Safe aftermarket LED headlight bulb info, finds and discussion

[danbfree]

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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Since I have Lamin-X that can't even stand the heat of stock halogens without discoloring, I can't really use these but I can vouch that these have had wide discussion and group buys etc here on the forum and they are 100% good stuff, if anyone is interested in halogens, which do work really well in the fog lights especially.

 

[danbfree]

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.

What I especially like about these success stories is you still get to use your old LED's with horrible cutoff down in your fog lights where it doesn't matter with a 360 degree reflector.

 

[ROCKYFiestta]

I was able to get h11 led lights on my regular fiesta sedan I found a converter from nokaya I believe they make blue lights and fog light stuff but for the fiesta sedan non-st I used their h11b to h11 conversion harness and it worked well.

 

[jpnovrnghtprts]

I went with the Nineo bulbs myself, no issues with the fog light install however, like most i couldn't get them to fit in the headlight housings. [MENTION=11107]stapleTR0N[/MENTION] what did you use to trim yours?

 

[danbfree]

I went with the Nineo bulbs myself, no issues with the fog light install however, like most i couldn't get them to fit in the headlight housings. [MENTION=11107]stapleTR0N[/MENTION] what did you use to trim yours?

You can use deeply domed covers if you'd like but with the tendency for LED's to be more susceptible to heat as far as brightness and longevity on top of the fact our headlights aren't air tight anyway and very little water gets up in that area you are better off just leaving the rear covers off... I am pretty sure it's 8cm/80mm size we need that I linked to above... The Nineo do run a little warm, can't guarantee how hot they would get completely sealed.... Do you have any pics of the Nineo and how they hit the ground in front of you? Any kaleidoscope effect from being so bright?

 

[jpnovrnghtprts]

You can use deeply domed covers if you'd like but with the tendency for LED's to be more susceptible to heat as far as brightness and longevity on top of the fact our headlights aren't air tight anyway and very little water gets up in that area you are better off just leaving the rear covers off... I am pretty sure it's 8cm/80mm size we need that I linked to above... The Nineo do run a little warm, can't guarantee how hot they would get completely sealed.... Do you have any pics of the Nineo and how they hit the ground in front of you? Any kaleidoscope effect from being so bright?

I haven't driven with them at night yet, i'll let you know how the fogs look when i drive home tonight. I had issues with getting the bulb to fit on the passenger side headlight won't seat properly because of the fan. Not to mention one of the bulbs fans did not work so shipped them back for a replacement. Once i can figure out how to trim some of the plastic on the headlight housing i'll post up photos.

 

[danbfree]

I haven't driven with them at night yet, i'll let you know how the fogs look when i drive home tonight. I had issues with getting the bulb to fit on the passenger side headlight won't seat properly because of the fan. Not to mention one of the bulbs fans did not work so shipped them back for a replacement. Once i can figure out how to trim some of the plastic on the headlight housing i'll post up photos.

I just took a look and saw how it's dimensions are a bit different than most but they are the same exact size as the Hikari and I don't think anyone mentioned any fitment issues with those... but yeah, if you have to you can just use some regular tool kit snippers to trim away some of the edge of the opening if you have to, it really won't hurt anything.

 

[FST BMP]

I'm still in the air about which LEDs I want to purchase. Whichever I choose will be for both my LBs and fogs since I want them to match. I saw these that look relatively new w/ a $6 coupon. Based on some of the pictures, it looks like it has a pretty decent cutoff. I'm between these and the TechMax. These look a slight bit whiter than the TechMax. Also, seems like people have had great customer service with the seller. One of the things that has me on the fence about these is that idk whether or not they'll fit the headlight housings w/(o) trimming as some of the other LEDs (Nineo) What's everyone's input on these?

