Use Caution when dealing with underground lighting

[MyDaughters20JL]

got a set of 6 led bulbs for my '23 f-150...1 year warranty on the bulbs

after installation, things seemed to work as they should, so I tossed my factory bulbs (yes, I'll take responsibility for this, my mistake)

fast forward 4 1/2 months & one of the rear bulbs begins to have multiple dead chips & is creating hyperflash in my dash

contacted company & their response was to send the defective one back & they'd ship out a new one..I explained that I'd tossed the factory bulbs & short of purchasing new factory bulbs to use in the interim, that wasn't an option..requested they send me a replacement & I'd gladly ship the defective one back....their response???
send me an invoice to pay for the replacement & then when I ship the defective bac k, they'll refund my money.

apparently, gone are the days of customer service & a person's word could be trusted..if I have to spend money to get a replacement, perhaps & should send all 6 bulbs back & get a full refund..look for bulbs elsewhere

<exit soap box>

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[rcadden]

Recommend checking out @Lasfit - they're a forum sponsor and I've been working with their customer care to get the correct bulbs for my apparently-unique fenders and they've been really great to work with. Responsive and helpful - more focused on getting me the correct product than penny-pinching.

 

[AFD]

I'm leary of most any LED lamps these days. Bought a fairly pricey set of Morimoto bulbs for my last vehicle, back when they had a 5-year warranty (now 3-year), which still isn't too bad, but that's about how long they lasted. And most of the other pricey marker lights I bought eventually flaked out at some point as well.

In theory, LEDs should be more durable and last far longer than an equivalent halogen bulb, but most companies still make cheap Chinese crap regardless of the price. Even with a brand name emitter like Cree, Nichia or OSRAM, the rest of the lamp is still at the mercy of whoever is making the board, connector and the rest of the assembly.

Guess the best you could do is buy from an established domestic company that warranties and stands behind their product, no matter where their components were manufactured.

Food for thought, but just looked up the warranties for some of the more popular LED lighting products for the JL and the coverage is all over the place (and most of it not enough to inspire much confidence for products costing hundreds, if not thousands of dollars)..

Baja Designs = Lifetime
Rigid = Lifetime
KC HiLiTES = 5-year
TYRI = 5-year
Diode Dynamics = 3 to 8-year
Mopar (TYRI) = 2-year
Lasfit = 1 to 3-year
Oracle = 1 to 2-year

/rant ?

 

[TheBirdie72]

They are named “underground lighting” - and this snakery style sales/refund scheme surprises you? ?‍

That’s like buying a used Jeep from “Jaloppy Motors.” ?

 

[Heimkehr]

send me an invoice to pay for the replacement & then when I ship the defective back, they'll refund my money.

apparently, gone are the days of customer service & a person's word could be trusted.

I dig what you're saying. Coincidentally, I recently wrestled, unsuccessfully, with an eBay vendor regarding a similar issue.

That said, perhaps their current policy was a rational response to other customers taking advantage of what used to be a generous return & replacement policy.

 

[C@$per]

got a set of 6 led bulbs for my '23 f-150...1 year warranty on the bulbs

after installation, things seemed to work as they should, so I tossed my factory bulbs (yes, I'll take responsibility for this, my mistake)

fast forward 4 1/2 months & one of the rear bulbs begins to have multiple dead chips & is creating hyperflash in my dash

contacted company & their response was to send the defective one back & they'd ship out a new one..I explained that I'd tossed the factory bulbs & short of purchasing new factory bulbs to use in the interim, that wasn't an option..requested they send me a replacement & I'd gladly ship the defective one back....their response???
send me an invoice to pay for the replacement & then when I ship the defective bac k, they'll refund my money.

apparently, gone are the days of customer service & a person's word could be trusted..if I have to spend money to get a replacement, perhaps & should send all 6 bulbs back & get a full refund..look for bulbs elsewhere

<exit soap box>

I had the same experience with underground. The replacements didn't last any longer, went back to old bulbs.

 

[BXFXJeep]

You would think a picture/video of issue would suffice

 

[Wbino]

https://www.amazon.com/LED-Rock-Lig...ed+ground+jeep+rock+lights,aps,71&sr=8-7&th=1

 

[Deleted User 38384]

I got all LED bulbs including my headlights from China.

Spent less than $20 that's for sure. I've had my headlights for 5 years now. Bought them back in my Patriot days for $13 w/ free shipping. The backup lights were $3 also w/ free shipping.

Initially before I remove my front fender flares I had the turn signal light in both fender flares, $2 for the pair w/ free shipping, and the running lights that were in the fender flares, also $2 w/ free shipping. So for $20 maybe $22, I had the entire Wrangler running LEDs.

No warranties, because it's China. And if they broke, I just buy them from a different vendor from China hopefully with better odds. However none of them broke. I took off my front fender flares probably within the first 8 months of ownership, though I still have those light assemblies, they're not in use anymore. So who knows if those bulbs work or not, they've been sitting in a box for a year and a half.

However my backup bulb for $3 has been fine for the last 2 years, still bright as heck.

And the headlights are still blinding people on the roadways, 5 years later.

If I were you, I would recommend like the guy up top said, either buy a quality pair from a quality brand, like @Lasfit or get decent at scoping out the good brands on AliExpress.

So personally, the best way to shop for bulbs in my opinion, will always be to look up the type of bulbs you need for each location, and purchase individual sets of bulbs for those locations with the type of bulb you need. I've always done it that way, it's always benefited me, and has always been cheaper than buying sets.

You can buy sets, but sets tend to be expensive because they've done all the work for you of pairing the types of bulbs you need.

I got to go to breakfast with my folks in a minute, but when I get back I'll look up a bunch of bulbs for you from AliExpress, and if you want to, you can order them. If not, maybe someone else might find this helpful.

 

[AFD]

I got all LED bulbs including my headlights from China.

If I were you, I would recommend like the guy up top said, either buy a quality pair from a quality brand, like @Lasfit or get decent at scoping out the good brands on AliExpress.

Probably not a bad idea. Considering most (or all?) of the domestic lighting manufacturers have their stuff made in China and at best, assembled in the US, it would feasible to just buy duplicates of everything directly from Chinese manufacturers yourself. You could literally buy multiples of every light for backups and still spend far less money without having to worry about the timing and procedures for warranty replacement (ie, not having a temporary solution).

It's easy enough to wait a month for a replacement off-road or auxiliary lamp, but much harder to deal without having one of your primary lamps installed.

 

[Lasfit]

@rcadden Thank you for recommending Lasfit!!

@MyDaughters20JL
We're currently running a program to gather unbiased feedback from more users, and we have limited offers available. If you're interested in trying out Lasfit LEDs on your 23 F-150, I'd be happy to apply for a special offer on your behalf. Please reach out to us via email.
[email protected]

 

[RAO]

Unfortunately most do not look at warranty coverage until after there is a problem. After being burned a few too many times, I now look to see what the warranty is, any feedback I can see with regard to addressing warranty issues and factor that into the equation when buying a product. If you don’t mind having to replace a bad bulb or one with easy access, that might make you buy cheaper bulbs with a “throw away and replace” position but most want to do it once and be done with it. I will share with you that I use KC HiLites products because of an issue I had with my wife’s JK. One of the KC Lites headlights went out, so I contacted them about it. The asked for proof of purchase, which I provided, and they sent me the replacement before sending back the old one. I later found out you can register your product purchase on their site after buying so the proof of purchase isn’t an issue down the road if you need to make a warranty claim.

 

[KCSgtMaj]

I installed “underground” lighting and I can’t see anything.

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