Quantcast
Halogen to LED headlight conversion? - Beyond.ca - Car Forums
Page 1 of 2 1 2 LastLast
Results 1 to 20 of 28

Thread: Halogen to LED headlight conversion?

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    Parked in Baygirl's garage.
    My Ride
    '21 F150 PowerBoost
    Posts
    4,592
    Rep Power
    29

    Default Halogen to LED headlight conversion?

    So, same issue with my 2016 F150 as my 2012. The stock halogens are HORRIBLE at night, and in most situations, I might as well just shut them off completely for how much light they throw. I tried swapping to different and "brighter" halogens, but the gains are barely noticable at best.

    Thinking about swapping to LED headlight bulbs. Is it worth it? will it help with night driving? Can i use the stock housing or should I be looking to do a completely new housing? Anything special I should be looking out for? Any particular brands I should be looking at or staying away from? I haven't done an upgrade like this before, so I am not sure what else I should be researching.
    Boosted life tip #329
    Girlfriends cost money
    Turbos cost money
    Both make whining noises
    Make the smart choice.

    Originally posted by Mibz
    Always a fucking awful experience seeing spikers. Extra awful when he laps me.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Dec 2008
    Location
    All over
    My Ride
    CAEB, 6G72
    Posts
    214
    Rep Power
    0

    Default

    A buddy of mine just put some LED's in his 2015 Explorer, and it made a huge difference. The explorers have a kind of projector light housing though so it worked out. I'm not really sure what the F150's have but if it's a projector style as well then you should be fine. If it's not a projector type housing you will just look like every other truck in Alberta who runs HID's in halogen housings.

    As for brands, I'm not sure what a good kind would be. He got his off of amazon, and they had pretty good reviews, so I guess time will tell how long they last.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Apr 2008
    Location
    calgary
    My Ride
    CLK 55 / 2g Eclipse / EP3
    Posts
    4,422
    Rep Power
    22

    Default

    If your housings are projector, then they should be ready for LED or HID (sort of passe though). If not, you are looking at a housing swap. Simpy slapping brighter bulbs is not the optimal solution.

    check a 2016 F150 specific forum .... im sure youre number 12435 person with the same complaint!

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Nov 2002
    Location
    Not Aspen
    My Ride
    Two from Freemont
    Posts
    9,807
    Rep Power
    45

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jul 2008
    Location
    Edmonton, Alberta
    My Ride
    '16 F150 Lariat, 17 Shelby GT350, '21 Explorer ST
    Posts
    1,937
    Rep Power
    26

    Default

    Retrofit or buy the correct housing. Just putting bulbs in will do nothing but throw light everywhere.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    May 2002
    Location
    on a map.....??????
    My Ride
    changes daily :D
    Posts
    1,245
    Rep Power
    23

    Default

    LED's are not the same as HID's. you can easily swap a LED light in and have more/brighter power without blinding the rest of the world. I was having the same issue with my accord, and swapped to led's. used to have hid's. with the hid's i was getting flashed all the time because people thought they were my brights. with the led's i have not encountered anyone who has had an issue with my headlights, and it gives me at least 50% more light output than halogens.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Jun 2014
    Location
    Calgary
    Posts
    1,100
    Rep Power
    20

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by benyl View Post
    This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
    Thats the best way for sure but for some its a hard pill to swallow buying that set up

    Quote Originally Posted by infamous View Post
    This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
    LED's are not the same as HID's. you can easily swap a LED light in and have more/brighter power without blinding the rest of the world. I was having the same issue with my accord, and swapped to led's. used to have hid's. with the hid's i was getting flashed all the time because people thought they were my brights. with the led's i have not encountered anyone who has had an issue with my headlights, and it gives me at least 50% more light output than halogens.
    I had no idea leds were like that, always assumed hid or led in a non projector is a mess
    Quote Originally Posted by Mitsu3000gt View Post
    This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
    and I did not have the only say in the matter (most people just want it done ASAP and don't care about quality).
    Quote Originally Posted by Mitsu3000gt View Post
    This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
    If anything we made a better decision because we had a consensus and were all on the same page.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    Parked in Baygirl's garage.
    My Ride
    '21 F150 PowerBoost
    Posts
    4,592
    Rep Power
    29

    Default

    Yeah, I have been doing some research. I don't think I want to go the whole replace housings, and wires through the firewall and such.

    In reading, it seems that the most important part is keeping the LED placement as close as possible to where the filament placement is once inside the headlight housing. Doing so keeps nice cutoff lines and light loss as the light source is in the same spot as OEM, and where the reflectors were designed for.

