Group Buy on LED Headlights, from VintageCarLEDs.com Options

[db9146]

Folks,

A couple of weeks ago, I started looking for some LED headlights. There are a lot on eBay - some with different lenses, some with very funky lenses, and some that are just bulbs.

I have Hella H4s in my -6 and wanted to stay with a stock look yet upgrade my headlights to the same Kelvin color range as the Euro LED turn signal package I got from Spoke a while back (very nice, BTW). I wanted the white of the headlights to match the running lights in the bottom of the front markers. A color of about 6000K was what I was looking for.

After some research and reading some on the board here, I contacted VintagecarLEDs.com and told Thomas what I was looking for. Since I had the H4s with the glass lenses (and I really wanted to stay with them), he suggested that I look at his VC4000s and that if those sounded like what I wanted, he could sell me just the bulbs. Sounded good so I ordered a set.

They shipped quickly and I got them installed before my trip up to the Okteenerfest. They went in easy (not any more than changing an H4 bulb besides the mounting of the small black box with the electronics) and plugged into the stock headlight wiring so no "difficult to undo" mod required. Additionally, the bulbs have an adjustable ring that changes the orientation of the bulb in the housing so when I was installing mine, I looked carefully at the stock H4 bulb and noted the orientation of the bulb element to the three -prong mounting ring that goes into the back of the housing. I then loosened the tiny allen set screw and adjusted the LED bulb to a similar "1 o'clock" position and installed them. The resulting beam had the same pattern as with the original bulbs - no need to even adjust the headlights.



Wow, what a difference. I agree with others on the board here. They work great and really improve night vision as well as lessening the load on the electrical system. I had several guys at Okteenerfest ask me about them so I contacted Thomas and he graciously agreed to offer 10% discount to all 914World member who order from 9/30/16 - 10/14/16. If you want to take advantage, just go to

https://vintagecarleds.com/

and when you're checking out, use the code "914WORLD" (all caps).

Here are some pics.

[Mblizzard]

Did not see just a bulb option. I have the good H4 enclosures as well and could just use bulbs. How much were they?

[gandalf_025]

Not that many will care, but these aren't DOT legal for the street...

Just saying....

[Bartlett 914]

I am running them also. Real nice!

[Mblizzard]

The issue with H4s is not necessarily related to this bulb. The US/DOT requirement is that the H4 beam aim must not change when a bulb is replaced. The beam can easily change if a low quality replacement bulb is installed, because in a poorly made bulb, the filament is often improperly positioned. Of course the LED issue just makes that beam change issue potentially more complex. But most of these issues can be addressed by proper bulbs and adjustment of the head lamp.

A bit of a silly requirement if the beam aim can be addressed by proper adjustment.

[gereed75]

what bulb and or kit is required??

[shadygrady]

I just ordered a set. Hope mine turn out as well as yours, Dee

[Chris914n6]

Post pics of the beam pattern at night. There is no way for the LED bulbs to keep the same focal point as a filament. Might be ok, might actually be a downgrade aside from the color and lumens.

I put HID retrofit bulbs in H4 housings in a OHV. The filament shape changes from a grain of rice to a pea, but made no noticeable change to the light pattern.

You can buy 5-6000k color regular bulbs in 55w, 80w and 100w that will work as the housing was designed.

[gandalf_025]

Found this.....


Insurance Company now asking "do you have illegal HID lights?" when their customers are at fault


I was chatting with my insurance agent.

He was was saying that their claim adjusters started asking about "aftermarket" or "illegal" lighting during the claim process. This appears to be new and started around July of this year. It's one of the three big insurance companies, at least one of the three that does the most TV commercials nationally.

Let's say you got hit by their customer, they will try to determine if your illegal lighting impaired their client's vision just before the crash. Apparently, in at least 5 U.S. states, having illegal HID lighting will result your claim against their client to be denied. (EVEN IF IT DOES NOT DIRECTLY CONTRIBUTE TO THE CRASH) He explained the concept of contributory negligence... if you're even 1% at fault, by having the illegal HID lighting, they are not legally to pay your claim. In the other 45 states, they are legally required to determine the claim base on the amount of "blame"(30/70, 50/50, 10/90, for example) By definitely, ALL aftermarket HID lighting are illegal. There is no know DOT approved retrofit HID kits. The only exception may be if your car can be ordered with HID lights and you buy all the original factory parts and install them in that specific vehicle.

Obviously, this will have no bearing in rear-end case... but in all case where the other at-fault can see your headlight, it may pose a problem depending on the insurance company and/or adjuster. (especially in those 5 states, including DC, Maryland, Virginia... I forgot the other two he mentioned) Insurance companies trying to find laws that will help them avoid paying on a claim... shocking, isn't it?

