LED Headlights revisited Options

[fiacra]

Any thoughts on the 914Rubber kit? Less than 1/2 the cost of the vintage car kit. My preference is to get the things I need from them when I can. Anybody have experience with this kit?

https://914rubber.com/h4-lens-and-led-bundle-1

[mepstein]

Porsche is now selling a plug in h4 led bulb.

[Mikey914]

Any thoughts on the 914Rubber kit? Less than 1/2 the cost of the vintage car kit. My preference is to get the things I need from them when I can. Anybody have experience with this kit?

https://914rubber.com/h4-lens-and-led-bundle-1

Thanks

Looking at he "Porsche" bulb, I'd be interested how it fits in the 914? We found a few of these fan style bulbs that didn't fit well in our application. I would suspect it would fit given it's the mother ship, but ????

[FlacaProductions]

Any thoughts on the 914Rubber kit? Less than 1/2 the cost of the vintage car kit. My preference is to get the things I need from them when I can. Anybody have experience with this kit?

https://914rubber.com/h4-lens-and-led-bundle-1

I've had the 914Rubber kit installed since 2019 and couldn't be happier.

[burton73]

More light, more better

Bob B

[technicalninja]

Why mix and match instead of a tested and delivered solution? Just curious.

Because I believe their kit has the exact same housings I found on Amazon.

The H4 replacement LED bulbs are the thing that is being upgraded to match the housings, not the other way round.
If your housing has a DOT designator on it, it was designed for halogen bulbs (at the current date).
If you have a H4 housing, even an old one, the LED bulbs should fit.
The biggest problem I see with housings is the reflective surfaces dull or disintegrate over time. I hate plastic housings.

I've used Daniel Stern for my lighting solutions since the early 90s.

I still have a bunch of the 3 prong pigtails he supplied years ago.

They have heavier gauge wiring in them than you could get from anyone else.

This was well before HID or LED were even available. 

Initially I'll probably just use the Osram Nightbreaker H4s with the normal Bosch relay upgrade to be 100% legal.
I will upgrade the 50-year-old charging system anyway.
I will have 2+ times the available power over stock.

Down the road I'll change to LEDs.

LEDs are still in their "debug" phase and improving with each generation hence even Vintage LEDs has three options.

This cycle is most pronounced in vehicles. I advise my customers to buy the last year in a series. First year will have over 1000 TSBs and the last year (after getting fully debugged) will have less than 50. After a model change that last year version will be "the best bang for the buck" as it will be substantially less expensive because it is not "the new hotness".

In defense of the VC5000 bulbs...
Right now, they look like the best option with the limited research I've done.
Low power consumption, extremely low heat generation, excellent light production.
Should last 5x longer than a halogen, especially a hot halogen like the Nightbreakers.
They have a lifetime warrantee.
They're here in Texas.

Negatives- not DOT compliant. This is not currently an issue in Texas, but it might be in other states.

I do not intentionally piss off the Police.
In a worst-case scenario, your car will end up getting towed as the Police will not allow you to drive it off with illegal lights.
If you're visiting and are 1000k away from your home this might end badly...
It all depends on the individual officer.

The Hella housings and the Nightbreakers should cost appox $130 and the $300 savings will buy my 160-amp alternator.

If money was not a factor, I'd probably just buy the full kit from VintageCar.
I'd do the alternator upgrade anyways and keep a pair of Nightbreakers in the glove box for that worst case scenario.

Due to the legality issues, I would not use a dedicated LED housing that looked like something from Star Wars. Those a dead giveaway to LEOs.

I have a bunch of LEOs as customers. Most are pretty sharp.

[Cairo94507]

I believe the only way you are getting your car towed for having nice LED lighting is if you fail the "attitude test". (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)

[mepstein]

I believe the only way you are getting your car towed for having nice LED lighting is if you fail the "attitude test". (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)

Attitude is everything.

[Superhawk996]

I highly encourage people to read the article I linked to in my original post.