TrueLand:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B...le_1?smid=APRIX5L4606K8&psc=1#customerReviews

 

[danbfree]

I'm still in the air about which LEDs I want to purchase. Whichever I choose will be for both my LBs and fogs since I want them to match. I saw these that look relatively new w/ a $6 coupon. Based on some of the pictures, it looks like it has a pretty decent cutoff. I'm between these and the TechMax. These look a slight bit whiter than the TechMax. Also, seems like people have had great customer service with the seller. One of the things that has me on the fence about these is that idk whether or not they'll fit the headlight housings w/(o) trimming as some of the other LEDs (Nineo) What's everyone's input on these?

TrueLand:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B...le_1?smid=APRIX5L4606K8&psc=1#customerReviews

Those look to be both too big and also not the proper design to have a good cutoff, I'd definitely stick with the TechMax and looking closely at the pictures do not seem any whiter at all anyway. Honestly the TechMax have the cleanest cutoff of ANY LED's I've tried, a good half dozen including 2 very expensive ones, the Morimoto 2 Stroke 2.0 and DeAutoLED. I've determined it's fine balance between bright enough and too bright on headlights. Remember to check BulbFacts LED Chart and anything above 4200 lux for low beam is going to start distorting from being too bright for our housing. Looking even closer now at the pics, you definitely would need to aim them down a bit too, if they even fit, which doesn't look like it.

Also, I know you want to match your fog lights but as far actual performance you would want a more yellow or at least neutral color there AND since they are full 360 degrees without a cutoff, you can get away with putting any cheapies in there. I put in some $10 4300k AliExpress bulbs to go with my yellow Lamin-X, the only downside is that they do affect radio reception a bit, not a humming just general reception reduction. Sadly, very few LED's are even sold at all through US vendors in this color and the ones there are are fairly expensive. But if you insist on matching exactly, go with TechMax, I even sold my $120 Morimoto's as the Techmax had a far cleaner cutoff... I know this sounds overly simple but if you want to shop around more, look for that bit of diagonal cutouts around the LED chips on the main stalk, that seems to be the key factor in getting the cleanest cutoff available.

 

[FST BMP]

As always, much appreciated for the response! Unfortunately for me, I'm very impatient and purchased them lol I'll try them in 2 days and hopefully they fit lol If not, I'll send them back and just get the TechMax.

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[danbfree]

As always, much appreciated for the response! Unfortunately for me, I'm very impatient and purchased them lol I'll try them in 2 days and hopefully they fit lol If not, I'll send them back and just get the TechMax.

Definitely let us know if they fit and if they do, then a garage door shot or something, I'm curious... Also, keep in mind our entire headlight housings are very cheap to replace, less than $100 each in high quality aftermarket, so a little trimming of the opening here or there is no biggie, the rear covers are pretty much just for appearance purposes, water doesn't work it's way up there and they are far from sealed anyway and LED's unlike halogen are definitely more susceptible to heat.

 

[FST BMP]

Review: TrueLand H11 LED Bulbs. 6000K 10k Lumens (Pair) ~$37 (after $6 coupon off)- From Amazon

Link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07FC7WKGZ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Alright, so this was my first time removing/changing anything Headlight or Fog light related. It was relatively easy, only thing I had a bit of trouble with was the headlight. You really have to give it a good tug to get the headlight housings out and a bit of wiggling to seat the housing properly. Fog lights were easy and straight forward. I just finished this up so it's daytime here in SC so I had to get creative with capturing the light. I initially started right outside the garage with the garage door closed down to right above the hood of the car to minimize the light coming into the garage. The garage is rather long (~20ft?) so after a few attempts I ended up just back the car all the way into the garage and shine the light onto the garage door from inside (~10? from the front of the car to the inside of the garage door). Another option I fiddled around with was whether I wanted the bulbs in the Headlights to be vertical (light going outwards left and right) or horizontal (light going outwards top and bottom). I concluded having the Headlight bulbs being horizontal for a better cutoff and the fog bulbs being vertical to provide a wider range. Overall I'm pretty happy with the results as they are pretty white (6000K seems right) and the cutoff wasn't as good as stock in the long range shots, but definitely a cleaner cut off when shooting short range. I'll keep an eye on people possibly flashing me or not and adjust them accordingly. I'll also drive my gf's car in front of the FiST to see if they need adjusting.

