Safe aftermarket LED headlight bulb info, finds and discussion

[danbfree]

pics of the morimoto 2stroke 2.0.

i just replaced one of the bulbs with a techmax bulb. side by side you can tell it’s bluer then the morimoto, but not by much imo. it’s essientally the same size as well, the heat sink might be .5-1mm wider, but it’s such a small difference, and there’s more then enough clearance in the housing that it doesn’t matter. the beam pattern looks better and there is less of the kaleidoscope effect. i’ll get a few pics tomorrow.

Thanks for sharing! As far as width, yeah, we know that the Morimoto are only 27mm wide and the TechMax are 30mm wide and both fit just fine. 32mm wide is the limit and will BARELY fit without trimming if the heatsink is longer than 35mm or so, if shorter then they will fit within the housing and width is not an issue, this is the case with the other 4 out of 5 in the BulbFacts Amazon top 5 ... I'm glad to hear I'm not crazy and we are seeing that the TechMax actually work better for our car, other than the bluer output, as they are 4100 lux and the Morimoto 4320 I believe... Still waiting to see a street shot of the Nineo, which are 4830 lux I think, to see if it has kaleidoscope effect even worse, which would help prove my theory that these housings can handle only a max of 4200 lux properly or if it's an actual LED placement design issue.

Also interesting, is that your aim seems slightly high maybe, I use other modern cars with projectors that I can see their cutoff height and try to mimic that, but they look a little better than mine with bent anti-glare caps at least!

 

[jfv302]

Also interesting, is that your aim seems slightly high maybe, I use other modern cars with projectors that I can see their cutoff height and try to mimic that, but they look a little better than mine with bent anti-glare caps at least!

so the general cutoff is aimed slightly lower then what it was from the factory. however, the hot spot extends above the general cutoff. so the hotspot extends slightly above where the halogen cutoff was.

so below is the techmax vs the morimoto. side by side you can tell that the techmax more blue vs the morimoto. i think it would be hard to tell the difference when viewed separately (eg when swapping out headlights).

the techmax has less of a kaleidoscope effect, which ends up putting more light on the road, at least within the range of the bulb. my only complaint is the color temp, which is subjective.

the techmax gets a thumbs up from me, especially at its price point.

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[danbfree]

so the general cutoff is aimed slightly lower then what it was from the factory. however, the hot spot extends above the general cutoff. so the hotspot extends slightly above where the halogen cutoff was.

so below is the techmax vs the morimoto. side by side you can tell that the techmax more blue vs the morimoto. i think it would be hard to tell the difference when viewed separately (eg when swapping out headlights).

the techmax has less of a kaleidoscope effect, which ends up putting more light on the road, at least within the range of the bulb. my only complaint is the color temp, which is subjective.

the techmax gets a thumbs up from me, especially at its price point.

Looks great! Yeah, you did good, just re-aiming slightly down on the TechMax is perfect, BulbFacts does say "near perfect" that shouldn't need it, but indeed if the hotspot is higher than with halogen that's all you gotta do is aim down just a bit and it won't effect overall effectiveness. In fact, I think I have mine a bit too low right now.

I assume on the 2 bottom road pics that top one is Morimoto on driver side, TechMax is passenger side and bottom is both TechMax with less kaleidoscope effect? I don't think it makes for less light on the road as much as it is definitely less distracting at least, but either way I agree TechMax is definitely a better match for our housings.

 

[jfv302]

lol i forgot to mention that. the driver side is the techmax. neither pic shows the difference very well. i’ll try to get some better pics


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[Flaco]

Received my TechMax LED's today. Installed them and did a quick alignment. The RH needed just a little down. So these are an improvement over the Sealights I bought back in August. Much better cut off although not perfect, and much less scatter. Sealights will be relegated to my wifes Ford Escape (fogs).

 

[averyislost]

Received my TechMax LED's today. Installed them and did a quick alignment. The RH needed just a little down. So these are an improvement over the Sealights I bought back in August. Much better cut off although not perfect, and much less scatter. Sealights will be relegated to my wifes Ford Escape (fogs).

