LED Headlights

[ChimpOnGas]

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!

[ChimpOnGas]

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.

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

[ChimpOnGas]

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.

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]

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

Edited by Bassfiend229hp on Monday 25th January 15:56

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.

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

[ChimpOnGas]

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

Edited by Bassfiend229hp on Thursday 28th January 07:48

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.

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!

[ChimpOnGas]

Bassfiend229hp said:

Just ordered up a pair of what are stated as being RHD E-marked genuine Truck-Lites ...

Gulp!

Phil

Gulp indeed mate... what was the damage?

Whatever the cost I'd feel confident your Mk3 conversion using proper CE marked RHD LED Truck-lites in place of the usual Mk1 Golf units will deliver unbeatable Chimaera headlights.

The cheapest I could find a UK seller offering a set of RHD Truck-lite originals (that definitely weren't fakes) was £390.00, if you look at what the Yanks pay in the USA (£230.00 a set) that's still a bit of a rip-off. I looked at bringing them in from the States myself but it got messy, I needed to find someone in the USA who was happy to sell RHD versions, this wasn't that tricky but they all needed to place a special order with the manufacturer, unfortunately for me it turned out Truck-lite quite rightly wanted to protect their UK agents so weren't that keen to send one of their US agents a set of RHD lights.

I also needed to factor in import duty which in my experience always seems to end with me paying the Post Office a painful 25%, so assuming I could get the RHD set from a US dealer the total was looking to be around £300 with shipping. So buying the right thing from a UK vendor who already holds RHD sets here in the UK seemed the most logical option rather than trying to be clever and save the £90.

I've promised myself when the price has dropped a bit I'll stick a set CE marked RHD LED Truck-lite originals in 'Ol Gasbag', indeed as soon as they are £250 a set that's exactly what I'll be doing.

What did you pay Phil?

Did you get a super duper deal we all need to know about?

Cheers, Dave

[ChimpOnGas]

Bassfiend229hp said:

How close to £250 do you need them to be...?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/222000427749

Phil

Geeez fella, £290 squids delivered from German Land, and for what looks like the real thang too!!!

That's a rocking good find there mate, super tempting as he hovers over the "buy it now" button!

D

[ChimpOnGas]

Bassfiend229hp said:

It's £100 less than we've seen them for otherwise ... only £40 more than your "£250 and I'll just buy it" and about the same price as you think they'll cost you if you go through the pain of sourcing direct.

They're stated as being genuine, E marked, RHD LH traffic units that are no bloody good to anyone in Germany ...

... so have you hit Buy It Now yet?

Phil

No, I want to see how you get on with them first, and given the price is definitely coming down on the Truck-lites as competition builds momentum from the east they may get even cheaper

Saying that if you get what you paid for and genuine RHD Truck-lites turn up you have bagged a very nice deal in the current market, most UK vendors seem to be asking a comedy £500 for a set!!!

At the end of the day I'm confident I've solved the problem with my LP270 driving lights, but I'll still eventually buy a set of Truck-lites at some point. At which point the PIA LP270 driving lights will stay put but adjusted and wired for main beam rather the my current dip beam improving strategy.

Don't forget the the reason the Golf Mk1 units were chosen for the Chimaera Mk3 conversion was because they come with nice integral adjusting rings which makes them a nice easy bolt in option, they are also adjusted from behind the unit which actually makes them ideal for a Mk3 faired setup as you'd never get to the common front adjuster system used on almost all other 7" round headlight assemblies.

The Truck-lites are designed for cars with 7" round headlights like Land Rovers & Jeeps, if you look at these setups they all have the adjuster ring already mounted to the car making them a drop in replacement for these vehicles. This means you will need to find a mounting and adjustment solution for your Truck-lites, this is hardly beyond the wit on man to solve but it's a consideration and an extra cost all the same.

I would look to use the common 7" round headlight bowls that include adjusters and body mounting points all as one unit, back in the day this type of bowl was metal and they would rot out in just a few years, these days you can get good quality plastic bowls that should last indefinitely especially on a Chimaera where the bowl will live away from road spray.

Just keep in mind these type of bowls offer the adjusting screws on the front, headlights in this setup are adjusted by removing a covering trim and then adjusted from the front. This clearly won't work on a Chimaera Mk3 faired headlight setup as there will be zero access, so you'll need to do what TVR did with the Mk1/2 lights and fabricate some form of "wing nut adjust from behind" system.

