Clarke,
I am really interested in your perception of glare produced by the lights vs. focused beam. I am NOT saying there is a problem. After all they do have SAE DOT and CE stamped on the lens, but that concerns me, because unless the standards have changed you can’t be both DOT and CE, it’s a different pattern,
Long time ago, I railed against folks putting aftermarket kits in existing housings, because almost all of them produced an insane amount of glare. Things have certainly improved since then.
Looking at the pics, it appears there is a very nice and distinct cutoff line on the side of
Tom’s house. That is very impressive and looks to be more of an ECE pattern than a DOT pattern.
If these don’t produce the glare then it is a fantastic solution for motorhome in general because the LED lights are not subject to the poor output from low voltage that incandescent bulbs experience.
Looking forward to your comments on your perception of the lights when you stand in front of the coach as an oncoming car would experience.
Jon, I followed the instructions which came with the lights. The two inside lights are wired for high beam only, while the outside lights work on high and low beam, just like the old ones.
Ordered these today - hopefully they will get here before we leave for TX next week. I like to drive at night but need way better lighting and should have done this long ago!
https://www.amazon.com/TRUCKMALL-Headlig...5HRS4?th=1 Maybe I’ll do an install video (maybe)…
Are those too small for your rig? I thought the Ford Bronco headlights are the ones used on the 1990 -99 coaches. I ordered one for my coach as a sample but haven't installed it yet. It definitely is larger than most.
So my lights are approximately 10x7 inches and I’m looking for replacements… maybe I should just buy the ‘better’ bulbs to start with and then try to find a replacement. I will check some of the threads and see how difficult a relay is to install… anyone have an idea which relay I would need for my coach?
Adrian, easiest thing to do on your coach is to buy a replacement LED bulb that is plug/play with the Ford wiring. 458 had some lamps from Hikari that worked great. Lenses were old so we swapped those out too. If you do swap the lenses and get them on Amazon just know that all of those are not created equal. Size will be roughly the same, but quality can vary.
So..........as a guy who worked a lot with optics. I do not recommend putting LED bulbs, or HID conversion kits into existing light housings. It generally produces a ton of glare for the oncoming traffic, and you don't want to be "that guy".
But, if you will install the relays to get a true 13.5V to the lights, you will be amazed at the difference in output.
You can look up the thread. I posted an output chart on the thread that shows the difference in output with voltage. When we did Ron Skeen's coach, he was getting about 12.5 at the light before we put in the relays.
Here I have saved you some trouble.
http://newellgurus.com/showthread.php?ti...+AND+relay
Adrian, the first thing I would do is measure the voltage AT THE BULB. Crank the engine, turn on the lights, and backprobe the electrical connection on the bulb to read the true voltage the bulb is seeing. If it is less than 13.5, you will benefit significantly from installing relays.
Thank you Richard for pointing out the potential issues in a way that the forum understands, I don't communicate that well.
Here is a link to Jon Kabbe's thread discussing putting DOT LED bulbs in his 1993 Newell.
http://newellgurus.com/showthread.php?tid=2736
Here's a link to Richard's upgrading from stock.
http://newellgurus.com/showthread.php?tid=1576
I read all the relevant reviews on the 4x6 headlights that Adrian bought, everybody loves them, unless they drive in the snow. LEDs are so much cooler than halogens, they won't melt the snow. They actually sell heated (de-icing) versions for more money.
Richard:
On #458 I bought new housings but none were available with prisms engineered for LED. After the install I had my son drive the bus toward me on different roads and had no glare at all with a nice white light and sharp cutoff. I had 13.5 volts at the headlight connector. On all my trips after the install I didn't have anyone flip their high beams at me. It's a shame no one makes LED housings for those old Ford headlights.
The issue is complicated with no one size fits all solution.
First let me explain the technical challenge. The bulb has certain characteristics in terms of how light emanates from the bulb. The bulb has to meet DOT standards in terms of it’s projection characteristics.
The light housing manufacturer designs the reflector in the back of the lens to match the intended bulb.
Then the clear housing on the front is designed to put the “pattern” on the light beam. If you look carefully at the front of the housing you will see it is not a simple piece of plastic or glass.
Then to get DOT certification, the whole assembly must be tested and meet certain standards for beam, scattered light, and focal points.
When you put an LED or HID projection kit in one of the housings, you may or may not get a specific bulb that works. After all, they all come from China, and meet no standards. There are hundreds of them on the market.
https://www.amazon.com/H11-H9-H8-9005-HB...WNrPXRydWU= I just put 9004 LED headlight bulb into Amazon to see how many popped up. Two things are interesting from this page. One, look at the array of different designs from the different manufacturers. Go to Autozone or whatever, and look at all the 9004 bulbs they have. They all look exactly the same. Second, look at the sellers own head on photo of the lens. The star pattern in the photo is the glare I am talking about.
So it is possible to luck upon a combination of replacement LED bulb and existing housing that works for you. But it is luck, not design. That is why I recommend against doing this, even though some have had good results with it.
That’s my .02