Changing from halogen headlights to LEDs

[AntonioF]

LED (either bulbs or whole units) draw a lot less power than halogens. The JL can sense low power and think the halogen bulb has gone bad. If you buy a CANBUS compatible bulb or headlight assembly that can fake the JL out to think it still has halogens. You will not need to reprogram. The explanation is very simplistic and may make some of our techie brethren cringe .

In my not so humble opinion you can

1) Buy decent replacement LED bulbs for $50
2) Buy non customer supported LED assemblies from Amazon for $250-350. The complaints on those are they have no customer service and there is not much light right in front of the JL. One JT owner drove around with his fogs to compensate and thought that was OK
3] Buy scratch and dent Rough Country LED housings on eBay when available - $160
4] Buy 7” LED housings with adapters to fit in the 9” openings of the JL - $250-350
5] Spend $500+ on awesome Oracles, Rough County’s, Or DV8s.

If I were to do it again I’d do option 3. Option 5 is my second choice. I do love my Oracle Oculus Bi-LED switchbacks.

MANY THANKS for the info

Sponsored

 

[blnewt]

LED (either bulbs or whole units) draw a lot less power than halogens. The JL can sense low power and think the halogen bulb has gone bad. If you buy a CANBUS compatible bulb or headlight assembly that can fake the JL out to think it still has halogens. You will not need to reprogram. The explanation is very simplistic and may make some of our techie brethren cringe .

In my not so humble opinion you can

1) Buy decent replacement LED bulbs for $50
2) Buy non customer supported LED assemblies from Amazon for $250-350. The complaints on those are they have no customer service and there is not much light right in front of the JL. One JT owner drove around with his fogs to compensate and thought that was OK
3] Buy scratch and dent Rough Country LED housings on eBay when available - $160
4] Buy 7” LED housings with adapters to fit in the 9” openings of the JL - $250-350
5] Spend $500+ on awesome Oracles, Rough County’s, Or DV8s.

If I were to do it again I’d do option 3. Option 5 is my second choice. I do love my Oracle Oculus Bi-LED switchbacks.

Yep, I did option 3, and they've been great! Good posting BTW!

 

[Archie PJ]

I've read some posts/reviews where some LED bulbs have "flickering." What is it that causes this?
Another question: LEDs supposedly use less power for the same output. So, why the big heat sinks and cooling fans with LEDs? Much higher output?
I would like brighter bulbs (I/m not interested in changing the entire headlight assembly), but would like to simply use the existing sockets and no rewiring. Anyone found replacements that you like better? Thanks.

 

[Heimkehr]

I've read some posts/reviews where some LED bulbs have "flickering." What is it that causes this?

Another question: LEDs supposedly use less power for the same output. So, why the big heat sinks and cooling fans with LEDs? Much higher output?

I would like brighter bulbs (I/m not interested in changing the entire headlight assembly), but would like to simply use the existing sockets and no rewiring. Anyone found replacements that you like better? Thanks.

Here's a good article on the matter of LED bulb flickering, and here's one regarding heat sinks.

I use and recommend these plug-and-play Beamtech H13s. No flickering has been observed. A version with heat sinks, not active fan cooling, is also available. If you fit any LED headlight bulbs and experience flickering, possibly these add-on harnesses would fix the issue.

Sponsored