Holley LED Headlights

The only quality 7 inch LED headlights are the Truck-Lite, Petersen, Grote and JW Speaker. These all have the proper certifications for legality that all the other ChiCom junk doesn't have. Putting LED bulbs in H4 headlights is pure hackery like was done 10 plus years ago with HID bulbs.

 

Thank you, Brian. Just for comparison, did the halogens in Euro spec cars tend to degrade the electrical system more than the sealed beams in U,S. market cars?

 

OE they had rather low wattage bulbs like 45 and 55 watt. With those they are no brighter than US sealed beams. I used 75,,80 and 100 watt but ran power through relays using stock wiring only to turn relays on and off. With LEDs none of that nonsense is needed.

 

I also changed my car's headlights to LED ones like yours. My car is a 2014 Ford Focus, and I chose Beamtech LEDs because many people said they were bright and easy to put in. Plus, they're supposed to last a long time. I found out about them on leds.to after reading many reviews, which helped me pick.

Putting them in was pretty straightforward, but I had trouble fitting them perfectly, like what you went through. It wasn't the same problem, but I had to fiddle a bit to get it right. If anyone else is thinking about switching to LED, ensuring everything fits before you finish the job is a good idea.

 

have you seen these?

https://vintagecarleds.com/shop/7-inch/vc5000-ultimate-7-inch-kit/

 

Putting LED bulbs in H4 headlights is pure hackery like was done 10 plus years ago with HID bulbs.

 

Just another case of putting LED bulbs in an H4 lamp. If you want quality lighting you need purpose built LED lamps.

 

This was certainly true, but as the bulb tech evolves this may be changing. This bulb and reflector seems promising, albeit expensive as one might expect if it works as advertised.

 

Uh, no. Why Most LED Headlight Upgrades Don't Really Work: An Expert Explains (jalopnik.com)

 

Interesting, but the acknowledged expert Stern does indicate the issue is lack of consistency, not that technically it will not be possible to develop a proper standard for bulb retrofits. Indeed, the article was in 2020, and Stern himself is on the committee charged with developing the standards. So at some point the tech will be there, in a standardized way. On the way to that outcome, there may well be some successful solutions, in certain applications, that will no doubt precede the standards.

But I certainly get that the led business has been a wild west for some time, with lots of marketing over substance. But there is amazing engineering and creativity to get to both performance and lower price points, and all that has happened over fairly short time horizons.

Great business opportunities. Eg. I have used Diode Dynamics products (not headlight bulbs) and think they are moving the game forward professionally.