What's new
By:
Filters

headlight tech

Pt_Ranger_v8

Pt_Ranger_v8

A dministrator
Joined
May 19, 2020
Member Number
406
Messages
891
Loc
flyover land
Since the other thread is getting so fucktarded, I figured I'd start this one and watch it get all fucktarded as well :D


If I want to upgrade my headlights in "insert vehicle here" and not be a douche canoe who's driving everyone else insane, what's the process?

For example, my 06 civic needs new lights.
So does my 04 accord
and my 95 F350
and my 05 Fit

AFAIK, none of these have reflector housings. How do I find a housing that accurately projects light without blinding the shit out of people?
 
Here’s a cut/paste that I’ve been intending to try:

Hey guys, just thought I'd post an easy bulb upgrade mod for our F150. Our truck uses a H11 bulb for low beam, 9005 for high beam & a 9140 for fogs. Now with a little modifying to the new high & low beam bulbs, you'll have double the light output from OEM replacement bulbs. It goes like this, replace your H11 with a H9 bulb, replace your 9005 with a 9011 & take your 9005 bulbs & put them as your fog light bulbs. Here's why:
Stock H11 = 1,350 Lumens
Replacement H9 = 2,100 Lumens
Stock 9005 = 1,700 Lumens
Replacement 9011 = 2,350 Lumens
Stock 9140 = 600 Lumens
Replace with your 9005 = 1,700 Lumens
 
Headlight newb here so I may be wrong, but I believe reflector headlights are the common everyday stuff that disperses light everywhere and will blind people if you put bright LED or HIDs in. What you want are projectors that give you a crisp cutoff line you can adjust out of peoples eyes. Most headlights I've looked at, you can find reviews where people share pics of the cutoff lines and beam patterns which is super helpful.

High quality projectors seem to have better lenses, and cheapo units may not be able to handle the heat of HIDs? But that's just what I've gathered.

Question for those who know more than I know, there are some cheap replacement housings out there like Spyders with their own cheap projector lenses that seem to have a decent cutoff, any reason not to put high power LEDs in those (HIDs may be too hot?)
 
Putting the wrong kind of driver into the wrong kind of housing pretty much always results in poor performance.

Last retrofit I did was into my caddy. I put morimoto m-led projectors into some cheap spyder chinesium housings. Unbolted the cheap crappy optics they came with and bolted the good stuff in. Worked out super easy. The morimoto has some impressive light output, excellent beam width and a perfect cutoff pattern. Went from over-driving the factory hid headlights on high beams at highway speeds to having the best lighting in the fleet by far.

Retrofits are rarely that easy, for what it is worth. There is usually a lot of cutting and trimming involved. Starting with an aftermarket housing that already has projectors in them often makes the job a fair bit easier than trying to fit projectors into a reflector housing.
 
You mentioned 95 f350....

I polished the lenses, and added Sylvania nighthawks. (Stronger halogens.) World of difference.

You may also be able to buy lamps that are normal wattage on lowbeam, and extra wattage for highbeam (got these for my H4 housings to put in old dodge).

As for blinding.... IDGAF. Half the headlights coming at me these days are blinding me anyway. Fair is fair :flipoff2:
 
AgitatedPancake said:
Headlight newb here so I may be wrong, but I believe reflector headlights are the common everyday stuff that disperses light everywhere and will blind people if you put bright LED or HIDs in. What you want are projectors that give you a crisp cutoff line you can adjust out of peoples eyes. Most headlights I've looked at, you can find reviews where people share pics of the cutoff lines and beam patterns which is super helpful.

High quality projectors seem to have better lenses, and cheapo units may not be able to handle the heat of HIDs? But that's just what I've gathered.

Question for those who know more than I know, there are some cheap replacement housings out there like Spyders with their own cheap projector lenses that seem to have a decent cutoff, any reason not to put high power LEDs in those (HIDs may be too hot?)
Click to expand...
Dont bother with Spyders. The protective film on the outside of both our sets started peeling after 2yrs. Absolute junk.

And yes you are correct, standard housings are all reflector housings. The inside of the housing is a reflective metal the light bounces off of. This is why LEDs which are super bright usually suck in reflector housings. The light looks super bright, but it bounces and scatters the light everywhere without projecting it forward. Some reflector housings do a decent job of projecting the light due to the angles and shape. LEDs and HIDs should be in projectors.
 
