For the Naysayers: LED Replacement Bulb Beam Pattern

[TheRaven]

Here are two photos, unaltered - an iPhone 14 Pro and Ray Ban Meta glasses. 25’ distance; center of the beams is 24” AGL. Very bright fog lights were also on. I wanted to include them.

Pretty much what I expected. Very powerful bright spot with noticeable bleed above the cutoff (that's glare for oncoming drivers) and very weak width to the beam. This isn't terrible, but it's not real great either - you have worse spread than the stock halogens but a ton more brightness which creates a "light tunnel" and makes the peripheral really dark. This will be very fatiguing for the eyes. It also looks like the beam is shifted left, which is the exact opposite of what you want...unless maybe that's your horizontal aim and not the bulbs. Sometimes you can rotate the bulbs in the housing to fix this too if there's no aim-ability.

Modern LED retro bulbs are far better than they used to be but you do still get what you pay for.

If in hilly country, I'd prefer a bit of light above the cutoff. Otherwise, on the downhill you can end up not seeing very far ahead.

I completely agree...this is a different subject. I was trying to stick to objective evaluation of the beam. But I too have difficulty adjusting to the "euro style" headlight that has become popular. The razor sharp cutoff makes it difficult to see what's right above the line. That said, uncontrolled bleed like the bulbs that are the subject of this thread have doesn't help that at all. You don't really want light above the cutoff, you just want a softer cutoff.

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[Wabujitsu]

Pretty much what I expected. Very powerful bright spot with noticeable bleed above the cutoff (that's glare for oncoming drivers) and very weak width to the beam. This isn't terrible, but it's not real great either - you have worse spread than the stock halogens but a ton more brightness which creates a "light tunnel" and makes the peripheral really dark. This will be very fatiguing for the eyes. It also looks like the beam is shifted left, which is the exact opposite of what you want...unless maybe that's your horizontal aim and not the bulbs. Sometimes you can rotate the bulbs in the housing to fix this too if there's no aim-ability.

Modern LED retro bulbs are far better than they used to be but you do still get what you pay for.



I completely agree...this is a different subject. I was trying to stick to objective evaluation of the beam. But I too have difficulty adjusting to the "euro style" headlight that has become popular. The razor sharp cutoff makes it difficult to see what's right above the line. That said, uncontrolled bleed like the bulbs that are the subject of this thread have doesn't help that at all. You don't really want light above the cutoff, you just want a softer cutoff.

Kevin, thanks for your feedback. All I can say is my empirical evidence is quite satisfactory, and very much better than the stock halogens I had before. Not getting flashed AT ALL is part of that empirical evidence.

The only way you could know for sure is if you drove my Jeep. I don’t trust the photos, as they don’t reflect what I see with my own eyes.

By the way, there Is no left shift. Look at the photo on-road in my original post.

 

[Wabujitsu]

Pretty much what I expected. Very powerful bright spot with noticeable bleed above the cutoff (that's glare for oncoming drivers) and very weak width to the beam. This isn't terrible, but it's not real great either - you have worse spread than the stock halogens but a ton more brightness which creates a "light tunnel" and makes the peripheral really dark. This will be very fatiguing for the eyes. It also looks like the beam is shifted left, which is the exact opposite of what you want...unless maybe that's your horizontal aim and not the bulbs. Sometimes you can rotate the bulbs in the housing to fix this too if there's no aim-ability.

Modern LED retro bulbs are far better than they used to be but you do still get what you pay for.



I completely agree...this is a different subject. I was trying to stick to objective evaluation of the beam. But I too have difficulty adjusting to the "euro style" headlight that has become popular. The razor sharp cutoff makes it difficult to see what's right above the line. That said, uncontrolled bleed like the bulbs that are the subject of this thread have doesn't help that at all. You don't really want light above the cutoff, you just want a softer cutoff.

Also Kevin, a few months ago I drove to AZ from FL and back in my Jeep; most of my driving was at night. I didn’t find it to be fatiguing for my 63-year-old eyes - at all. YMMV, of course.

 

[Wabujitsu]

My ONLY purpose for this thread is this. If you own a Jeep and cannot afford the price for a “proper” upgrade of the lights from the craptastic halogens, spend $40 on LED bulbs to see if your safety at night is improved - without compromising oncoming traffic’s safety.

 

[Gangplank]

Where in FL are you? I’m on the treasure coast…

 

[Wabujitsu]

Where in FL are you? I’m on the treasure coast…

I’m in Sarasota County (Old Miakka geographic area).

 

[Jeffy56]

Sealight states ther LED emitters are the same distance as the element in a halogen bulb. I've used their products before. Much better than the tired halogens. I had been wanting to do this. Nice cutoff. We'll do some road use soon. Less than $50. Pics should be evident which is which. Note the fogs were on with the halogens. Note the connector pic, the white piece had to come out to allow disconnect. With the halogens there wasn't a lot of difference between Hi beam and Low beam.

 

[autotragic]

Just a friendly reminder that there is no such thing as "DOT approved" lights. Anybody that says otherwise is lying. No bulb you ever install in any vehicles light receptacle is DOT approved because it's not a thing. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is the agency in charge of enforcing FMVSS. The FMVSS includes the standards for vehicle lighting.

