Car Lighting

Can we have a thread dedicated to all things lighting for cars?

Do you have any mods or aftermarket lighting?
I'm thinking of getting an LED upgrade but don't know where to start.

My current stock lights aren't bright enough, and I have to polish them once every other month to get rid of that yellowing. I read online that LED's are cooler so they won't cause the lenses to yellow as quickly.

Some of the stuff I see on youtube is pretty cool, these rotating effect ones are dope: youtu.be/2IgXPXloCEs

Anyway, lighting thread!

CAPTCHA:
Select all squares with vehicles

Swapping LED into what type of lamp?

All aftermarket headlights are shit. I have yet to see an exception to this rule. Halos are gay on anything but BMWs and even then are cop bait. LED *bulbs* are cooler but there's some component with them that runs super hot IIRC. My advice? Halogens, perhaps new OEM housings if yours are that aged, and proper headlight aiming.

What does it feel like having bad taste?

Would this pass inspection in Europe?

>What type of lamp
I'm an idiot and I don't know what you mean.
Are you asking if it's the headlight assembly or tail light assembly? Sorry.

>All aftermarket headlights are shit.
Ok, I knew that was a sentiment; are there any that are less shit?
>Halos are gay on anything but BMWs and even then are cop bait.
You might have a point.
>My advice? Halogens
Any particular ones? I was debating between LED and Halogen but Halogen requires a little more assembly and an additional ballast, but if it's better then it's worth it, I guess.

You're thinking of HID. Halogens are just like incandescents, but slightly brighter. Just don't touch the bulb glass.

Nah

Wheels too big (unless TÜV-certified or approved in a VIN-specific letter from the factory/licensed modifier)
Same for lifting
Wheels stick out
Green lights not legal
Big LED-bar will not be legal
Small LED-bar might be legal if E-marked and mounted with another one besides it. They will also have to fit within the total amount of lux-value

Headlight

As in what LED are you putting into what headlight

>press button press button

>driving at night
>some asshole in a truck with LED lamps
>blasts hi-beams into my cabin
>can't see shit
>glare from all 3 mirrors literally prevents me from driving
>duck and attempt to merge to the left
>fucker zooms past me

Aftermarket LED headlights need to be made illegal.

I have aftermarket headlights and taillights, the tails are cob led's and the headlights are led projectors with halo rings

and the headlights

>semi truck appears from behind with bad led/hid retrofit kit
>jiggle jiggle jiggle

I'm pretty sure the previous owner installed aftermarket lights in the footwells. Among the many things to check when I get around to it.

It's super ricey and thrilling at the same time.

That's sweet user that's for sharing. I really like the back ones.

That's for correcting me, you're right the video I watched was between LED and HID not Halogen.

Nope. All aftermarket headlights are equally shit. Just keep it stock and buy new oem housings if they're super faded.

Anyone know of legit halo lamps for motorcycles? All I can find online are super chinky ones that you need to cycle power to 3 times every time you want to use them because they were too stupid to add proper control wiring for flashing high and low

>what LED
I'm not sure, any suggestions? How does one pick? Just based on budget, needs, and brand?
>what headlight
OEM for a hyundai tiburon

I recommend getting a good headlight polish and new high-quality bulb

LED kits work, but they cause a lot of glare for oncoming traffic, and are often impossible to adjust properly. You will need a projector to make it work nicely

I have an 01 Shadow and the headlight sucks when you're living in the boonies. I regularly ride an hour through deer county at night and I won't go to a triple light setup. I tried a high output bulb (Sylvania silverstar Sp? So I want to swap the light for an led or add a switched led light bar to the forks. Anything to add some visibility. Thoughts?

The fucking second worst.. first being bro-truck with pure fucking blue HID in reflector lens.

But I wanna complicate things for the sake of vanity.

Ok thanks for the reasonable advice.

...

...

...

Check out www.xenondepot.com for good shit. 2 year warranty on their LED kits and 3 year on their HID. They've been in business for 16 years, they're trusted for this immensely.

I have their H11 Xtreme LED Kit in my Camry and it's an improvement over Halogen, but not as good as HID. If you're looking for best performance, go HID, but for nicest looking color, go LED.

