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If I see them side-by-side, how can I tell them apart? Why are the Taiwanese better?
The Taiwan ones only come in black background with chrome trim, and do not come with halos. The Chinese ones with halos are the dinky halo design where it's just two LEDs at the bottom lighting up the ring rather than LEDs all around. The Taiwan projector chrome trim seems to be thinner than the Chinese ones. The backside on the Taiwans are black while the Chinese ones are tan. The Chinese ones have the lens permasealed while the Taiwan lens are held in with butyl rubber, which is much more friendly to opening up to put halos inside if you were so inclined. The Chinese ones may or may not come with a high-4 harness with relays, while the Taiwan ones do. As for actual build quality and light output, I do not have an answer to that other than the above.
The Taiwan ones only come in black background with chrome trim, and do not come with halos. The Chinese ones with halos are the dinky halo design where it's just two LEDs at the bottom lighting up the ring rather than LEDs all around. The Taiwan projector chrome trim seems to be thinner than the Chinese ones. The backside on the Taiwans are black while the Chinese ones are tan. The Chinese ones have the lens permasealed while the Taiwan lens are held in with butyl rubber, which is much more friendly to opening up to put halos inside if you were so inclined. The Chinese ones may or may not come with a high-4 harness with relays, while the Taiwan ones do. As for actual build quality and light output, I do not have an answer to that other than the above.
I don't really care too terribly much about the halos, especially if they are as crappy as you say. Can the projectors still be swapped out of the cheaper Chinese ones, or do I need the nicer ones?
2020 Corvette of the Year Finalist (performance mods)
C5 of Year Winner (performance mods) 2019
Originally Posted by Tsumi
Custom built brackets made from nylon boards. There will be no physical way to seal up the headlights, but I haven't had any problems in two years and the FX-Rs are mostly sealed anyways. I can post pictures later.
have an extra set of brackets you want to sell?... would foil tape work to seal them?
I don't really care too terribly much about the halos, especially if they are as crappy as you say. Can the projectors still be swapped out of the cheaper Chinese ones, or do I need the nicer ones?
There are Chinese ones without halos. Just browse through Ebay, search 2004 Corvette projector headlights and they'll come up. 4 variants I know of, black background and chrome background, each with and without halos.
Originally Posted by neutron82
have an extra set of brackets you want to sell?... would foil tape work to seal them?
They were a one-off. I suppose foil tape would work, but you'll be taping directly to the projector. These things get really hot, so I'm not sure how long the foil tape would last. The problem is the FX-R is too big to build an enclosure around and have it all fit. Oh, you also need to make sure you have the 2.5" lens version.
Wow, I’m enjoying this thread but also starting to get a little confused about which ones are better, which to modify with Morimotos and on and on!!
One thing I do know is whoever mentioned putting HID’s behind a standard lens instead of the LED’s, don’t bother, they are just as bad.
Tsumi, I notice only one of the projector kits was DOT approved. Is that correct?
Wow, I’m enjoying this thread but also starting to get a little confused about which ones are better, which to modify with Morimotos and on and on!!
One thing I do know is whoever mentioned putting HID’s behind a standard lens instead of the LED’s, don’t bother, they are just as bad.
Tsumi, I notice only one of the projector kits was DOT approved. Is that correct?
The moment you replace the projector (and bulb), it becomes not DOT approved, so it doesn't really matter.
You get a projector headlight that uses a H9 halogen that supposedly conforms to DOT standards. I haven't tried it, but the H9 halogen projector is supposedly significantly better than stock. BTW, DOT does not actually approve anything, manufacturers slap it on and only if there are complaints will the DOT investigate. The halogen projector is a bit better at directing HID light than the stock reflectors, but as said, once you replace the bulb with something other than what the housing is meant for, it becomes not DOT approved.
The original ACAs were used a true D1S HID projector, and were significantly more expensive than the current ones available.
Tsumi, I’m sorry I’m so full of questions.
So, if I were to buy one of the aforementioned units, my lighting should be improved.
If I left them both as I got them, would the higher priced ones provide more light? I don’t care about the halos. Since the bulbs are halogen, is it just plug and play with no ballasts?
I haven't compared the two side by side, so I cannot say for certain. My best guess is that they will be on par, since they would be using the same bulb. The projector is the big question mark, but if I had to guess, I would say the Chinese one will be at least 90% as good as the Taiwan one, if not the same. I'm also not sure how much better than stock these are as I haven't done a side by side comparison, nor have I looked one up. You will still need an adapter to go from 9006 to H9, but I suspect that they should supply it. The Chinese one might not come with a High-4 harness. The Taiwan one comes with a full harness that has a relay for each low beam.
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I haven't tried it, but the H9 halogen projector is supposedly significantly better than stock.
