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LED Headlights
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gblair
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PostPosted: Tue Sep 29, 2015 5:45 pm    Post subject: LED Headlights Reply with quote

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
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PostPosted: Tue Sep 29, 2015 5:57 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

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.
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Zylinderkopf
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PostPosted: Tue Sep 29, 2015 5:59 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

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?
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gblair
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PostPosted: Tue Sep 29, 2015 6:08 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I was skeptical but though why not try it and I am a believer now.
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bald_dude43
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PostPosted: Tue Sep 29, 2015 11:56 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

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
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PostPosted: Wed Sep 30, 2015 1:55 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Here is there classified
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=1801829
Here is there website
http://www.vintagecarleds.com/
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ernieballbass
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PostPosted: Wed Sep 30, 2015 8:08 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

wow very cool. thanks for posting this.
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ernieballbass
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PostPosted: Wed Sep 30, 2015 8:08 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

wow very cool. thanks for posting this.
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vintagecarleds
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PostPosted: Wed Sep 30, 2015 12:10 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

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.
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gblair
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PostPosted: Wed Sep 30, 2015 3:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

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
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PostPosted: Wed Sep 30, 2015 3:38 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

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?
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Ratt
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PostPosted: Wed Sep 30, 2015 5:21 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

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
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PostPosted: Wed Sep 30, 2015 5:27 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

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
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PostPosted: Wed Sep 30, 2015 7:11 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

H4s work great too just make sure you are getting all the volts up to the light bulb.

http://www.rallylights.com/hl70477-hella-7-round-9003-vision-plus-dot-conversion-headlamp.html
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Hnoroian
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PostPosted: Wed Sep 30, 2015 7:48 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

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
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Bashr52
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PostPosted: Thu Oct 01, 2015 4:43 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

74 Thing wrote:
H4s work great too just make sure you are getting all the volts up to the light bulb.

http://www.rallylights.com/hl70477-hella-7-round-9003-vision-plus-dot-conversion-headlamp.html


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
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PostPosted: Thu Oct 01, 2015 11:12 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I have Hella H4 headlights on Thing now, but I will keep this thread noted for future reference. Very nice! Thanks.
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vintagecarleds
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PostPosted: Thu Oct 01, 2015 1:55 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

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.
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oasis
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PostPosted: Thu Oct 01, 2015 4:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

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!
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Zylinderkopf
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PostPosted: Sun Oct 04, 2015 8:29 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

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.
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