LED Bulb vs Headlight Replacement

[Kodiak1967]

Need some inputs please. Have a 2020 2500 Bighorn with Halogen headlights. I had no idea the lights were so bad when I test drive the truck. I need to do something because these lights are horrible. Has anyone replaced the halogen bulbs with LED's...if so, would you recommend that approach? Or, does anyone have input on simply replacing the assemblies with projectors? Thanks in advance...

 

[flan]

Need some inputs please. Have a 2020 2500 Bighorn with Halogen headlights. I had no idea the lights were so bad when I test drive the truck. I need to do something because these lights are horrible. Has anyone replaced the halogen bulbs with LED's...if so, would you recommend that approach? Or, does anyone have input on simply replacing the assemblies with projectors? Thanks in advance...

Funny you should mention this, I was doing some research on replacement bulbs last night. It seems the cheaper bulbs are not adjustable in the housing and may not have a sharp cutoff as those you can adjust,
Potentially blinding oncoming drivers. I started off on headlight revolutions website watched a vid over there and see the sv4 bulb works well in our housings. I looked elsewhere for the sv4 and it looks like headlight revolution stole the bulb design and renamed it according to the guys over at supernova lights. I guess it’s all up to who you believe. The sv4 on supernova has a 4 year warranty. I believe HR warranty’s theirs for 2 years. That’s about as far down the rabbit hole I got last night I’m sure I’ll have some time to dig further today

Supernova LEDs - Home page - Quality LEDs for your Car

Supernova LEDs - Manufacturer Direct Store for the Supernova V.4 and V.4 X LED Headlights. Easily find LEDs that fit your car or truck with our LED Finder.

www.supernovaleds.com

 

[el_barto]

^^^ correct. Many LED replacement bulbs do not have the light source in the exact position as the filament on a halogen bulb it replaces. Reflector housings are very advanced and specifically designed to reflect the light specifically from that exact light source position. Put the light in a slightly different spot and it reflects the light “incorrectly” resulting in a lot of glare to oncoming drivers (giving LED lights a bad reputation…HID had a similar issue when people would do retrofits)

There are a few LED replacements out there that DO place the light source correctly (Diode Dynamics), so just make sure to do your research to find lights that don’t suck for other drivers. Also, get your headlights aimed properly.

For housing replacements there are a couple good options : Morimoto and alphaRexx. They are expensive but look nice and should give you great light output.

 

[Chrisminx]

Halogen to OEM LED swap

Retro Shop https://shop.retroshop.us/ is swapping out my halogens, headlights and tails, for OEM LEDs today. They’re using my truck for instructional photos and currently have everything available on their site to make the swap. Here’s what they’ve sent me so far. The owner has a gorgeous 2500...

hdrams.com

 

[Gunnyguy64]

I too have been looking at upgrading my headlights on my 2019 2500. Watched the HR videos on replacement led lights for existing housings that flan referred to.
Sv4 was there recommendation but not sold completely on lamp change over housing.
Alpharex are an attractive purchase based on price. I've read a few reviews stating they crapped out a year or two later. Anyone have personal experience with these?

 

[Chrisminx]

Most everyone on this forum upgrades to OEM LED headlight housings.

 

[Walker.b96]

I added morimoto replacement headlights to my 2022 big horn plug and play

 

[woody284]

Funny you should mention this, I was doing some research on replacement bulbs last night. It seems the cheaper bulbs are not adjustable in the housing and may not have a sharp cutoff as those you can adjust,
Potentially blinding oncoming drivers. I started off on headlight revolutions website watched a vid over there and see the sv4 bulb works well in our housings. I looked elsewhere for the sv4 and it looks like headlight revolution stole the bulb design and renamed it according to the guys over at supernova lights. I guess it’s all up to who you believe. The sv4 on supernova has a 4 year warranty. I believe HR warranty’s theirs for 2 years. That’s about as far down the rabbit hole I got last night I’m sure I’ll have some time to dig further today

Supernova LEDs - Home page - Quality LEDs for your Car

Supernova LEDs - Manufacturer Direct Store for the Supernova V.4 and V.4 X LED Headlights. Easily find LEDs that fit your car or truck with our LED Finder.

www.supernovaleds.com

If I’m looking at the right comparison, why such a price difference in the two companies? The v.4 at nova vs the s-v.4 at HR. That’s 100 bucks difference if they are the same bulbs

 

[flan]

If I’m looking at the right comparison, why such a price difference in the two companies? The v.4 at nova vs the s-v.4 at HR. That’s 100 bucks difference if they are the same bulbs

Excellent question! HR says they don’t sell supernova, but they have review videos of supernova.


