What LED bulbs for projector lamps

Discussion in 'Kenworth Forum' started by Mach, Jan 29, 2024.

  1. Mach

    Mach Light Load Member

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    Nov 19, 2017
    Knoxville Tennessee
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    What are you guys running for H11 LEDs in your projector housings? I got tired on hardly being able to see even with the best Sylvania lamps and decided to try some LEDs. Bought some off of Amazon that were kinda pricy and has good reviews to try out. Over all they are fantastic and you get a pretty clear cutoff line for the projector. However I get a lot of light bleed that I'm sure is annoying for other drivers. I have my lights aimed a little bit lower than normal right now but I'm still lighting up people when I pass. I've had them for a few months and only been flashed once, but they are still a bit too much. You can see in the picture that there is a ton of light shining on the side of this trailer but you can still see a good cut off line on the jersey wall to the left.

    I'm guessing these LEDs are not perfect and causing too much scatter. Supposedly you need one where the led chips are as thin as possible? Anyways what are you guys running for projectors?

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  3. Colt6920

    Colt6920 Light Load Member

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    Apr 28, 2017
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    None.

    If the optics/ housing were not designed for LEDs then no LED retrofit bulb is going to work well. Doesn't matter how thin the LED is, the light geometry will still be different enough from a glowing filament that will not work very well.

    And even if you find one that does give you acceptable cutoff in that housing, chances are you only fooling yourself, as there is a good chance they only appear better. This is because LEDs in halogen housings tend to throw a lot of light at the area close to you, making it appear brighter. However, not only is the light not going as far, the relative brightness causes you to be less able to notice things in the less well lit distance. It's a double whammy of making your distance vision worse, while giving you false confidence in how well you can see.

    Your truck looks like a Kenworth T660? If so I think these trucks came with optional HID headlights, might be worth looking into getting HID housings with appropriate harnesses from a junked T660. Not sure how much work that would be though, or how many other modifications you'd need to do.

    If you go aftermarket try to get stuff from a reputable supplier, a lot of eBay and Amazon stuff is cheap Chinese #### that doesn't last, and is often not DOT/FMVSS compliant, even if they claim they are.
     
    Mach Thanks this.
  4. Mach

    Mach Light Load Member

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    Nov 19, 2017
    Knoxville Tennessee
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    Everything you said is very true and is definitely things I'm considering, though these lights do throw more down the road light than my old silver star Sylvania halogens. I have seen videos where what you are saying is true about more light up close and less down far with led is true for reflector housings. But projector housings seem to be on par and in most cases a bit better than halogens in a projector. I think I'm going to try the Osram led since they appear to be the only brand that is really focusing on doing proper led retrofits. It will probably be a little "dimmer" but hopefully a cleaner spread.

    If those don't work, I probably will try to source the HID kit from KW for this truck. I always knew they existed and that's why I was hoping the led would perform better than every other hallogen reflector or projector swap out there.

    I just really don't want to go back to halogen now that I know how nice being able to see is lol. Projector lense just hinder the hallogens a little too much for the amount of night driving I do. At least as a whole, these current LEDs arnt terrible but I hate to be "that guy" throwing light into the cab of everyone's truck when we pass. But I'll make the switch back if I have too.
     
    Last edited: Jan 29, 2024
  5. M22 rockcrusher

    M22 rockcrusher Road Train Member

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    Nov 21, 2020
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    That's all we need more trucks with bright ### head lights blinding everybody else on the road. Just use what you got and focus driving.
     
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