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/av-943.gif)

It was a valiant attempt. In my opinion, you get an A+ for effort @rjames

[gereed75]

My (and Cairo Mikes) experience with Vintage LEDs

http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?sho...=332796&hl=

Maybe I’m a scoff law but these bulbs in an H4 lense are very unlikely to piss off LEO’s. In the grand scheme of what is out there on the road ways these are basically not offensive. I personally feel much safer driving at night with this dramatically improved illumination and have never been flashed while on low beams by an oncoming driver. I drive regularly on two lane roads.

[JeffBowlsby]

I’m running this kit from VintageCar LEDs, an excellent solution.

VCm3 – 7 INCH LED HEADLIGHT KIT

[horizontally-opposed]

Many LED "bulbs" from specialty suppliers look very similar to units you can buy on Amazon for much less, and one pair I bought appeared to be exactly the same as a pair of $35~ LED units I bought from Amazon just to see.

Agree with the comments about buying a housing with a reflector and lens engineered for LED, and have been waiting for one that looks period correct. This is probably the way I will go:

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/hly-lfrb...ASABEgLsDPD_BwE

Saw the Holley LED headlights at an American car show recently, and the "Holley" in the glass is very subtle in person. Maybe not as nice as seeing "H4," but well worth the performance upgrade IMO. Also love the idea of reducing the load on my 914's old switches, wiring, and electrical system.

[rjames]

I highly encourage people to read the article I linked to in my original post.

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/av-943.gif)

It was a valiant attempt. In my opinion, you get an A+ for effort @rjames

@Superhawk996 Thank you at least for noticing! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)
This may go down as my least successful topic post ever. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/rolleyes.gif)

[Optimusglen]

To add to the mix. I have the LED bulbs from 914Rubber, H4 housings. Aimed properly.

Never had anyone flash their highs at me, never had issues with LEO's, get a LOT more light over stock. Had them on a couple cross country drives now and never had any issues.

[rjames]

Install of the JW Speaker 0554941 headlights complete.
I had to enlarge the opening of the back of the bucket that the headlight sits in a bit to all the headlight to sit flush, but other than that it fits great. Headlights are also made in the US.

[burlybryan]

Throwing in my 2 cents - I recently replaced my headlights with the LED kit from Only944. Comes with new lenses and bulbs. For $75 it was worth a shot and they're plug and play.

[rjames]

"Good HID and LED headlamps are terrific; they can offer excellent safety performance and driver comfort, but only if they're designed and built from the start as HID or LED headlamps. Installing an "HID kit" or "LED bulbs" in a halogen headlamp isn't an upgrade, it's a large and serious safety downgrade."

"It's tricky to judge headlamp beam performance without a lot of knowledge, a lot of training and a lot of special equipment, because subjective perceptions are very misleading. Having a lot of strong light in the foreground, that is on the road close to the car and out to the sides, is very comforting and reliably produces a strong impression of "good headlights". The problem is that not only is foreground lighting of decidedly secondary importance when travelling much above 30 mph, but having a very strong pool of light close to the car causes your pupils to close down, worsening your distance vision...all the while giving you this false sense of security. This is to say nothing of the massive amounts of glare to other road users and backdazzle to you, the driver, that results from these "retrofits"."

Daniel has said that that most of what is out there is junk that likely makes driving at night less safe for you and oncoming traffic, regardless of how bright one perceives the lights to be.

[Rleog]

Any thoughts on the 914Rubber kit? Less than 1/2 the cost of the vintage car kit. My preference is to get the things I need from them when I can. Anybody have experience with this kit?

https://914rubber.com/h4-lens-and-led-bundle-1

Ian has a video on YouTube about the 914Rubber LED kit, and its installation. I upgraded from H4s to their LEDs and haven’t looked back.

[johnhora]

Here's all the Holley LED lighting

https://www.holley.com/products/electrical/led_lighting/

[mb911]

These work perfectly and you can buy from about the most honest guy I have ever met. Great company and $80 https://only944.com/partscatalog/only/ledheadlight/