Pic related, mine on the right. The left ones are my stock 9005 High beam/DRLs. I'll be switching those over to LED next month when XD has their Black Friday sale. (They give 30% off I think on BF if I remember correctly from last year).

MAKE SURE YOU AIM THE HEADLIGHTS CORRECTLY. they should never be more than 1.5 ft off the ground at a wall.

People will bitch that LED is bright, and it is but it's because people don't aim them properly. Also stock halogen projectors will not be as good as an actual retrofit kit from (retrofitsource.com or something) but it'll be good enough if you don't want to spend $1000 doing it "right".

Don't you dare put LEDs in your car if they're going into reflective housings though, for the low beams. Your shit will blind everyone that way.

I never use my high beams so I was thinking of getting some super bright bulbs to replace them. Should I get the off road only halogens or LEDs?

What kind of ADD drugs do you take user?

Also read up on your state laws, some states don't even allow any modifications from factory. My province states that as long as the lights are aimed correctly and are not more than 300 candela on the front, and that the colours are white and amber (yellow) you're fine. Things that aren't okay is people being stupid as shit with LEDs in reflectors and fire catching HID kits.

You should look into a light bar perhaps if you want a lot of light for something like tail gating or whatnot. Otherwise yeah off road halogens (they'll have a shorter life span) or LEDs will be very bright. Side you don't use your high beams I guess you could technically go with HIDs for that because you don't use them meaning you won't need to flash people. HIDs take some time to warm up so they're not recommended for high beam or DRL usage in case you need to flash someone on the road or quickly light up the road to avoid something.

What? None user :( never been diagnosed

Acktchually the proper way to aim projectors is to have the car on a flat surface aiming at a wall that is 25 feet away. You measure the height from the ground to the center of the projector lense, and then put a piece of tape on the wall youre aiming at with your headlights at the same measured height. From there you just adjust the cutoff so it is level with the tape and youre good to go. Obviously if youre in a lifted brotruck or whatever the fuck this wont work but for everyone else it will. The key point is that the light cutoff is level with or below the center of the lense.

Like this dude said, dont be a raging faggot cunt and put HIDs in a stock housing. Either have a custom retrofit headlight set built for you, or accept the fact you are limited to pleb halogen bulbs in your pleb reflector housing.

HIDs are terrible for flashing, but you could simply use your fogs or blip your normal headlights to convey the same message.

Alternatively, if you have bixenon projector headlights, you can flash to your hearts content, since the headlights and highbeams use the same bulb and a moving cutoff bar to adjust light dispersion.

What he said about how to measure is right, there are plenty of videos and forum posts with pictures though for you to see how to do it too

Didn't know that's how those worked, interesting

I don't even have fogs, I'm waiting for the VLED Tritons to come in stock so I can switch out my amber parking lights (bottom of pic) for the switchbacks

>light bar
I'd love to but I don't know how to make it look good on an econoshitbox.
My fog lights are shit so maybe I'll look into replacing them with small light bars.

what car is it? If the front grill has enough clearance inside the bumper you could mount it there. Provided the grill has like mesh so they light can pass through though. Some people cut into their bumpers at the front top and mount the lights there. Best option is usually the roof, but lots of states mandate there's a cover on the light at all times when you're on road.

02 Alero. It's got a little room in the grill. I'll get some measurements tomorrow I think.

Should be good

Tbh this.

Use to work for a towing company, lots of accidents caused at night are because "I couldn't see with those fucking blue lights in my mirrors".

Its bad enough every dumbshit with a diesel pickup feels like he has to lift it to where his headlights are eye level with everyone else.

...

what state is that legal in?

I’ve done a few sets of retrofits on 06-11 Civics. never anything super elaborate, just Mini H1s and blacking out the reflector bowls. I’m thinking about doing a quad Mini H1 setup in my 2004 Grand Cherokee but it’s pretty low on the list for that vehicle at the moment.

on this truck I’ve currently just got the 3 LEDs mounted in the grille with an aluminum bracket a friend made and some 3/4” clearance lights I got from a Peterbilt dealership, and I’ve got JW Speaker LED fog lights. the factory HIDs are some weak ass Hellas with 35w D3S bulbs but the Hella EVOX-R projector literally drops right into the place of the stock projector, and then I can run a badass 55w D2S setup with some Osrams. so that’s another someday project.