Alpine4x4 said:
Dont bother with Spyders. The protective film on the outside of both our sets started peeling after 2yrs. Absolute junk.

And yes you are correct, standard housings are all reflector housings. The inside of the housing is a reflective metal the light bounces off of. This is why LEDs which are super bright usually suck in reflector housings. The light looks super bright, but it bounces and scatters the light everywhere without projecting it forward. Some reflector housings do a decent job of projecting the light due to the angles and shape. LEDs and HIDs should be in projectors.
Click to expand...
If they have a decent pattern but I had to sand and clear them in a couple years with a good clear being the primary downside, that's not a terrible tradeoff from the bang for the buck perspective compared to most retrofits
 
Without building your own retrofits or swapping in an OEM projector housing you're pretty much stuck building your own to avoid ricer looking shit. Best thing you can do with a standard halogen is run good bulbs, give them the voltage they need and make sure the lenses are in good shape. I've got LEDs in reflector housings on my DD but I have a fair bit of fucking around making a decent pattern, and it's still nothing like a real HID projector.
 
Jackie Treehorn said:
Here’s a cut/paste that I’ve been intending to try:

Hey guys, just thought I'd post an easy bulb upgrade mod for our F150. Our truck uses a H11 bulb for low beam, 9005 for high beam & a 9140 for fogs. Now with a little modifying to the new high & low beam bulbs, you'll have double the light output from OEM replacement bulbs. It goes like this, replace your H11 with a H9 bulb, replace your 9005 with a 9011 & take your 9005 bulbs & put them as your fog light bulbs. Here's why:
Stock H11 = 1,350 Lumens
Replacement H9 = 2,100 Lumens
Stock 9005 = 1,700 Lumens
Replacement 9011 = 2,350 Lumens
Stock 9140 = 600 Lumens
Replace with your 9005 = 1,700 Lumens
Click to expand...
I was looking to do something like this awhile ago but gave up after a couple minutes cuz I couldn't find lumen amounts :laughing:

Good idea just have to do a little research but I'm a :homer:
 
I was able to give my Honda Elements a bump by cleaning the lens and install the Sylvania Zxe bulbs.

I also really like the Sylvania cleaner kit, the UV coating it comes with seems to be by far the best. Lens come out really clear.

I had retro fit units in my 07.5 LBZ Chevy and have to replace them now. The housing are leaking and the outer coating faded and peeled horribly. I tried to sand them and buff them and it made some different but still pretty crappy. I tried the Cerakote cleaning kit as I couldn't find the Sylvania kit in town. The final coating in the Cerakote was okay but not as good as the Sylvania kit. The HID lights in the chevy were really nice until the housings crapped out.

I have IPF housings in the XJ with their bulbs but the light output is low, run a couple sets of Baja Designs for extra light. Aim them down and that seems to work great for extra lighting.

Diode Dynamics are next one the list to try out.
 
u2slow said:
As for blinding.... IDGAF. Half the headlights coming at me these days are blinding me anyway. Fair is fair :flipoff2:
Click to expand...


My housings are junk anyway :laughing: Since I bought the wife's acura, I've found that most auto headlights these days include auto bright/dim, which is cocktarded. And, from the factory, they're all aimed about 4" too high.
 
Spyder aren't terrible, I put them in the ex's XB and they were perfect for 5 years. If they start to get beat sanding and clear coating with automotive clear will fix them right up.

Picking up some cheap housings with clear lenses and dropping some decent projectors in there will be the best bet for a composite headlights.

I picked up some 6052 projectors for my brothers square body from dapperlighting.com because I didn't think I'd have enough time to build some. Turns out I'd should have built them. They're 10x better than incandescent but not half as good as mine that I built. They were also a lot more expensive than mine.

The projectors themselves are like 1.5" and they have a shitty hi-low block deal that you can see wiggle when you switch to low beam and the cut off is pretty shitty. :homer:
 
Jackie Treehorn said:
Here’s a cut/paste that I’ve been intending to try:

Hey guys, just thought I'd post an easy bulb upgrade mod for our F150. Our truck uses a H11 bulb for low beam, 9005 for high beam & a 9140 for fogs. Now with a little modifying to the new high & low beam bulbs, you'll have double the light output from OEM replacement bulbs. It goes like this, replace your H11 with a H9 bulb, replace your 9005 with a 9011 & take your 9005 bulbs & put them as your fog light bulbs. Here's why:
Stock H11 = 1,350 Lumens
Replacement H9 = 2,100 Lumens
Stock 9005 = 1,700 Lumens
Replacement 9011 = 2,350 Lumens
Stock 9140 = 600 Lumens
Replace with your 9005 = 1,700 Lumens
Click to expand...
Can confirm on the H9/h11. Makes a huge difference. All it takes is a couple swipes with a sharp knife to knock down the extra tang, I don’t change the cutouts where the bulb goes into the housing at all.
 