    The F150 forums has been a pretty big help, and I think I am now pretty confident in just replacing my low beams to LEDs as I can't recall the last time I used my high beams.
    Boosted life tip #329
    Girlfriends cost money
    Turbos cost money
    Both make whining noises
    Make the smart choice.

    Originally posted by Mibz
    Always a fucking awful experience seeing spikers. Extra awful when he laps me.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    May 2004
    Location
    Calgary
    My Ride
    2005 F350
    Posts
    860
    Rep Power
    20

    Default

    in my opinion, the best way would be get the ANZO headlights with the projector beams in them and swap the halogen bulbs out with LED's. You can get the LED kits and the ANZO headlights from some of the forum sponsors on F150forum.com

    give your truck a cool new look and have it functional as well!
    "Make Canada a better place, punch a Canuck fan in the face" - Jim Rome

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Dec 2008
    Location
    calgary
    Posts
    1,749
    Rep Power
    17

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by infamous View Post
    This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
    LED's are not the same as HID's. you can easily swap a LED light in and have more/brighter power without blinding the rest of the world. I was having the same issue with my accord, and swapped to led's. used to have hid's. with the hid's i was getting flashed all the time because people thought they were my brights. with the led's i have not encountered anyone who has had an issue with my headlights, and it gives me at least 50% more light output than halogens.
    I don’t think that’s exactly true, LEDs still have similar scatter problems. Here is good thread with emperical evidence you can see from the before/after the scatter from LEDs is brutal. Could be different depending on the design of the halogen housing but IMO LEDs suffer the same fate as HIDs in halogen reflectors and shouldn’t be done

    https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/...ectors.454371/


    Quote Originally Posted by SOAB View Post
    This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
    in my opinion, the best way would be get the ANZO headlights with the projector beams in them and swap the halogen bulbs out with LED's. You can get the LED kits and the ANZO headlights from some of the forum sponsors on F150forum.com

    give your truck a cool new look and have it functional as well!
    This
    Last edited by J-hop; 08-27-2018 at 01:07 PM.

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Jan 2003
    Location
    Calgary
    Posts
    279
    Rep Power
    22

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by J-hop View Post
    This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
    I don’t think that’s exactly true, LEDs still have similar scatter problems. Here is good thread with emperical evidence you can see from the before/after the scatter from LEDs is brutal. Could be different depending on the design of the halogen housing but IMO LEDs suffer the same fate as HIDs in halogen reflectors and shouldn’t be done
    https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/...ectors.454371/
    I have only looked at the first few post in the thread, but the original poster's LED bulb design isn't really a "correct copy" of the halogen H4 bulb design. The position of the LED might be pretty close, but it is missing the shields at the bottom. I haven't done any scientific studies, but these seem to be a closer design to the H4 bulb.

    https://www.powerbulbs.com/ca/produc...ed-headlamp-h4

    and a slightly cheaper version...

    https://www.powerbulbs.com/ca/produc...dlight-h4-twin

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Dec 2008
    Location
    calgary
    Posts
    1,749
    Rep Power
    17

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by ZeroGravity View Post
    This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
    I have only looked at the first few post in the thread, but the original poster's LED bulb design isn't really a "correct copy" of the halogen H4 bulb design. The position of the LED might be pretty close, but it is missing the shields at the bottom. I haven't done any scientific studies, but these seem to be a closer design to the H4 bulb.

    https://www.powerbulbs.com/ca/produc...ed-headlamp-h4

    and a slightly cheaper version...

    https://www.powerbulbs.com/ca/produc...dlight-h4-twin


    Interesting yea you’re most likely right, LED design is a huge factor. This guy claims the first one you posted works well
    https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/...review.405019/


    I might have to look at LEDs again, I initially wrote off LEDs in factory housings in my F150 as every single person that posted had god awful scatter. Probably because they were buying the $70 specials...

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Jan 2003
    Location
    Calgary
    Posts
    279
    Rep Power
    22

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by J-hop View Post
    This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
    Interesting yea you’re most likely right, LED design is a huge factor. This guy claims the first one you posted works well
    https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/...review.405019/


    I might have to look at LEDs again, I initially wrote off LEDs in factory housings in my F150 as every single person that posted had god awful scatter. Probably because they were buying the $70 specials...
    A friend of mine tried a pair of those ~$50 specials from amazon. From the looks of the photos, the bulb design does have similar look to that of those expensive Philips ones. I have the same car as his (2015 Honda Fit), but I didn't try those because it requires some trimming of the rubber gasket plug to make room for the heat sink.

    The more expensive Philips set's heat sink is a separate screw on piece so it is more likely that one doesn't have to cut that rubber gasket piece. The cheaper / but still quite spendy one looks to be one piece. This set doesn't have / need the separate voltage converter box thingy.