This sort of thing used in Land Rovers, the Classic Mini and a host of other Brit stuff..





http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/7-HEADLIGHT-HEADLAMP-ADJ...

Buy genuine Wipac plastic units and you should be fine but there will be some fabrication involved, and of course the front facing adjuster issue to solve so you can adjust them from behind.

Once this is all resolved you can prop your Truck-lites in no problem or any other 7" headlight unit for that matter

Edited with correction: Mk1 Golf headlights with their nice integral adjuster/mounting rings are actually adjusted from the front too, so when Surface & Design did my Mk3 conversion they must have come of with an "adjust from rear" system.

Here are the Golf Mk1 7" H4 units so you can see how they look and how the adjusters work, similar but as with all German stuff done better than the way us Brits did it with bowls...





Being H4 straight out of the box with a nice rubber bulb cover, given the proper integral adjuster/mounting rings and the excellent quality of the German made Hella units... you can see exactly why TVR chose Golf Mk1 headlights for the Mk3 Chimaera.

Edited by ChimpOnGas on Thursday 28th January 13:13

[ChimpOnGas]

Bassfiend229hp said:

I'm presuming that I can pretty much take the Tuck-Lite units as a "never need replacing" thing so my "plan" (as far as plans go) was that I'd take an existing mount, (get the lovely and resourceful South African Dave in our workshops at work to) modify it as appropriate to allow for rear adjustment and then just permanently glass the bowl in behind knowing that the sealed unit itself will probably never need to be accessed ever again.

Phil

I dont think you'll need to glass the bowls in permanently mate.

1. Starting on the bench build up a British Wipac type bowl/adjuster ring with the Truck-lite as the filling in the sandwich

2. Come up with and install your rear adjuster system

3. Now screw or bolt the whole pre-assembled shebang into the body where your Mk1 Golf units would normally be fixed

4. Reach in and twiddle your rear adjusters to set the beams

I actually haven't seen how Surface & Design fitted my Golf Mk1 units to the body and how they resolved the need for rear adjustment, but I bet the units are screwed or bolted to the body rather than being glassed in, and they probably just used the same wing nut system as TVR did for the Mk1/2 Chimaera adjusters.

One thing you need to make sure of is how your final setup will look from the front when you peer through the perspex fairing, you need to ensure this element looks neat from the outside and not ugly and unfinished with a great gap around the outside of the Truck-lite unit.

Like I say, none of the above is beyond the whit of man, personally I'd present the Truck-lite units to whoever is doing your Mk3 headlight conversion and ask the body shop to fit them instead of the normal Golf Mk1 headlights.

Ask them to use the common British type bowl arrangement in plastic, tell them you want to make the Truck-lites removable so you can replace/upgrade in future, make sure they can be adjusted from the rear and insist the finished job must also look neat from the outside when you look through the Perspex faired covers.

Not really hard to do or expensive as the Wipac bowls are normally just £30 a pair, but you will need to get these elements right to make the apparently excellent performing Truck-lites work properly and look neat in your new lovely Mk3 headlight conversion.

Good luck with the project, do keep us all posted on how the installation challenges were resolved and ultimately how the Truck-lites perform

[ChimpOnGas]

Wow, that's a full restoration project for sure.

Good luck and keep the faith mate!

[ChimpOnGas]

ricky302 said:

ChimpOnGas said:

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.

You're quite right, it's as scientific as pictures of the front of a car with led lights or pictures of lights shining on a road.

But if you're happy changing bulbs come MOT time (as I am) then these LED units are a large improvement over halogens.

H4 LED beam pattern

Agreed

I'm super happy with my drop in H4 LED replacement bulbs, even though they are not 100% perfect in every respect they are such a massive step up and offer so many advantages over traditional incandescent H4 bulbs.

As long as you're not dazzling oncoming road users for £50-£60 a set they are an astonishingly good value upgrade.

Hope my post helped?

[ChimpOnGas]

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.

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]

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!

[ChimpOnGas]

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 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

[ChimpOnGas]

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

[ChimpOnGas]

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.

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.

[ChimpOnGas]

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.

