 minimum for a set of the cheaper option 7" round RHD Truck-Lite units!
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/400779856794
So like most things in life... "If you want to do it properly, you better get ready to pay".
Of course these properly designed 7" round LED headlight units are only going to fit Mk3 Chimaeras or those Chims that have benefited from a Mk3 conversion, anyone still with the corrosion prone Chim Mk1/2 Bosch two part (reflector and glass lens) headlight units need not apply.
...so does that mean there is a "better" set of 7" LED sealed beam units?Knowing what I know now it comes as no surprise to me that companies like JW Speaker and Truck-Lite have spent years developing their LED headlight units to work correctly and throw good usable light right where you need it, so I've also come to the conclusion if you really want great LED headlights you'll probably need to spend a fair chunk of money on one of their properly designed LED headlight products.
Take a look at my comments on page 17 of this post to see what I mean...
JW Speaker and Truck-Lite have spent a lot of time and money developing LED headlights that by all accounts really do work properly, the downside is you're looking at £390 minimum for a set of the cheaper option 7" round RHD Truck-Lite units!
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/400779856794
So like most things in life... "If you want to do it properly, you better get ready to pay".
Of course these properly designed 7" round LED headlight units are only going to fit Mk3 Chimaeras or those Chims that have benefited from a Mk3 conversion, anyone still with the corrosion prone Chim Mk1/2 Bosch two part (reflector and glass lens) headlight units need not apply.
Phil
Bassfiend229hp said:
...so does that mean there is a "better" set of 7" LED sealed beam units?
Phil
Yes, read my post above mate, the dedicated LED 7" headlight units are definitely the way to go.Phil
I've got Mk3 headlights now, so that means I've got 7" Mk1 Golf headlight units, Mk1 Golfs were never known for their amazing headlights and with the faired perspex covers over them they are even less effective.
When TVR conceived the Mk3 Chimaera my guess is they chose the Golf units because they conveniently come with the mounting and adjusting ring included. The advantage with the Mk3 conversion is it should come with genuine Hella VW Golf units which are excellent quality German made headlights and completely solve the corrosion prone and expensive Mk1/2 Chimaera reflector issue in a stroke.
At £50 a pop the Hella Mk1 Golf units are reasonably priced and readily available too, unlike the bigger Bosch units fitted to the Mk1/2 Chimaera they will likely stay readily available for years to come, mostly because of the huge number of Mk1 Golfs made.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/281128705579?clk_rvr_id=...
But the truth is with a very small amount of adaptation you could use any 7" round headlight unit in a Mk3 headlight conversion, and that includes some of the new generation of dedicated 7" LED headlight units offered as after market upgrades to Jeep and Land Rover owners.
These dedicated LED headlights by all accounts solve the problems associated with just dropping LED H4 replacement units in a normal reflector headlight designed for an incandescent halogen bulb, they do this by using properly developed LED specific reflector designs or projector lenses that again have been properly developed for use with LED emitters.
The problem with these dedicated LED headlight units is, right now, they are very expensive indeed!
You will pay anything from £490 to £650 for a set depending on type, manufacturer and retailer margins so I'll be passing on this step until the price comes down a lot.
And remember if you've still got the original bigger corrosion prone and hard to find Mk1/2 Chimaera headlights you can't just fit a set of 7" round headlights to the car anyway, because they will look and fit like a dick in a shirt sleeve!
The cheaper way to fit 7" round headlights would be to commission one of the fiberglass experts to make a set of headlight cowls that work with the slightly smaller 7" headlight, this way there would be no unsightly gaps, but you'd still need to paint the new cowls so that would start to get pricey too.
No matter what type of lights you have (Mk1/2 or Mk3) the best and most cost effective compromise right now seems to be to:
1. Pay £50 and drop a pair of LED H4 replacement units in your current headlight bowls
2. Adjust so you get great full beam performance but the dips are a bit low
3. Fill out the dip beam reach and spread with some decent driving lights
Hope that explains it all?