Pt_Ranger_v8 said:
Since the other thread is getting so fucktarded, I figured I'd start this one and watch it get all fucktarded as well :D


If I want to upgrade my headlights in "insert vehicle here" and not be a douche canoe who's driving everyone else insane, what's the process?

For example, my 06 civic needs new lights.
So does my 04 accord
and my 95 F350
and my 05 Fit

AFAIK, none of these have reflector housings. How do I find a housing that accurately projects light without blinding the shit out of people?
Click to expand...


I did a projector retrofit in my 95 F250.

I got the cheaper clear housings because I figured I was swapping anyways, man, that was a bad decision. These cheap housings SUCK! I’ll redo them with the better housings at some point, because the shape of the housing is off and doesn’t even look right in the truck.

Anyways I bought all my stuff from

The Retrofit Source | The Best Brands in Automotive Lighting

The Worlds Biggest Supplier of High-Performance Lighting Upgrades for Cars & Trucks |HID | LED |Bulbs & Complete Kits | Projector Headlights | Fog / Tail Lights | Halos
www.theretrofitsource.com www.theretrofitsource.com

I did the morimoto mini d2s kit and I don't have many bad things to say about it.. the only thing I don't care for much is the enthusiast style projector got rid of the "squirrel finders" factory type projectors use, so there is NOTHING above the cutoff. I have to use my high beams way more often out in the back country because of this. Just a change in habits really. I never used to use high beams ever.
In the picture note that it's really really difficult to get good pics from a cell phone of your headlights, lol

And I wasn't done aiming yet in this pic.
 

Attachments

  • 5F1C2D1F-B442-436B-9BB6-3D20E8D1F9DB.jpeg
    5F1C2D1F-B442-436B-9BB6-3D20E8D1F9DB.jpeg
    359.5 KB · Views: 27
  • 7B58F826-A019-470B-9E1E-3F178BB32C83.jpeg
    7B58F826-A019-470B-9E1E-3F178BB32C83.jpeg
    478.9 KB · Views: 23
Ummduh said:
I did a projector retrofit in my 95 F250.

I got the cheaper clear housings because I figured I was swapping anyways, man, that was a bad decision. These cheap housings SUCK! I’ll redo them with the better housings at some point, because the shape of the housing is off and doesn’t even look right in the truck.

Anyways I bought all my stuff from

The Retrofit Source | The Best Brands in Automotive Lighting

The Worlds Biggest Supplier of High-Performance Lighting Upgrades for Cars & Trucks |HID | LED |Bulbs & Complete Kits | Projector Headlights | Fog / Tail Lights | Halos
www.theretrofitsource.com www.theretrofitsource.com

I did the morimoto mini d2s kit and I don't have many bad things to say about it.. the only thing I don't care for much is the enthusiast style projector got rid of the "squirrel finders" factory type projectors use, so there is NOTHING above the cutoff. I have to use my high beams way more often out in the back country because of this. Just a change in habits really. I never used to use high beams ever.
In the picture note that it's really really difficult to get good pics from a cell phone of your headlights, lol

And I wasn't done aiming yet in this pic.
Click to expand...
Looks like you need to aim them higher. I put the cut off at the end of their useable light distance and the kick up goes in the right side of the lane so the shoulder gets lit up better to find wild game and street signs much better.
 
See what the voltage drop at the lights is.
Relays and high wattage bulbs is how I fix halogen lights. Always works, cheap and simple.
 
Alpine4x4 said:
LEDs and HIDs should be in projectors.
Click to expand...
I disagree about the LEDs and at least some reflector housings. I have PIAA LEDs in my stock halogen headlamps in my '18 Ram 2500 and they work great and have a definite cut-off that is easily seen. They actually have a better pattern than my Rigid LED fog lamps. The PIAA LEDs have an adjustable collar that allows you to rotate the bulb to align it with the reflector. It's a bit of a pain in the ass, but worked great.

 
DWT said:
Looks like you need to aim them higher. I put the cut off at the end of their useable light distance and the kick up goes in the right side of the lane so the shoulder gets lit up better to find wild game and street signs much better.
Click to expand...

