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10-07-2021, 08:53 AM
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#15
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Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: Pacific Northwest and Arizona
Posts: 2,043
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Knowing what type of bulbs are standard in your rig would help. What works for one person, may not work for you.
Its really hit and miss depending on your headlight. If you have projector headlights that have a built in horizontal cut-off shield in the low beam housing, then you don't need an LED with it's own cut-off shield. If you have a standard reflector style, or reflector/lens type, an LED with a horizontal cut-off shield is a must for reducing glare to oncoming traffic.
The second very important feature that helps control unwanted off-axis glare is an LED chip array that mimics the size and shape of a halogen bulb filament. This is important because the shape of the reflector and any refractive elements of the housing is designed for that size and shape source. A large chip, while it may put out more total lumens, produces more scatter because any rays from illuminating source of the extended chip surface strikes the reflector or lens at a different angle than designed for. A different angle in, makes a different angle out. Because the source is so close to the optic, a small angle off axis at the source, makes for large errors down the road. This puts light where it doesn't belong. In essence a lot of those extra lumens end up going into the trees or above the road surface into the eyes of traffic. For this reason you should stay away from COB type chips. Some people confuse lots 'o light, with good lighting. The headlights look brighter so they think that's an improvement when they've just turned their headlight into a super bright floodlight.
Attached is a photo of the bulb I use in my motorcycle. I'm not suggesting this is the bulb you need, just that it shows the cut-off shield over the low beam chip array. Plus, the chip array is shaped much like a filament. FYI, small gaps between the individual chips can cause dark spots in the light that hits the road. These do, but the spots don't cause any problems, and they illuminate way better than the factory bulb, plus I never get flashed because of glare. In my case I have a 7" round reflective/refractive headlight with no built in baffling. In my sports car, it had projector headlights with a built in cut-off so I didn't need a bulb with the shield.
Also make sure the bulbs you buy are clockable, so you can make sure the cut-off is correctly positioned. Also be aware the cooling fins/fan need extra room and may be subject to rain spray.
You don't have to pay a lot for good results. I paid $39 a PAIR for these bulbs and have been using one for almost three years without a failure, plus, I carry the second bulb as a spare.
__________________
Tom and Pris M. along with Buddy the 18 year old Siamese cat
1998 Safari Serengeti 3706, 300HP Cat 3126 Allison 3060, 900 watts of Solar.
Dragging four telescopes around the US in search of dark skies.
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10-08-2021, 08:31 PM
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#16
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2020
Posts: 288
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Is there a problem with the DRL's after the swap? Or are those being disabled to prevent an issue?
__________________
'21 Fleetwood Bounder 35k
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10-09-2021, 03:47 PM
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#17
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Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2019
Location: San Antonio TX
Posts: 349
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Podivin
The same for me. After I bypassed all the stock wiring with new/shorter relays and wiring I don't have near the struggle I did driving at night with the stock headlights. LEDs may still make it better, but at least now I know that I have headlights and not just a couple of candles out there.
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How did you keep the day time running lights operational after the relay installation?
Jim58
__________________
2005 Fleetwood Bounder 32W (Workhorse)
Retired Air Force
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10-09-2021, 03:49 PM
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#18
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Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2019
Location: San Antonio TX
Posts: 349
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mack73
Is there a problem with the DRL's after the swap? Or are those being disabled to prevent an issue?
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Sorry I asked the same question. I didn't notice the 2nd page of the post. i guess we're both interested in the DRL's.
Jim58
__________________
2005 Fleetwood Bounder 32W (Workhorse)
Retired Air Force
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10-09-2021, 07:51 PM
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#19
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Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: Pacific Northwest and Arizona
Posts: 2,043
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DRL issues can happen with LED bulbs if your vehicle uses PWM driver to dim the existing headlights. Voltage remains the same, but the power is pulsed rapidly so a filament bulb never reaches full temperature/brightness. LEDs can flicker because they can react fast enough to the pulse. Since full voltage is applied with each pulse, voltage read with a meter can look normal.
If you meter your headlight socket while the DRL is active and it reads full voltage, yet your headlight runs at reduced brightness, you probably have a PWM circuit and should look for a LED headlight bulb that is compatible.
__________________
Tom and Pris M. along with Buddy the 18 year old Siamese cat
1998 Safari Serengeti 3706, 300HP Cat 3126 Allison 3060, 900 watts of Solar.
Dragging four telescopes around the US in search of dark skies.
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10-09-2021, 08:39 PM
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#20
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Senior Member
Fleetwood Owners Club Freightliner Owners Club
Join Date: Jan 2019
Location: Wadsworth, Ohio
Posts: 379
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Remove one of the original bulbs from you coach, put that number of the bulb on Amazon adding LED after the bulb number, a list of led replacements will appear, I have done this tho the last two coaches we have owned and will never go without LED headlights again.
__________________
Barney & Penny with our two puppies Lucy & Dixie
2008 Fleetwood Discovery
2020 Jeep Cherokee Trailhawk
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10-12-2021, 07:15 PM
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#21
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Junior Member
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: Maumee, OH
Posts: 2
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I replaced mine from superbrightled.com. They have to be installed per instructions so the light beam is not scattered. All I can say is WOW they are awesome!
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11-17-2021, 05:59 AM
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#23
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Member
Join Date: Oct 2021
Posts: 34
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For what it's worth, after a scary drive home on probably the original 17 year old halogens, I bought 9005 (high) and 9006 (low) Marsauto LEDs on Amazon, popped them in... and did nothing else. Night and day difference so to speak. The low beams still have the same sharp cutoff that keeps them low, I didn't re-aim anything.
...but of course I'm on the small glass lenses the American Coaches got, which specifically use 9005 and 9006 lamps. I'm not suggesting you use these if that's not what fits your housing. If you have a clouded polycarbonate housing, it won't matter much what light you have installed in it. The clouding dramatically reduces light output (one test found up to 80%), but can be mostly cleared up without a huge effort.
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