LED direct replacement Headlight Bulbs

[jaywish]

Well here is a daylight comparison of an new LED vs a 30K miles silverstar. Sorry I forgot to take a night shot but the pattern of the LED looks OK in comparison to the Halogen but the output increase is dramatic. I know it looks like the light is concentrated at the top of the reflector but it does not really look that way in person. I have the LEDs shooting sideways as opposed to up and down which are the two provided choices.


In driving it seemed great, with only one LED, except the reflection from signs is a bit much.

[jaywish]

On to the details.

I received the free universal dustcovers from the vendor, Beamtech.


They are larger then the bulb body without its' adapter/lock ring.


With its' adapter/lock ring it fits nicely.


However with the Mercury lockring in place it is a no-go for a moisture tight seal unless you wanted to flood the area with sealant,


So I am looking at this ring on Amazon. Asked what is the size of the center hole. Thinking if it fits snug on the bulb body I might make it work.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...RRFM3OU2&psc=1

[87GrandMarq]

Kind of late to the party but I thought maybe my input would help some. I actually have a thread on s197forums about led headlights if anyone is interested I could link it here. The bulb are different between the halogen panthers (9007) and halogen 05-09 mustangs (h13) but the concept is the same.

Ive been running 6000k leds in my 07 gt for about 6 or so months now. I do like them and havent gotten flashed or pulled over yet but the main thing to keep in mind is that the stock housings were designed around the placement of the stock halogens bulb filament. That said, most leds are not in the same spot as the stock halogen filament.

So what does that mean? It means that the beam is not going to be like it is with the stock halogens and scatter will occur. Also glare will arise from this.

After all the different leds Ive tested on my 07 gt, I honestly would not recommend 1 single bulb. They look cool and might perform slightly better than halogen bulbs but the beam pattern is affected causing more light but you cannot put the light where is needs to go.

[jaywish]

Please post the link.

Yes filament placement and Diode placement. These bulbs touted diodes placed at the same distance from the base as the stock filament. I know that is only one part of the equation but it seemed like a positive.

As far as performance there is no doubt that these are putting more light downroad. No people flashing me as yet. When it is safe I try to see if the headlights are illuminating the face of the oncoming driver and so far it looks good as in I don't see their face illuminated. I have not been able to arrange a friend or me coming the opposite way as yet.

Interestingly I rotated one bulbs emitters 90Deg. and the light pattern is not changed dramatically.

[87GrandMarq]

https://www.s197forum.com/threads/le...rience.133050/

Thats my username over there. By no means is that thread a scientific experiment lol but I tested different types of leds and observed their affects on the beam pattern and output. One thing to take into consideration is that the s197 headlights do not have a casper shield.

[BigMerc96]

The placement of the light source is the primary reason I did not do them in my '98 when I got it. I know from years of HIDs that a slight change in the point of origin of the light can have dramatic change in how that light is spread out of any reflector housing. The difference is even pretty noticeable in the highly focused projector housings with their parabolic reflector behind the lens. I never found a HID bulb that sat "right" in any of my 9006 equipped cars ('98 Malibu and '96 GMQ), I could rotate the bulb slightly and get HUGE changes in output. I never bothered with any of my 9007 equipped cars, little hope seeing as they all seemed like they were trying to find a "middle ground" between the high and low beam filament placement which is really good for neither. For those, I've just done projectors with HID, although I considered a H1 LED for the '98s projector retrofit but wasn't happy with the options and I know how the HIDs behave.

I have a buddy with 9006 LEDs in his '00 Silverado, I have to admit I like the color of them, 6000k LED seems less harsh than 6000k HID for some reason, and I like the instant on effect of them. However, the light does seem scattered pretty bad compared to halogen, dunno about glare because they're set so low due to a damaged headlight mounting panel.

[gadget73]

a slight change in the point of origin of the light can have dramatic change in how that light is spread out of any reflector housing.

which is why stuffing 9007 lamps in a 9004 housing is a bad idea.

[jaywish]

So far my guess at which bulbs to buy seems to be working out. Hopefully the heat sinks without fan are sufficient over the long haul. I had a friend play oncoming traffic with me in a parking lot. He said the lights are bright but do not shine in his eyes. So he said no problem here. I am still playing around with seals and will post that stuff up hopefully tomorrow.

All in all these particular bulbs in the 03-05 Grand Marquis/Marauder style headlight housings seem to work really well. I am pleased with the improvement in light down the road even at some expense in more blurred cutoffs.

You should feel the extra acceleration from lower alternator drain. Woosh!

I need to upgrade at least the front 3157NAK turn/marker and 3156K ditch lights. They really look anemic now. I will probably do the 3157K tails as well just to reduce the power going through my little bypass harness. I will post up about that when I do it.

[jaywish]

Ok I tried another universal cover from Amazon $10. It kind of works. It is good enough until I get what I want to make it permanent.



I disassembled the vehicle bulb plug (thanks sly)
Remove red lock and in the 2nd pic you can see the little rectangular release tabs for each individual wire socket. They are far down in this particular connector.


I punctured the boot and inserted the vehicle internal headlight harness. You can see it fit reasonably well. I tried sealing it with Permatex Blue but after 22 hours it stuck to nothing.


I cleaned the RTV and tucked the bellows into the housing. It fits nicely. It is not sealed tightly around the bulb shaft and not sealed to the housing but it should serve excellently at keeping dirt out for the present.


And in the vehicle