Project Canyonero

[WRXtranceformed]

Go LED and install yourself? Seems like a ton of $ and effort you spend in headlights....


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I could do LED as the next step but I haven't really put any more money into it from the $120 or whatever it was when I installed them a year ago.  TRS refunded all of the parts I didn't end up using no questions asked.

[WRXtranceformed]

Go LED and install yourself? Seems like a ton of $ and effort you spend in headlights....


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So I went ahead and did this.  Decided on the Cyclops LEDs because
- they're 4000 lumens each
- even though they were technically designed for motorcycles they are H11 and completely plug and play
- supposedly these don't have any issues operating as DRLs too (remains to be seen)
- these are considered a "premium" LED bulb but the pair still came in under $120

I liked this option after a bunch of research because they are well engineered and everything fits within the dust caps.  If it didn't work out I was just going to put some Silverstar halogens in and deal with the suck output.  I test fitted one of them on the "easy" driver's side during lunch:



Needs to be adjusted obviously but it's plenty bright and fired right up with no issues / no flicker.  The hot spot seems to be even bigger than the HIDs, we will see how the throw is when I get a chance to try them at night.

It's supposed to be warmer tomorrow so I may try to get both sides installed after work.  It will be a pain to pull out the ballast and wiring on the passenger side due to the truck's design, so if I can't easily reach it all I'll probably just leave it all back there after it's unplugged.

[D_Eclipse9916]

Where did you get them? Very interested


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[WRXtranceformed]

Where did you get them? Very interested


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I ordered them from here, cheaper and shipping was free and fast:  https://www.ridersdomain.com/motorcycle-...00-lumen-p

You can also order them direct from Cyclops Adventure Sports but they are pricier.  I found this on the manufacturer's site today, pretty cool:

https://youtu.be/kbY-Xk4y6_k

[WRXtranceformed]

Where did you get them? Very interested


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Ha so don't bother with these.  The driver's side was flickering after a test drive / clip adjustment and the passenger side had the most jacked up beam pattern I've ever seen.  I have seen "after" install pics with these on a Colorado with projectors and it looked nothing at all like I was getting....and there isn't a way you can install these wrong so.

They're going back and at this point I'm throwing in the towel on the headlight mods.  It appears that the headlights on this truck are just wired for mediocrity. I'm going to pick up some brighter halogen bulbs and just deal with the awful output.  I don't have it in me to mess around with the more advanced retrofits (bi-LED, etc.) or experiment with other LED bulbs right now.

[JPolen01]

How bad can the stock light output really be? In all the automotive nonsense I have ever read on the internet I have never heard anyone complain about this. The only mods I've ever seen are for aesthetic reasons.

[WRXtranceformed]

How bad can the stock light output really be? In all the automotive nonsense I have ever read on the internet I have never heard anyone complain about this. The only mods I've ever seen are for aesthetic reasons.

Bad enough that they failed IIHS safety testing:

http://www.iihs.org/iihs/news/desktopnew...tests-show

I didn't need the IIHS to know that these were shit headlights though, I noticed it during my first night drive.  They are borderline safety hazard.  I've been spoiled by high quality HID and OEM LED systems since the Lexus.

[ViPER1313]

Stick with Halogen bulbs and make or buy a relay harness for the bulbs. Crappy stock 16ga / 18ga wiring causes a large voltage drop to the bulb; just adding thicker wiring can brighten things up by 20 or 30%. Adding a 100w relay harness on the Mustang with OEM halogen bulbs was a night and day difference.

[Sully]

Yea I'm sure someone has even made a plug and play by now that would give you a plug that goes into factory bulb socket and then a relay and a heavier gauge wire off the battery.

But I don't think that's going to fix your problem because that's how most of those aftermarket hid kits are setup from the start. And shouldn't LED pull less wattage? (Haven't messed with LED auto headlights so not sure what type of power they pull but I assume since led, it's less)

I don't recall what all you've tried but do other projector lenses fit in the housing? I'm not saying that will fix your issue but I know some lenses are better than others. I remember Honda (Acura) having some of the best when I was looking into retros back in the day. But maybe that was just the best protector/lens combo that gave them the edge. I honestly didn't read through all your light posts but if the protectors are shit, increasing their output probably won't help. If they are just dim, I could see it happening. If you're just unhappy with you hid upgrades, you're probably going to have flickering with most aftermarket stuff. Retro some factory ballasts in there with some real d2s bulbs?

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[WRXtranceformed]

Nice where does the harness go? Between the clip inside the dust cover and the bulb?

I think the big issue with these trucks is that GM in its infinite wisdom decided to use the low beams as DRLs, which screws with LEDs and apparently doesn't play nice with HID ballasts. I would turn my DRLs off every time I got in the car but it didn't seem to help the ballasts longevity.

[ViPER1313]

The harness connects to the battery and a chassis ground, has 1 female plug that connects to one of the factory headlight plugs and provides 2x output plugs for the bulbs.

After install, the factory wiring is only used as a trigger for the relay. The bulbs will always get full 12v whether the relay is getting 9v from the DRL mode or 12v from headlight mode.

