So just to confirm.....

LED.... yeah or nay?

 

Yes in everything except for headlights and fog lights, unless you use a full LED assembly (not an LED "bulb"). The only exception is the Philips H4 LED, and even then it only performs decently. I also believe the pattern is wrong for the US, it emits a pattern oriented towards RHD.

 

Look, I didn't come here to get into a pissin match with you, so don't get your panties in an uproar.

I only wanted to know why you stated,
"that is the last company I would trust for information like that."
That comment infers that at some time you may have had a problem with that company, and made that negative remark about them.

If a company is giving customers a bad time, we would want to know about it, so we don't do business with them.
That was the reason I asked because of your negative comment about this company.
They are in the business, perhaps they know more than you do about lighting.

If you are having a bad day at work, don't bring your problems here.

It's just that simple.

Bob.

 

 

I see Bob is at it again

 

Annndddd blocked. Your willful ignorance, lack of ability to comprehend, and stupidity leaves me speechless, and you are not worth any more of my time and effort.

 

Do you actually think I care that you blocked yourself from reading my post?

You need to get a life .

GB,GL, AND GR.

Now, can we all get back to the subject at hand?

I see videos on you tube being done by people who have no ax to grind, or bias toward any one particular brand of lighting.

These bulbs seem to all be a "just plug it in" type of situation, with no mention of projector, or reflective lenses.

With these led's, don't they project enough light, in the right places?
Seems simple enough, remove the existing bulbs, and replace with these led's.

As for heat build up, many have a built in heat sink, or fan to keep them cool.

I am really confused about this lighting issue.

The only thing I am not confused about is, I would never spend anywhere near $600- $1000 for headlights.
Even if I had that much extra money, I don't see headlights as being worth that amount of money.

There has to be a happy medium when changing out headlights.

Bob.

 

The only thing I will add to the discussion is the following problem(s) I ran into and ultimately the reason(s) I sold my ACA RadioFlyer setup.

- HID in the C5 appears to be incredibly sensitive to battery voltage and strength. I had a battery that was plenty strong to start the car but was not strong enough to raise the headlamps up. I had thought I had a combination switch issue but it seemed to be more likely a lack of current to make everything work. I additionally had issues where I could raise the lamps but not ignite the HID. A new battery would have likely solved that issue, but for someone who doesn't drive the car daily, you might run into some of those issues. Once the car was driven and the battery charged up, it was fine.

- The pop-up assembly has far, far too much slop in it in stock form. This results in a "jiggling" cutoff. It is no fault of RadioFlyer or the ACA setup. His system is top notch quality and from a stationary position the output was flawless. I found the cutoff bounce a bit annoying when I was driving and I know it irritated other drivers. I drove behind my wife and she actually pulled over and let me pass because she said that it was dazzling her mirrors. All HID has some flicker by nature of the projector. However, our stiff suspension and the slop meant there was a significant flicker. I was always concerned the wrong person would think I was a LEO because of the blue in the cutoff.

Ultimately I pulled my setup out because I didn't feel like re-engineering the popup assembly. I had it all apart to redo my headlamp gears (which turned out to simply be the popup arm retainer pin fell out) and when I put it back together and the lights didn't work, I was done.

These are all problems that can be overcome, but they are something to be aware of.

This is not a knock on RadioFlyer, as his products are phenomenal, but the BS that is the C5 popup assembly. It would appear to me that his low rise system would solve these issues as would a fixed unit. I'm just going to use the HIR bulbs and live without having the awesomeness that is the HID color and clarity.

 

 

This is going well

 

Bob, check it, I got some cheap projectors off the bay and hids from the zon, they're not bright enough for me. I'm gonna try some higher wattage hids and hope that helps. You do get what you pay for though.






001Pewter

 

I have installed several HID ACA style and Projector lamps in the past.
I understand your reasons, many posts have been written on both of these concerns.
Both issues have been resolved by many users. The headlamp doors not opening is often a wiring issue. A basic battery based relay wiring harness with larger gauge wire than OEM will usually resolve this issue.
The jiggle is also a common annoyance that can be easily corrected with a few modifications to the C5 headlamp assembly.
I have run these types of HID projector systems since 2006 and am very pleased with their performance and durability. But most are not just plug and play......which is not uncommon with a car as old as the C5.

 

 

Ignore lists are for pussies.

 

And that list just grew by one

 

This was my experience as well. LED bulbs do not do well in projectors UNLESS your intent is to create a floodlight pattern. The problem is that focal point in a projector is designed for a very small filament or arc tube. LEDs are simply going to be out of focus and can't take advantage of the projector optics. Only a dedicated LED projector might perform on par with an HID equipped projector.

LEDs in high beam function on the other hand are an excellent idea. I use High output LEDs in the hi beams of all my vehicles and even installed a set in my mother's 06 corvette.

It's simply a case of mix-match technology, like trying to play a blue-ray in a CD player.

TO the OP: buy the best you can afford the first time, and you'll only have to open your wallet once. I have have several people spend hundreds (and in one case over a thousand) dollars trying NOT to buy a set of my Bi-xenon ACA headlights. I offer top-shelf products because I enjoy building the best that I can sell.

 

That's because the projectors in those housings are crap. Use the housings with real projectors and you'll have incredible light output.

 

I tried to cheap out and got what I paid for. I'm gonna get some whiter hids and some light bars like that one dude did on here. I'll see one way or the other.