Changing to LED car headlights

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Changing to LED car headlights.

I have a 1996 Plymouth Voyager mini van. When I bought this used vehicle
about 3 years ago, I was immediately dissatisfied with the headlights.
They just dont illuminate the road properly. And since I do a lot of
night driving on rural roads, I dont feel safe. Especially with deer
darting out onto the roads.

Initially, I polished the headlight clear lens plastic removing all the
cloudyness. Then I adjusted them to factory specs. This helped, but
still did not provide enough light. I then switched the bulbs to those
Sylvania blue high-intensity halogen bulbs. Once again, it was a slight
improvement, but not enough. And those bulbs were costly. Around $50 for
a pair, and they both burned out in less than a year.

I am now looking into replacing the bulbs with LED.

But thats where I get confused. These bulbs are much cheaper, in fact
even cheaper than the standard factory halogens. They are a 9007 bulb.

I looked on Ebay. It appers that the color of most is 6000K, so I assume
that is a standard color. But what gets me is the power rating. I see
some rated at 40 watts, 55 watts, 72 watts and others. Then I see some
rated at 1300 watts, 1500, and 1800. Somehow I do not believe those high
ratings.

So, how do I buy the brightest?

There are a lot of them on Ebay. Most sell for $10 to $30, but some as
much as $100. Of course I know Ebay has ripoff sellers, and some of the
$100 ones are identical to the low dollar ones. Some even come with
build in fans.

How do I select the best and brightest? This is a safety thing, so I am
willing to spend a little more, but if the $10 ones are as good as the
costly ones, that's what I'll buy.

If anyone on here has experience with these bulbs, I could use some
advice. And what's with those 1000 PLUS wattage ratings?

Thanks in advance for all help!
 
On 7/13/19 7:15 PM, Unlisted wrote:
Changing to LED car headlights.

I have a 1996 Plymouth Voyager mini van. When I bought this used vehicle
about 3 years ago, I was immediately dissatisfied with the headlights.
They just dont illuminate the road properly. And since I do a lot of
night driving on rural roads, I dont feel safe. Especially with deer
darting out onto the roads.

Initially, I polished the headlight clear lens plastic removing all the
cloudyness. Then I adjusted them to factory specs. This helped, but
still did not provide enough light. I then switched the bulbs to those
Sylvania blue high-intensity halogen bulbs. Once again, it was a slight
improvement, but not enough. And those bulbs were costly. Around $50 for
a pair, and they both burned out in less than a year.

I am now looking into replacing the bulbs with LED.

But thats where I get confused. These bulbs are much cheaper, in fact
even cheaper than the standard factory halogens. They are a 9007 bulb.

I looked on Ebay. It appers that the color of most is 6000K, so I assume
that is a standard color. But what gets me is the power rating. I see
some rated at 40 watts, 55 watts, 72 watts and others. Then I see some
rated at 1300 watts, 1500, and 1800. Somehow I do not believe those high
ratings.

So, how do I buy the brightest?

There are a lot of them on Ebay. Most sell for $10 to $30, but some as
much as $100. Of course I know Ebay has ripoff sellers, and some of the
$100 ones are identical to the low dollar ones. Some even come with
build in fans.

How do I select the best and brightest? This is a safety thing, so I am
willing to spend a little more, but if the $10 ones are as good as the
costly ones, that's what I'll buy.

If anyone on here has experience with these bulbs, I could use some
advice. And what's with those 1000 PLUS wattage ratings?

Thanks in advance for all help!

the type of LED headlight retrofit you can use depends on the laws of
your state, and just because a particular one says "DOT Approved"
doesn't mean it's actually DOT approved, or that it's legal to use in
your state even if it is
 
Unlisted wrote...
Changing to LED car headlights.

.. what gets me is the power rating. I see some
rated at 40 watts, 55 watts, 72 watts and others.
Then I see some rated at 1300 watts, 1500, and 1800.

I'm guessing the lower ratings may be the actual
consumed power. The higher ratings may be a
claimed equivalent light-output power. These
might be expected to be 5 to 10x higher than
the consumed power. Plus an extra factor of 2
to 3, just to bolster the specs. I'd purchase
a set of the lower-power ratings, as more honest.


--
Thanks,
- Win
 

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