Resolved 1GA LED Headlight Conversions

[SouthIndy_Talon]

Hello all,

For those of you that have upgraded from the standard halogen lights on the 1ga pop-up headlights, how did you go about doing so?

I am wondering has anybody used LED conversion headlights from like Grote or anything like that? Any feedback is greatly appreciated as I am trying to figure out all the options out there.

Thanks!

 

[shdwmsk]

I went with the holley retro brights and absolutely love them. I did need to add in a polarity adapter for high/low operation
Headlights:

https://www.holley.com/products/electrical/led_lighting/retrobright/parts/LFRB140-1

Polarity adapter:

Amazon.com

I did have to order these twice, first set, one was bad upon delivery.

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[FIBA M - EC17PSE]

I went with the holley retro brights and absolutely love them. I did need to add in a polarity adapter for high/low operation
Headlights:

https://www.holley.com/products/electrical/led_lighting/retrobright/parts/LFRB140-1

Polarity adapter:

Amazon.com

I did have to order these twice, first set, one was bad upon delivery.

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I looked at them also, they look as oem as could be, hows the cut off pattern and night brightness? Do you have a night shot yet at all on these units.

 

[shdwmsk]

Next time I'm driving at night I will try and take a picture.

Cut off pattern is pretty much unnoticeable while driving.
Brightness at night is almost equal to my Mini with Xenon headlights.
Have had them installed since July 2023 and easily one of the best drivability upgrades I have done.
No issues with snow buildup during winter driving either.

 

[shdwmsk]

Not completely dark out but should give you an idea.

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[FIBA M - EC17PSE]

Not completely dark out but should give you an idea.

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Thats amazing vs stock! REALLY great idea to do this update

 

[danl]

I went with the holley retro brights and absolutely love them. I did need to add in a polarity adapter for high/low operation
Headlights:

https://www.holley.com/products/electrical/led_lighting/retrobright/parts/LFRB140-1

Polarity adapter:

Amazon.com

I did have to order these twice, first set, one was bad upon delivery.

They also meet DOT requirements, unlike those Amazon specials the contractor vans run around with in my area.

• Compliant - No-glare beam pattern meets or exceeds SAE and DOT Requirements

 

[CrackedDSM]

Not completely dark out but should give you an idea.

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That’s amazing. Are those the brights or the low beams?

 

[shdwmsk]

Regular low beam. High beam will illuminate the trees ~1/2 way up and out to both the sides of the road where deer like to stand at the ready to run at ya.

Also noticed that Holley sells a switched ground harness for a good price.

https://www.holley.com/products/exterior/lighting/headlight/headlight_switches_and_hardware/parts/H840

 

[FIBA M - EC17PSE]

Regular low beam. High beam will illuminate the trees ~1/2 way up and out to both the sides of the road where deer like to stand at the ready to run at ya.

Also noticed that Holley sells a switched ground harness for a good price.

https://www.holley.com/products/exterior/lighting/headlight/headlight_switches_and_hardware/parts/H840

Any issues with people flashing you as the beams high or weird onto their path? I think this is the way my friends Talon will be going as he hates his lights and its as stock looking as it comes

 

[shdwmsk]

No issues from what I can tell from oncoming traffic perspective.

Your friend could get the classic white vs the modern white if he thinks there will be an issue for oncoming traffic. Headlight color is the larger problem then straight lumens when dealing with headlight brightness/harshness.
Modern white is alot harsher then classic white.

 

[FIBA M - EC17PSE]

No issues from what I can tell from oncoming traffic perspective.

Your friend could get the classic white vs the modern white if he thinks there will be an issue for oncoming traffic. Headlight color is the larger problem then straight lumens when dealing with headlight brightness/harshness.
Modern white is alot harsher then classic white.

Half the problem is the color. its poor and does not light up so the color is very dim. a lot of cars are LED and HID now so the white wont be an issue here, the cut off looks nice and straight but glad to know your happy with them and they wark very very well.

thank you for your feedback and replies on this also

 

[danl]

An issue is the inability of cheaper poorly engineered lights to spread the light evenly. What ends up happening is that the center of the beam is much too bright, blinding oncoming drivers. For the driver of said POS car, they have poor luminosity to the peripheral areas of the road. Just going for peak lumens does not increase night time lighting.

I’ve seen this (literally) in my other hobby, mountain biking, where we ride at night. The cheap poorly engineered lights overheat and fail. When they are working they light up only what is directly in front. Things to the side that give you the perspective to negotiate a turn, at speed, at night, are dim or unlit. Riders with these lights struggle and complain about being able to see.