Note: This is absolutely not legal advice. I'm just sharing what the insurance agent chatted with me during a casual conversation. He has been an insurance agent for almost 30 years with the same company.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Insurance companies looking for ways out of paying claims in nothing new. I've heard of cases where rear end accidents where the car that was rear ended had tinted tail lights was actually deemed at fault and where the insurance company wouldn't cover repairs to the car with tinted lights.

[db9146]

The VC4000s are a glass lens, Hella H4 copy that comes with the LED bulbs for those with sealed beam headlights now, according to Thomas. These are $209 minus the 10%.

As I said, if you already have H$ headlights, then you can email or call Thomas and he will sell you the LED bulbs to use in your housings for $149 minus 10%. This is what I bought.

I have no financial interest in this. In fact, I have already bought mine at the $149 price so its not like I'm even going to be able to take advantage of the group buy that I asked him for. But, every now and then, I find a product (like these bulbs or the BlazeCut fire suppression system) that I like enough to bring to the attention of my fellow 'teeners for your benefit as well.

[db9146]

The issue with H4s is not necessarily related to this bulb. The US/DOT requirement is that the H4 beam aim must not change when a bulb is replaced. The beam can easily change if a low quality replacement bulb is installed, because in a poorly made bulb, the filament is often improperly positioned. Of course the LED issue just makes that beam change issue potentially more complex. But most of these issues can be addressed by proper bulbs and adjustment of the head lamp.

A bit of a silly requirement if the beam aim can be addressed by proper adjustment.

Mike, good point and that was a concern of mine as I have tried using LED bulbs as replacements in some bikes I have owned. But these LED bulbs come with an adjustable mounting ring (the 3-prong plate on the back of the bulb) so that if you consider the orientation of the element your stock bulbs, you can easily adjust the new LED bulbs to the identical orientation (I added an explanation to my original post above). I found that this results in a beam pattern with the LEDs that is essentially unchanged from the stock H4 beam. I didn't have to adjust my headlights at all.

[Mblizzard]

Found this.....


Insurance Company now asking "do you have illegal HID lights?" when their customers are at fault


I was chatting with my insurance agent.

He was was saying that their claim adjusters started asking about "aftermarket" or "illegal" lighting during the claim process. This appears to be new and started around July of this year. It's one of the three big insurance companies, at least one of the three that does the most TV commercials nationally.

Let's say you got hit by their customer, they will try to determine if your illegal lighting impaired their client's vision just before the crash. Apparently, in at least 5 U.S. states, having illegal HID lighting will result your claim against their client to be denied. (EVEN IF IT DOES NOT DIRECTLY CONTRIBUTE TO THE CRASH) He explained the concept of contributory negligence... if you're even 1% at fault, by having the illegal HID lighting, they are not legally to pay your claim. In the other 45 states, they are legally required to determine the claim base on the amount of "blame"(30/70, 50/50, 10/90, for example) By definitely, ALL aftermarket HID lighting are illegal. There is no know DOT approved retrofit HID kits. The only exception may be if your car can be ordered with HID lights and you buy all the original factory parts and install them in that specific vehicle.

Obviously, this will have no bearing in rear-end case... but in all case where the other at-fault can see your headlight, it may pose a problem depending on the insurance company and/or adjuster. (especially in those 5 states, including DC, Maryland, Virginia... I forgot the other two he mentioned) Insurance companies trying to find laws that will help them avoid paying on a claim... shocking, isn't it?

Note: This is absolutely not legal advice. I'm just sharing what the insurance agent chatted with me during a casual conversation. He has been an insurance agent for almost 30 years with the same company.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Insurance companies looking for ways out of paying claims in nothing new. I've heard of cases where rear end accidents where the car that was rear ended had tinted tail lights was actually deemed at fault and where the insurance company wouldn't cover repairs to the car with tinted lights.

Again not legal advice in any way. But I do see problems with that approach. First, DOT approval of lighting only applies to manufacture certification that that the items meet certain standards. That is the extent of the DOT requirements.

Now specific states may have other requirements but DOT approved lights or DOT unapproved lights alone are not the basis for denying a claim. This DOT approval applies to manufacture certifications only. Certainly in our age of insurance companies being completely worthless and the number of law suites filed it is nothing to ignore but we should all question any information provided from an insurance company.

[tomeric914]

FWIW, we bought these specifically for OLOA2016 where most of our driving was done at night and they were FANTASTIC. They are also DOT approved.

http://www.ebay.com/bhp/truck-lite-led-headlight

[87m491]

Duly noted, don't get into an accident at night! Unless of course you might also have nonstandard tires, brakes, engine exaust etc. No telling what they might try not to pay for...

Found this.....


Insurance Company now asking "do you have illegal HID lights?" when their customers are at fault


I was chatting with my insurance agent.