Nice! I have the Sealights installed now so I'd love to relegate those to fog light duty on the Fiesta knowing that the TechMax is much better!
How is the fitment on them? I'm really wanting to run the stock rear cover with the TechMax like I did with the Sealights. Are you able to run the stock rear covers?

 

[danbfree]

Received my TechMax LED's today. Installed them and did a quick alignment. The RH needed just a little down. So these are an improvement over the Sealights I bought back in August. Much better cut off although not perfect, and much less scatter. Sealights will be relegated to my wifes Ford Escape (fogs).

Glad you like the TechMax, they really are the best ones overall for our cars and are pretty cheap! The passenger side/RH light is supposed to be a touch higher since it is the curb side, but no biggie... I'd like to see some before and after pics of the "scatter", but a little glare is not only normal, it is completely intentional to help light up signs ahead.

 

[danbfree]

Nice! I have the Sealights installed now so I'd love to relegate those to fog light duty on the Fiesta knowing that the TechMax is much better!
How is the fitment on them? I'm really wanting to run the stock rear cover with the TechMax like I did with the Sealights. Are you able to run the stock rear covers?

No, they don't quite fit, it was shown earlier in the thread but you can try the pass-through ones for the LED heatsink to hang out the back or cut just a little circular amount out of the stock ones... but no, they REALLY aren't needed, the housing is not air tight to begin with and any water that gets in there evaporates out, which I've never seen running without rear covers for 3 years now including my car before the FiST in one of the rainiest states in the country... But honestly for all you guys who absolutely must have their rear covers on then I'd suggest sticking with halogens or going with the Euro projectors, which can be had pretty cheap as long as you can wait 6 weeks for quality aftermarket to arrive... Also, the stock housings are also cheap to replace, something like $80, in a quality aftermarket. Just up to you to balance the see better vs. cost vs. maybe having to wash out the factory housings. to me they are just too cheap and crappy to worry about water getting in, which I've still never seen.

 

[Flaco]

Nice! I have the Sealights installed now so I'd love to relegate those to fog light duty on the Fiesta knowing that the TechMax is much better!
How is the fitment on them? I'm really wanting to run the stock rear cover with the TechMax like I did with the Sealights. Are you able to run the stock rear covers?

The fitment of the bulb or the fan end on the passenger side is up against the housing and does not allow for the dust cover to completely seat on that side. If your just looking at the headlamp assembly installed you would never notice the dust cover isn't completely seated.

 

[Flaco]

Glad you like the TechMax, they really are the best ones overall for our cars and are pretty cheap! The passenger side/RH light is supposed to be a touch higher since it is the curb side, but no biggie... I'd like to see some before and after pics of the "scatter", but a little glare is not only normal, it is completely intentional to help light up signs ahead.

After driving with TechMax for several days now "scatter' was not the right word to use. There is a small shadow in the beam on the RH side about 10 feet or so in front of the car just at the whiteline. Have not have time to investigate what it is lens or... ? I'm happy with the beam width it lights the lane sides very well. The beam distance is of course better than the halogens and the Sealights. And after 4 days no one has flashed me

 

[Business6]

I've had the Techmax in for 6 months or so and have yet to have a single person flash me which is funny because with the stock halogens that wasn't the case. I'm certain I aimed them too low but it's right in that spot where they're still fully functional but not high enough to be a problem. Given the intensity of LEDs I'd rather it be in this spot

 

[danbfree]

After driving with TechMax for several days now "scatter' was not the right word to use. There is a small shadow in the beam on the RH side about 10 feet or so in front of the car just at the whiteline. Have not have time to investigate what it is lens or... ? I'm happy with the beam width it lights the lane sides very well. The beam distance is of course better than the halogens and the Sealights. And after 4 days no one has flashed me

I hear you, no matter what bulb we use in those housings, there is distortion involved with simply how the reflective mirrors are by nature, it's just that a weak halogen isn't likely to bright enough to bring that out. When it's from the bulbs being clearly too bright that the distortions are at very sharp angles, I call that the "kaleidoscope effect", but so far TechMax are the brightest ones with the least amount of distortion, still waiting to see how the Nineo look.

