[AT] tractor hauler a pain to install headlights.

[Steve W.]

Stephen Offiler 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
> 


I refuse to install the LED headlamp retrofit kits in anything I'm 
working on for those reasons. Now if the vehicle had them or projectors 
as an option AND the customer bought those for install I may do that, 
but only if they are the OEM and complete. Then you have the issue of, 
does the vehicle require a re-flash to use those lights. That is almost 
always the case with the imports and the higher end domestic junk. Some 
of the German makes are so anal that even replacing something like an 
HID ballast or ignition coil requires you to initialize the new part.
Same thing with battery replacement in many new vehicles, you need to 
use a scan tool to tell the car you swapped the battery, and whatever 
you do, don't just think you can remove the cables, swap the battery and 
be ready to go, on many you had better connect an outside power source 
to that vehicle before you even think about disconnecting the battery! 
Unless you want to tow it to the dealer for a system reset!
Plus 90& of the vehicles from late 17 and up have a security gateway 
module, that prevents you from using any aftermarket scan tool for 
anything.

In my day job we get questions like that all the time. Had one the other 
day of someone who had dropped an 05 5.4 into their 01 and it wouldn't 
run right. Well that is because there were multiple changes inside the 
engine and electronics in 02 that makes them incompatible. Stinks to 
discover this after you have installed the engine.


-- 
Steve W.