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as i've stated all over the place, yes, the H9s that some in them are still worlds better than stock
they have a larger, more-defined pattern that's relatively even from left to right, and they have a distinct cutoff
Originally Posted by Tsumi
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You will still need an adapter to go from 9006 to H9, but I suspect that they should supply it. The Chinese one might not come with a High-4 harness. The Taiwan one comes with a full harness that has a relay for each low beam.
the plug-&-play harness accounts for the 9006 to H9 connections & also rigs up the high-4 mod, which is nice for if you do end up swapping in HID lows (to 1. provide more light downrange & 2. keep them from power-cycling every time you flip your brights on)
as i've stated all over the place, yes, the H9s that some in them are still worlds better than stock
they have a larger, more-defined pattern that's relatively even from left to right, and they have a distinct cutoff
the plug-&-play harness accounts for the 9006 to H9 connections & also rigs up the high-4 mod, which is nice for if you do end up swapping in HID lows (to 1. provide more light downrange & 2. keep them from power-cycling every time you flip your brights on)
Do you have a photo of the beam pattern by chance?
2020 Corvette of the Year Finalist (performance mods)
C5 of Year Winner (performance mods) 2019
Originally Posted by Tsumi
They were a one-off. I suppose foil tape would work, but you'll be taping directly to the projector. These things get really hot, so I'm not sure how long the foil tape would last. The problem is the FX-R is too big to build an enclosure around and have it all fit. Oh, you also need to make sure you have the 2.5" lens version.
I can probably have something made once I get around to it but if I found some for not a whole lot of money I'd buy them just to save some time... yes I do have the 2.5" lenses
Ok, more flies into the ointment. I have the following already in place in the stock housings:Hi-4 harness from Radioflyer
9012 and 9011 bulbs.Where do I go from here? Are the bulbs worth using in some position?
Are H9’s better than what I have?
Will I need any special adapters?
In fact, I’ve seen adapters referred to above. Is that to adapt a certain bulb to another receptacle or to adapt one harness to another?
I do not believe you can use the 9012 bulbs in the H9 low beams. The 9011 can continue to be used as high beams. The H9 plug is different from the 9006 plug, hence the adapter. The adapters should come with the headlights.
I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. Certainly it's possible for really hands-on DIY folks to build their own for less material cost, but that time has value as well and for most offsets the money saved. I've had multiple customers spend more on inferior options trying NOT to purchase our headlights....only to buy them anyway. That being said, there are some that simply enjoy building custom stuff from scratch and have the time and money to do it. (I envy those with such options)
Note: the ebay chinese projectors have MULTIPLE issues that make them unsuited for a retrofit including:
- poor lens/housing seal resulting in severe moisture penetration
- poor quality lens optics result in low beam distortion (even with a high quality projector)
- fragile housing + glued-on projectors make removing the old projectors without damaging the housing nearly impossible. (even with special tools, I damaged several sets beyond repair before I gave up on them)
- extremely fragile mounting points prone to crumbling upon installation.
I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. Certainly it's possible for really hands-on DIY folks to build their own for less material cost, but that time has value as well and for most offsets the money saved. I've had multiple customers spend more on inferior options trying NOT to purchase our headlights....only to buy them anyway. That being said, there are some that simply enjoy building custom stuff from scratch and have the time and money to do it. (I envy those with such options)
Note: the ebay chinese projectors have MULTIPLE issues that make them unsuited for a retrofit including:
- poor lens/housing seal resulting in severe moisture penetration
- poor quality lens optics result in low beam distortion (even with a high quality projector)
- fragile housing + glued-on projectors make removing the old projectors without damaging the housing nearly impossible. (even with special tools, I damaged several sets beyond repair before I gave up on them)
- extremely fragile mounting points prone to crumbling upon installation.
You are making my Stealth V3 headlights now and can't wait. I had a set of the cheap Depo housings and DDM HIDs for almost 3 years before 3 ballasts died and 1 bulb caught fire!!
3 weeks without any headlights now until I get the new RadioFlyer ones hopefully next week if all goes well.
I went to Lightwerkz with the lights I bought from e-bay which are the Chinese assemblies, according to people on the forum. This was determined by the fact that the projectors are glued in, once you remove the four little screws they still don't come out. Occasionally I work on removing them. That glue is really good. I have not given a concerted effort to get them out. Anyway the owner at Lightwerkz determined that the housings are still decent quality and even with the bulbs they came with would still be somewhat better than the stock candles glimmering out on the bumper. We were able to illuminate them in a dark room for comparison. He also was able to show me the performance differences. I've got to get this finished. I came home in the dark tonight for the first time of the season and the stock lights really suck. The stock lights on my Sonic are much better. They don't do many Vettes so he didn't mind me using my own housings. Once when I was there, they were working on a new Mustang that had halos you could change the colors on while you were driving using your phone. It really doesn't do anything for me, but it was impressive to watch anyway. Later.
George, I can appreciate the points you have made but at this point I'm going to proceed with my project. I don't have much money invested at this point and with the other project I am working on there is no way I have $600 to spend on headlights. So here goes.
Designer Imagines A Corvette That Looks More Like a Corvette Than the Corvette
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