 

[ROCKYFiestta]

anybody run this one or is running hid not led just for a comparison.
its on sale and was wondering if anybody has pulled the trigger I was contemplating trying their led instead but wanted to see if there is a good difference between the two
https://www.xenondepot.com/H11-HID-Kit-Xtreme-HID-p/xt-h11.htm vs https://www.xenondepot.com/H11-Xtreme-LED-kit-pro-p/xt-led-h11-pro.htm

one of the reasons also I am considering is that I can get the 5k pure white light over the bluish one I currently have.

 

[danbfree]

anybody run this one or is running hid not led just for a comparison.
its on sale and was wondering if anybody has pulled the trigger I was contemplating trying their led instead but wanted to see if there is a good difference between the two
https://www.xenondepot.com/H11-HID-Kit-Xtreme-HID-p/xt-h11.htm vs https://www.xenondepot.com/H11-Xtreme-LED-kit-pro-p/xt-led-h11-pro.htm

one of the reasons also I am considering is that I can get the 5k pure white light over the bluish one I currently have.

The only HID set that's made for reflectors is the DeAuto LED, it is the only one that is the proper length/filament spot as halogen and is also 5000k. I had ordered it but had problems getting them installed properly and returned them, but another review shows they work well but do have a bit of rainbow effect along the cutoff.

Review

To purchase - Use BULB10 for 10% off.

 

[ROCKYFiestta]

How about their Led version from that same company it also appears to be one of the few selections in the 5k ranged just curious if you or anybody else has personal experience with them. a few pics would be even sweeter.

 

[danbfree]

How about their Led version from that same company it also appears to be one of the few selections in the 5k ranged just curious if you or anybody else has personal experience with them. a few pics would be even sweeter.

Yes, Xenon Depot are definitely among those that I'd like to try, but after looking closer I wouldn't be surprised if they perform very similar to the Morimoto 2.0, very similar design, same LED's used and power consumption, but in a passive cooled package... I'm running the Morimoto's, as they were gifted to me, but honestly, for $35 TechMax actually works slightly better but at a more bluish color temp. It all comes back to our housing only handling so much light output properly... But also, if the claimed actual output of 1900 Lumen per side with the Xenon Depot is accurate and is 3800 per pair, that would be slightly lower output of the TechMax at 4100, although Lux and Lumens are different measurements so really can't compare exactly... They should perform well, again, likely very close to the Morimoto but would still love to test them personally, of course.

 

[averyislost]

Thank you to [MENTION=819]Flaco[/MENTION] and [MENTION=9500]danbfree[/MENTION], I ended up ordering the TechMax and using the Sealights for fog light duty and the light output now is phenomenal! The cutoff is much better than the Sealights as [MENTION=819]Flaco[/MENTION] mentioned with the Techmax. I'll have to do some more back-road driving to really see how they do, but so far I'm impressed with the capability of these bulbs to match the cutoff and glare of the stock halogens while providing much more light.

 

[Intervention302]

FWIW, my friend has some custom 1,500 lumen high output halogen fog lamps that he sells. No issues with scatter really or issues with extra heat hurting the housing

I have a set in my FiST and love them. Have sold a few sets with great success so far

$45 shipped

 

[mindmaster]

FWIW, my friend has some custom 1,500 lumen high output halogen fog lamps that he sells. No issues with scatter really or issues with extra heat huting the housing

I have a set in my FiST and love them. Have sold a few sets with great success so far

$45 shipped

View attachment 19556

Where to buy?

 

[Intervention302]

Where to buy?

Shoot me a PM. Really just a side hobby my friend and I do


We started off by offering high quality yellow fogs to the RS community. It grew unexpectedly with more than 150+ orders sent out

Limited run on these boosted low beams.


Life expectancy will be on the shorter side, but I've got 15k miles with them and no issues thus far. To me, it's an honest upgrade over the stock bulbs

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