LED Replacements?
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 146
Likes: 1
From: Milpitas CA
LED Replacements?
Has anyone tried the 9006 replacements for headlight bulbs? Both Serius and Putco advertise plug and play, built in fan, 10 W per bulb, 2000 lumens per bulb. Has anyone tried these? Comments on fitment? Codes? Longevity? Functionaity? Headlight door interference?
All input welcome.
Thanks,
All input welcome.
Thanks,
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Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 146
Likes: 1
From: Milpitas CA
Testing
I ordered a set of 9006 (Low Beams) that came in yesterday. Installed today. Installation was easy. It does take (I think a T-10) a torx driver, a phillips screwdriver, and the removal of seven screws per side. It took me less than an hour, but I did leave hand and fingerprints behind.
These are 2000 LM units, about double the light output of the OEM halogens. The light is pleasingly white. It seems considerably brighter than the yellow-tinged OEMs. These were a little under 60 bucks, and were delivered to my front door in less than 40 hours. I purchased from e-bay, and the fulfillment house is in Santa Clara, about 8-10 miles from my home.
Driving out to dinner tonight, about two miles in silicon valley evening traffic, no one flashed their high beams at me, so . . . . So far so good.
I am concerned about headlight door mechanism interferance, but upon arrival at the restaurant, earlier symptoms did not re-appear. If trouble develops, I'll re-post accordingly.
These are 2000 LM units, about double the light output of the OEM halogens. The light is pleasingly white. It seems considerably brighter than the yellow-tinged OEMs. These were a little under 60 bucks, and were delivered to my front door in less than 40 hours. I purchased from e-bay, and the fulfillment house is in Santa Clara, about 8-10 miles from my home.
Driving out to dinner tonight, about two miles in silicon valley evening traffic, no one flashed their high beams at me, so . . . . So far so good.
I am concerned about headlight door mechanism interferance, but upon arrival at the restaurant, earlier symptoms did not re-appear. If trouble develops, I'll re-post accordingly.
Supporting Vendor
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From: Republic of Texas
The super-bright LED bulbs have the same optical issues as HID bulbs in the factory housings. The factory housing was designed to make the best of a 1000 lumen halogen bulb which means it will focus all the light directly in front of the car.
Installing a bulb that's 2-3 times as bright will only shine more light in the same area creating fore-ground glare. There is no substantial improvement in distance vision.
Installing a bulb that's 2-3 times as bright will only shine more light in the same area creating fore-ground glare. There is no substantial improvement in distance vision.
Instructor
Joined: Dec 2014
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From: Bardstown KY
The super-bright LED bulbs have the same optical issues as HID bulbs in the factory housings. The factory housing was designed to make the best of a 1000 lumen halogen bulb which means it will focus all the light directly in front of the car.
Installing a bulb that's 2-3 times as bright will only shine more light in the same area creating fore-ground glare. There is no substantial improvement in distance vision.
Installing a bulb that's 2-3 times as bright will only shine more light in the same area creating fore-ground glare. There is no substantial improvement in distance vision.
Supporting Vendor
Joined: Jul 2010
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From: Republic of Texas
So what would you recommend to upgrade the main lights, if improving the distance vision wasn't a goal, but matching upgraded DRLs and fog lights? I'd like find a relatively inexpensive bulb for my low beams to match the pure white coloration I'll be getting from your DRLs and fogs.
1) HID bulb - This will color match, but has the foreground-glare issue as well as most kits require a load resistor to allow proper headlight raise-lower function
2) LED bulb - Same problems as the HID kit including the load resistor requirement
3) Color-matched Halogen bulb - Any bulb that color-matches a 5000K LED or HID kit does so with a blue filter on the glass. This REDUCES the total output of an already weak light source by filtering out the red-yellow light frequencies. Since light is caused by burning filament, the majority of light output will be in the red-yellow range.