In conclusion, you want lighting that is spread evenly in front of you and to the sides or peripheral. On low beams the lights should cut off low so they don’t blind oncoming drivers. Poorly engineered lights won’t achieve this and thus will not increase night time vision. In addition the failure rate on cheap lights is alarmingly high.

 

[FIBA M - EC17PSE]

An issue is the inability of cheaper poorly engineered lights to spread the light evenly. What ends up happening is that the center of the beam is much too bright, blinding oncoming drivers. For the driver of said POS car, they have poor luminosity to the peripheral areas of the road. Just going for peak lumens does not increase night time lighting.

I’ve seen this (literally) in my other hobby, mountain biking, where we ride at night. The cheap poorly engineered lights overheat and fail. When they are working they light up only what is directly in front. Things to the side that give you the perspective to negotiate a turn, at speed, at night, are dim or unlit. Riders with these lights struggle and complain about being able to see.

In conclusion, you want lighting that is spread evenly in front of you and to the sides or peripheral. On low beams the lights should cut off low so they don’t blind oncoming drivers. Poorly engineered lights won’t achieve this and thus will not increase night time vision. In addition the failure rate on cheap lights is alarmingly high.

Holley/Morimoto are not cheap and their light cutoff line looks great and clean without light fracture or flaring so blinding oncoming drivers should not be an issue. We also have someone using them with no back flashes so that's good. I cannot say about cheaper units like Amazon but the good brands should have this all covered nicely at least.

 

[CrackedDSM]

I wish PD/sheriff deputies nationwide weren't so overworked/busy. I would really love some enforcement of these ridiculous headlight setups. I drive an ambulance at night, and the amount of times I am blinded is ridiculous. I'm waiting for the day that it affects the patient outcome because not everyone recovers as quickly as I do. Someone is gonna die due to being blinded by improperly installed LEDs that seem to always be on the brightest setting before anything is pretended to be done.


And honestly, if you need surface of the sun level lights just to drive at night in the city, you shouldn't be driving at night PERIOD. I can navigate some dark ass areas with some fairly dim lights. And one step further, absolutely mother F*CK everyone who thinks it's funny that people flash their lights when their low beams because they're so bright.


Honestly, the whole LED thing needs to be heavily regulated and enforced. It's way beyond a nuisance at this point. But sadly, it'll never happen.

 

[danl]

Holley/Morimoto are not cheap and their light cutoff line looks great and clean without light fracture or flaring so blinding oncoming drivers should not be an issue. We also have someone using them with no back flashes so that's good. I cannot say about cheaper units like amazon but the good brands should have this all covered nicely at least.

I agree, stick with the Holley stuff, it’s DOT approved. Stay away from the Amazon bargain brand stuff that blinds other drivers.

 

[FIBA M - EC17PSE]

I wish PD/sheriff deputies nationwide weren't so overworked/busy. I would really love some enforcement of these ridiculous headlight setups. I drive an ambulance at night, and the amount of times I am blinded is ridiculous. I'm waiting for the day that it affects the patient outcome because not everyone recovers as quickly as I do. Someone is gonna die due to being blinded by improperly installed LEDs that seem to always be on the brightest setting before anything is pretended to be done.


And honestly, if you need surface of the sun level lights just to drive at night in the city, you shouldn't be driving at night PERIOD. I can navigate some dark ass areas with some fairly dim lights. And one step further, absolutely mother F*CK everyone who thinks it's funny that people flash their lights when their low beams because they're so bright.


Honestly, the whole LED thing needs to be heavily regulated and enforced. It's way beyond a nuisance at this point. But sadly, it'll never happen.

99% of the problem as its the same here is LED bulbs in a housing not designed for LED's. So for the UK its illegal for a LED in a non projector but there are exceptions. So like these the housing has been designed for it so would not be illegal due to the beams design and LED cutoff pattern. But normal halogen housings and LED bulbs are a bad mix and that's when you can massive light scatter and flaring and causes issues. I use LED high beams but high beams are open to use. As long as you turn them off when going past people. For us here its only low beam that's regulated strictly

 

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morimoto 4x6. Still on sale I think for like 340 a set

 

[pearl4gtsi]

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morimoto 4x6. Still on sale I think for like 340 a set

Were these plug and play, or did you need the ground swap harness? Any updates on how they have been since you've had them on for a while?