He was was saying that their claim adjusters started asking about "aftermarket" or "illegal" lighting during the claim process. This appears to be new and started around July of this year. It's one of the three big insurance companies, at least one of the three that does the most TV commercials nationally.

Let's say you got hit by their customer, they will try to determine if your illegal lighting impaired their client's vision just before the crash. Apparently, in at least 5 U.S. states, having illegal HID lighting will result your claim against their client to be denied. (EVEN IF IT DOES NOT DIRECTLY CONTRIBUTE TO THE CRASH) He explained the concept of contributory negligence... if you're even 1% at fault, by having the illegal HID lighting, they are not legally to pay your claim. In the other 45 states, they are legally required to determine the claim base on the amount of "blame"(30/70, 50/50, 10/90, for example) By definitely, ALL aftermarket HID lighting are illegal. There is no know DOT approved retrofit HID kits. The only exception may be if your car can be ordered with HID lights and you buy all the original factory parts and install them in that specific vehicle.

Obviously, this will have no bearing in rear-end case... but in all case where the other at-fault can see your headlight, it may pose a problem depending on the insurance company and/or adjuster. (especially in those 5 states, including DC, Maryland, Virginia... I forgot the other two he mentioned) Insurance companies trying to find laws that will help them avoid paying on a claim... shocking, isn't it?

Note: This is absolutely not legal advice. I'm just sharing what the insurance agent chatted with me during a casual conversation. He has been an insurance agent for almost 30 years with the same company.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Insurance companies looking for ways out of paying claims in nothing new. I've heard of cases where rear end accidents where the car that was rear ended had tinted tail lights was actually deemed at fault and where the insurance company wouldn't cover repairs to the car with tinted lights.

[Chris914n6]

This is the type of beam pattern pics I'm after.

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/artoflightindustries.com-431-1475390300.1.jpg)

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/d114hh0cykhyb0.cloudfront.net-431-1475390391.1.jpg)

[db9146]

I don't have "before" but I'll try to get some "after".

[thomas@vintagecarleds.com]

The issue with H4s is not necessarily related to this bulb. The US/DOT requirement is that the H4 beam aim must not change when a bulb is replaced. The beam can easily change if a low quality replacement bulb is installed, because in a poorly made bulb, the filament is often improperly positioned. Of course the LED issue just makes that beam change issue potentially more complex. But most of these issues can be addressed by proper bulbs and adjustment of the head lamp.

A bit of a silly requirement if the beam aim can be addressed by proper adjustment.

Our replacement VC4000 bulbs (if you check the photos on the website) the CSP LED's are laid out inside the bulb at the same focal point as the old H4 Halogen filaments.

(exactly why the base is adjustable because regular H4 bulbs have a slight tilt to them.)

I could take some comparison photos tonight of our VC4000 LED compared to a H4 Halogen for yall.

It's pretty spot on.

[thomas@vintagecarleds.com]

Again not legal advice in any way. But I do see problems with that approach. First, DOT approval of lighting only applies to manufacture certification that that the items meet certain standards. That is the extent of the DOT requirements.

Now specific states may have other requirements but DOT approved lights or DOT unapproved lights alone are not the basis for denying a claim. This DOT approval applies to manufacture certifications only. Certainly in our age of insurance companies being completely worthless and the number of law suites filed it is nothing to ignore but we should all question any information provided from an insurance company.

Just my .02 cents, I am a licensed state inspector for motor vehicles in the state of Texas.

When inspecting a motor vehicle we look for the following only to pass inspection (just the headlight part):

No cracks, or broken headlamps.

No blue or red lights in the front of the vehicle.

DOT rated Lenses, or DOT plastic headlamps. (they make no note of the bulb other than the color of the headlight)

Proper adjustment of headlights (basically we can't have one headlight aiming at the trees etc...)


And that's it for the State of Texas.

That being said, I am sure it varies state-to-state, however I have yet to receive a phone call or email stating "I got a ticket, or didn't pass inspection. Etc.."

[thomas@vintagecarleds.com]

FWIW, we bought these specifically for OLOA2016 where most of our driving was done at night and they were FANTASTIC. They are also DOT approved.

http://www.ebay.com/bhp/truck-lite-led-headlight

Honestly those are pretty fantastic!

Just DO NOT get the china copies, I imported a few of them and the plastic lens yellowed in 4 months.

Get the USA made ones by Truck-Lite.


I don't use them because my 71' VW beetle because they looked a little too "modern" for my bug.

[michael7810]

FWIW, we bought these specifically for OLOA2016 where most of our driving was done at night and they were FANTASTIC. They are also DOT approved.

http://www.ebay.com/bhp/truck-lite-led-headlight

Can you provide the PN of the Truck Lite you bought? There are many to choose from and none are listed as compatible with a 914. Thanks