I'm starting to do my headlight research. I know there is all kinds of technology out there for lighting. I'm willing to jump forward to the HID lighting as long as its a DOT and SAE certified kit. I know I've got to replace my stock light the lens are fogging over and I know there are better headlight reflectors out there than stock. So my question is HID, sport headlight conversion with halogens, etc. Let's see some links, products, and reviews. 

2 hours ago, Mopar1973Man said:

Not the greatest but not the worst either. Let's say there OK nothing like @Me78569 HID lights.

 

Understand.....But that's comparing apples to oranges.

My comparison is merely OEM to aftermarket OEM replacement.  If they have the same beam pattern as the OEM Sport headlights then I'd be more than thrilled, since my Sport headlights are very bright and will shine ample distance down the dark country roads.....

6 hours ago, Mopar1973Man said:

Ground for the lights..

Must not be the only ground since mine a working just fine. Guess I will look and see what it connects to.

6 hours ago, KATOOM said:

I've heard too many times that aftermarket light housings have poor beam pattern and tend to throw the light all over the place.

 

I agree with you here.  A few months ago I converted to an after market Sports headlights version from Headlights Depot.  I chose to go the aftermarket way because of the very high cost for the OEM headlights. The optics on the Headlights Depot lights are definitely not OEM quality.  Fortunately in my case the headlights were of better quality than many others out there and there was a significant performance improvement over my two-bulb system making it well worth the purchase.

 

I would rate the low beam circuit as good.  The roadway is well lit when looking down the road and to both sides.  The low beam works good in rain and fog conditions as well.  The beam can be properly aimed and does not interfere at all with other drivers on the road.  The downside is that the light is not evenly projected onto the roadway - there are some dark areas (although small).  These dark areas do not cause any problem, but they should not be there. 

 

I would rate the high beam as very good to excellent.  The beam projects very far and is evenly spread.  The high beam is properly aimed when the low beam lights are adjusted properly.

 

I wired my headlights the same way an OEM Sport version is wired.  I also used Philips Extreme Vision lamps as Daniel Stearns recommended.

 

Katoom, if I understand correctly, you have OEM Sports headlights on your truck and you were very satisfied with them, but they are yellowing now.  I am curious as to why you are not replacing them with OEM equipment.  Is it because of cost?

 

- John

 

Edited April 6, 20177 yr by Tractorman

8 hours ago, Tractorman said:

Katoom, if I understand correctly, you have OEM Sports headlights on your truck and you were very satisfied with them, but they are yellowing now.  I am curious as to why you are not replacing them with OEM equipment.  Is it because of cost?

 

- John

 

 

Thats exactly correct.  I really feel my OEM Sport headlights work very well too but I've been fighting them yellowing for years.  I've buffed and waxed them many times and even though they're fairly clear for their age, I wouldn't mind replacing them to bring back the brand new look.  And yes, I priced OEM housings at well over $700.  So these much less expensive OEM replacement ones Moparman is trying has me curious if they'll be just as good as OEM.

Let's say the main reflector is good quality and good spread of light. Now the secondary light reflector isn't that great. Very narrow beam path and more of a spot light pattern. Together both reflectors work well together creating a hot spot from the secondary and good spread of light from the main reflector. Like I said they are OK quality but nothing like HID like @Me78569 or @jlbayes are running.

I have been experimenting a little with welding different types of plastic using a heat gun. I found plastic milk carton strips behave as a patch over a repair on your washer bottle for example, they fuse right in with the old. But takes lots of practice before you make a leaking washer bottle good again without melting bigger holes in it.

 

One thing I've discovered is the various types of plastic that I heated very gradual, not getting too close, tend to melt  very clear and shiny on the surface. If anyone wants to experiment  on an old headlite surface I sure would like to hear about the result. If you do don't get so close that you blow/ distort the surface.

I have used a heat gun to restore motorcycle plastics that were sun damaged. You can see the color almost flash from cloudy to clear. Good idea to try it on headlights. 

15 hours ago, BBHD said:

I have used a heat gun to restore motorcycle plastics that were sun damaged. You can see the color almost flash from cloudy to clear. Good idea to try it on headlights. 