4) Radioflyer's Bi-xenon ACA headlights: These lights not only color-match the drl and fog lights, but provide a substantial improvement in headlight performance. Our headlight kits provide 3 times the lumens output and a pattern that covers over nearly 10 times the road area compared to the factory lights. In addition our HID ballasts do NOT require load resistors for proper function.
http://shop.radioflyerinnovations.co...lights-015.htm
I assume this is the look you're going for:
Supporting Vendor
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From: Republic of Texas
If you're ordering all your parts from us, I would be happy to set you up with a "package price" which should help with your cost.
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Racer
Joined: Jun 2013
Posts: 421
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From: Seattle Washington
There is no simple bulb-solution that will be truly beneficial. Here are the available options:
1) HID bulb - This will color match, but has the foreground-glare issue as well as most kits require a load resistor to allow proper headlight raise-lower function
2) LED bulb - Same problems as the HID kit including the load resistor requirement
3) Color-matched Halogen bulb - Any bulb that color-matches a 5000K LED or HID kit does so with a blue filter on the glass. This REDUCES the total output of an already weak light source by filtering out the red-yellow light frequencies. Since light is caused by burning filament, the majority of light output will be in the red-yellow range.
4) Radioflyer's Bi-xenon ACA headlights: These lights not only color-match the drl and fog lights, but provide a substantial improvement in headlight performance. Our headlight kits provide 3 times the lumens output and a pattern that covers over nearly 10 times the road area compared to the factory lights. In addition our HID ballasts do NOT require load resistors for proper function.
http://shop.radioflyerinnovations.co...lights-015.htm
I assume this is the look you're going for:
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Racer
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From: Seattle Washington
Supporting Vendor
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From: Republic of Texas
Housing: We use the higher quality housings made in Taiwan. The ones you see all over ebay for 120-150 are cheap knock-offs made in China. These have been known to have the mounting points crumble when being installed and also have optical distortions in main lens that affect the sharpness of the projector pattern.
HID kit: Yes you can get an HID kit for $70, but odds are it does not pull enough power to trigger your headlights to raise/lower correctly. Most aftermarket HID kits are rated on PEAK power (the power needed to fire the ballast) The stable power requirements are usually 10-15w less than startup.
The projectors alone retail for $120/pr. This does NOT include shipping or parts/labor for building adapter plate or the plug-and-play bi-xenon harness.
Our kit also includes a Cree LED high beam bulb to color-match and supplement the HID projector.
Don't forget our Hi-4 harness which makes the Bi-xenon function possible without running huge harnesses to each headlight.
Add the fact that we provide a 1-year warranty along with consistent and fast-responding tech support and you'll see why our kit is worth the extra cost.
Instructor
Joined: Dec 2014
Posts: 168
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From: Bardstown KY
You get what you pay for. I have had many customers spend several hundred dollars progressively improving their "cheaper" options trying NOT to spend the money on one of our kits.
If you're ordering all your parts from us, I would be happy to set you up with a "package price" which should help with your cost.
If you're ordering all your parts from us, I would be happy to set you up with a "package price" which should help with your cost.
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 146
Likes: 1
From: Milpitas CA
Glad to see it looks like RF was able to make a sale on my thread. I'm sure what he does is first quality. All feedback I've seen has been excellent. That said, I had more issues with headlight door closure and the LED 9006 bulbs I installed. The supplier has been great, offering a 100% refund. He also offered to send a free pair of load resistors. I'll try the resistors, monitor them for excessive heat, and report back. If this doesn't do the trick, I'll use the supplier's RMA information. I confess to being discouraged, but don't yet feel defeated.
Last edited by 37pat; Feb 10, 2015 at 05:02 PM.
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 146
Likes: 1
From: Milpitas CA
I received the load resistors a couple of days ago, and installed just one of them. The headlight doors are now behaving nomally. I like these LED lamps better than the stock haloges, just because they are brighter. The light color (6000K) seems to do a better job of picking up distant road signs, highway striping, ets. In the fog, they might be problematic, but for as often as we deal with fog in our area, it's a trade-off I'm happy to make. The EBay supplier sold me the lamps at a fair price, and shipped the resistors to me at no charge. I'm satisfied with my results.