HID vs LED vs Halogen?

G

gret

New member
Hey guys.. Im looking to change the headlights and fog lights on my new-to-me 2011 GMC sierra. I have very VERY limited knowledge when it comes to lighting - especially HID and LED in terms of what is best. I understand that different temperature produces different colors in HID, and there are "higher end" halogen bulbs.

Im somewhat curious about LED as that is where high end vehicles are going (check out this new headlight Mercedes is using in their E class for 2017 which is all LED).. pretty cool.

My plans are to either go to HID or LED. everything I have seen says LED is very blinding and does not throw the light as far are HID lights.

I plan on tinting my taillights (not too dark), and using LEDs for those to provide extra brightness. I also plan on having a brake light bar under the tailgate just to be safe.

Anyone have any suggestions? Thanks guys!
 
gret- Note that many "HID conversions" don`t take the design of the reflector into consideration, resulting in minimal functional improvement in what the driver sees and lots of irritation for oncoming motorists.

FWIW I`m not a fan of tinting tail/brake lights, if only because even with the brighter bulbs (and the additional light bar) it could leave one open to lawsuits in the event of an accident. And LEOs might be more inclined to pull you over (that`s happened to guys I know with dark *OE* tails).

Something I know nothign about- will the OE wiring support the LED conversion? I know you have to go about it right for flashers/etc. to work properly and some types of lighting don`t instantly provide full illumination as they have to, uhm..."warm up" for a moment. Heh heh, I might not trust a vendor to provide reliable info on that account ;)

Does the Sierra have, or if not might it benefit from, a good system for sending full voltage to the headlights? Just wondering as converting my Crown Vics over to a relayed harness (which ups the voltage from the OE ~8v to full ~12 battery voltage) makes an incredible diff.

There`s a guy on the `net named Daniel Stern who has good info on lighting.
 
My opinion is to keep OEM type bulbs and housing. If you want more light look at adding auxiliary LED lighting. Rigid makes some of the best LED lighting. Accumulator nailed it when he talked about aftermarket reflector design. Very rarely are the aftermarket headlamps as functional at projecting light.

The 2014 Chevy Tahoe I drive for work has one of the best set of headlamps I`ve ever used. I`m guessing your 2011 Sierra is similarly well designed, headlamps are a little different from Tahoe, I know.
 
Accumulator said:
Something I know nothign about- will the OE wiring support the LED conversion? I know you have to go about it right for flashers/etc. to work properly and some types of lighting don`t instantly provide full illumination as they have to, uhm..."warm up" for a moment. Heh heh, I might not trust a vendor to provide reliable info on that account ;)
Click to expand...

Just speaking to this one point since I really am not a lighting person and know very little about halogens, etc.

Now, the "problem" with LED conversions isn`t the factory harness being able to support them. The problem lies in the factory system failsafes. LED bulbs use quite a bit less voltage and draw a lot less power than conventional incandescents. The modifications that you are referring to are adding resistors into the wiring so that the vehicle thinks the factory bulb is still there. Failure to use a resistor (or a new flasher relay for turns/4-ways) results in a dash light on most modern vehicles. You know, that fun light that tells you when a light is out but never seems to pick up the frequently blown bulbs. Not installing the resistor/relay in turn signals results in rapidly flashing turns, again, your car trying to tell you a light is out.

You can now find LED bulbs specifically for automotive use that are labeled with the same (or close to it) number as the traditional incandescent they`re meant to replace. Some of these actually already have the needed resistors to mimic the draw of the bulb it is intended to replace. Those are truly a plug and play bulb.
 
I have no experience with the new LED lights but am very interested in finding out for myself how well they light up a dark road, compared to some really good light bulb replacements for your standard lights..

The last few vehicles I have owned had HID`s from the factory and they put out a really bright, white light which is really important if you drive a lot at night in mountain passes, etc, bad weather, etc...

I can see nothing wrong with HID`s from BMW`s I have owned and now my 2009 Jeep Grand Cherokee which has HID Low Beams and Halogen High Beams..

I have been experimenting with standard halogen light Bulb replacements for decades and they have come a long way..

The Bulbs I have ever found and personally used for vehicles that do not have HID`s already, are made by PIAA, out of Oregon..

They really use great technology and none of their lights have that lame/cheapo BLUE LOOK, that actually puts out LESS light than stock lights...

All PIAA light bulbs are DOT approved and since you are not changing the reflector of the light and just the bulb, you dont have to worry about blinding anyone - except a dang deer or something out in the road.. But - you will be able to spot It from a lot farther away because these bulbs really give you as about as good as you can get without going to HID...

It has always been with lights - the bigger the reflector and lens are, the MORE light you get down the road in front of you..
If you look at Rallye Car lights, they are all big lens lights for a reason..

What I did with my `09 Grand Cherokee is to not touch the Low Beam HID`s which work really great, but change out the bulbs on the High Beams to a brighter white PIAA bulbs..