 

Interesting.  I'd be curious to see what exactly you're describing since I could see attempting this failing badly if not done right.

Bringing back and old thread just for an update.....  Moparman, how are your DAP headlights holding up?

2 minutes ago, KATOOM said:

Bringing back and old thread just for an update.....  Moparman, how are your DAP headlights holding up?

No longer... Gave up went to Morimoto HIDs.

Interesting.....  Can you fill me in on the why's and what happened?

Light pattern was still too narrow. Even with 4 bulbs burning still the light wasn't where it needed to be. So after seeing a friend Morimoto I bailed out of the sport headlights idea and went after the HIDs.

halogens can only do so much.  HIDS in a good projector just smoke even a relay modded sport housing.  Width and light down road

16 hours ago, Mopar1973Man said:

Light pattern was still too narrow. Even with 4 bulbs burning still the light wasn't where it needed to be. So after seeing a friend Morimoto I bailed out of the sport headlights idea and went after the HIDs.

 

If you're not using those new housings then I'd be happy to take them off your hands for free.....

30 minutes ago, KATOOM said:

 

If you're not using those new housings then I'd be happy to take them off your hands for free.....

 

Then you better haggle that out with @JAG1 being he wants to buy them too.

JAG1 they all yours.....   I'll pick up a set from DAP one of these days.

Last question though.....  The DAP website review says these lenses have a lite smoke.  Is that true or are they clear?  I thought I remember you saying they were clear.

The ones I got are clear. 

Clear, with a very light tint on mine. 

 

I have been using the sport headlight conversion, the ones sold by DAP, for about 9 months and I like them, with my original headlights faded out to the point of no return and experimenting with cheap eBay junk, these seam to be of decent quality, have had no leak issues and they throw a clean and consistent light. For the wiring side of it, the light relay harness had some issues, mostly from not being wired right for my application, it was pretty much *** backwards and had to re-wire from scratch. 

The only other thing is that on the high beams they don't quite reach out far enough according to me, they seam bright out to about 500 ft. and quickly fade after that. maybe about 700 ft. of total illumination. But maybe that's about as good as your going to get with halogen bulbs. I will probably do a little more experimenting with it in the future but it has been a major improvement from what I had before.

On 9/11/2017 at 9:45 AM, 01cummins4ever said:

The only other thing is that on the high beams they don't quite reach out far enough according to me, they seam bright out to about 500 ft. and quickly fade after that. maybe about 700 ft. of total illumination. But maybe that's about as good as your going to get with halogen bulbs. I will probably do a little more experimenting with it in the future but it has been a major improvement from what I had before.

 

I'll agree. The part of the problem is the secondary bulb reflector isn't all that great its a tall but narrow band of light. This is what is helping to give the distance but not wide enough. 

 

So now driven with OEM Stock, Sport headlights (relay conversion), and now Morimoto HID's. It is really wild to get on a long straight road and shine light a full mile down the road if not farther. Then having both side of a 2 lane highway lit up about 40-50 feet out in the ditch. Then on high beam create a light arc about 50 foot tall at about 1/4 mile out. 

 

My next upgrade when funds allow, is I'm ditching my 100w aircraft lights and ordering a set of LED PIAA driving light and fog lights. Sad to say the Morimoto HID drown my weak little 100w aircraft light so you really don't even see them any longer. Barely an orangish mark on the road.

I've said it for years that I think the OEM Sport headlights provide more than enough lighting.  In the winter my drive can include some very dark two lane rural roads too and I dont have trouble.  Usually if I cant see far enough out then its because I'm going to fast, which in itself is a whole nother issue.

And yes the OEM Sport high beams can seem more like spot lights than spread beams but they sure reach out there a long ways.

 

My take on it is, there's always going to be something better.....but at some point you'll more than likely be straddling the fence of legality...and negatively affecting oncoming traffic who have to deal with stadium level flood lighting bearing down on them.  I'm not sure who enjoys when other vehicles are coming your way with HID lights so blue and bright that you cant see crap in front of you.....

 

Yes HID lighting is pretty cool but I have no interest in dumping loads of cash on something which isnt a problem "for me".  I have other vehicles with factory HID lights and I do like them but not enough to convert my truck over to them.