LED Headlights - Worth it or not?

[gamefreakgc]

I'm in a modding sort of mood lately and have heard about LED retrofits into the stock housings like some of these offered by PIAA:

PIAA | Automotive Bulbs: H4

Has anyone ever tried them and are they better than stock, enough to justify the price? I have a pair of NightHawks or something like that in mine right now, they run at a higher wattage than stock bulbs so you are just trading brightness for bulb life. They were cheap so better than stock, but wondering if LED's are worth the price tag or not?

I am not planning on doing projectors, I don't want to pay for a pre-made set nor take all the time to cut & make my own. Plus I'm not really a fan of projectors anyway.

 

[infantry503]

I have the same question. I have a LED headlight on my Harley and it is bright but I would like to know if anyone has these with a picture of the light output in 3rd gens without projectors.

 

[Cadaverous]

Do you struggle seeing? I would recommend if you're not really struggling to see with your normal bulbs to just upgrade to the silverstar ultras. They will provide more light but are affordable.

 

[Rock_Rat]

Jerod, let me give you my perspective based on experience. So I picked up some after-market LED H4's and they are BRIGHT! I love the light output, however, it stops there.

My Cons about the lights:

1. People will flash you or turn their light bars on just to let you know they're pissed. I hate being "that guy" rude. I like to think I'm more courtious than that.
2. The rubber boots will not fit over the heat sink (Cooling Fins) on the bulbs. Your lens is now exposed. The PIAA's advertise that their's will, but I've talked to the guys here in Portland and not all boots will fit. BTW: Military gets a 30% discount on ALL PIAA products.
3. LED's do not put out heat. For me that's a factor in the PNW weather. For you, not a game changer. Headlights will stay iced up. Ask me how I know this...haha

So for me, I'm back to the PIAA Extreme Whites again. I have some Rigid Spots and large PIAA's (Thinking about changing to ARB or IPF's) that I'll turn on if I need additional light.

Hope this helps.

 

[John7M7]

Following.

 

[TonyB66]

After a fair amount of consideration, I spent like 25 bucks on "normal" replacements. Even if much less expensive, it wouldn't have been a slam dunk for me. I say that having already converted all exterior lighting to LED, minus the headlights and fogs. A good portion of my interior illumination is LED too, with more happening in the coming days and weeks...

For on-road use, as described well by Rock_Rat earlier, I'll stay with conventional lighting for now.

Another a year or so now there might be a thread here about laser and OLED headlights. I'm following the development of those... I'm somewhat encouraged.

 

[infantry503]

Jerod, let me give you my perspective based on experience. So I picked up some after-market LED H4's and they are BRIGHT! I love the light output, however, it stops there.

My Cons about the lights:

1. People will flash you or turn their light bars on just to let you know they're pissed. I hate being "that guy" rude. I like to think I'm more courtious than that.
2. The rubber boots will not fit over the heat sink (Cooling Fins) on the bulbs. Your lens is now exposed. The PIAA's advertise that their's will, but I've talked to the guys here in Portland and not all boots will fit. BTW: Military gets a 30% discount on ALL PIAA products.
3. LED's do not put out heat. For me that's a factor in the PNW weather. For you, not a game changer. Headlights will stay iced up. Ask me how I know this...haha

So for me, I'm back to the PIAA Extreme Whites again. I have some Rigid Spots and large PIAA's (Thinking about changing to ARB or IPF's) that I'll turn on if I need additional light.

Hope this helps.

Sold on that discount for sure!!!!!!

 

[Ed_C]

I haven't (and don't plan to for $299,holy crap!) tried the PIAA LED but I've tested the Philips X-Treme Ultinon, which PIAA and every Chinese manufacturer based their H4 bulbs on. I'm pretty sure PIAA's cheaper Platinum LED series is a rebadged (and overpriced) Chinese manufactured system, I've tested those too.