Yea I was not done aiming there, like I said in the post lol. I don't think I ever got finished pics. I think that was aimed into a hill slightly too.

That's only on 35w btw. I don't see any reason to go higher than that either.
 
Elwenil said:
I disagree about the LEDs and at least some reflector housings. I have PIAA LEDs in my stock halogen headlamps in my '18 Ram 2500 and they work great and have a definite cut-off that is easily seen. They actually have a better pattern than my Rigid LED fog lamps. The PIAA LEDs have an adjustable collar that allows you to rotate the bulb to align it with the reflector. It's a bit of a pain in the ass, but worked great.

Click to expand...
I fully agree with you. Some reflector housings they work just fine in. They work fine in my 2012 Ram reflector housings as well. I have Hikari in mine and they are clockable as well. Theres some light scatter, but its not horrid and there 100% is a cut off. That said the amount of housings that LEDs work in outside of projectors is very minimal. 90% on the road are not truly compatible with the housing they're in and just blind the fuck out of everyone.
 
Jackie Treehorn said:
Here’s a cut/paste that I’ve been intending to try:

Hey guys, just thought I'd post an easy bulb upgrade mod for our F150. Our truck uses a H11 bulb for low beam, 9005 for high beam & a 9140 for fogs. Now with a little modifying to the new high & low beam bulbs, you'll have double the light output from OEM replacement bulbs. It goes like this, replace your H11 with a H9 bulb, replace your 9005 with a 9011 & take your 9005 bulbs & put them as your fog light bulbs. Here's why:
Stock H11 = 1,350 Lumens
Replacement H9 = 2,100 Lumens
Stock 9005 = 1,700 Lumens
Replacement 9011 = 2,350 Lumens
Stock 9140 = 600 Lumens
Replace with your 9005 = 1,700 Lumens
Click to expand...

F150s have been made for like 90 years.... What year range is this for? :flipoff2:
 
Jackie Treehorn said:
That would have been helpful information. :homer:‘15+.
Click to expand...

We have a 15, I'm pretty happy with the stock lights, but I may do this. If I do, I'll report back.

Anyone have any suggestions for auxiliary/fog lights for driving? I found projector leads with amber lows and white highs, but they were on a super chicom website with no prices. :homer:
 
YotaAtieToo said:
We have a 15, I'm pretty happy with the stock lights, but I may do this. If I do, I'll report back.

Anyone have any suggestions for auxiliary/fog lights for driving? I found projector leads with amber lows and white highs, but they were on a super chicom website with no prices. :homer:
Click to expand...
The headlights in my ‘17 are awful. I’m eager to see how much of an improvement this will make.
 
Most likely.



So, if I want to do a full replacement (on any vehicle, in general)

- purchase new housings made for projectors - ~$150-$450
- purchase new LED bulbs that fit in new housings - ~$80-$250
- put them in and wire them to work.


Does that sound right?

Alternately,
- Buy retrofit projector housings that go onto my stock lenses
- Buy LED bulbs that fit in the housings
- Bake the old housings in the oven and soften the glue
- Stick new housings on old lenses
- put them in and wire them to work.

Am I missing anything?
 
I just did LED replacement bulbs in my 2013 F-150 from Superbrightleds. Works way better. I did aim them down but the truck is lifted pretty high so there is that. Not as good as my 2021 OEM 4Runner but good. Much better.

On my work truck which is a 99 Ford F-350 I just did replacement bulbs. I did the Sylvania Silverstar lights in it. Lenses are yellow etc. It is better, but not nearly as good as the 13 with the clear lenses and LED's.
 
Pt_Ranger_v8 said:
Most likely.



So, if I want to do a full replacement (on any vehicle, in general)

- purchase new housings made for projectors - ~$150-$450
- purchase new LED bulbs that fit in new housings - ~$80-$250
- put them in and wire them to work.


Does that sound right?

Alternately,
- Buy retrofit projector housings that go onto my stock lenses
- Buy LED bulbs that fit in the housings
- Bake the old housings in the oven and soften the glue
- Stick new housings on old lenses
- put them in and wire them to work.

Am I missing anything?
Click to expand...
Housings with projectors are under $300 most of the time depending on what you want, led bulbs are $40-100.

If you have clear lenses just grab some morimoto or even decent knockoff projectors and put them in the the housings.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Back Refresh