[AT] tractor hauler a pain to install headlights.

[Stephen Offiler]

I'm not ready to jump to LED retrofit headlight bulbs.  It's still the Wild
West out there.  A reflector assembly that was originally designed for a
halogen bulb is basically a large number of tiny mirrors, each and every
one needing to be pointed at the halogen filament in order to bounce the
photons where they are supposed to go.  Many of the LED retrofit kits do
not emit photons the same way the halogen filament does, so where they get
bounced is anybody's guess.  The best LED retrofit kits do in fact emulate
the halogen.  And worth mentioning that some vehicles have headlight
designs that are more or less sensitive to this.  Some work "fine" while
others are very picky.  Which raises the subject of what it means to work
"fine".  You need to see where you're going but you also have a
responsibility not to blind oncoming traffic.  And then we can discuss
thermal issues.  Some of these LED retrofit headlight bulbs actually have
little cooling fans.  I'm not at all sure I trust any of this.

SO


On Thu, Jan 16, 2020 at 7:49 AM <bloomis at charter.net> wrote:

> I kept my 13 Jetta TDi. And the $6300. @ 4 years old. Lost 1.5 MPG. Talk
> about a PITA to re-lamp. Doing 80% night driving, the H7 bulbs last, well
> not so long. Replacing headlights are like replacing a piston through the
> muffler. I finally put LEDs in and no burn outs since, and better vision.
> The lens on one of the fog lamps is cracked from a stone most likely. I
> YouTubed how to replace the bulb? Remove the entire front clip. Bumper,
> grill, etc. as a unit. Well as long as they work, I’ll live with the crack!
> ☹. Funny, my 2000 Ranger has never lost a headlight. Not even cloudy.
> 254,000 miles. Nor the wife’s 06 Subaru. But she only has 65,000 miles on
> the clock. 😐
>
>
>
> Bradford
>
>
>
> *From:* AT <at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com> *On Behalf Of *Stephen
> Offiler
> *Sent:* Thursday, January 16, 2020 2:28 AM
> *To:* Antique Tractor Email Discussion Group <at at lists.antique-tractor.com
> >
> *Subject:* Re: [AT] tractor hauler a pain to install headlights.
>
>
>
> No argument Steve!  I was quite surprised how easy the bulb change went on
> the Subie.  My daily driver, not so much.  I have a "low end"  2014 BMW X1,
> no HID headlights, no sport wheel package, no nav, no leather, etc etc.
> (Not to mention VW gave me a pile of cash to give them back my TDI, so I
> turned around and handed it to those other Germans).  I wasn't real happy
> with the headlights (maybe just my advancing age, or maybe they didn't
> sweat the details) so I installed high-output bulbs.  I had to use a
> mirror, a bent coathanger, and a couple choice words to complete the task.
> I'm sure the typical clientele brings it to the dealer and shrugs at the
> bill.  The high-output bulbs have shorter life so I get to do it all again
> in a couple years.  I must say they did the trick, though.
>
>
>
> SO
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