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Jan 2004
    Location
    MooooooO
    My Ride
    AWD grandpa wagon
    Posts
    2,294
    Rep Power
    23

    Default

    The Philips LED will ensure you get the ideal output and alignment than the $70 specials. Also, TRS have XB retrofit headlights for your F150. But it'll cost a pretty penny.
    Alternatively, if you don't want to drop few hundreds into a set of LEDs bulbs, the Philips Xtreme Vision +110 halogen (not the +130, way too much blue coating on the bulb).

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Apr 2008
    Location
    calgary
    My Ride
    CLK 55 / 2g Eclipse / EP3
    Posts
    4,422
    Rep Power
    22

    Default

    Would it be cheaper to add decent after-market, LED light elsewhere? External mounted projectors?

  16. #16
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    Parked in Baygirl's garage.
    My Ride
    '21 F150 PowerBoost
    Posts
    4,592
    Rep Power
    29

    Default

    I found this guy's post really informative, and he seemed to hit all the spots. I am thinking I may just follow his lead and give this a try before committing to a $1000+ package to completely replace the housings and all.

    https://www.f150forum.com/f118/led-h...-bulbs-370732/
    Boosted life tip #329
    Girlfriends cost money
    Turbos cost money
    Both make whining noises
    Make the smart choice.

    Originally posted by Mibz
    Always a fucking awful experience seeing spikers. Extra awful when he laps me.

  17. #17
    Join Date
    Jan 2019
    Location
    The Big Char.
    My Ride
    *The First*
    Posts
    4,136
    Rep Power
    100

    Default

    Bump. Did you end up doing this?

    My main reason for the bump is I now see Canadian Tire is producing an H1 bulb in LED. I was excite but there's just zero chance this thing fits. H1 halogen bulbs are tiny and they tend to clip in. There's no way this bulbous thing is going to fit.
    Has anyone else ever found an H1 in LED that was feasible?

    https://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/h...p.0200512.html

  18. #18
    Join Date
    Mar 2004
    Location
    Calgary AB
    My Ride
    2020 Subaru Forester Sport
    Posts
    2,969
    Rep Power
    41

    Default

    I know it's an old thread but since it was bumped i might as well ll comment. I have replaced 9007 bulbs with 4WDKING lights from Amazon and they made a huhe difference in my wifes Pontiac Vibe standard housing. Instructions state to make sure LEDs are pointed horizontally. No blinging with these but insane output. I have just recently installed same bulbs in H7 in my dad's Mitsubishi Outlander with projectors and they also had a nice normal cutoff with LEDs horizontally. I hate people with blinding lights but as long as installed correctly I think it's not really an issue.

  19. #19
    Join Date
    Mar 2004
    Location
    Calgary AB
    My Ride
    2020 Subaru Forester Sport
    Posts
    2,969
    Rep Power
    41

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by ThePenIsMightier View Post
    This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
    Bump. Did you end up doing this?

    My main reason for the bump is I now see Canadian Tire is producing an H1 bulb in LED. I was excite but there's just zero chance this thing fits. H1 halogen bulbs are tiny and they tend to clip in. There's no way this bulbous thing is going to fit.
    Has anyone else ever found an H1 in LED that was feasible?

    https://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/h...p.0200512.html
    They look just like the H7 bulbs I just installed into dad's car. Same idea, you will need an adapter. I got some on ebay for $5 shipped. The adapter slides onto the bulb, the bulb would go into the normal spot with the adapter, and the cable from the bulb plugs into the original clip. The adapter is designed to replicate the clip. Have to find one that matches your clip or car. Name:  $_10.jpg
Views: 208
Size:  100.7 KB

  20. #20
    Join Date
    Mar 2009
    Location
    Calgary
    My Ride
    Silverado
    Posts
    3,090
    Rep Power
    47

    Default

    Halogen bulbs for halogen housings. No need to blind every other driver on the road

Page 1 of 2 1 2 LastLast

Similar Threads

  1. LED vs. Halogen for spot light use?

    By Fly Fishin' in forum General Car/Bike Talk
    Replies: 11
    Latest Threads: 09-17-2015, 03:05 PM
  2. FS: 4x6 H4 Halogen Headlight housing w/bulbs

    By jalalx5 in forum Automotive Parts
    Replies: 0
    Latest Threads: 12-11-2013, 05:11 PM
  3. Replies: 0
    Latest Threads: 06-10-2012, 09:34 PM
  4. FS: sylvania silverstar halogen light bulbs

    By _wrx_ in forum Automotive Parts
    Replies: 6
    Latest Threads: 11-22-2004, 02:40 AM
  5. Replies: 24
    Latest Threads: 07-15-2004, 12:00 AM

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •