Safe aftermarket LED headlight bulb info, finds and discussion

[danbfree]

Is the TechMax the best option for our reflector housings? I’ve had issues with the kalidescope effect from other expensive LED brands and even 35W HIDs. I’d love to find a LED that’s as good as the H9 mod.

YES! Exactly man, I don't expect everyone to read all the way through this but that's exactly what has been documented here... I used the DeAuto LED's that are $140, the Morimoto 2.0 that are $120 and like 4 other cheapies and the TechMax beats them all in clean cutoff and down the road lack of kaleidoscope effect... I highly recommend BulbFacts.com and their LED chart to see what's out there but indeed, sets that are too bright produce kaleidoscope effect. Also, the Nineo Gen 2 are brighter but seem to have the right design for at least a clean cutoff but we have been unable to convince those who have bought them to post a "down the road" pic, only some wall shots, which do look very clean. Since they are the #1 rated LED on BulbFacts, I'd love to try them out, I just don't have the budget to keep buying more.

Edit: Also, these are the only HID that are actually designed for reflector housings, they work pretty well, there is a review thread of them buried somewhere here but they also put out a bit of kaleidoscope effect too. I tried them but couldn't get them installed right without killing them first and they gave me a refund. http://deautokey.com/category/exterior-lighting-hid-kits-for-reflector-housing

 

[danbfree]

I did the rear license plates, will post up pics of interior later when it gets dark, also one ten pack did all my interior bulbs and the license plates

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00JRE38EA/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I used these

as far as the turn signals I used and they didn't work out
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B079HTPJF2/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Unfortunately it doesn't look like our car uses a blinker relay that we can just replace for using LED's as turn signals so you have to use resistors... Some sets have them built in, but obviously not as cheap.

 

[miguel.in.az]

Been watching and reading up on bulbfacts.com and this thread as well. Ended up pulling the trigger on the techmax kit from amazon. $38 shipped to my door. Love the color and the beam pattern is pretty much dead on.

I'm pretty light sensitive so I've usually been pretty negative towards the thought of LEDs/HIDs in reflector housings.

But my night vision is also shit and we all know the halogens in the stock fiesta lamps suck ass, and OE euro lamps are big $$$. I needed something to improve visibility at night and these LEDs nailed it for me.

 

[TyphoonFiST]

Been watching and reading up on bulbfacts.com and this thread as well. Ended up pulling the trigger on the techmax kit from amazon. $38 shipped to my door. Love the color and the beam pattern is pretty much dead on.

I'm pretty light sensitive so I've usually been pretty negative towards the thought of LEDs/HIDs in reflector housings.

But my night vision is also shit and we all know the halogens in the stock fiesta lamps suck ass, and OE euro lamps are big $$$. I needed something to improve visibility at night and these LEDs nailed it for me.

I also have them and Run the Maxgtrs in my Fogs! Great price...now comes the longevity test....But at $35 a pair WGAF!

 

[miguel.in.az]

I also have them and Run the Maxgtrs in my Fogs! Great price...now comes the longevity test....But at $35 a pair WGAF!

Exactly. Plus a set of halogen bulbs is about that much anyway so may as well get something better for the same money.

 

[ROCKYFiestta]

looks like nineo came out with a cheaper smaller alternative

https://www.amazon.com/NINEO-Headli...7KVZ1J6YFGC&psc=1&refRID=2KTG7PVVS7KVZ1J6YFGC

vs the og nineos
https://www.amazon.com/NINEO-Headli...8AJABGN88N0&psc=1&refRID=4VMT05P1K8AJABGN88N0

you can definitely see the base is smaller so maybe this version will require no cutting of the housing.

 

[danbfree]

looks like nineo came out with a cheaper smaller alternative

https://www.amazon.com/NINEO-Headli...7KVZ1J6YFGC&psc=1&refRID=2KTG7PVVS7KVZ1J6YFGC

vs the og nineos
https://www.amazon.com/NINEO-Headli...8AJABGN88N0&psc=1&refRID=4VMT05P1K8AJABGN88N0

you can definitely see the base is smaller so maybe this version will require no cutting of the housing.

I saw those a while ago on BulbFacts and they are very interesting, slotting in just under the TechMax in overall ranking... My problem with them is that sadly, while being nice and short and being able to use the factory rear covers like many would like to, the small Nineo simply run too hot for my taste. With the rear covers on they will run even hotter and louder while LED's are also sensitive to heat for brightness and life span unlike halogen. At only $30, and with a great color and just about as bright as the TechMax they may be worth replacing every couple of years, but I like having the much cooler TechMax, just my preference...

 

[danbfree]

Been watching and reading up on bulbfacts.com and this thread as well. Ended up pulling the trigger on the techmax kit from amazon. $38 shipped to my door. Love the color and the beam pattern is pretty much dead on.

I'm pretty light sensitive so I've usually been pretty negative towards the thought of LEDs/HIDs in reflector housings.

But my night vision is also shit and we all know the halogens in the stock fiesta lamps suck ass, and OE euro lamps are big $$$. I needed something to improve visibility at night and these LEDs nailed it for me.

Well said... Early LED's were indeed absolutely horrible, they lacked brightness, throw distance and proper cutoff. But newer ones properly designed for reflectors work quite well, despite what the "Impossible for LED's to work safe in reflector housing" think, it's simply not true any more at all and it's disingenuous for them to keep saying it's impossible and spreading that!

That said, there ARE very decent Euro replica housings available for about $325 for the pair shipped, so like half the price of the OEM ones... send me a PM if you're interested in those and I can send you a link to them, they are literally an exact replica with same connector pin layout, LED DRL strip everything.

 

[danbfree]

Almost missed this, but our friend Blaise at BulbFacts did an actual review of the Nineo Gen II that sit on top of all LED's for reflectors... I've mentioned before, a couple of guys here have bought them but haven't posted "down the road" pics to check for kaleidoscope effect, but I have very high hopes they likely do perform well with a very similar stalk design as our budget favorite TechMax here.
https://www.bulbfacts.com/led-kits/reviews/nineo-ii-led-kit-review.html

So, please, with sugar on top, if anyone can afford the extra ~$15 over the TechMax want to try these and post a brief review with a "down the road" pic?

 

[vixenlotus]

Ok i pulled the trigger on the TechMax do folks just insert them and make sure the LEDs are pointed left and right (not vertically) or do folks take the bulb apart to install them. The directions indicate the LED bulb part comes off and is inserted first.
what are folks doing?

 

[TyphoonFiST]

Ok i pulled the trigger on the TechMax do folks just insert them and make sure the LEDs are pointed left and right (not vertically) or do folks take the bulb apart to install them. The directions indicate the LED bulb part comes off and is inserted first.
what are folks doing?

Yes...just make sure the LEDS are @ 9 & 3 !alot of them come that way already ....so plug and play and check!

Sent from my SM-N950U1 using Tapatalk

 

[danbfree]

Ok i pulled the trigger on the TechMax do folks just insert them and make sure the LEDs are pointed left and right (not vertically) or do folks take the bulb apart to install them. The directions indicate the LED bulb part comes off and is inserted first.
what are folks doing?

Nope, literally just plug and play, they don't have any extra module to worry about, just an extra few inches of regular cord compared to a halogen bulb and will go right in with stalk at 12/6 and LED chips at 9/3 by default, you won't have to adjust them at all... If you've never changed H11 bulbs before, you will notice the three ridges have different shapes to align them into the opening and twist a half turn to lock into place while pushing in just a little and they should lock right into perfect position.

 

[vixenlotus]

Ok put theTechMax max in today. I was hoping for better results. I have a very distracting hot spot 20 or so feet out in front of each light and the cut off is not good at all. its very distracting when i drive. Its funny if i try to take a picture of it there looks like a great cut off. i think the camera tries autocorrect for light and it makes it much better than it is. I think i will be pulling these out and putting them into the wife's Forester. I would not recommend TechMax.
And yes the LEDs are pointed at 3 and 9.

 

[ROCKYFiestta]

if you didn't like the techmax I would recommend the nineo or the hikari I use to have the 89$ ones and loved them until one year later one side of the stalk burnt out and I wanted to replace it but at 50$ for just one bulb I went with the techmax on both my st and se fiesta. they look better/cleaner on my st over the se I do notice the hotspot but it doesn't seem to bother that much since I use my bright lights a lot. personally I felt the hikari had a better cutoff but I made due over the price
This is how the 89$ hikari on amazon looked like ( I will note the no longer use the Philips lumileds which is what I have in the pics ) they now use prime led or cree chips I think.

 

[FST BMP]

I purchased a set of TrueLands but the scatter and cutoff was pretty awful so I returned them. Went with the Nineo but decided against them once they arrived due having to dremel the inner ring. Returned those and ended up with the TechMax. Although I do have a shadowed area on the passnesger side, the sheer quality to value was enough for me to keep them. I'm actually running the Nineos as my fogs.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using Tapatalk

 

[ROCKYFiestta]

you just made me miss the heck out of Bojangles chicken sorry off topic. use to live in gville for 2 yrs. miss the nice weather too.

 

[danbfree]

Ok put theTechMax max in today. I was hoping for better results. I have a very distracting hot spot 20 or so feet out in front of each light and the cut off is not good at all. its very distracting when i drive. Its funny if i try to take a picture of it there looks like a great cut off. i think the camera tries autocorrect for light and it makes it much better than it is. I think i will be pulling these out and putting them into the wife's Forester. I would not recommend TechMax.
And yes the LEDs are pointed at 3 and 9.

if you didn't like the techmax I would recommend the nineo or the hikari I use to have the 89$ ones and loved them until one year later one side of the stalk burnt out and I wanted to replace it but at 50$ for just one bulb I went with the techmax on both my st and se fiesta. they look better/cleaner on my st over the se I do notice the hotspot but it doesn't seem to bother that much since I use my bright lights a lot. personally I felt the hikari had a better cutoff but I made due over the price
This is how the 89$ hikari on amazon looked like ( I will note the no longer use the Philips lumileds which is what I have in the pics ) they now use prime led or cree chips I think.

I don't see ANY LED being good enough if the TechMax aren't excellent for you. You obviously are referring to the natural reflector marks that you will see in ANY bulb other than the halogen, which are there too, but too dim to really show. This is why we request an on the road pic too, if you could post one we could see what you are talking about, otherwise, sorry, the TechMax are the very best there is that matches our reflector halogens there is out there. Any other brand will likely have those reflector marks/spots even worse. I'd suggest getting the euro projectors or go back to halogen if that bothers you too much. Some imperfections will always be shown with any bulb brighter than halogen in reflectors. You can always try to turn off the auto processing of the phone camera to get a more accurate shot, but if they don't even show up in a picture and are uniform on both sides, it's the limitations of reflector housings, not an issue with the bulbs.

The Hikari do have a perfect cutoff, but the TechMax are known for being "near" perfect cutoff but you will still see natural reflector hotspots on the roads guaranteed. This is literally the first time anyone has anything bad to say about the TechMax, I would chalk the experience up to expectations in a cheap reflector housing, maybe a slightly dimmer LED but with good cutoff could be less distracting to you, but I got used to mine as being a part of being safer on the road overall.

 

[KKaWing]

I finally tried to fit a set of these guys.

Bulb:


Nightbreaker Unlimited:


CNSUNNYLIGHT Lumiled:


Fitment in passenger side headlight (dust cover fits over top, driver side need to feed bulb in from bottom as fusebox cover prevents going in from side):


Unfortunately my parking neighbour across from me came back after I snapped the pictures so I swapped back to halogens as I couldn't aim the headlights. Looks good for now though.

 

[vixenlotus]

Yea i think i am going to pull out the LEDs and put in H9 bulbs. The pattern using the H9s are perfect and they are much brighter than stock. you just do not get that white light. i am not happy with the TechMax at all.

 

[TyphoonFiST]

Yea i think i am going to pull out the LEDs and put in H9 bulbs. The pattern using the H9s are perfect and they are much brighter than stock. you just do not get that white light. i am not happy with the TechMax at all.

Well...you are in the minority here I'd say as Danbfree has done significant trials with all kinds of bulbs to find the best value for the dollar. I have the Techmax and came from a higher boutique bulb and will say they are an improvement over the one it replaced. Good luck finding another bulb that will meet your standards....you remind me of my Ex- girlfriend....always looking for the white knight in shining armor....she always thought by having a child with me it would solve her depression issues when she can't even take care of herself. Good luck out there....keep your head up and stick on the ice!

Sent from my SM-N950U1 using Tapatalk