LED Headlight Conversion

zingo

An H13 headlight bulb just died in my 2008 Ford Focus, and now I'm interested in an LED conversion; it has reflector style headlamps. Has anyone successfully put aftermarket LED headlight "bulbs" in your vehicle? It looks like reputable versions can be purchased for as low at $100 a pair with drivers.

On a side note, I just installed OSRAM Night Breaker Unlimited headlights on my wife's Honda Pilot, and they are fantastic halogen bulbs in a projector housing.

msg

While not LED, I do have a friend who did an HID conversion that he likes. He's not the most mechanicallyIinclined, and said it was pretty easy. This seems similar.

I'd be curious to hear your impressions if you move forward on this project. My personal thought, granted, an unsolicited one, is that car manufacturers are going overboard on lighting. I get that they have safety in mind, but I find the LED and high intensity lighting in many vehicles to be uncomfortable and distracting more often these days.

For this product, I'd be watchful for comments in reviews along those lines, though I would imagine there won't be much of that kind of feedback. I use Silverstar Ultras in a Tacoma, and apparently even those are uncomfortable to other drivers on dark roads, even without high beams engaged.

tonyb

msg wrote: »

...... those are uncomfortable to other drivers on dark roads, even without high beams engaged.

Uh...yeah, I want to throw rocks at those dudes that blind you coming around a corner.

decal

tonyb wrote: »

msg wrote: »

...... those are uncomfortable to other drivers on dark roads, even without high beams engaged.

Uh...yeah, I want to throw rocks at those dudes that blind you coming around a corner.

I agree 100%.

maximillian

msg wrote: »

I use Silverstar Ultras in a Tacoma, and apparently even those are uncomfortable to other drivers on dark roads, even without high beams engaged.

So were you a good citizen and removed them for something that didn't make driving uncomfortable for others? Or did you shrug your shoulders like, "it's better for me this way"?

msg

maximillian wrote: »

msg wrote: »

I use Silverstar Ultras in a Tacoma, and apparently even those are uncomfortable to other drivers on dark roads, even without high beams engaged.

So were you a good citizen and removed them for something that didn't make driving uncomfortable for others? Or did you shrug your shoulders like, "it's better for me this way"?

I don't shrug it off without a thought, it does weigh a bit, but I've' not replaced them with less bright ones yet. next time I'm due for bulbs I may drop down, not sure yet. I hate yellow lights.

The other thing is that I don't get any "feedback" from other drivers in around town drives, which is where most of my driving is. I only get it on my few back country road drives at night, which is relatively rare, so I have to wonder if it's a darkness sensitivity thing more than anything. My lights don't seem unusually bright from my viewing perspective while driving, nor from looking at the vehicle from out in front of it. I've tried checking it before to get a sense of whether they are too bright by parking on the street and walking down the road a fair way to look back on it. It doesn't seem overly bright or uncomfortable to me like that, but maybe I need to get into a driving position in front of it. Could simply be the height of the headlights, don't know.

ZLTFUL

The housings/reflectors of your headlights are designed to be used with a specific type of bulb. In this case, incandescent.
Putting an HID or LED conversion in its place is going to offer a different light beam pattern and is usually what causes the glaring/dispersed pattern that offends people so.

LED kits are getting better but you also get what you pay for.

Polkie2009

I've read on some Honda forums about a number of people trying to use the stock housing with HID bulbs and end up melting the housing or wiring. I think some of the glaring problems people are having, are when you are in a car that's lower to the ground, compared to a car or truck that's headlights are about a foot or more higher than yours and they are shining right into your line of sight or rear view mirror if the vehicle is behind you. Sucks either way for us lower vehicles.

mhardy6647

I know in the commonwealth of MA that a car with retrofitted headlights of any type is supposed to be failed when subjected to their required annual emissions/safety inspection.

Not sure if that's true in any, many or all other states -- but best to be sure before doing something that could be problematic later.

maximillian

msg wrote: »

I only get it on my few back country road drives at night, which is relatively rare, so I have to wonder if it's a darkness sensitivity thing more than anything. My lights don't seem unusually bright from my viewing perspective while driving, nor from looking at the vehicle from out in front of it. I've tried checking it before to get a sense of whether they are too bright by parking on the street and walking down the road a fair way to look back on it. It doesn't seem overly bright or uncomfortable to me like that, but maybe I need to get into a driving position in front of it. Could simply be the height of the headlights, don't know.

You can't judge on flat roads. Country roads means many curves and hills, at least around my parts (central MA). Even a small 20 foot hill in the road will end up pointing the headlights too high. They are in essence high beams to the drivers in front. It's dangerous. Too many times I have been blinded by cars with HID headlamps coming over a small hill or around a corner. Do you really want the driver in the opposing vehicle blinded for a few seconds? I don't know what the justification is other than a subjective sense that it's better. Highbeams are good enough that HID lamps are not needed; and they have the benefit that they can be turned off when there's opposing traffic.

tonyb

maximillian wrote: »

msg wrote: »

I only get it on my few back country road drives at night, which is relatively rare, so I have to wonder if it's a darkness sensitivity thing more than anything. My lights don't seem unusually bright from my viewing perspective while driving, nor from looking at the vehicle from out in front of it. I've tried checking it before to get a sense of whether they are too bright by parking on the street and walking down the road a fair way to look back on it. It doesn't seem overly bright or uncomfortable to me like that, but maybe I need to get into a driving position in front of it. Could simply be the height of the headlights, don't know.