In short, they're not worth the money. I can go into detail why if you'd like. If you want the best performance out of your OEM headlights, the top halogens are Philips RacingVision and Osram Night Breaker Laser. You're still not going to get the performance of a budget HID projector setup...hell even the cheaper bi-LED projectors, which are marginal compared to a decent HID projector, perform better than our OEM headlights, I've briefly tested those also :nod:

 

[gamefreakgc]

Jerod, let me give you my perspective based on experience. So I picked up some after-market LED H4's and they are BRIGHT! I love the light output, however, it stops there.

My Cons about the lights:

1. People will flash you or turn their light bars on just to let you know they're pissed. I hate being "that guy" rude. I like to think I'm more courtious than that.
2. The rubber boots will not fit over the heat sink (Cooling Fins) on the bulbs. Your lens is now exposed. The PIAA's advertise that their's will, but I've talked to the guys here in Portland and not all boots will fit. BTW: Military gets a 30% discount on ALL PIAA products.
3. LED's do not put out heat. For me that's a factor in the PNW weather. For you, not a game changer. Headlights will stay iced up. Ask me how I know this...haha

So for me, I'm back to the PIAA Extreme Whites again. I have some Rigid Spots and large PIAA's (Thinking about changing to ARB or IPF's) that I'll turn on if I need additional light.

Hope this helps.

I haven't (and don't plan to for $299,holy crap!) tried the PIAA LED but I've tested the Philips X-Treme Ultinon, which PIAA and every Chinese manufacturer based their H4 bulbs on. I'm pretty sure PIAA's cheaper Platinum LED series is a rebadged (and overpriced) Chinese manufactured system, I've tested those too.

In short, they're not worth the money. I can go into detail why if you'd like. If you want the best performance out of your OEM headlights, the top halogens are Philips RacingVision and Osram Night Breaker Laser. You're still not going to get the performance of a budget HID projector setup...hell even the cheaper bi-LED projectors, which are marginal compared to a decent HID projector, perform better than our OEM headlights, I've briefly tested those also :nod:

Thanks for the first-hand experience. I didn't realized they do not reflect correctly in the stock housings, that's the whole point of keeping the stock housing in the first place right?

I have a pair of Phillips bulbs in there right now (not the Racing Vision but close to it) that help, so it's not like I'm fumbling around in the dark. I have a light bar but it's not exactly functional if there's oncoming traffic. Looks like I'll just be waiting as well for something new to turn up!

 

[Ryance39]

I agree with the above. I swapped a set into mine 99 reflector housings and they were super bright, but had a horrible beam pattern, too glaring for other drivers, and didn't produce any heat for the lenses.

Swapped back to a regular H4 and will continue to experiment.

 

[Rock_Rat]

[MENTION=115347]gamefreakgc[/MENTION] I know you requested a photo. Here are two pics I took this morning. As you can see I still have the LED's in there but the swap is on the way this weekend.

My guess is I'm about 50 yards away. I did a comparison shot for you with the LED's and also the Rigid Industries Hyperspots. Ignore the PIAA lights that are on as they don't really add much to the light. They're regular H3 bulbs.

Good luck on your decision.

EDIT: the more I look at the bottom photo, the more inclined I am to believe I had all of my lights on, including the headlights.

 

[LittleCaesar]

That is going beyond the call of t4r when you get up in the pre sun morning to take headlight throw pics for another member.

I think I see some cougars behind that bush over there. Or maybe it is just a Leach?

As a jogger at night I hate LED headlights. They are blinding and don't focus light well. Plus they are usually one more added diesel extension of the brodozer gaggle of morons.

 

[Rock_Rat]

That is going beyond the call of t4r when you get up in the pre sun morning to take headlight throw pics for another member.

Ah, we all know you're just jealous that it wasn't you getting up to 26° temps and freezing rain. :smow:

 

[Ed_C]

Thanks for the first-hand experience. I didn't realized they do not reflect correctly in the stock housings, that's the whole point of keeping the stock housing in the first place right?

One inherent problem is the placement of the actual LED emitters. See how they're mounted on the sides while the filaments of a H4 bulb face directly upwards (low beam) and downwards (high beams)? It leaves a "spotty" beam pattern. Some areas are definitely brighter than halogen but I found in both Philips and copies one side was barely the width of bone-stock halogens and the high beams aren't as effective (lacks distance). If they actually placed some up and down firing emitters it could fix that issue.