1. TrueLand Package


2. Package Contents


3. Stock Halogen


4. LED Headlights (Vertical Stalk)


5. LED Driver Side Fitment


6. LED Passenger Side Fitment


7. LED Headlights


8. Stock Fogs


9. Drive LED/Passenger Halogen


10. LED Fogs ONLY


11. LED Headlights ONLY


12. LED Headlights/Fogs BOTH


Hopefully that's all the pictures under the correct captions lol

 

[danbfree]

Review: TrueLand H11 LED Bulbs. 6000K 10k Lumens (Pair) ~$37 (after $6 coupon off)- From Amazon

Link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07FC7WKGZ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Alright, so this was my first time removing/changing anything Headlight or Fog light related. It was relatively easy, only thing I had a bit of trouble with was the headlight. You really have to give it a good tug to get the headlight housings out and a bit of wiggling to seat the housing properly. Fog lights were easy and straight forward. I just finished this up so it's daytime here in SC so I had to get creative with capturing the light. I initially started right outside the garage with the garage door closed down to right above the hood of the car to minimize the light coming into the garage. The garage is rather long (~20ft?) so after a few attempts I ended up just back the car all the way into the garage and shine the light onto the garage door from inside (~10? from the front of the car to the inside of the garage door). Another option I fiddled around with was whether I wanted the bulbs in the Headlights to be vertical (light going outwards left and right) or horizontal (light going outwards top and bottom). I concluded having the Headlight bulbs being horizontal for a better cutoff and the fog bulbs being vertical to provide a wider range. Overall I'm pretty happy with the results as they are pretty white (6000K seems right) and the cutoff wasn't as good as stock in the long range shots, but definitely a cleaner cut off when shooting short range. I'll keep an eye on people possibly flashing me or not and adjust them accordingly. I'll also drive my gf's car in front of the FiST to see if they need adjusting.

1. 1 TrueLand Package
https://imgur.com/RnzU8Ud

Keep in mind that when using 2 sided LED's the stalk always goes vertical so the chips are at the 9 and 3 position. To be blunt, setting tehm horizontally so the chips are at the 12 and 6 position is simply incorrect and will not reflect properly, same with fog lights especially, they will shoot straight up instead... Also, install one side first and test to see how much higher the cutoff is compared to the stock side and use the adjustment screw to lower them to stock level, put the other side in and repeat. Thanks for taking the time to post and I can see you are adding pics, looking forward to seeing the results!

 

[FST BMP]

Keep in mind that when using 2 sided LED's the stalk always goes vertical so the chips are at the 9 and 3 position. To be blunt, setting tehm horizontally so the chips are at the 12 and 6 position is simply incorrect and will not reflect properly, same with fog lights especially, they will shoot straight up instead... Also, install one side first and test to see how much higher the cutoff is compared to the stock side and use the adjustment screw to lower them to stock level, put the other side in and repeat. Thanks for taking the time to post and I can see you are adding pics, looking forward to seeing the results!

Thank you for the clarification! I'll have to leave the headlights as they are right now, but I'll change them to a 9/3 position tomorrow since I don't have time today. Hopefully this has been helpful. I'm pretty happy with the results although I know the cutoff isn't as great as some of the previously mentioned LEDs. I wish I would've gotten a stock shot from inside the garage onto the door to get a comparison.

