LED Light Bars

[Jake]

From what I've heard, a lot of the Amazon-esque lights are very similar in quality to the expensive stuff, just don't have the brand name stamped on 'em. I know Felton has had good luck with the cheapie blue lights for pace cars vs. expensive Whelan gear.

[Senor_Taylor]

From my experience with offroad lights, a large amount of people use no-name products and just seal them up themselves/add reinforcement. You should be fine.

[WRXtranceformed]

To revive this a little bit, I have decided as one of the first mods to my truck to remedy the weak-ish stock projectors and fog lights. I think I have decided to go with a 35w or 50w Morimoto kit for the low beams (<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="https://www.theretrofitsource.com/hid-systems/morimoto-elite-hid-system-h11.html?preselect=49455%2C50316%2C47309#.VulYJ-IrLX4">https://www.theretrofitsource.com/hid-s ... ulYJ-IrLX4</a><!-- m -->), just pick up some kind of whiteish PIAA or Sylvania halogen bulbs for the high beams since I never use them, and then do LED fog lights. There are definitely cheaper HID kits than the Morimoto but they are regarded as some of the best and I have dealt with TRS in the past and their reputation is outstanding.

What I'm up in the air on is do I buy a nicer set of LED plug and play bulbs for the housings like these from Diode Dynamics? (<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.diodedynamics.com/store/catalog/product/view/id/22496/s/2015-chevrolet-colorado-fog-light-leds-pair/">http://www.diodedynamics.com/store/cata ... leds-pair/</a><!-- m -->). The brightest ones are $120 which seems like a lot for two bulbs, cheaper set is $40 and still fairly bright. Or do I really not cheap out and match up the low beams with the fully integrated Morimoto LED fog housings (<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="https://www.theretrofitsource.com/complete-headlight-fog-light-housings/morimoto-xb-led-fog-lights-chevy.html#.VulYauIrLX4">https://www.theretrofitsource.com/compl ... ulYauIrLX4</a><!-- m -->). The housings are pretty expensive but the color temp should match perfectly and the pictures I have seen showing the housing fit and light spread are phenomenal. The housings also are designed with a specific cutoff so that I don't blind people driving down the road (which you can get with LED drop in bulbs since they usually throw light all over the place).

Thoughts or any experience with LED light swaps outside of the easy stuff like interior / license plate bulbs? Again I wouldn't go the cheapo route with China Ebay bulbs, but my big concerns are light output, longevity / reliability and whether or not they will blind people.

[JustinG]

I threw the TRS kit in the appliance cause the halogens were comical. Not disappointed, just in case you needed more positive feedback.

[rherold9]

TRS is wonderful and Diode is wonderful. The $120 LEDs are because they are OEM like quality, very bright, and should last.

[WRXtranceformed]

I threw the TRS kit in the appliance cause the halogens were comical. Not disappointed, just in case you needed more positive feedback.

Did you do the 35W or 50W kit? I was inclined toward the 50W for extra brightness but the DRLs are the low beams in this truck so they will run all of the time. That would lead to a lower bulb life for sure since the 50W kit burns bulbs brighter but at a reduced life (3 years vs. 5 years for the 35W). If you ran the 35W kit do you feel it's bright enough vs what a typical OEM HID projector looks like?

[WRXtranceformed]

TRS is wonderful and Diode is wonderful. The $120 LEDs are because they are OEM like quality, very bright, and should last.

Yeah I have heard good things about DD but there have been some bulb fitment issues even with the $120 bulbs in my application. Believe it or not the Morimoto housings sound like they direct fit a lot easier than trying to shoehorn some of the replacement bulbs in.

[JustinG]

35w low beam only. I'd disconnect the DRL, cause that prob won't be good for the bulb. Also the 50w may strain the factory wiring during bulb warmup

The 35w is comparable to the OEM setups. I've had, the TSX retro in the eclipse, and factory HIDs in the SAAB. Be sure to get the 4300k or whatever.

They don't hold a candle to the LED setup in the CX5, but that is hard to beat.

[ViPER1313]

Also look into HIR bulbs... great light output, no blinding people.

Edit - I found out with the Mustang that putting a headlight harness into the car makes a significant difference as well. Stock wiring can lead to significant voltage drop at the bulb.

[WRXtranceformed]

Justin - Perfect, thanks man! Yeah 4300k or 5500k would be what I'm after, leaning toward 5500k actually because if I do the fog housings they would match perfectly. Lumen difference is nominal, unless you start going "cooler" than that and I'm not after the ricer look

Adam - Yeah that is what is appealing to me about the Morimoto kit, it comes with a heavy duty harness or CANBUS harness. I need to ask TRS but I think I can do the CANBUS since some people are describing OnStar headlight error messages when going with the standard harness.

[JustinG]

Sent you an email Lee

[WRXtranceformed]

Sent you an email Lee

:thumbup:

[WRXtranceformed]

Welp that was a quick way to drop $350! Decided not to go cheapo and pulled the trigger on the fogs because they look so damn good. I justified it because I decided against buying a set of new irons this spring. My golf game is in shambles sp it won't matter, plus I would spend a LOT more on the clubs. I did find a TRS coupon code for $20 off the fogs on a Facebook display ad, so there's that. Will post up pics in the project forum when they get here but wanted to say thanks to yall for the guidance!

[BLINGMW]

On Amazon there are like 10 brands (Nilight, Signstek, TMH, ANNT, Kawell, Mictuning, to name a few) of this slim, 18W, 1200-1400lm spot or flood light:



But they all seem to be 6000-6500K, which is silly. Have any of you seen something similar in the "I-don't-want-to-immediately-get-pulled-over" 4000-5000K range for cheap?