Right, that's Chimaera headlights done to death
Dave, Im struggling to understand why you suggest setting aim for main beam and compromising dipped beam? You can fill in a main beam with additional lamps, but you cant do that with dipped beams and certainly not using driving/spot lamps.
Id expect to spend most of my time driving using dipped beam too, so this is where I would hope to see the benefit and I would happily trade less than ideal performance on main beam.
Id expect to spend most of my time driving using dipped beam too, so this is where I would hope to see the benefit and I would happily trade less than ideal performance on main beam.
ChimpOnGas said:
Yes, read my post above mate, the dedicated LED 7" headlight units are definitely the way to go.
I've got Mk3 headlights now, so that means I've got 7" Mk1 Golf headlight units, Mk1 Golfs were never known for their amazing headlights and with the faired perspex covers over them they are even less effective.
When TVR conceived the Mk3 Chimaera my guess is they chose the Golf units because they conveniently come with the mounting and adjusting ring included. The advantage with the Mk3 conversion is it should come with genuine Hella VW Golf units which are excellent quality German made headlights and completely solve the corrosion prone and expensive Mk1/2 Chimaera reflector issue in a stroke.
At £50 a pop the Hella Mk1 Golf units are reasonably priced and readily available too, unlike the bigger Bosch units fitted to the Mk1/2 Chimaera they will likely stay readily available for years to come, mostly because of the huge number of Mk1 Golfs made.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/281128705579?clk_rvr_id=...
But the truth is with a very small amount of adaptation you could use any 7" round headlight unit in a Mk3 headlight conversion, and that includes some of the new generation of dedicated 7" LED headlight units offered as after market upgrades to Jeep and Land Rover owners.
These dedicated LED headlights by all accounts solve the problems associated with just dropping LED H4 replacement units in a normal reflector headlight designed for an incandescent halogen bulb, they do this by using properly developed LED specific reflector designs or projector lenses that again have been properly developed for use with LED emitters.
The problem with these dedicated LED headlight units is, right now, they are very expensive indeed!
You will pay anything from £490 to £650 for a set depending on type, manufacturer and retailer margins so I'll be passing on this step until the price comes down a lot.
And remember if you've still got the original bigger corrosion prone and hard to find Mk1/2 Chimaera headlights you can't just fit a set of 7" round headlights to the car anyway, because they will look and fit like a dick in a shirt sleeve!
The cheaper way to fit 7" round headlights would be to commission one of the fiberglass experts to make a set of headlight cowls that work with the slightly smaller 7" headlight, this way there would be no unsightly gaps, but you'd still need to paint the new cowls so that would start to get pricey too.
No matter what type of lights you have (Mk1/2 or Mk3) the best and most cost effective compromise right now seems to be to:
1. Pay £50 and drop a pair of LED H4 replacement units in your current headlight bowls
2. Adjust so you get great full beam performance but the dips are a bit low
3. Fill out the dip beam reach and spread with some decent driving lights
Hope that explains it all?
Right, that's Chimaera headlights done to death
I've got Mk3 headlights now, so that means I've got 7" Mk1 Golf headlight units, Mk1 Golfs were never known for their amazing headlights and with the faired perspex covers over them they are even less effective.
When TVR conceived the Mk3 Chimaera my guess is they chose the Golf units because they conveniently come with the mounting and adjusting ring included. The advantage with the Mk3 conversion is it should come with genuine Hella VW Golf units which are excellent quality German made headlights and completely solve the corrosion prone and expensive Mk1/2 Chimaera reflector issue in a stroke.
At £50 a pop the Hella Mk1 Golf units are reasonably priced and readily available too, unlike the bigger Bosch units fitted to the Mk1/2 Chimaera they will likely stay readily available for years to come, mostly because of the huge number of Mk1 Golfs made.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/281128705579?clk_rvr_id=...
But the truth is with a very small amount of adaptation you could use any 7" round headlight unit in a Mk3 headlight conversion, and that includes some of the new generation of dedicated 7" LED headlight units offered as after market upgrades to Jeep and Land Rover owners.
