CK5
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LED headlight update

Thanks for the info! I've been thinking about doing the LMC style head lamps lately.
 
I wouldn't run anything other than Speaker or Truck Lite LEDs. They both make bolt in replacement round and square beams that use factory connectors. They are extremely bright but have such impressive optics that they really don't bother oncoming at all.
 
Don't misunderstand me, I fully believe what has been said about the headlights that @Russell talked about. I have heard good about them.
I couldn't justify the cost for my '95 K2500, so I bought E code Hellas from a guy over around Denver.
www.headlightservices.com

I really like what it did for me, for the price.
My buddy put the LMC ones in his truck and likes them, but we haven't compared them.
 
i hate that hate failed and the replacement doesnt work on high beam at all
 
We have a set of the speakers in our '99 and they are pretty amazing. Good color, great beams, etc. It's nice when we work with Baja Designs who we know puts a LOT of effort into their colors and the speaker and BD lights on our truck have virtually the same color. Makes me think they we both onto something when 2 high end companies agree.

That's something else to consider, if you live in a place you can use them, just run an "offroad" light wired to the highbeams and then run cheaper headlights. If you live in a place you REALLY rely on your low beams, premium lights are the way.
 
I guess I should clarify that when I talk about color of a light it has nothing to do with the housing, it's the color of the light beam itself. For the newbs, it runs on a Kelvin scale abbreviated "K" most of the time and the variation is why you see some lights that look blue and some that look orangy-red and so on. BD and Speaker and probably others do a lot of research on what the color output of the light should be and they try to match it up to daylight since it's what we humans have evolved to use and it probably works best for us. And there's something to it, when you spend hours behind the lights in a high stress environment the little details like beam color matter along with even beams in appropriate patterns. And keep in mind that time under stress doesn't have to be on a racecourse, driving any dirt road at night will soak up light much less when things get wet and the world really makes your headlights disappear. That's when the difference in a nerve wracking drive home and a simple commute can be a good set of headlights. With our trucks I like to put it like this: you have enough excuses to not drive your cool truck, don't make any more for yourself. If your squarebody (or other favorite pet) runs crappy when it's cold, you'll take your other car or truck when it's cold. If the headlights suck, you won't want to drive it at night and you'll take your other car or truck, and so on. If you want to actually use your toy, make it nice to drive.
 
bump .

just ordered a pair of j.w. speaker 8800 heated units for my dd work truck .

cant wait to try them . night time SUCKS anymore with basic lights . and i live / work in snow when its around . so i had to get the heated for less problems.
 
Looking forward to your review. It does seem like the high quality LED lights are a marked improvement over the halogens from all reviews I've seen. Just pricey. And plastic lenses to cloud up over time. :(
 
bump .

just ordered a pair of j.w. speaker 8800 heated units for my dd work truck .

cant wait to try them . night time SUCKS anymore with basic lights . and i live / work in snow when its around . so i had to get the heated for less problems.
where did you get em from?
 
Surprised they need to be heated. White LEDs put out a lot of heat anyway. That's part of why it took longer for them to develop vs red & amber.
 
I've seen comments (and video) on other LED headlights that unheated would get blocked with snow/ice. I'm guessing the AL housings are such an effective heatsink that very little goes towards heating the lens. Not sure I like the idea of another failure point, especially at that price, but if it's needed under specific conditions, better to have than not probably.
 
will do a review for sure

evilbay was good price I found 241 each and 14.95 shipping for each or pair .

heated lens for winter snow/ice yes . and its automatic . no driver input needed . will list up more when I have them .

and show a 5 or 6 year warranty on the lights . so we will see how they do .

I read a lot of info / reviews / sales pitch video's . . . j.w. speaker just stood out above the rest . truck light didn't offer heated . and some reviews show problems in under a year .
 
I guess I should clarify that when I talk about color of a light it has nothing to do with the housing, it's the color of the light beam itself. For the newbs, it runs on a Kelvin scale abbreviated "K" most of the time and the variation is why you see some lights that look blue and some that look orangy-red and so on. BD and Speaker and probably others do a lot of research on what the color output of the light should be and they try to match it up to daylight since it's what we humans have evolved to use and it probably works best for us. And there's something to it, when you spend hours behind the lights in a high stress environment the little details like beam color matter along with even beams in appropriate patterns. And keep in mind that time under stress doesn't have to be on a racecourse, driving any dirt road at night will soak up light much less when things get wet and the world really makes your headlights disappear. That's when the difference in a nerve wracking drive home and a simple commute can be a good set of headlights. With our trucks I like to put it like this: you have enough excuses to not drive your cool truck, don't make any more for yourself. If your squarebody (or other favorite pet) runs crappy when it's cold, you'll take your other car or truck when it's cold. If the headlights suck, you won't want to drive it at night and you'll take your other car or truck, and so on. If you want to actually use your toy, make it nice to drive.


Well said Stephen, heck you could really apply this logic to the whole truck.. the better it is the more you’ll want to be in it..
 
I have these in my truck. I couldnt bring myself to invest a ton of money into headlights right away since I had to build the whole truck. At $90 a pair I am super impressed with high and low output plus a good cutoff that doesn't blind others. Down the road I will consider upgrading but for now I'm happy. Only issue I had was snow build up today since they don't heat up enough to melt the snow/ice off.
 
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