LED Headlights- Unexpected “negative”
- Thread starter Wangle
- Start date
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Back in the pre-1980's we really felt the need for brighter lighting. I have to admit, we complained about "them dang bright halogens". Then HID came out and we complained about those too. Now we have LED's.
One of the common themes related to headlight glare seems to come down to headlight aiming AND appropriate lens. HID and LED lighting can scatter badly when retrofitted if the lens is not also changed. This, I believe, causes most of my complaints regarding HID and LED lighting. BUT, I've been blinded by new Toyotas that I'm pretty sure are stock LED lighting. Most often it's because the vehicle is on an upwards slope where it is about to level out. I'm on the level portion, so their headlights are focussed straight into my eyeballs. The regular halogen bulbs are bright, but not blindingly so.
Please, please, if you do retrofit LED, make sure you have compatible lenses.
I really do feel additional eye strain with the additional LED lighting out there. This also includes the new LED street lighting, so I'm not limiting my complaints to vehicle headlights. Personally, I have driven at least 4 types of vehicles regularly and been able to assess the function of the headlights.
My 1992 Grand Marquis, with new standard halogen bulbs had excellent lighting. I never felt like I needed more.
My 1997 and 1999 Buicks, which used the same bulb as the Grand Marquis, had terrible lighting. Maybe it was the wiring and too much voltage was lost through the wiring, but they were just awful. Getting a set of Philips Xtreme bulbs for the Buicks solved that issue completely.
My 2008 Explorer seems to have fine lighting with standard halogen. I never even feel the need to use the "fog lights". (If you need to see something that close, it's too late anyway!)
In my 2002 Tahoe, I believe I also installed the Philips Xtreme bulbs.
It's true that it doesn't light the road as much as the LED, but I really do see all I need in all weather conditions and I'm driving in Vancouver BC that has lots of poor visibility conditions. In fact, what is a more serious concern is the huge A pillars. Both my wife and I have nearly hit pedestrians because they just happened to be moving and staying in the A pillar blind spot. When it happened to me, I was consciously moving my upper body back and forth to peek around the A pillar. In the end neither of us hit anyone, be we never had any of this difficulty in any of the vehicles in the past.
I guess you could put in LEDs if you like, but make sure you upgrade everything related to LED's. Check the lens and reflector as well. Given the issue of snow building up on the LED housing, I think I'd prefer the halogens myself.
One of the common themes related to headlight glare seems to come down to headlight aiming AND appropriate lens. HID and LED lighting can scatter badly when retrofitted if the lens is not also changed. This, I believe, causes most of my complaints regarding HID and LED lighting. BUT, I've been blinded by new Toyotas that I'm pretty sure are stock LED lighting. Most often it's because the vehicle is on an upwards slope where it is about to level out. I'm on the level portion, so their headlights are focussed straight into my eyeballs. The regular halogen bulbs are bright, but not blindingly so.
Please, please, if you do retrofit LED, make sure you have compatible lenses.
I really do feel additional eye strain with the additional LED lighting out there. This also includes the new LED street lighting, so I'm not limiting my complaints to vehicle headlights. Personally, I have driven at least 4 types of vehicles regularly and been able to assess the function of the headlights.
My 1992 Grand Marquis, with new standard halogen bulbs had excellent lighting. I never felt like I needed more.
My 1997 and 1999 Buicks, which used the same bulb as the Grand Marquis, had terrible lighting. Maybe it was the wiring and too much voltage was lost through the wiring, but they were just awful. Getting a set of Philips Xtreme bulbs for the Buicks solved that issue completely.
My 2008 Explorer seems to have fine lighting with standard halogen. I never even feel the need to use the "fog lights". (If you need to see something that close, it's too late anyway!)
In my 2002 Tahoe, I believe I also installed the Philips Xtreme bulbs.
It's true that it doesn't light the road as much as the LED, but I really do see all I need in all weather conditions and I'm driving in Vancouver BC that has lots of poor visibility conditions. In fact, what is a more serious concern is the huge A pillars. Both my wife and I have nearly hit pedestrians because they just happened to be moving and staying in the A pillar blind spot. When it happened to me, I was consciously moving my upper body back and forth to peek around the A pillar. In the end neither of us hit anyone, be we never had any of this difficulty in any of the vehicles in the past.
I guess you could put in LEDs if you like, but make sure you upgrade everything related to LED's. Check the lens and reflector as well. Given the issue of snow building up on the LED housing, I think I'd prefer the halogens myself.
Gumby
Full Access Members
Agree with larryjb. The problems really get annoying when people retrofit HID bulbs into a halogen housing. Typically, HID lights get fitted to a projector style housing. When you put in HID bulbs into a halogen housing you get glare and beam scatter. That is both annoying and dangerous.
Wangle
Full Access Members
We were going to get an XLT, but we made a mistake on our test drive. We drove a Limited with LED headlights. They are WAY better!! Even with this unexpected negative. That was one of the main reasons we ended up with a Limited. NO regrets....
Red Raider
Active Member
I installed new LED headlights and fog light bulbs last weekend. I consider it a safety issue. When driving at night, getting a extra 25 yards or more to help avoid hitting deer or hogs is a important benefit. The low beams and fog lights are much brighter and don't appear to be a problem for other traffic. I was prepared to go back to the OEM's if there was. The bright lights are a different story. Not to be to dramatic but they could be life savers. The effective range is at least double that of the OEM's. Horribly bright for oncoming traffic if you don't quickly drop down to low beam
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Grey ghost
Full Access Members
I remember seal beam headlights at 55 m.p.h you were driving beyond your headlights. The early halogens weren't much better. My 96 MarkVIII LSC had h.i.d lights and we're way better than the base model cars. I'm very happy with the LED s on this car.
bushpilot
Full Access Members
other mfg have been heating their LED headlights a long time - Mercedes, Porsche, Audi, BMW...even the aftermarket LED headlight suppliers for Jeep do it -
the lines in the headlight lens are defroster / heating wires.....
the lines in the headlight lens are defroster / heating wires.....
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