These dedicated LED headlights by all accounts solve the problems associated with just dropping LED H4 replacement units in a normal reflector headlight designed for an incandescent halogen bulb, they do this by using properly developed LED specific reflector designs or projector lenses that again have been properly developed for use with LED emitters.
The problem with these dedicated LED headlight units is, right now, they are very expensive indeed!
You will pay anything from £490 to £650 for a set depending on type, manufacturer and retailer margins so I'll be passing on this step until the price comes down a lot.
And remember if you've still got the original bigger corrosion prone and hard to find Mk1/2 Chimaera headlights you can't just fit a set of 7" round headlights to the car anyway, because they will look and fit like a dick in a shirt sleeve!
The cheaper way to fit 7" round headlights would be to commission one of the fiberglass experts to make a set of headlight cowls that work with the slightly smaller 7" headlight, this way there would be no unsightly gaps, but you'd still need to paint the new cowls so that would start to get pricey too.
No matter what type of lights you have (Mk1/2 or Mk3) the best and most cost effective compromise right now seems to be to:
1. Pay £50 and drop a pair of LED H4 replacement units in your current headlight bowls
2. Adjust so you get great full beam performance but the dips are a bit low
3. Fill out the dip beam reach and spread with some decent driving lights
Hope that explains it all?
Right, that's Chimaera headlights done to death
- chuckle* I thought you meant that there were better available than the Truck-Lite's ... and the JW Speakers ones don't actually seems to be as well regarded at the Truck-Lite's!
Phil
GC8 said:
Dave, Im struggling to understand why you suggest setting aim for main beam and compromising dipped beam? You can fill in a main beam with additional lamps, but you cant do that with dipped beams and certainly not using driving/spot lamps.
Id expect to spend most of my time driving using dipped beam too, so this is where I would hope to see the benefit and I would happily trade less than ideal performance on main beam.
My choice to do things this way is merely out of respect for other road users, let me explain.Id expect to spend most of my time driving using dipped beam too, so this is where I would hope to see the benefit and I would happily trade less than ideal performance on main beam.
If the beam pattern and beam control when using these drop in LED H4 bulb replacement units in a standard incandescent reflector is anything other than perfect, then I prefer set them low so there is absolutely zero risk of dazzling other road users.
There are no such considerations on main beam because you only use main beam when the road ahead is clear of oncoming traffic.
Ultimately with these H4 LED bulb replacements you are forced to choose between:
A: Dip beams that are about right but might still trouble oncoming traffic because beam control isn't perfect, with main beams that are way too high to the point of being completely useless
Or
B: Main beams that are perfect with dip beams that are a bit lower than ideal, but still make the car usable on dip yet definitely don't trouble oncoming traffic
I chose option B out of respect of fellow road users, like this make no mistake the drop in LED bulb replacement units are devastatingly good on main beam and only a fraction too low on dip.
Ok so I accept your point that most driving is done on dip beam, but the slightly low dips can be easily solved with low mounted driving lights, correctly adjusted to fill in the areas that need it I feel this is the safer and more respectful way to do things.
The important thing is that the driving lights have a properly controlled beam pattern or I'll be back to square one, this is why I've chosen the PIAA LP270 lights.
I have agonised over whether theses dip beam filler axillary lights should be the LP270 driving or fog version, in the end I've decided the driving light version will be more flexible simply because when I eventually fit a set of Tuck-Light units I can wire the LP270 driving lights into the main beam circuit, that wouldn't work with the fogs.
The LP270 driving lights will be mounted like this:
So they already start off very low to the road, correctly adjusted I'm sure they'll do exactly what I need them to especially when you see the on/off slide show at the bottom of this page.
http://www.webbikeworld.com/lights/piaa-lp270-revi...
In the future when the proper Truck-lite LED headlight units are fitted the dip beams should by default be properly controlled at last so safe to adjust correctly, the main beams will probably be the same as I'm enjoying now but with the driving lights on the main beam circuit it should be quite something.
