freight train

Not sure if to many will spend the coin or not but I thought I would share my experience. I found three different brands of LED H4 plugged headlights that other than some slight modification to the headlamp bucket to accept the round back are 100% complete plug and play lights. The three brands I found are Grote # 90951-5 , Truck light # 27450C , and JW Speaker (four different options in chrome and black and heated or not). I haven't been able to find a local option for the JW brand but have purchased two set of Truck light and two sets of Grote versions and installed in four of my trucks. I will admit they are pricey but they do produce a long distant bright light that is clear and more like daylight and not yellow. They are freaking awesome. Now for the only downside especially for the Northern guys who drive in snowy and sleeting conditions. Like all LED lights they do not produce heat that help keep the lights clear of snow. Now the third brand that I haven't tried yet. They are offered in chrome and in black (the reflector in the back) and even offer them in standard and in heated form. THESE ARE VERY EXPENSIVE. Upwards of $400 apiece. Since I rarely drive in bad weather in fear of totaling my babies I am not concerned about the heated aspect. If you live in the Northern states or Canada the heated JW Speaker lights might work better for you. As for appearance I personally like the Truck light version. It has a black background and look stock. The Grote and JW brands have big dome LED pods in them that are a giveaway they aren't stock. Not a big deal as all three brands are 100% DOT approved and that's embossed on the lens. I am not trying to tell anyone that these lights are or are not worth the money. I will say that I will never buy a halo style bulb ever again. I am in the process of swapping out the lights in dads stable as well. He's in his 70's and tries not to drive at night and he is very impressed with the light clarity and how far it goes compared to halo lights. Again I am not telling anyone to run out and spend this kind of money. They are expensive. I just thought I would share my experiences with the two brands I bought and thought if other members have wanted a better light without serious mods this might help. If I could get my pics to load from Photobucket I would post pics of at least two of my four to show what they look like but with the part numbers provided you can google it. Hope this helps out some of you guys.

RAM

edwinsmith

LED headlights are NOT white. They have a harsh blue component which many people find objectionable myself included. I'v never been in a vehicle at night with LED lights so I can't speak to how they look from the drivers perspective or how far they project.

My Hella lights with 100 watt bulbs are great and on the low beam setting they have a sharp cutoff that is set to just under an oncoming drivers view so they are not as distracting as regular sealed beams. They also have a little flair that shoots up on the right to illuminate road signs when on the low beam setting.

NJTman

I have LED headlamps on my plow. They have their pluses and minuses.

When traveling abroad, they're okay. They (somewhat) blind other drivers, yes, I'm sure, but I try only driving them when I'm plowing, and if you're on the road, you're either another plow driver, a drunk coming back from the bar, or an idiot that should be home, safe and sound. They're not as bad as the factory round Jeep headlamps that I see daily on the roads. Those things are TERRIBLE to come up against, or from behind.

My Plow LED's work great when I'm in a parking lot, close distances, as they're very bright and very reflective off of the snow and other surfaces. They do help me see much better. Conversely, when on long, dark roads, the signs look brighter, but the road itself, is actually a bit darker than my Hella H-4's, as they don't actually project a directed beam. They just flare off lots of light all over the place. My H-4's project, and I can adjust them to get the most focus on the road, where I'm comfortable for it to be.

LED's are amazingly brighter than what was on the plow previously (H4656), and I wouldn't go back. For a daily driver, I would need to see if I had the same issue that Cougar had, not being able to focus them down on the road, or not. I think, for now, I'll stick with my Hellas, as I do really like the light they provide.

Thanks for the review. I saw those Trucklite bulbs on a video link of some township truck, a while back. They're in my "Want list" on Amazon, for a very long time now.

freight train

Edwin you are correct. They do have a blue hue if your looking at them but the light given off while in the truck is a lot brighter than the yellowish halogen I had previously. Obviously there are pro's and con's to everything. I liked this morning that with the colder temp at 6am with the grid heater kicking on/off that the headlights didn't change a bit. They stayed bright throughout. Also considering the amp's being drawn through the headlight switch compared to halogens is nice too. I cant compare what I have compared to Hella's with 100w bulbs as I have never ran them. Again I wasn't trying to tell people that what I had was perfect. Just in my opinion I felt they not only looked great (Truck light) in the truck with the black background and clear faced lens compared to other brands.

edwinsmith

I don't know about other people but I am sensitive to blue lights at night. It seems like my eyes can't focus the blue as well as the reds and greens. Bright blue letters of neon signs just blots out the rest of the sign and I can't read any of it. And I absolutely HATE blue LED's. If you get the idea I'm prejudiced you're right.

There is some reason that fog lights are amber and I think that reason is amber blocks the blue light and makes things more visible. Also I see advertised blue blocker glasses which makes me think that the blue light is bad.

Unrelated, is the fact that blue light depletes melatonin which makes it hard to get to sleep. So maybe the blue light in LED headlights will help keep drowsy drivers awake.

Thanks for the research on the LED lights. I've been wondering if they were available.

Edwin

NJTman

Beer=better sleep

deere country

Edwin I agree with you in not liking the blue tint in the light. I have never driven a vehicle with them but I do not like meeting them on the road at night.

I will however argue that not all led lights give off the blue tint. I was recently in a new barn that had led lights with a straight white color no blue. I needed a new outdoor light this fall and bought the double outdoor portable free standing work light in led and they have no blue tint. Have also just bought a led bulb for my 18 volt dewalt cordless light and no blue.

thrub

I have had the Truck Lite LEDs in my '90 for almost 6 years. Mine are bright white no blue tinge. I dislike those bright blue lights also. As far as them freezing over it has only ever happened twice to me and I live in central Saskatchewan and drive my truck almost daily in the winter. For the record if I had to buy them over again I would in a heart beat.

maybe368

Maybe, but worser wakeup . Not eating within 2 or 3 hours of going to bed makes for good sleep, IMHO...Mark

j_martin

If you wake up with a hangover, you can bear it because you know it will wear off. If it weren't for that fact, you'd be considering suicide.

Back to the topic. I hate the blue star, or any headlamp with a high blue component because blue light diminishes your night vision for 10-20 minutes. In the Navy, we wore red goggles for 1/2 hour before assuming a night watch at sea for just that reason.

Also, although a yellowish light appears to be dimmer, the reflected contrast is actually much higher.
That's why I use yellow boating glasses at dusk.
It's also patently obvious if you look down on street lighting from an airliner. The blue lights are a row of spots. The yellow ones seem to illuminate a much larger and more continuous area.

maybe368

Not sure, but that doesn't apply to my life and I don't drink, what a mystery ...Mark

NJTman

Oh yeah..

You guys over 40 with BPH

More beer, means more times up to pee during the night.

edwinsmith

Uh... How did you know?

cougar

My recent experience with LED headlights was on my 01. My conclusion was wait for someone else to waste the money on finding one that will work. If you look at them, there are a lot of different designs. Number, type, and layout make a huge difference as to where these things are going to point. I gave up on the one I bought and went back to halogens.
On my 92 I use the Hella 55/100s. I don't think I can get any better than that without going to projectors.

NJTman

Our 1st gens have the same headlamps. I could not align my led lights on my plow because , as you say, they do not point. They just shed light in all directions.

Looking forwards to more reviews, and improvements in technology, as leds are really awesome, and the wave of the future.