Crummy headlights - Can't see, need upgrade
My old 2007 GMC has never had the best headlights. Driving from Lethbridge to Calgary last night I was really cussing them. Old original factory headlights and I cannot see worth a darn. They are...
Forum Discussion
Mex,
I don't think most folks who install the "blue tinted" halogen bulbs and the LED aftermarket retrofit in halogen housings care one bit about how their actions will affect oncoming traffic or even traffic in front of them..
They only care about themselves and the fact that they now have to "cool" blue tinted lights on their "ride".
The blue tinted halogen bulbs for some reason seem to have much more scatter and not a tight controlled pattern, I suspect in order to make the bulb brighter they had to change the position of the filament which affects the focusing..
The LED aftermarket bulbs, they are a hit or miss thing with mostly miss.. The problem with LEDs in a halogen fixture is the LEDs cannot and will not sit in the perfect spot for the reflector to focus correctly. Typically one or two sided LED and they MUST be "clocked" correctly in the fixture to get anywhere near some sort of focus.. Tend to get OK focus on high or low beam but not both.
To clock the LED you need a LED that is adjustable, some are and some aren't.. The adjustable will have a lockable ring that uses a hex key. LEDs must be at 3 oclock and 9 oclock.. Any other position will result in poor or no focus.
An example of the issue with retrofiting a LED into a halogen housing is really telling..
Found a pix on line ..
Left is halogen bulb and right is a LED bulb..
Notice how focused the Halogen is when compared to the LED..
The LED is not focused well and has a lot of scatter, that scatter is the problem with using LEDS, might be "good" for the driver of the car with the LED but not so much for the poor sap that has to drive past or even be in front of that car..
Here is a pix from the same site that shows both LEDs..
Notice how much more light is scattered on the drivers side into the oncoming traffic..
Found those pix HERE Which they are using non clockable LEDS..
Tried to fix the pix sizes, for some reason sizing isn't working on those online photos.. Sorry for the need to scroll :(
I don't think most folks who install the "blue tinted" halogen bulbs and the LED aftermarket retrofit in halogen housings care one bit about how their actions will affect oncoming traffic or even traffic in front of them..
They only care about themselves and the fact that they now have to "cool" blue tinted lights on their "ride".
The blue tinted halogen bulbs for some reason seem to have much more scatter and not a tight controlled pattern, I suspect in order to make the bulb brighter they had to change the position of the filament which affects the focusing..
The LED aftermarket bulbs, they are a hit or miss thing with mostly miss.. The problem with LEDs in a halogen fixture is the LEDs cannot and will not sit in the perfect spot for the reflector to focus correctly. Typically one or two sided LED and they MUST be "clocked" correctly in the fixture to get anywhere near some sort of focus.. Tend to get OK focus on high or low beam but not both.
To clock the LED you need a LED that is adjustable, some are and some aren't.. The adjustable will have a lockable ring that uses a hex key. LEDs must be at 3 oclock and 9 oclock.. Any other position will result in poor or no focus.
An example of the issue with retrofiting a LED into a halogen housing is really telling..
Found a pix on line ..
Left is halogen bulb and right is a LED bulb..
Notice how focused the Halogen is when compared to the LED..
The LED is not focused well and has a lot of scatter, that scatter is the problem with using LEDS, might be "good" for the driver of the car with the LED but not so much for the poor sap that has to drive past or even be in front of that car..
Here is a pix from the same site that shows both LEDs..
Notice how much more light is scattered on the drivers side into the oncoming traffic..
Found those pix HERE Which they are using non clockable LEDS..
Tried to fix the pix sizes, for some reason sizing isn't working on those online photos.. Sorry for the need to scroll :(