Ultimately you've got to respect other road users, so while I'm saving for the Truck-lites I'll stick with my LED H4 bulb replacement units adjusted so they low & are safe, then fill in what's missing on dip with the proper beam controlled PIAA LP270 driving lights.
Saying that there's nothing stopping you running your set up the opposite way around (above option A) as you've suggested, just make sure you don't dazzle oncoming traffic on dip in the process... that would be irresponsible.
The real problem with all this is you've really got to try various combinations to see which one genuinely works best, perhaps with my set up the PIAA LP270 fog lights will work better to fill out the overly low dips?
But I'd be a bit concerned the fog version wouldn't really give enough reach down the road which is exactly what I'm currently missing, so PIAA LP270 driving lights it is, then the Truck-light headlight units when I can afford them, followed by some experimentation on what works best for the PIA auxiliary lights.
I should point out these PIA auxiliary lights will always have their own isolation switch how ever they are wired, this way I can simply turn them off and only ever use them if I feel they're needed which ultimately may be quite infrequently especially once the Truck-Lites are installed.
I hope that answers your question?
ChimpOnGas said:
If the beam pattern and beam control when using these drop in LED H4 bulb replacement units in a standard incandescent reflector is anything other than perfect, then I prefer set them low so there is absolutely zero risk of dazzling other road users.
I hope that answers your question?
That makes perfect sense, thank you.I hope that answers your question?
OK - Saw this and decided that it was worth taking the risk...
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/262247669453
(I have asked the seller if they are genuine Truck-Lites...)
Have to say that I had presumed that they were "E" marked but from that eBay ad it would seem that they're not - but at £170 for a pair then it was just worth it for the punt - my mate has already agreed that we can use his MX-5 as a "mule" (he's said that if they're any good he'll buy a pair himself).
It looks like they also have the JW Speaker ones too...
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/281855305055
...which they do say are "E" marked but they don't seem to have as good a light pattern (from Googling around) as the Truck-Lites and to be honest I couldn't put up with the look of - the Truck-Lites are pushing it!
(Again, they could be cheap Chinese copies of course...)
Phil
Update - They are copies ... So cancelled the order until I can find out a bit more about them - they might be OK - they are more likely not to be.
Phil
Update to update - The seller says they're not copies ... they just coincidentally have a similar split design as the Truck Lites and no link to Truck Lites should be inferred (even though the words were in the product description)
Phil
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/262247669453
(I have asked the seller if they are genuine Truck-Lites...)
Have to say that I had presumed that they were "E" marked but from that eBay ad it would seem that they're not - but at £170 for a pair then it was just worth it for the punt - my mate has already agreed that we can use his MX-5 as a "mule" (he's said that if they're any good he'll buy a pair himself).
It looks like they also have the JW Speaker ones too...
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/281855305055
...which they do say are "E" marked but they don't seem to have as good a light pattern (from Googling around) as the Truck-Lites and to be honest I couldn't put up with the look of - the Truck-Lites are pushing it!
(Again, they could be cheap Chinese copies of course...)
Phil
Update - They are copies ... So cancelled the order until I can find out a bit more about them - they might be OK - they are more likely not to be.
Phil
Update to update - The seller says they're not copies ... they just coincidentally have a similar split design as the Truck Lites and no link to Truck Lites should be inferred (even though the words were in the product description)
Phil
Edited by Bassfiend229hp on Monday 25th January 15:56
Bassfiend229hp said:
OK - Saw this and decided that it was worth taking the risk...
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/262247669453
(I have asked the seller if they are genuine Truck-Lites...)
Have to say that I had presumed that they were "E" marked but from that eBay ad it would seem that they're not - but at £170 for a pair then it was just worth it for the punt - my mate has already agreed that we can use his MX-5 as a "mule" (he's said that if they're any good he'll buy a pair himself).
It looks like they also have the JW Speaker ones too...
