Attention LED Gurus

[mitymerc]

I recently purchased tinted DOT legal headlight housings for my 87 Mustang.

I want extra brightness to overcome the tint.

The bulbs should function as yellow parking lights and yellow turn signals.

I see conflicting info on the web, any suggestions?

Do you think either of these will work properly?

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B075K76HZJ/?coliid=I1VSHG9OWGOO7K&colid=18NEQQHYNAG89&psc=0&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01KLGRRLM/?coliid=I3H1WW19C2QC8M&colid=18NEQQHYNAG89&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

Thanks!

[Mr Bean]

Your first link has 54 diodes. Each one of those diodes will generate heat. I don't see anything that will act as a heatsink which tells me they will fail rather quickly. It also doesn't say how many lumens they produce.

Bulbs in second link look better.

I am running LEDs on all my cars and all the bulbs on the outside I get from JDM Astar. These are pretty bright. Not the cheapest but they work awesome. I would avoid any Chinese Ebay bulbs for exterior lightning.

http://www.jdmastar.com/product/168/3030-SMD-High-Power-1157-7528-LED-Bulbs-Set-of-2.html

V-LED Tritons are suppose to be best but the price is outrageous IMO. I don't think they are worth the money.

[BlackVic_P71]

V-LED Tritons are suppose to be best but the price is outrageous IMO. I don't think they are worth the money.

Well, when I bought mine they had a lifetime warranty which made it a little easier to deal with. I got them in 2013 and only one of the controllers had to be replaced since.

[mitymerc]

Controller?

[Mr Bean]

Well, when I bought mine they had a lifetime warranty which made it a little easier to deal with. I got them in 2013 and only one of the controllers had to be replaced since.

Will they still honor the lifetime warranty now? I see the current warranty is only 3 years.

[BlackVic_P71]

Controller?

Yes, the V3 had an external controller that was a little smaller than an HID ballast

Will they still honor the lifetime warranty now? I see the current warranty is only 3 years.

I hope so, it is a lifetime warranty. If something does go wrong at this point, they may simply swap out the lights for a new set of the V6 though.
When the controller went, I could either send it to them and when they got it they would send me a new one, or purchase one and they would refund the cost when they received the dead one back.

[sly]

How dark are these DOT legal housings? Do they have a percentage light pass-through rating? Are you just needing the parking/turn lamp to be brighter?

Check lumens of the stock bulb and then get a good LED bulb that's rated for the tint rating difference from clear times more light. So if the tint rating is 60%... then the you need 67% more light. (60% is now 100% so in absolute values you have 40 of 60 to reach 100 again and 40 is 2/3 of 60 so you need 2/3 more light to break even.)

let T = tint rating converted from % to decimal, L = stock lumens, and solve for X (lumens needed to overcome the tint)
Equation:
X = L * (1 + (1-T)/T)

You now have the minimum lumen rating to get to overcome the tint.

Replace lumens with whatever light output measure you can commonly compare.

[BlackVic_P71]

Will they still honor the lifetime warranty now? I see the current warranty is only 3 years.

Apparently it was a "limited lifetime warranty" and is only while the series was still in production, plus 1 year. An issue within a year after the V6 was released would get a new set.

[85crownHPP]

HHhmmmm... I'm really not familiar with the latest greatest LED bulbs... the newest ones I have are probably still 2 levels of LED evolution behind the ones you linked lol... Those ones do seem like they would be the stupid-bright level of lumens you'd need to shine through tint... maybe even during the day too. I'm half tempted to try some myself, but still too cheap to resist the 10/$10 deals for older ones... which I'm about to order for the.... car.