You can't judge on flat roads. Country roads means many curves and hills, at least around my parts (central MA). Even a small 20 foot hill in the road will end up pointing the headlights too high. They are in essence high beams to the drivers in front. It's dangerous. Too many times I have been blinded by cars with HID headlamps coming over a small hill or around a corner. Do you really want the driver in the opposing vehicle blinded for a few seconds? I don't know what the justification is other than a subjective sense that it's better. Highbeams are good enough that HID lamps are not needed; and they have the benefit that they can be turned off when there's opposing traffic.

Good points Max.

Some simply want a brighter light and that may be because of other issues and not necessarily the lamp. For instance, on some older cars it's the yellowing of that plastic headlamp cover that dims the lights. Change those first before getting flame throwers as bulbs. Could also be a loss of voltage to the lights for some reason.

I'm not a fan of yellow or dim lights, but also not a fan of the super bright either. That's a safety hazard imho to other drivers and one should take responsibility for not contributing to that. Find a middle ground, be aware of the height of the vehicle, change yellowing headlamp covers, adjust the lights if you have to as not to shine straight out.

Lamps also don't come in dull or super bright, there is some variety.

trj

I would never put LED or HID bulbs in the regular housings. I am assuming you have halogen bulbs in the headlight housings. The bowls are not made to reflect light beams properly for HID or LED.
If you want to increase output, please do a proper HID retrofit with projectors. I have done it in both my cars and its 10 times better than halogen headlights and without any errors. Both my cars are very sensitive to electrical load (audi and BMW) and will throw an error if you even look at it wrong. But with proper retrofit and coding, I don't get any errors.

I am not familiar with how ford focus communicates between electronics, but if it does use CANBUS then you will get a head light error on the dash. If you use after market headlights, you have to code your car to communicate with xenons and make it not throw an error. Or you will have to use resistors to emulate the load that halogen bulbs were pulling.
Also, some headlights lens are glued to the headlight housing with one time (very strong glue) and impossible to open. People have mangled their headlights trying to pry them open. So, check before you try and upgrade. If you figure out coding and opening headlights I can help you more with how to do it.

Most halogen bulbs used in cars are 55 watts. Most xenon bulbs (ballasts) are 35 watts, LEDs will pull even less.

exalted512

As long as you have projector lenses, I've never had an issue with any properly pointed HID/high output headlights blinding me.

My wife's car just had a headlight go out. It has projector lenses though. I put some Silverstar Ultra's in it. It made a good difference.
-Cody

Polkie2009

I use Silverstar Ultras in the old Honda , fits perfectly in the housing. Years ago when I first started using the Silverstars, they would burn out after about 2 years. Now I get about 4 years out of them.

Polkie2009

I use Silverstar Ultras in the old Honda , fits perfectly in the housing. Years ago when I first started using the Silverstars, they would burn out after about 2 years. Now I get about 4 years out of them.

zingo

Thanks guys. When I had my Superduty, I did a projector headlight retrofit with no issues, and are't against doing it again, but wanted to make sure to explore my options first. I have heard nothing but bad things regarding HID retro kits, which is what made me interested in LED kits. With my Focus, I'm not worried about blinding too many folks as the car sits reasonably low, but improper bulbs in reflector housings is a concern.

trj

I have HID kits and projectors from theretrofitsource.com and they are performing very well.

I don't know how the light is dispersed in the LED kits, but if it is anything like HID kits then you would really want to put projectors over it. Whether the car stays low or high doesn't matter because its safety issue, for you and for the driver coming towards you. You will be perfectly happy with HIDs without projectors until the day you have to drive in rain or snow. Everything reflects on your face and you are doing the same to others without the proper projectors even on a good weather day.

About those LEDs, I doubt they will work any better than standard halogens. May be cooler/white light, but then you can get silverstars with a little bit cooler light output anyway for a lot cheaper.

Infant, I am very much against the huge LEDs that car makers have started installing. I know it doesn't concern this topic, but I am going to put it here anyway as its somewhat relevant.
Ever been behind a new toyota, lexus, prius, acura, dodge avenger, some audi models, cadillac escalade in the traffic light? It hurts my eyes looking straight at them. There is no need to have such huge LEDs for brake lights. I wonder how they were even approved by DOT. I can understand government can't regulate the aftermarket products, but these are standard from the factory.

Am I supposed to keep my eyes closed while waiting for the traffic lights behind these vehicles? Front windshield tint is illegal and I am not that cool to wear sunglasses at night (I already wear prescription glasses). I have seen LED tails from other manufacturers say porsche, BMW, mercedez. Even toyota and acura have some models using proper LEDs. They are brighter than halogen but they don't shoot at your eyes like laser beams. Why can't all the car makers agree on certain standard? I can't wait for someone to sue these manufacturers for causing temporary/permanent blindness.

If you go through with LED headlights, I hope you don't get such output where you are causing inconvenience to other drivers.