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/281855305055
...which they do say are "E" marked but they don't seem to have as good a light pattern (from Googling around) as the Truck-Lites and to be honest I couldn't put up with the look of - the Truck-Lites are pushing it!
(Again, they could be cheap Chinese copies of course...)
Phil
Update - They are copies ... So cancelled the order until I can find out a bit more about them - they might be OK - they are more likely not to be.
Phil
Update to update - The seller says they're not copies ... they just coincidentally have a similar split design as the Truck Lites and no link to Truck Lites should be inferred (even though the words were in the product description)
Phil
Beware the cheap Chinese Truck-lite copies right now Phil, loads of them out there and for starters I would put money on them all being LHD.http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/262247669453
(I have asked the seller if they are genuine Truck-Lites...)
Have to say that I had presumed that they were "E" marked but from that eBay ad it would seem that they're not - but at £170 for a pair then it was just worth it for the punt - my mate has already agreed that we can use his MX-5 as a "mule" (he's said that if they're any good he'll buy a pair himself).
It looks like they also have the JW Speaker ones too...
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/281855305055
...which they do say are "E" marked but they don't seem to have as good a light pattern (from Googling around) as the Truck-Lites and to be honest I couldn't put up with the look of - the Truck-Lites are pushing it!
(Again, they could be cheap Chinese copies of course...)
Phil
Update - They are copies ... So cancelled the order until I can find out a bit more about them - they might be OK - they are more likely not to be.
Phil
Update to update - The seller says they're not copies ... they just coincidentally have a similar split design as the Truck Lites and no link to Truck Lites should be inferred (even though the words were in the product description)
Phil
Edited by Bassfiend229hp on Monday 25th January 15:56
Truck-lite offer LHD & RHD units for a reason, the genuine Truck-lite product is overpriced but I wouldn't let that push me to spend more than £100 on an untested Chinesse experiment.
We need to be watching the Land Rover boys, sooner or later they will find a proven and fully tested set of RHD Truck-lite copies, once these proven Chinese copies start to impact Truck-lite sales I can only see the Truck-lites coming down in price.
At which point I'll be buying the genuine America made Truck-lites because I'm fed up trying to do things on the cheap only to being disappointed with quality & performance.
That's not to say all things Chinese are junk, and while these LED H4 bulb replacement units I've been testing aren't perfect there is no arguing they put out an awful lot of light for quite a modest outlay, they also draw a lot less amps than a halogen bulb, give instant on, and instant flash/dip to main beam transition (all of which I like a lot).
As we know after adjusting them so main beam is devastatingly good you do end up with dip beams that are slightly low, not to the extent where the car is undrivable, but just a little lower than optimal.
My solution is a set of PIAA LP270 driving lights which also use LED technology, in this case the LED is actually pointing backwards into a correctly designed LED specific reflector that then throws the light forwards in a properly managed way.
This is what PIAA calls it's advanced Reflective Facing Technology (RFT) and by all it accounts it works really well, solving all the common light control challenges LEDs throw up.
http://www.piaa.com/lp
Yes the PIAA LP270 model I've chosen are driving lights which ordinarily are long range, but according to the motorcycle crowd if you fit them upside down they have the perfect beam pattern to compliment and enhance dip beam performance. Apparently when mounted like this they deliver far better dip beam enhancing light than the LP270 fog light version, delivering a sharp well defined beam cut off line which 100% ensures oncoming drivers aren't dazzled.
Being 70mm dia x 98mm each LP270 driving light is more or less the same same size as a can of Coke/Pepsi which should mean they're small enough to be neatly squeezed into the corners of a MK2 Chimaera upper grill aperture. The motorcycle crowd seem to highly rate the performance of these little lights, they aren't cheap but as we know with these things.... you tend to get what you pay for.
Edited by ChimpOnGas on Thursday 28th January 07:06
Hiya Dave,
Yeah ... once it was confirmed by the seller that they weren't originals then the order was cancelled (I'll give him his due - he actually offered to cancel it and refund me before I even asked).