We don’t sell supernova:

HR supernova review

Supernova V.4 LED Headlight Bulb Review | Headlight Revolution | At 3,600 lumen, 36 watts, and a 6,000K or yellow color option, the S-V.4 LED headlight bulbs are blowing our mind! In this video, we show you the details... | By Headlight Revolution |

At 3,600 lumen, 36 watts, and a 6,000K or yellow color option, the S-V.4 LED headlight bulbs are blowing our mind! In this video, we show you the details...

fb.watch

 

[flan]

I came across diode dynamics in H11 they are assembled in the USA. They also have a fog light for our trucks. They have an optional anti-flicker module available for $40. If we switch headlight settings through alfa to LED will we still need the extra module? Maybe @Jimmy07 has some experience in this situation?


Headlight:

H11 SL1 LED Bulbs (pair)

Looking to convert your H11 factory bulb to LED? Increase your nighttime visibility with the SL1 LED Bulb!

www.diodedynamics.com

Fog:

H11 SL2 LED Bulbs (pair)

Features Direct plug-and-play replacement bulb. Available in white or selective yellow. Automotive-grade LEDs for superior performance. Fanless design provides high reliability. Compact fitment with integrated driver. Designed and engineered in USA (Patents Pending). APPLICATION NOTICE: LED...

www.diodedynamics.com

 

[Rockcrawlindude]

I have the morimoto 2 stroke 3.0 led bulbs with pwm modules and they’re light years better than the stock halogen bulbs. Been running them for 3 years or so in this truck.

There is no stray light because of the way they’re designed I guess that’s why they’re so expensive. I’ll leave it to them to explain how they pull that off

“
SUPERIOR BEAM QUALITY: The advanced PCB technology at the core of the 2Stroke 3.0 sets a new industry benchmark emission surface interval of just 2mm total. The PCB core itself is just 1.0mm thick. The dielectric layer: 300um. The circuit pattern: 140um, and the Osram Oslon HKL351.TE LED chips: just .43mm each. Paired with the 1.03 x 4.33mm light-emitting surface area of the LEDs: this adds up to a total cubic volume of 4.46mm. At the end of the day, no LED bulb in the world more closely simulates the filament size of an incandescent bulb more accurately than the Morimoto 2Stroke 3.0--and for those in the know, this is critical when it comes to proper beam distribution.

“


Only negative is The cooling fans are a little loud when you unlock the truck and the lights come on, but you certainly can’t hear them when the vehicle is running.

 

[BadKarma]

Looking to switch to the morimoto, right now I have the lasfit led’s and feel they are very subpar from my stock LEDs on my Grand Cherokee & Wrangler. I have the Alpharex Pro headlights currently. My only questions is I have h7 bulbs but morimoto doesn’t offer h7. Is the h11 compatible?

 

[elephantrider]

I ran led bulbs in the halogen housings for a bit. too much uncontrolled light output. they're bright but also blinding to other drivers. switched to oem reflector housings and couldn't have been happier. huge upgrade from bulbs of any flavor.

 

[BadKarma]

I currently have Alpharex projectors

 

[Bgirup]

DDM Tuning

These work perfect. No canbus issues and very clean cutoff and no scattering of light. The brights are insane. No need for any supplementary bars.

 

[deanfx]

I've used diode dynamics h11 in the lows for years in a couple different trucks with no issues. I do use the anti flicker module on my 23 Ram.

 

[BadKarma]

DDM Tuning

These work perfect. No canbus issues and very clean cutoff and no scattering of light. The brights are insane. No need for any supplementary bars.

Used them in my GTO and other ram. I loved them and have no clue why i stopped using them. They were bright

 

[jsalbre]

DDM Tuning

These work perfect. No canbus issues and very clean cutoff and no scattering of light. The brights are insane. No need for any supplementary bars.

There’s no way those “work perfect”. Physics says that’s impossible. The manufacturer hasn’t even made any attempt at getting the LED emitters in a location that’s remotely close to where the incandescent filament would be. They may “look good” to you from inside the cab, but you’re still getting less light where you need it, more where you don’t, and blinding other drivers.

I don’t know why people refuse to accept this, but putting an LED bulb in a halogen housing is like putting on glasses with the wrong prescription, none of the light goes to the right place.

 

[BadKarma]

There’s no way those “work perfect”. Physics says that’s impossible. The manufacturer hasn’t even made any attempt at getting the LED emitters in a location that’s remotely close to where the incandescent filament would be. They may “look good” to you from inside the cab, but you’re still getting less light where you need it, more where you don’t, and blinding other drivers.

I don’t know why people refuse to accept this, but putting an LED bulb in a halogen housing is like putting on glasses with the wrong prescription, none of the light goes to the right place.

I’ve used there hid kit in projectors .

 

[MrSteve]

Need some inputs please. Have a 2020 2500 Bighorn with Halogen headlights. I had no idea the lights were so bad when I test drive the truck. I need to do something because these lights are horrible. Has anyone replaced the halogen bulbs with LED's...if so, would you recommend that approach? Or, does anyone have input on simply replacing the assemblies with projectors? Thanks in advance...

Mine are so bad in the rain at nIght it’s borderline scary. Adding amber fog lites at this time. Thanks for this post.