LED Bulb for Square Headlight Vanagon

[bluebus86]

Have anyone tried LED bulbs in the stock 1986 and later square headlights, and if so will reply with a review of how good they are?

I am interested in finding a brand bulb that works best in our light housings, and see if it is worth trying. Beam pattern is of concern, and many LEDs although bright, perform very poorly as far as beam pattern is conerned, thus less usable light. Have any gotten close to replicating a usable beam pattern?


thanks in advance...
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[jimf909]

Good question. I don't have experience with LEDs in the OEM glass but I can say my OEM reflector was worn and the best lamp on the planet would have been compromised in that lamp housing, i.e. Take a look at your reflector before considering trying to improve headlights with a lamp. Your reflector may look like this:

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- Jim

[Paulbeard]

[jmranger]

[Paulbeard]

I suspect he is talking about the general lack of reflective surface in the headlight assembly. I put larger bulbs in my stock assemblies when I got mine and they were still not good. Night driving away from streetlights was terrifying or slow. There are a lot of threads/comments here on how crummy those lights were when new. I can't speak to that but, other than the power draw, I don't regret swapping them out for the H4s.
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Formerly -> Steward of a 73 Super Beetle (Beater) and 67 Beetle 1300 (Little Max) both names by POs

[jimf909]

Yes. The reflector on the flat bottom surface was easily rubbed off, but the working reflector on the parabolic surface was cracked, bubbled and generally not very reflective. It was far, far from an optimized reflective surface.
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- Jim

[bluebus86]

Good points above.....my lense and reflectors are just fine, I have used the 400 watt hibeam upgrade kit (80/100 W outer bulbs, 100W inner bulbs) and found a wire was melted and in reality 400W is too much to put thru the stock fuse box pin B22 (yes I added relays)
I found the high watt bulbs better than stock but still lacking, and yes voltage drops were repaired, was getting near full voltage at the bulbs, new grounds at bulbs, heavy wires, soldered connections etc.... the problem is too many watts for the fuse panel


options..

1. run dedicated power wire and fuses to light relay from battery, this will allow safe operation of the 400 watts, lighting better than stock, but still lacking

2. revert to stock wattage, using stock wires and my added relays, but then I will have the really poor stock lights that I did nto like.

3. run led lights that are much reduced watts, on stock wire with my relays. But the unknown is how good of a light are they, big lumens is one thing, but how is the beam pattern? Big bucks to find out, so hesitant to pull the trigger on that until I know that the results will be what I like.

So I am seeking advice on led bulbs that will fit the stock housings (square housing style) as far as quality of light is concerned

I see van cafe is offering an led conversion for the outer bulbs now, about 100 bucks. Anyone try it?


thanks in advance
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[dougass]

I'm running LED headlight bulbs with mixed reviews. I got a set off amazon as a gift, probably $60 or so; there are bulbs an two sides of the lamp.

Much brighter output, fairly ugly pattern/spread.

Orientation... the LED lights are meant to be oriented vertically, however, as jmranger mentioned, the cage inside the headlight blocks light on the top and bottom. I found the "best" orientation was diagonally, allowing good illumination on the road and limiting the glare to oncoming traffic.

I have gotten very few flashes from oncoming traffic...I put them in after Christmas and only had the van on the road occasionally at night throughout the winter.

I have Rigid Industries Fog Lights which are EPIC
http://www.rigidindustries.com/led-lighting/50481

Ideally, I want to upgrade to the Truck-Lite assemblies, if I ever have $350 laying around...not $500 as advertised on Rigid's website;
http://www.rigidindustries.com/led-lighting/55003

[Corwyn]

So . . . no constructive responses to the OPs question?
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[markswagen]

this question has been asked and answered many times.
l have fitted auxbeam LED's into 40 or more vanagons, all 4 of mine have them, H4 and 9004 type bulbs, so far EVERYONE has been happy with them.
looking for them, to post a link here, shows that they are now unavailable, so l will have to find another solution.
but a BIG thumbs up from me for LED's in stock headlamps.

no need for relays, bigger fuses etc etc.
plug and play.
l just helped a friend fit them to her vanagon this last weekend.
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[Steve M.]

The Hikari "Ultra" LED's did work really well in my E4 glass. However, for the money spent on them they did get dimmer as time went by so I removed them.
Still looking occassionally for an LED that will fit the high beam.

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=751234&highlight=
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[DuncanS]

You say your stock lenses are fine. They are NOT fine. The design sucked right from day one and the glass has been sand blasted by vehicles in front of you for over 30 years.

Don't waste your time and money.

I adapted the OG buckets to accept Sylvania BriteStars. Lighting went up 100% for under $25 per side.

And the best way to get more light is to relay the headlights which will save you switches as well.

Personally I hate LED headlights as the color temperature is so high that it's tough on oncoming drivers. I know when we are all electric, that will be the only choice, but maybe by then they will have the Kelvins under control.

Duncan

[Vana Guy]

[DuncanS]

I'll look, but I did it without any directions so I'm assuming anyone else could as well.

I remember using a BernzoMatic torch to break out the glass and get it free Then I kept Dremeling until the Sylvania light could fit to the correct depth. Then it was simply glued in pace with J B Weld. That was over 10 years ago and it's still fine. The adjusting plastic spiders weren't available then, so I repaired mine with epoxy. I recommend you get a complete new set from GW or BD.

I had to trim a very minor amount from the grill because the Syls are just a tad wider. It doesn't change the look and I'll try to find some pics showing both what it looks like and, if possible, some construction photos. Not sure I took any.

Duncan

[Red Ryder]

Many of us find the square E-code replacement headlight assemblies with standard halogen bulbs available from several vendors to be a significant improvement over the stock US-spec. LEDs are bright but what you want is a focused light beam. This makes both the glass lens and reflector important. And not all LEDs are the same. Stick with a headlight designed for the European market and you will be happy. If you still need extra illumination, install a pair of quality auxiliary driving or fog lights.

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“Scarlett” — 1990 Vanagon Carat Wolfsburg Edition (Tornado Red)
“Nigel” — 1999 Jaguar XK8 convertible (Alpine Green Metallic)

[DuncanS]

E code is around $400. My system is a huge improvement, but probably not anywhere near as good as e code, but they were under $50. For guys on tight budgets, worth a look.

Duncan

[akciddento]

I have swapped two of my vans to the headlight wiring loom/bypass upgrade

eg https://campervanculture.com/shop/vw-t25-t3-vanagon-headlight-relay-wiring-loom-upgrade-petrol/

so the power to the lights runs direct from battery via relays rather than thru old corroded light switch and it has made a huge difference, am no actually getting 12+v to the lights rather than a gloomy corroded 10.5v
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[little blue bus]

Hi guys great info and I have a 91 Westy and have found these on Amazon to work great.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0C5QMXK93/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

I agree with the comments suggesting Relays to be installed otherwise your switch, some of which are very difficult to find nowadays or your wiring may go up in smoke!
Also a word of caution, even if you install Relays on your headlights and decide to tow something with it's tailights connected to your van's taillights, you may be at risk of burning out your headlight switch or wires as you must make sure to use a Powered Taillight Converter such as this one:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B010QCH7VG/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I hope this helps everyone as I learned it the hard way!
Cheers

[dhaavers]