I've just pulled the pin on getting the Mk3 conversion done to mine now so I need to make a decision quickly about what lights to fit into the bugger ... there'll be a couple of pairs of Lupo lights going begging in that case as I'll not have a use for them.
Just as an aside I *HATE* the "Chinese Junk" label on stuff ... the company I work for makes almost everything that we manufacture in the UK - in Salisbury in fact - and we make *ONE* product in China (our mass-market product) and the Chinese will make you anything you want to whatever level of quality you want ... you just have to decide what you want to pay for.
Phil
Yeah ... once it was confirmed by the seller that they weren't originals then the order was cancelled (I'll give him his due - he actually offered to cancel it and refund me before I even asked).
I've just pulled the pin on getting the Mk3 conversion done to mine now so I need to make a decision quickly about what lights to fit into the bugger ... there'll be a couple of pairs of Lupo lights going begging in that case as I'll not have a use for them.
Just as an aside I *HATE* the "Chinese Junk" label on stuff ... the company I work for makes almost everything that we manufacture in the UK - in Salisbury in fact - and we make *ONE* product in China (our mass-market product) and the Chinese will make you anything you want to whatever level of quality you want ... you just have to decide what you want to pay for.
Phil
Edited by Bassfiend229hp on Thursday 28th January 07:48
Bassfiend229hp said:
Hiya Dave,
Yeah ... once it was confirmed by the seller that they weren't originals then the order was cancelled (I'll give him his due - he actually offered to cancel it and refund me before I even asked).
I've just pulled the pin on getting the Mk3 conversion done to mine now so I need to make a decision quickly about what lights to fit into the bugger ... there'll be a couple of pairs of Lupo lights going begging in that case as I'll not have a use for them.
Just as an aside I *HATE* the "Chinese Junk" label on stuff ... the company I work for makes almost everything that we manufacture in the UK - in Salisbury in fact - and we make *ONE* product in China (our mass-market product) and the Chinese will make you anything you want to whatever level of quality you want ... you just have to decide what you want to pay for.
Phil
Mk3 headlights are the business mate, and while the Golf Mk1 units used in them aren't exactly leading edge technology they are cheap and totally solve the fast corroding and hard to source reflector issue associated with the Mk1/2 headlights. If you buy Hella or Bosch Mk1 Golf units they are excellent quality too.Yeah ... once it was confirmed by the seller that they weren't originals then the order was cancelled (I'll give him his due - he actually offered to cancel it and refund me before I even asked).
I've just pulled the pin on getting the Mk3 conversion done to mine now so I need to make a decision quickly about what lights to fit into the bugger ... there'll be a couple of pairs of Lupo lights going begging in that case as I'll not have a use for them.
Just as an aside I *HATE* the "Chinese Junk" label on stuff ... the company I work for makes almost everything that we manufacture in the UK - in Salisbury in fact - and we make *ONE* product in China (our mass-market product) and the Chinese will make you anything you want to whatever level of quality you want ... you just have to decide what you want to pay for.
Phil
Edited by Bassfiend229hp on Thursday 28th January 07:48
If you can run to it, replace the Golf Mk1 units with the expensive (£390 a pair) RHD original Truck-lites but I accept this pushes the cost of the conversion up considerably.
The other option is to just drop a set of the latest H4 bulb replacement LED units in your Golf Mk1 headlights, adjust them so the dips are fractionally low but the main beams are perfect, then fit some axillary lights to fill out the dip beam. Depending on your choice of axillary this could add anything from £30 to the £250 I've invested in the LP270's.
One thing is for sure, once you've gone with the Mk3 headlight conversion you've effectively future proofed your headlights as you're now using the very common 7" round headlight unit. You can enjoy any future development of 7" round headlights which are used in Land Rovers , Jeeps and a host of other vehicles.
With LED headlight technology moving so fast and the 7" round headlight remaining so common you can continue upgrading your headlights as things develop.
For all these reasons the Mk3 conversion is a no-brainer, and for me it's a aesthetic enhancement too.
Good choice Phil... and on so many counts!
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