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gblair Samba Member
Joined: September 07, 2013 Posts: 159
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Posted: Tue Sep 29, 2015 5:45 pm Post subject: LED Headlights |
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I bought a set of LED headlights for the classifieds and I am real impressed with the output of these. They are super bright and have a nice white light. I was almost afraid to drive at night due to dim headlights and I assume 40 year old connections was part of the problem. These only draw 1.5 amps on Low and 2.0 on High each. I can see everything now.
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JLSylvester Samba Member
Joined: June 22, 2015 Posts: 33 Location: Iberia, MO
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Posted: Tue Sep 29, 2015 5:57 pm Post subject: |
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That is quite the difference. I am impressed. I was looking into getting some led headlights but was concerned if they lived up to the hype. _________________ '65 Karmann Ghia (project)
'73 Thing (next project)
There are no dumb questions. Just dumb people asking obvious questions. |
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Zylinderkopf Samba Member
Joined: September 09, 2012 Posts: 679 Location: SE Oklahoma
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Posted: Tue Sep 29, 2015 5:59 pm Post subject: |
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Wow...impressive!
Thank you for taking the time to post. I'm seriously thinking about buying these as well and was wondering how much of a difference these would make. Your pictures are very helpful.
I heard the lights come with a small fan to cool them. How loud are they? _________________ 1963 Beetle
1966 Beetle 1300
1970 Karmann Ghia Coupe
1971 Super Beetle
1974 Thing
"A lot of people never use their initiative because no one told them to." |
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gblair Samba Member
Joined: September 07, 2013 Posts: 159
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Posted: Tue Sep 29, 2015 6:08 pm Post subject: |
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I was skeptical but though why not try it and I am a believer now. |
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bald_dude43 Samba Member
Joined: May 15, 2014 Posts: 107 Location: Ewa Beach Hawaii
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Posted: Tue Sep 29, 2015 11:56 pm Post subject: |
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They look great. Now you just need to post a link or brand so the rest of us can see those deer early enough to stop in time. LOL |
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gblair Samba Member
Joined: September 07, 2013 Posts: 159
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ernieballbass Samba Member
Joined: June 14, 2006 Posts: 191 Location: Orlando, Fl
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Posted: Wed Sep 30, 2015 8:08 am Post subject: |
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wow very cool. thanks for posting this. _________________ What I lack in brains, I make up for with good intentions. |
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ernieballbass Samba Member
Joined: June 14, 2006 Posts: 191 Location: Orlando, Fl
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Posted: Wed Sep 30, 2015 8:08 am Post subject: |
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wow very cool. thanks for posting this. _________________ What I lack in brains, I make up for with good intentions. |
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vintagecarleds Samba Member
Joined: April 28, 2015 Posts: 178 Location: Houston, TX
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Posted: Wed Sep 30, 2015 12:10 pm Post subject: |
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Zylinderkopf wrote: |
I heard the lights come with a small fan to cool them. How loud are they? |
You can hear a slight HUM when the lights are on (engine off), however once the engine is idling/or at cruse, you cannot hear them at all. _________________ www.vintagecarleds.com
[email protected]
713-853-9644 |
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gblair Samba Member
Joined: September 07, 2013 Posts: 159
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Posted: Wed Sep 30, 2015 3:34 pm Post subject: |
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I can hardly hear the fan standing next to my front fender when it is not running and the headlights are on. Can't hear them at all when the car is running or driving it. |
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Zylinderkopf Samba Member
Joined: September 09, 2012 Posts: 679 Location: SE Oklahoma
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Posted: Wed Sep 30, 2015 3:38 pm Post subject: |
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vintagecarleds wrote: |
Zylinderkopf wrote: |
I heard the lights come with a small fan to cool them. How loud are they? |
You can hear a slight HUM when the lights are on (engine off), however once the engine is idling/or at cruse, you cannot hear them at all. |
Thank you for your reply. I'm a bit puzzled though. I thought LEDs run much cooler than other lights. So why the cooling fan? _________________ 1963 Beetle
1966 Beetle 1300
1970 Karmann Ghia Coupe
1971 Super Beetle
1974 Thing
"A lot of people never use their initiative because no one told them to." |
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Ratt Samba Member
Joined: April 15, 2003 Posts: 753 Location: Puyallup, Wa
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Posted: Wed Sep 30, 2015 5:21 pm Post subject: |
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Curious how they hold up to abuse of off-roaring. I'm building a multi-use Thing. I haven't had a good run with LED flashlights. |
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gblair Samba Member
