[AT] tractor hauler a pain to install headlights.

[Ken Knierim]

I've got an LED retrofit experiment going on my 86 Blazer. I upgraded the
sealed beam lamps to the Hella H4 housings (think 7X5 Chevy squarebody
lights) and put in some Amazon H4 LED bulbs. The Hella housings are glass,
not plastic which was a requirement I decided on for longevity in the
Arizona sunlight. I have the original Hella incandescent bulbs onboard for
if/when the fan-cooled Amazon bulbs get tired of me crashing through the
desert. I'll know more when summer arrives but for now I have to say the
light control on the Hella housings is amazing and the pattern is as good
as some of the Sylvania halogens I was getting tired of. I DID have to use
some sealant to seal the housings as the Hella's have some vents in them
which would allow dirt and water into them so a touch of RV sealant on
those should fix the problem. We'll see.
    The amount of light emitted on low beam is plenty for most driving, and
I haven't had them out to the wilds where I can use the high beams. I had
someone in a Lexus or BMW the other night heading at me with his brights on
and I considered flashing him. Figured it was not kind to the other drivers
if I did that and just let it pass. The high beams are DeathStar
planet-buster bright, and aimed so they can light up down the road. With
the higher profile of the vehicle, it would be in many drivers' faces too.
I haven't measured light intensity yet but they seem to be questionable.
Are they "legal"? Can't find anyone willing to say they are or aren't so
Steve's comments on "Wild West" are spot on... DOT, SAE, and manufacturer
dance around this question. I need to ask my neighbor who's a gearhead and
police officer, but I suspect it depends on your attitude. :)
I've also upgraded the dash lights and dome lights to LED (use the
high-brightness ones for the dome lights. it really makes a difference).
Between that and the Atomic EFI kit replacing the tired Quadrajet, this is
a different vehicle. And I can still beat the hell out of it and not worry
about paint. (it's my old tractor-towing rig).

We'll see how it goes. If it goes well I will probably find a similar
upgrade for my 6-volt Case tractor.


Ken in AZ

On Thu, Jan 16, 2020 at 6:14 AM Stephen Offiler <soffiler at gmail.com> wrote:

> 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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