[ChimpOnGas]

Bassfiend229hp said:

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

A bit harsh that Phil, as cost effective drop in replacements (and assuming you adjust them properly) I'd say they're great way for those with standard ineffectual TVR headlights to improve night driving visibility.

After spending a simple 30 minutes fitting these LED H4s you immediately get amazing main beam performance, and lets face it you aint going to dazzle anyone on main beam because if you're still on main beam with a car coming the other way you shouldn't be allowed on the road full stop

Of course that just leaves dip beam, now its true these drop in LED H4s don't give a perfect beam pattern in a reflector bowl headlight designed for an incandescent bulb, but all you do is adjust them down which you need to do anyway to get the adjustment right for main beam. Once you've done this you never get flashed and the dip beam performance is actually still way better than the very poor standard setup in my opinion.

On balance... given the cost, ease of fitment and the improvements people will immediately enjoy after fitting them I'd say these LED H4s are a great addition to any TVR, even those with corroded reflectors will see more of the road than those with perfect reflectors using the very best incandescent bulb, well that was my experience and I hope people agree it's real world testing & experience that counts?

And lets not forget those expensive Truck-lites aren't even an option for 90% of Chimaera owners anyway because they simply won't fit, even those with Mk3 headlights with their more common 7" round Mk1 Golf headlights will need to modify their car somewhat to make the Truck-lites fit.

I've been very careful to explain these LED H4 aren't absolutely perfect in every single respect, but what is perfect in every single respect in the world of TVR? What they are is a highly convenient and cost effective upgrade that anyone can fit in just an hour, it's also a totally reversible mod requiring no other new parts or bodywork, fitting and removing them if you don't like the things is literally as simple as changing a bulb.

I'd encourage anyone to try a set of these LED H4s for themselves and to follow carefully my adjustment advice, this information is freely given to everyone based on thousands of miles of real world testing on a real Chimaera, so hopefully people can see I've done the testing and been as honest as I can.

Personally if anyone suffering from poor headlights on their Chimaera asked me straight... "should I try a set of LED H4s?, I wouldn't hesitate to say.... "yes, just make sure you adjust the dip beams nice and low out of respect of other road users".

I hope that's clear to all?

Dave.

[ChimpOnGas]

GC8 said:

Example link?

Honestly, do I have to do everything for you boys

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/2016-New-ZY-P6-110W...

These new LED H4s are a frightening 5200 lumens per unit.... so that's 10,400 lumens a pair on main beam

Actually I feel mine are well bright enough as is, but it's the focal length adjustment on these new versions that's of most interest.

At £66 a set who will be the first to try them?

[ChimpOnGas]

Bassfiend229hp said:

isn't that the aim of ol' Gasbag? To end up with a practical, usable vehicle?Phil

Exactly Phil, and an extremely practical classic car it is already.

But I'm always looking to enhance 'Ol Gasbag's' usability still further, that's why I started all this LED thing in the first place, and why I did all the testing.

To be 100% clear the LED H4s were (and still are) an excellent contribution to 'Ol Gasbag's' night time usability right from the start, and with just a small amount of adjustment they proved themselves to be completely safe as I have not been flashed once during literally thousands of test miles.

The LED H4s are just like my LPG conversion, as soon as I got the setup working exactly as I wanted it to and started enjoying the benefits, I found myself looking for the next development to make the idea even better.

The truth is I'm very happy with the LED H4s just as they are, and they sailed through the last MoT with not so much as a peep from my tester, saying that the car has completed four MoT tests with no cats whatsoever.... and no issues there either

I can easily see how my policy of further developing what has already proved itself to be a good improvement can be misinterpreted, the message isn't... "this didn't work well, so I'm trying to sort it", the real message here is "this was a great improvement, lets see if I can make it even better".

In the case of these LED H4s my guess is most will be happy just sticking a set in their headlights, making a small adjustment... and get on with enjoying the improvement in light. I simply want to take them one step further using the well reviewed PIAA LP270 LED driving lights to see if I can make night driving in 'Ol Gasbag' better still.

I see no reason why the LP270's won't work really well while still ensuring my headlight setup remains respectful to other road users, the hope is this will take the already excellent improvement delivered by the LED H4s to a whole new level.

Very soon I'll let everyone know if the idea has been the success I hope for

Edited by ChimpOnGas on Tuesday 9th February 14:38