 

[danbfree]

Review: TrueLand H11 LED Bulbs. 6000K 10k Lumens (Pair) ~$37 (after $6 coupon off)- From Amazon

Link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07FC7WKGZ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Alright, so this was my first time removing/changing anything Headlight or Fog light related. It was relatively easy, only thing I had a bit of trouble with was the headlight. You really have to give it a good tug to get the headlight housings out and a bit of wiggling to seat the housing properly. Fog lights were easy and straight forward. I just finished this up so it's daytime here in SC so I had to get creative with capturing the light. I initially started right outside the garage with the garage door closed down to right above the hood of the car to minimize the light coming into the garage. The garage is rather long (~20ft?) so after a few attempts I ended up just back the car all the way into the garage and shine the light onto the garage door from inside (~10? from the front of the car to the inside of the garage door). Another option I fiddled around with was whether I wanted the bulbs in the Headlights to be vertical (light going outwards left and right) or horizontal (light going outwards top and bottom). I concluded having the Headlight bulbs being horizontal for a better cutoff and the fog bulbs being vertical to provide a wider range. Overall I'm pretty happy with the results as they are pretty white (6000K seems right) and the cutoff wasn't as good as stock in the long range shots, but definitely a cleaner cut off when shooting short range. I'll keep an eye on people possibly flashing me or not and adjust them accordingly. I'll also drive my gf's car in front of the FiST to see if they need adjusting.

(pics redacted for space)

OK, now finally seeing all the pics, they look great in general although I am now a little confused now as pic 4 you say that the stalks are vertical with chips at 9/3 position? This is really bugging me as that makes no sense as to why it would have such horrible glare above the cutoff, usually that's what happens when you have stalk horizontal, chips at 12/6... otherwise yeah, pics 7 and 11 is the same and looks to have excellent cutoff, but you do need to re-aim them down: From the top of that 2nd garage door seam to half way between the first and 2nd. See how the fogs come to the top of the first door seam in pic 10? Just have the headlights aimed to halfway above that line, exactly between seams 1 and 2... but again, the cutoff itself is very clean, you will be good to go after that re-aim! Great thorough pics!

 

[Fistpoundin]

Just got and installed the Techmax and the Alla or whatever 3k foglight set. I’ll post some photos and links so you guys know what exact ones.

First impression is WOW, super impressed with the color of the techmax lights. Super clean looking and crisp. The Alla lights are also a great yellow color. I’ll be driving soon so I’ll report back with the visual update.


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[danbfree]

Just got and installed the Techmax and the Alla or whatever 3k foglight set. I’ll post some photos and links so you guys know what exact ones.

First impression is WOW, super impressed with the color of the techmax lights. Super clean looking and crisp. The Alla lights are also a great yellow color. I’ll be driving soon so I’ll report back with the visual update.

Glad you like the TechMax! Are these the ones you got for fogs? https://smile.amazon.com/Alla-Lighting-Xtreme-Bright-H11/dp/B07F9BW95T/ OR these? https://smile.amazon.com/Alla-Lighting-H11-Illumination-Replacement/dp/B07GTC42CL/

 

[Fistpoundin]

Alla Lighting 2800lm Xtreme Super Bright H11 LED Bulbs Fog Light High Illumination COB-72 LED H11 Bulb H8 H16 H11 Fog Lights Lamp Replacement - 3000K Amber Yellow https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07G5VLVNM/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_-HuECb0DMKS5N

went with these. The stock fog housings are really a joke. I’m going to have to get some morrimoto replacements eventually.





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[danbfree]

Alla Lighting 2800lm Xtreme Super Bright H11 LED Bulbs Fog Light High Illumination COB-72 LED H11 Bulb H8 H16 H11 Fog Lights Lamp Replacement - 3000K Amber Yellow https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07G5VLVNM/

went with these. The stock fog housings are really a joke. I’m going to have to get some morrimoto replacements eventually.

Yeah, the stock housings really are, at least those will be good for a bit of close up "pedestrian" lighting and good looks, you can't go too bright since they just shoot everywhere, so a good pick for now.

 

[FST BMP]

After all of this rain, I just saw condensation in my fog housing. I think this just started happening when I installed the LED bulbs. They're pretty snug. Anyone else have this issue?

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