And while I was at this, I also changed out the Big Lens Fog Light Bulbs to a more powerful whiter PIAA bulbs...

Until I get down to see how LED`s really work at night in total darkness, I will have nothing to offer about them..
They do look very cool - but are they just another pretty face or what ?? :)
Good Luck !
Dan F
 
Stokdgs said:
I have no experience with the new LED lights but am very interested in finding out for myself how well they light up a dark road, compared to some really good light bulb replacements for your standard lights..

The last few vehicles I have owned had HID`s from the factory and they put out a really bright, white light which is really important if you drive a lot at night in mountain passes, etc, bad weather, etc...

I can see nothing wrong with HID`s from BMW`s I have owned and now my 2009 Jeep Grand Cherokee which has HID Low Beams and Halogen High Beams..

I have been experimenting with standard halogen light Bulb replacements for decades and they have come a long way..

The Bulbs I have ever found and personally used for vehicles that do not have HID`s already, are made by PIAA, out of Oregon..

They really use great technology and none of their lights have that lame/cheapo BLUE LOOK, that actually puts out LESS light than stock lights...

All PIAA lights are DOT approved and since you are not changing the reflector of the light and just the bulb, you dont have to worry about blinding anyone - except a dang deer or something out in the road.. But - you will be able to spot It from a lot farther away because these bulbs really give you as about as good as you can get without going to HID...

It has always been with lights - the bigger the reflector and lens are, the MORE light you get down the road in front of you..
If you look at Rallye Car lights, they are all big lens lights for a reason..

What I did with my `09 Grand Cherokee is to not touch the Low Beam HID`s which work really great, but change out the bulbs on the High Beams to a brighter white PIAA bulbs..

And while I was at this, I also changed out the Big Lens Fog Light Bulbs to a more powerful whiter PIAA bulbs...

Until I get down to see how LED`s really work at night in total darkness, I will have nothing to offer about them..
They do look very cool - but are they just another pretty face or what ?? :)
Good Luck !
Dan F
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Well, I have not put LED headlamps in any of my cars yet. I can say I replaced my dome/map lights with LED bulbs and man those suckers are bright.

My brother put LED replacement bulbs in his headlights though and there is a major improvement. They used to be just as bright/dim as mine but now there is no comparison. (My 05 Silverado vs. his 07 Silverado Classic. Same headlight assembly, same bulbs.). I have driven his through the country roads to his house at night and I really want to upgrade mine. I do more city driving though so, if I upgrade it won`t be until I need new bulbs.

Sent from my XT1575 using Tapatalk
 
The biggest thing to remember is there is nothing wrong with an HID or LED headlight swap but.....

THEY MUST BE IN A PROJECTOR HOUSING!!

Don`t be that guy that just puts HIDS in a stock reflector housing. You won`t be happy with the light output and you will blind people.

what you really need is a retro fit kit for your truck and don`t skimp on price because you will pay for it down the road. Spend the money and get something nice.

My personal opinion is HIDS still have an edge over LEDS for headlights unless they come from the factory with leds.
Also don`t go above 5000k for color it won`t be brighter just more blue.

As far as signal and break lights go to superbright leds and type in your make and model and they will have all your replacement leds you need.

You will probably need a new flasher relay otherwise your signals will hyper flash. Due to leds drawing such little power the bulb socket doesn`t realize that a light is even there so it will flash like a burned out bulb.

I did my old 98 Tahoe with all leds. Came out great!

Best of luck!

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk
 
I`ve been trying to figure out how to change the "Angel eyes" on my BMW to a brighter light. Good thread, I hope others chime in.
 
I would recommend you look into a projector retrofit set up if you want to go HIDs. That would be the ideal way so that you don`t blind oncoming traffic.

Aftermarket LED headlights don`t seem to provide a lot of output compared to a projector retrofit.

With halogens, look into the Phillips Xtreme Vision bulbs. Those are some of the best bulbs on the market.

I am not sure what the foglight bulb set up looks like on this model.

With regards to LED`s in other housings, I am a sucker for LED lighting upgrades. They do require less amps and will need either a flasher module or load resistors. Most newer vehicles tend to have the flasher operation controlled by the vehicles computer. So a load resistor is the way to remedy that so that hyper flashing is avoided.

I just recently swapped out every halogen bulb on the exterior of my Camaro for LED`s. For this car I was able to swap out both flasher modules for LED flasher modules. This car has 2 (one for the turns and one for the hazards). Doing this allowed the flashing to operate like factory bulbs.

I purchase all of my LED`s from Diode Dynamics. I went with the brightest available bulbs they offer in the XP80`s. Here are some examples of how they look. These are photos during the day.

Brake lights

3157%20XP80%20LED_zpsbtt9hilp.jpg


3157%20XP80%20LED%20Turn_zpsqg4frvzn.jpg


Goo comparison here. LED on the right and halogen on the right.

IMG_6216a_zpsofrrjdjf.jpg


I swapped out the fronts as well

IMG_6252_zpsbddtkaik.jpg


IMG_6254_zpscgfbiaee.jpg


I like the instant on feature of the LED`s and the crisper/truer color they offer.

