mbwever Posted January 19, 2015 Share Posted January 19, 2015 has anybody have any experience with replacing the headlight bulbs with led's what worked what didn't etc i have looked around and see that there are now numerous replace kits for the bulb that comes in the Caterhams Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xcarguy Posted January 19, 2015 Share Posted January 19, 2015 (edited) MightyMike on this forum runs LED headlights. Perhaps he'll chime in. Edited January 22, 2015 by xcarguy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MightyMike Posted January 20, 2015 Share Posted January 20, 2015 I put 5.75" Harley Davidson Daymaker LED headlamps into my Storker. Installation was simple - just plug & play. http://i58.tinypic.com/54hpx2.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mbwever Posted January 21, 2015 Author Share Posted January 21, 2015 do they seem to be quite a bit brighter? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MightyMike Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 they are definitely brighter and clearer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimrankin Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 I got tired of replacing bulbs and also having the plastic wire terminations inside the headlight bucket melt if you ran them on hot daylight drives so decided to try LED's. Wanted to keep the old headlight buckets and wiring (I'm a cheap B-----d). Went with a set that has a ballast and a fan that has seemed to work out well. I'm not sure they are much brighter than a stock bulb and certainly not any brighter (maybe less, haven't been in real darkness being a city boy) than the good halogens I was running before, but having problems with. They have CREE led's and were sold a "New Bright's" . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimrankin Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 I pop riveted the ballast to the headlight shell just so it wasn't moving around on bumps etc. The fan has about 3/4" behind it and so far they haven't seemed to have a heat issue with being inside the shell. I think it's just the actual LED base the fan needs to cool and plenty of air in the shell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gherkin Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 As much as I hate to recommend a competitor... http://www.truck-lite.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10001&productId=92025 http://www.jwspeaker.com/products/headlights/#product=500463 These are both popular conversions that are DOT/SAE legal. The Truck-Lite product looks a bit more like a conventional lamp. Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MightyMike Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 As much as I hate to recommend a competitor... http://www.truck-lite.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10001&productId=92025 http://www.jwspeaker.com/products/headlights/#product=500463 These are both popular conversions that are DOT/SAE legal. The Truck-Lite product looks a bit more like a conventional lamp. Chris I'm reasonably certain JW Speaker manufactures the Harley Davidson Daylighter LEDs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gherkin Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 I'm reasonably certain JW Speaker manufactures the Harley Davidson Daylighter LEDs. They do but the automotive lamps are slightly different to keep the Harley unit exclusive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scannon Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 Are the automotive units any cheaper than the HD ones? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gherkin Posted January 24, 2015 Share Posted January 24, 2015 (edited) I don't believe so, the DOT headlight replacements all seem to be pretty pricey with the JW Speaker units often leading the way. There are companies pushing H4 LED replacement bulbs but stay away from the low cost units as they often produce less light than the halogen bulbs they are replacing and some only allow one beam, no high/low function. Also scattered light can be a real issue with the lower cost replacement bulbs. If you are concerned about street legality anything but a certified complete replacement insert will not pass inspection. Another unit from a competitor is this one from KC but I haven't seen them in the wild yet... http://www.kchilites.com/catalog/product/view/id/640/s/7-led-headlight-set-dot-street-legal-kc-42321/category/36/ Chris Edited January 24, 2015 by Gherkin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
speedwagon Posted January 24, 2015 Share Posted January 24, 2015 Are the automotive units any cheaper than the HD ones? at $621 for the KCs it would almost be cheaper to hit another cow, and the black hair imbedded in the nose is a great conversation starter. john Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimrankin Posted January 24, 2015 Share Posted January 24, 2015 I looked at some of the high end replacement units and while they are probably "needed" if you do a lot of night driving, especially if your doing unlit back roads, I thought about my typical driving and decided on trying out the bulb only change first. I actually had a secondary reason for not changing the whole unit and that was because the headlights I'm using have a very bright ring of LED's that act as turn signals. My original turn signals are still operable but are kind of hard to see in daylight. That said I'm going to have to find a dark road one of these night and see if the LED's I installed actually are good enough to be safe if I ever need them. I'm just starting to change out my differential but once its in I'll post something about how the "bulb only" change out actually worked, or didn't work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ropaSeven Posted January 24, 2015 Share Posted January 24, 2015 Get some ideas at jeep headlight images. (googe search images) Unfortunately most are 7 inch and mine are 5 -1/2. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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