But according to NHTSA the FDA is responsible for protecting our eyes. NHTSA also says that maximum limits on [headlight] intensity are only for certain test points.

So NHTSA says it's the FDA's responsibility which is why they take no legal action against illegal LED headlight bulbs. According to the law no LED headlight bulb is legal and not a single company has submitted bulbs to NHTSA for testing/approval which they could actually do. So in fact the only reason aftermarket LED bulbs are illegal is because nobody has submitted one to NHTSA for testing/approval.

The more you know.

 

[BRuby]

So long as there is a clear clean cut-off and low beams are correctly adjusted - you should be good. Whether using Beamtechs or Sealights or whatever. Whatever anyone posts on here.

Agree also about getting flashed or not. If no one flashes you - you are good. You are not blasting them with incorrectly adjusted beams or too much stray light. Otherwise you would get flashed.

What is really problematic is incorrectly adjusted OEM LED beams. On trucks and on cars. But especially on lifted trucks or lifted 4x4s. Now they often blast and should be ticketed.- because the owners are oblivious and simply do not care who they are blasting. Those are the ones that should be targeted - because they are actually causing a nuisance. Making driving very dangerous for others by blinding them into oblivion.

Not someone swapping out a halogen for LED no one flashes - like the OP and others. Bigger fish to fry. OP is fine. Halogen swaps to LED are fine. So long as there is clear clean cut-off and no one flashes them.

 

[Gangplank]

I’m in Sarasota County (Old Miakka geographic area).

Nice. About 2.5 hours due west. I’m in Vero.

 

[Wabujitsu]

Nice. About 2.5 hours due west. I’m in Vero.

Awesome. I graduated from high school south of you, in Hollywood. I have lots of friends over there, mostly in Broward.

Are you by chance doing the Jeepin With Judd event next month, in Polk County? I highly recommend it; great trails, very well run, and an awesome vendor row.

 

[Wabujitsu]

Just a friendly reminder that there is no such thing as "DOT approved" lights. Anybody that says otherwise is lying. No bulb you ever install in any vehicles light receptacle is DOT approved because it's not a thing. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is the agency in charge of enforcing FMVSS. The FMVSS includes the standards for vehicle lighting.

But according to NHTSA the FDA is responsible for protecting our eyes. NHTSA also says that maximum limits on [headlight] intensity are only for certain test points.

So NHTSA says it's the FDA's responsibility which is why they take no legal action against illegal LED headlight bulbs. According to the law no LED headlight bulb is legal and not a single company has submitted bulbs to NHTSA for testing/approval which they could actually do. So in fact the only reason aftermarket LED bulbs are in fact illegal is because nobody has submitted one to NHTSA for testing/approval.

The more you know.

I’m curious about what you said about DOT-approved headlight assemblies/housings. I don’t live in a state that does vehicle inspections, but I have read on this forum some folks saying they’ve failed inspection because their particular aftermarket housings don’t carry the “required DOT stamp.” What’s up with that?

 

[Gangplank]

Just a friendly reminder that there is no such thing as "DOT approved" lights. Anybody that says otherwise is lying. No bulb you ever install in any vehicles light receptacle is DOT approved because it's not a thing. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is the agency in charge of enforcing FMVSS. The FMVSS includes the standards for vehicle lighting.

But according to NHTSA the FDA is responsible for protecting our eyes. NHTSA also says that maximum limits on [headlight] intensity are only for certain test points.

So NHTSA says it's the FDA's responsibility which is why they take no legal action against illegal LED headlight bulbs. According to the law no LED headlight bulb is legal and not a single company has submitted bulbs to NHTSA for testing/approval which they could actually do. So in fact the only reason aftermarket LED bulbs are in fact illegal is because nobody has submitted one to NHTSA for testing/approval.

The more you know.

While there may not be “DOT approved lights” there certainly are DOT legal…

§ 571.108 Standard No. 108; Lamps, reflective devices, and associated equipment.
S1 Scope. This standard specifies requirements for original and replacement lamps, reflective devices, and associated equipment.
S2 Purpose. The purpose of this standard is to reduce traffic accidents and deaths and injuries resulting from traffic accidents, by providing adequate illumination of the roadway, and by enhancing the conspicuity of motor vehicles on the public roads so that their presence is perceived and their signals understood, both in daylight and in darkness or other conditions of reduced visibility.

https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-49/subtitle-B/chapter-V/part-571/subpart-B/section-571.108

 

[Gangplank]

Awesome. I graduated from high school south of you, in Hollywood. I have lots of friends over there, mostly in Broward.

Are you by chance doing the Jeepin With Judd event next month, in Polk County? I highly recommend it; great trails, very well run, and an awesome vendor row.

I’ll have to check that out. Looks like a great event.

https://jeepinwithjudd.com/

 

[Wabujitsu]

I’ll have to check that out. Looks like a great event.

https://jeepinwithjudd.com/

Please let me know if you do, so we can meet! My wife and I have done it about four times.

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