I also swapped out all of the exterior bulbs on my Grand Prix to LED`s. I had to use a load resistor for this one.

Here are the reverse lights swapped out to brighter LED`s.

IMG_4648a_zpstglntjhd.jpg


IMG_4677a_zps6uynro78.jpg


IMG_4649a_zpscrthjgru.jpg


My brother has the same set up as I do.

IMG_4922_zps89wammoi.jpg


The turn signals are the second brightest bulbs that is offered through diode dynamics.

IMG_4659a_zpsue0xyyky.jpg


LED on the bottom

IMG_4651a_zpsnrfc4cwr.jpg


3rd brake light swapped out as well. LED on the bottom

IMG_4652a_zpszxvus4lc.jpg
 
Just use PIAA halogens. It`s the easiest and it is the type of bulb your headlight housing was designed for. I used them on my Civic and the difference was amazing. Not once did I even feel inclined to use my high beams even on dark, unlit roads.
 
for fog lights got with halogen you want something in the 3000k range
for head lights, HIDS are brighter, but brighter doesnt equate to better viewing distance
if going HIDs get something in thre 4300-5000k range

I favor the LED projectors as they seem to have a better focused pattern and cutoff
the beam isnt scattered nor does it glare oncomming like hids
 
I have the OPT7`s for both my high beam/DRL and low beams in my Accord. Pretty happy with them for the price. I did just have a ballast die on me, working on getting a warranty replacement sent.
 
rlmccarty2000 said:
I`ve been trying to figure out how to change the "Angel eyes" on my BMW to a brighter light. Good thread, I hope others chime in.
Click to expand...

They used to sell updated Angel Eyes kits for Bimmers... I saw them on Ebay I believe...
Or get on a Bimmer Forum and ask around?
Good luck !
Dan F
 
Thanks guys! I was looking into retrofitting but i lack the time and the know how.. (more lacking the know how. Ill just use time as my excuse :D) I have been looking into aftermarket housings that have a projector but aftermarket housings tend to suck dont they?
 
gret- Some guys are turning out *VERY* high-quality aftermarket projector setups, the trick will be finding one of those guys amongst all the not-so-good vendors out there.
 
gret said:
Thanks guys! I was looking into retrofitting but i lack the time and the know how.. (more lacking the know how. Ill just use time as my excuse :D) I have been looking into aftermarket housings that have a projector but aftermarket housings tend to suck dont they?
Click to expand...

You are correct. Some of those ebay projector headlights don`t provide the best light output. A retrofit would be the best option.

There is a guy on the grand prix forums that does a great job. Perhaps contacting him would help. He goes by classy retrofits. Google him for his site.
 
Aftermarket HID and LED headlight bulbs are crap. Most of the trouble comes from the bulbs not being matched 100% to the housing. The only replacement bulb I`ve found that actually throws more usable light and is 100% legal is the Phillips Xtreme Halogen. In my opinion, tinting any lights or you car is stupid. I need to avoid buffalo and deer and I don`t need getting rear ended by someone who couldn`t see my tinted brake, tail or turn signal lights.

The OEM replacement (clear) headlight reviews on American muscle and Late Model Restoration have a few posts from guys who tossed their tinted headlights because they didn`t like the braille method of night driving. Do you want to look cool or hit thongs?
 
Sonic Mustang said:
..I don`t need getting rear ended by someone who couldn`t see my tinted brake, tail or turn signal lights..
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That`s a good point, there`re lots of [dummies] out there who don`t need another reason to cause accidents. Plus, a certain type of LEO will pull over vehicles that appear to have too-dark brake/etc. lights. It`s happened to a surprising number of guys with stock Mercury Marauders.
 
Accumulator said:
That`s a good point, there`re lots of [dummies] out there who don`t need another reason to cause accidents. Plus, a certain type of LEO will pull over vehicles that appear to have too-dark brake/etc. lights. It`s happened to a surprising number of guys with stock Mercury Marauders.
Click to expand...

I will NEVER understand "Car Guys" who are into fads like tinted lights. Not only are they dangerous, they are cop magnets. I don`t have anything that`s visible on my cars that isn`t 100% legal in all fifty states. No tinted lights, no aftermarket window tint, no clear lenses on what should be amber turn signals, etc. I refuse to get pulled over for an equipment violation.

On the other hand, I absolutely love guys who modify their cars into rolling violations. They keeps the cops who could be writing me speeding tickets busy. Thanks!

I happen to have a couple of hundred hours flight time in a police helicopter flying over Southern California. Cars with tinted headlights and / or tail lights really stick out in traffic - even from 700 feet above ground level. In fact, it is ridiculously easy to spot cars belonging to high schoolers and guys in their twenties. They`re all modded in extremely poor taste and often festooned with performance decals.

Every time some kid tells me he wants tinted lights and is looking for brighter bulbs I get the urge to slap him.
 
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