I have a pair of Phillips bulbs in there right now (not the Racing Vision but close to it) that help, so it's not like I'm fumbling around in the dark. I have a light bar but it's not exactly functional if there's oncoming traffic.

Glad to see you're not one of those d-bags that drive around with their light bars on all the time.

Looks like I'll just be waiting as well for something new to turn up!

There's just so much you can do with the factory reflectors. Don't hold your breath for laser or matrix LED headlights, the NHTSA's and DOT's ancient lighting regulations won't allow OEMs to equip North American models with their best lighting. Even if you were to get your hands on those headlights it won't be a simple matter of just retrofitting the internals. These systems rely and multiple sensors and ECUs on the vehicle.

 

[gamefreakgc]

[MENTION=115347]gamefreakgc[/MENTION] I know you requested a photo. Here are two pics I took this morning. As you can see I still have the LED's in there but the swap is on the way this weekend.

My guess is I'm about 50 yards away. I did a comparison shot for you with the LED's and also the Rigid Industries Hyperspots. Ignore the PIAA lights that are on as they don't really add much to the light. They're regular H3 bulbs.

Good luck on your decision.

EDIT: the more I look at the bottom photo, the more inclined I am to believe I had all of my lights on, including the headlights.

I see what you mean about the beam patterns. They are bright but not always where you want them huh.

I had a smart idea to take the little filler bar below the headlights and mount some small LED light bars and wire them to the high beams, until I realized the filler bars are angled towards the sides of the vehicle... bummer.

 

[KingPrat]

There's just so much you can do with the factory reflectors. Don't hold your breath for laser or matrix LED headlights, the NHTSA's and DOT's ancient lighting regulations won't allow OEMs to equip North American models with their best lighting. Even if you were to get your hands on those headlights it won't be a simple matter of just retrofitting the internals. These systems rely and multiple sensors and ECUs on the vehicle.

There was a change recently with NHTSA crash ratings to include headlight output. This may not seem like a lot, but I thought it was a great first step in seeing some of that Euro headlight technology start making its way across the pond...


For me, the weather is the biggest factor in not doing LED bulbs. I want more light output but with the winter use of my truck I need to be able to see when the weather is bad. Maybe when I can afford a retrofit I'll go that route...

 

[Xntrik7]

Going back to halogens

tl;dr version: Great for dry climates and not so much for winter climates.

I live in Idaho and have been running the PIAA LED H4s for almost a year now. This is actually my first winter with them and I can’t really see that well when it snows or when we have inversions.You will definitely need to have some fog lights to see better in the fog and snow.

I just ordered Koito OEM dust boots and the OSRAM Night Breaker Unlimited to replace these for now. Maybe my eyes will see better in winter conditions with bulbs closer to 4000k instead of 6000k?

Pros:

Excellent customer service from Jason B and PIAA
Lights up anything with reflective properties really well
Material and build quality
Ease of installation


Cons:

Less effective in winter on 4Runners not equipped with fog lights (even more $$$)
Poor visibility in snow
Poor visibility during an inversion
Not DRL friendly
Cutting the dust boot

 

[LittleCaesar]

Ah, we all know you're just jealous that it wasn't you getting up to 26° temps and freezing rain. :smow:

For a guaranteed win over Bama, and then one over Georgia or OK, then sure.:biggrin2:

 

[RockyrT4R]

Yes but a different brand

My uncle [MENTION=102168]owyheerat[/MENTION] bought the piaa bulbs and I don’t know if he likes them or not but I bought the auxbeam f-16s and so far they are awesome! I think the halogens seem to cut through downfall and sometimes go a little further than the LEDs but I have loved the clean look it gives it IMO and I bought the auxbeams because they are cheaper and I’m 16 lol but they had like 800 4.5 star ratings

 

[Hepar]

People will flash you or turn their light bars on just to let you know they're pissed. I hate being "that guy" rude. I like to think I'm more courtious than that.

I like a lot of the pros when it comes to the idea of an LED replacement, but this is the main reason I'll never do it. Being lifted means that my lights are already hitting people more in the face, don't want to be more of a d*ck than I already am.