Joined: September 07, 2013 Posts: 159
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Posted: Wed Sep 30, 2015 5:27 pm Post subject: |
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High output LEDs require heat-sinking to produce the amount of light these headlights do. They are bright enough that you can feel heat from the beam. Not a lot of heat but that is impressive from an LED. I work at an aerospace company and we do aircraft lighting much brighter than these because we are lighting up a whole runway when you come in for a landing. That is why I was so interested in these LED headlights. |
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74 Thing Samba Member
Joined: September 02, 2004 Posts: 7395
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Hnoroian Samba Member
Joined: October 27, 2013 Posts: 535 Location: Bakersfield
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Posted: Wed Sep 30, 2015 7:48 pm Post subject: |
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Ratt wrote: |
Curious how they hold up to abuse of off-roaring. I'm building a multi-use Thing. I haven't had a good run with LED flashlights. |
We have led everything on our off-road vehicles and they hold up very well. What kind of flashlights are you using? I have dropped, kicked, ran over, buried, and dropped from the roof to concrete and they all still survive... Not saying that you have to buy the most expensive ones out there but even some of the cheap ones last a very long time _________________ Stupid people do stupid things. |
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Bashr52 Samba Member
Joined: July 16, 2006 Posts: 5666 Location: On an island in VA
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Posted: Thu Oct 01, 2015 4:43 am Post subject: |
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H4's can't match LED's for performance or longevity. They are a cheaper alternative, but LED's are the way to go. |
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oasis Samba Member
Joined: December 12, 2002 Posts: 2168
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Posted: Thu Oct 01, 2015 11:12 am Post subject: |
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I have Hella H4 headlights on Thing now, but I will keep this thread noted for future reference. Very nice! Thanks. _________________ Now: 2003 New Beetle Turbo S / 1990 Single Cab Transporter / 2014 Tiguan R-Line 4motion / 2013 Tiguan S / 2002 Golf GLS TDI
Past: 1974 Thing Acapulco / 2009 Eos Komfort / 1997 Jetta GT / 2002 Cabrio GLX / 2002 Passat GLS / 1971 Super Beetle / 1993 EuroVan MV Westfalia / 1981 Pickup LX / 1985 Vanagon / 1986 Jetta GLI |
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vintagecarleds Samba Member
Joined: April 28, 2015 Posts: 178 Location: Houston, TX
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Posted: Thu Oct 01, 2015 1:55 pm Post subject: |
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oasis wrote: |
I have Hella H4 headlights on Thing now, but I will keep this thread noted for future reference. Very nice! Thanks. |
We offer just the LED bulbs for sale too, that you could install in your H4 Hella lenses. _________________ www.vintagecarleds.com
[email protected]
713-853-9644 |
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oasis Samba Member
Joined: December 12, 2002 Posts: 2168
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Posted: Thu Oct 01, 2015 4:00 pm Post subject: |
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vintagecarleds wrote: |
oasis wrote: |
I have Hella H4 headlights on Thing now, but I will keep this thread noted for future reference. Very nice! Thanks. |
We offer just the LED bulbs for sale too, that you could install in your H4 Hella lenses. |
I'll keep that in mind, too. Thanks! _________________ Now: 2003 New Beetle Turbo S / 1990 Single Cab Transporter / 2014 Tiguan R-Line 4motion / 2013 Tiguan S / 2002 Golf GLS TDI
Past: 1974 Thing Acapulco / 2009 Eos Komfort / 1997 Jetta GT / 2002 Cabrio GLX / 2002 Passat GLS / 1971 Super Beetle / 1993 EuroVan MV Westfalia / 1981 Pickup LX / 1985 Vanagon / 1986 Jetta GLI |
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Zylinderkopf Samba Member
Joined: September 09, 2012 Posts: 679 Location: SE Oklahoma
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Posted: Sun Oct 04, 2015 8:29 am Post subject: |
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OK so I ordered the LED lights. Installation was pretty straight forward. Make sure you mark which way is top on the headlight assembly components before you take them out so that you don't have to try to figure this out later. I did find a video from Chris Vallone on Youtube that was also helpful:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Azcfhf2hQB8
The only thing I would do differently from the way Chris did it: I put the little piece of self adhesive foam padding that comes with the bulb on the bottom of the retaining ring so that it would not be visible. I did the first light with the foam padding on top of the light bulb itself (like in the video) and on the second light I placed it on the retaining ring. Both ways the foam padding did not take out all the gap and the bulb still had a few mm of bounce. I ended up cutting a couple of inches off the end of a plastic cable tie and wedged it in-between the bulb and the ring. That took care of it, but the seller should really come up with a better solution than that little piece of foam.
I took it for a test drive at night and was shocked at how bright these lights are! (see picture) I kept waiting for an oncoming car to flash their high beams at me (but no one did). I made some adjustments to make sure the lights were not pointing up or over too far.
Definitely very effective lights.
_________________ 1963 Beetle
1966 Beetle 1300
1970 Karmann Ghia Coupe
1971 Super Beetle
1974 Thing
"A lot of people never use their initiative because no one told them to." |
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