Modern Automotive Headlights

[Patrick]

My first foray into new headlight tech.

2018 GMC Sierra SLT - purchased in 2017, so 5 years old. Starting to see some degradation.
Seems a bit dimmer, maybe a bit of a color change ??? do they do that?

What should i be looking for?
Just get the most highly rated on the Big River site, or is there a better way?

What about the fog lights?

 

[extremedave]

Not sure what we’re on about exactly here but…
Lens clarity degrades over time. Doesn’t seem like that’s enough span for it to be that noticeable but maybe? I have no idea who big river is.

Regular halogen bulbs are easy enough to upgrade but you might have led or projectors in there. Not cheap.

 

[Patrick]

Not sure what we’re on about exactly here but…
Lens clarity degrades over time. Doesn’t seem like that’s enough span for it to be that noticeable but maybe? I have no idea who big river is.

Regular halogen bulbs are easy enough to upgrade but you might have led or projectors in there. Not cheap.

Big River? might be a Prime example of a river in South America. People seem to be larger there too.

I think they are projectors. Something def changed.

 

[slingblade_uhhuh]

My first guess would be that at 5 yo the truck's battery is nearing EOL.

 

[mattybfat]

Fire 🔥
And new ebike

 

[extremedave]

What Matty said?

the lenses don’t look obviously cloudy. The ballasts in those do work with a lot of power. The bulbs are replaceable (as opposed to LED) you could take one out and have a look at it. Otherwise maybe some weirdo power supply issue? Or you’re even more older than before and it’s not the truck, it’s you. 😜

 

[shrpshtr325]

If you have halogen bulbs in those projectors you can get led replacements which will help with the light color..

 

[Carson]

I just messed with this on the 4Runner. I used the 3M headlight restoration kit. It helped a little, not much, but a little. Not sure at 5 years old your housings would be bad at all.

The 4Runner has halogen projector low beams, so I tried a high-quality LED replacement bulb ($70/pair) designed for them. MUCH more usable light. I expected to get flashed by oncoming traffic it was such a difference. So far, so good. I wish the color temp was a little lower (6000K) as I think the visible light will be greatly reduced in the rain but I haven't been in nighttime rainy conditions yet. I may do yellow halogen fogs for rain/fog/snow to offset the color temp. I couldn't find any 4300-5000K quality LEDs.

LA plus series

Flip chip carrying with 6000 lumens and 60 wattages white light, much better night driving!

www.lasfit.com

 

[shrpshtr325]

I just messed with this on the 4Runner. I used the 3M headlight restoration kit. It helped a little, not much, but a little. Not sure at 5 years old your housings would be bad at all.

The 4Runner has halogen projector low beams, so I tried a high-quality LED replacement bulb ($70/pair) designed for them. MUCH more usable light. I expected to get flashed by oncoming traffic it was such a difference. So far, so good. I wish the color temp was a little lower (6000K) as I think the visible light will be greatly reduced in the rain but I haven't been in nighttime rainy conditions yet. I may do yellow halogen fogs for rain/fog/snow to offset the color temp. I couldn't find any 4300-5000K quality LEDs.

LA plus series

Flip chip carrying with 6000 lumens and 60 wattages white light, much better night driving!

www.lasfit.com

i actually did the same thing with my truck, but it has standard reflector headlights with seperate bulbs for hi/low beam. i must say the whiter light (6000k) is nice (i never really understood the yellow light thing, it just messes with your color preception, but thats a topic for another winter thread).

i will say i tried them in my challenger too and they didnt work worth shit, but that was a reflector lense with a single bulb for hi/low instead of two bulbs and i think that is what the issue was.

 

[Glenn Rides After 4 PM CST]

I'm running Lasfit as well in my Pathfinder.
Huge improvement.

 

[Carson]

@Patrick

They were fine in the rain last night. Fog might be a different story. They do appear to have a cutoff in the projector but it's not nearly as sharp as a factory HID headlight assembly.

 

[Carson]

i actually did the same thing with my truck, but it has standard reflector headlights with seperate bulbs for hi/low beam. i must say the whiter light (6000k) is nice (i never really understood the yellow light thing, it just messes with your color preception, but thats a topic for another winter thread).

i will say i tried them in my challenger too and they didnt work worth shit, but that was a reflector lense with a single bulb for hi/low instead of two bulbs and i think that is what the issue was.

So my understanding is that this is the issue. The white color tricks your eyes. 6000K looks better and certainly looks more modern, but the best for actual visual acuity is 4300K, the color temp of the sun. You know, millions of years of evolution of the species and all. I think these modern LEDs are so much brighter than traditional bulbs, it overcomes the color issue.

 

[Patrick]

@Patrick

They were fine in the rain last night. Fog might be a different story. They do appear to have a cutoff in the projector but it's not nearly as sharp as a factory HID headlight assembly.

View attachment 196962View attachment 196963

i'll assume the camera is playing tricks and the dash lights aren't that bright.....

 

[shrpshtr325]

So my understanding is that this is the issue. The white color tricks your eyes. 6000K looks better and certainly looks more modern, but the best for actual visual acuity is 4300K, the color temp of the sun. You know, millions of years of evolution of the species and all. I think these modern LEDs are so much brighter than traditional bulbs, it overcomes the color issue.

this could be the case, i know that all task lighting at work (driving, working, flood lights ect) has to be some variation of white NOT yellow(and definitely NOT so high that a blueish tint is creeping in), even for foul weather, yellow/red/green ect are all signal colors. . . . the govt wouldnt have that policy if the yellow that ricers use in fog lights helped you see better (which is what i was referring to as 'i dont get it', the yellow fogs just look stupid)

 

[Glenn Rides After 4 PM CST]

You are also supposed to adjust the bulb so the grey (dead spot) line is vertical.

 

[rick81721]

this could be the case, i know that all task lighting at work (driving, working, flood lights ect) has to be some variation of white NOT yellow(and definitely NOT so high that a blueish tint is creeping in), even for foul weather, yellow/red/green ect are all signal colors. . . . the govt wouldnt have that policy if the yellow that ricers use in fog lights helped you see better (which is what i was referring to as 'i dont get it', the yellow fogs just look stupid)

Recommended light "temperature" for garages is 4000 - 5000K. I went with 4500K when I installed new lighting earlier this year.

 

[Carson]

i'll assume the camera is playing tricks and the dash lights aren't that bright.....

Yes for sure. Android low light camera tricks.

 

[shrpshtr325]

Recommended light "temperature" for garages is 4000 - 5000K. I went with 4500K when I installed new lighting earlier this year.

that makes sense since 4500k is roughtly daylight, heres an interesting chart referencing color temperature to approx. tod

 

[Carson]

this could be the case, i know that all task lighting at work (driving, working, flood lights ect) has to be some variation of white NOT yellow(and definitely NOT so high that a blueish tint is creeping in), even for foul weather, yellow/red/green ect are all signal colors. . . . the govt wouldnt have that policy if the yellow that ricers use in fog lights helped you see better (which is what i was referring to as 'i dont get it', the yellow fogs just look stupid)

Yellow fogs are not illegal as long as the bulbs are DOT approved. You can run white and amber to the front and red and amber to the rear. In general to be DOT compliant. The yellow fogs I have are Sylvania and DOT approved.

 

[Carson]

You are also supposed to adjust the bulb so the grey (dead spot) line is vertical.

Mine don't look right? I thought I got that part right lol.