[WRXtranceformed]

Yea I'm sure someone has even made a plug and play by now that would give you a plug that goes into factory bulb socket and then a relay and a heavier gauge wire off the battery.

But I don't think that's going to fix your problem because that's how most of those aftermarket hid kits are setup from the start. And shouldn't LED pull less wattage? (Haven't messed with LED auto headlights so not sure what type of power they pull but I assume since led, it's less)

I don't recall what all you've tried but do other projector lenses fit in the housing? I'm not saying that will fix your issue but I know some lenses are better than others. I remember Honda (Acura) having some of the best when I was looking into retros back in the day. But maybe that was just the best protector/lens combo that gave them the edge. I honestly didn't read through all your light posts but if the protectors are shit, increasing their output probably won't help. If they are just dim, I could see it happening. If you're just unhappy with you hid upgrades, you're probably going to have flickering with most aftermarket stuff. Retro some factory ballasts in there with some real d2s bulbs?

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Yeah there are some drop in projector housings, one of the Acura ones fits, but it's not the housing itself that is the issue i don't think. The OEM projectors worked great when the HID retrofit was actually working.  I had pretty decent throw and a sharp cutoff.  It's the DRL system and poor quality halogen fitted to it that i think are the problem with any of the retrofits. LEDs still aren't happy with varying voltages and apparently HID ballasts aren't even either with anti flicker capacitors.

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The harness connects to the battery and a chassis ground, has 1 female plug that connects to one of the factory headlight plugs and provides 2x output plugs for the bulbs.

After install, the factory wiring is only used as a trigger for the relay. The bulbs will always get full 12v whether the relay is getting 9v from the DRL mode or 12v from headlight mode.

Gotcha, definitely sounds like a similar outcome to what the anti flicker capacitor was doing for the HIDs.  Your solution would probably work better since it keeps the halogens but i am done wiring stuff up to fix this.  After burning my brain looking at halogen bulb reviews last night, i just bought the cheapest, brightest Chinese halogens i could find since it sounds like they're all going to burn out in 4-6 months anyway

My salt content is really high right now but I'm just gonna move on

[WRXtranceformed]

So I got all caught up in Horsepower Fever, test drove some fun stuff, but ultimately decided that unless I stumble on an incredible deal on an SQ5 or something I am fine with driving this truck for a long while. I kind of want to see what the Ranger / Ranger Raptor looks like in person and / or wait to see if new gen Raptor prices drop out of the clouds a little.

That said, not one to be defeated I made ONE MORE ATTEMPT to address my headlight situation. I waited 4 weeks for the backorder to clear out, finally got these in hot off the assembly line...Diode Dynamics SL1s. Not cheap but you get what you pay for.

I have to say these are by far the highest quality headlight grade LEDs I have tried. The build quality is exceptional and the output speaks for itself. The hotspot is noticeably larger and these are noticeably brighter even than my old 35W HID retrofit. I am hoping these hold up but so far no flickering at night or when used as DRLs so I am SUPER pleased. I hope this finally ends my battle with the headlight situation on this truck!





Low Beams without Morimoto fogs:

Low Beams with Morimoto fogs:

[.RJ]

damn, that looks nice.

[ViPER1313]

What is the brightness on those fancy LEDs compared with HIDs?

[WRXtranceformed]

What is the brightness on those fancy LEDs compared with HIDs?

On paper most LEDs are generally going to be less bright than a 35W or 55W HID retrofit.  With that said, having had both, these DD SL1s are easily as bright if not brighter than my 35W retrofit.  I believe a big part of that is the way that they designed the hot spot pattern.  It's much larger and makes a lot more effective usable light with the OEM projectors.

You can really see it on the garage wall shot.  Those Morimoto LED pods are bright as hell and the SL1s make them look weak!  These have a 3 year warranty too which is nice.  Still no issues yet when they are running as the pulse width modulation DRLs (ie flickering or burning out)

[Steve85]

What is the brightness on those fancy LEDs compared with HIDs?

On paper most LEDs are generally going to be less bright than a 35W or 55W HID retrofit.  With that said, having had both, these DD SL1s are easily as bright if not brighter than my 35W retrofit.  I believe a big part of that is the way that they designed the hot spot pattern.  It's much larger and makes a lot more effective usable light with the OEM projectors.

You can really see it on the garage wall shot.  

That really stuck out to me, I was going to ask if the truck was parked different or something. That's a yuge difference!

[JustinG]

TRS had LED kits available now, curious how they compare to what you picked up.

The ricer in me wants to do LED fogs, cause the halogen fogs look out of place with the HID/Led headlights

[WRXtranceformed]

TRS had LED kits available now, curious how they compare to what you picked up.

The ricer in me wants to do LED fogs, cause the halogen fogs look out of place with the HID/Led headlights

I got my Morimoto LED fogs from TRS.  I think they do have some kind of LED headlight bulbs but I haven't read much about them.  They do have bi-LED projectors you can buy which are sick but they would be $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

I just read that Morimoto is developing OLED headlights which is crazy...they could do dynamic designs in your lenses that shift and change