Intro + Question about LED

[Byzanonyka]

LED retrofit headlight capsules have improved a lot in just the past year. There are some that claim to be SAE/DOT approved, but I don't believe everything written in China. But the technology seems sound. There is an LED chip called Cree XLamp XHP50. It is a 5 x 5 mm LED chip that puts out 2500 lumens. Propery placed in the capsule, the LED is right where it needs to be, the polarized light of LEDs works well with the optics of halogen headlights. Some claim there's less stay light coming from LED capsules. It's all on YouTube.

One drawback with these LEDs is the extra stuff. There's still about 30 watts resistance and somewhere there's a tiny hot spot. So the LEDs must have a heat sink and some have a cooling fan. The cooling fan needs airflow. Some LEDs have big passive heat-sinks. Obviously room is needed for these things, so that cap can't go on. Sometimes trimming is necessary... In some kits you rotate the LEDs to fit your configuration. I think 9007 is in that category. And then you have to get the bulbs installed without braking anything. Seems like the covers and wires are always brittle from age. And properly aim them. There is a lot that can go wrong with a novice trying to install cool looking headlights in a 20 year old car. But properly installed and aimed they should improve your lighting without blinding other drivers. Some LEDs claim to last 50000 hours. But if one quits it doesn't look like Catinbow sells just one.

So far my LED doesn't blind anyone because I aimed it down using the adjustable part behind the headlight.

But as soon as I have the chance I will be inspecting it even closer to make sure it is also installed correctly. Rotation is one of the thing I need to check.

Because I too fall victim to sunlight-bright LEDs sometimes during my drive, I don't want to be that ass that kills people's vision by shining my ultra blinding light beam at their eyes.

I noticed that putting a pair of LED headlights a little bit tricky in the ZX2 because there's a lot of cables in the way, and difficult area to reach.

The reason why I changed my headlight is having a brighter view ahead of me. And it seems to help with this new LED I got.

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[99 zx2]

I have a 1997 Thunderbird that doesn't seem to have great headlights. It's especially dark right near the right front of the car. The Thunderbird uses the same 9007 bulb but the ZX2 seems to have better headlights. From what I've been reading, the way the 9007 bulb optics work makes it difficult or impossible to reproduce with LED chips. many 9007 LED bulbs are really 9008 bulbs with an adjustable base. Some seem to work OK on low beam and not so great on high. Some of the LED capsules such as 9003 and 9008 seem to work better. And the bulbs might differently in different headlight shapes.

Here is a (somewhat annoying and long) video that explains what a 9007 bulb is and what it takes to set upan LED version. And in the end seems to be a failure.