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Old 12-05-2016, 10:33 PM   #1
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Replacing OEM headlights

I'm looking to replace the headlights in my 2007 Tiffin Phaeton MH. The OEM's are just not doing the job. I've replaced the bulbs but there was no improvement.

I'm thinking of replacing the OEM's with either LED or HID's. Has anyone done this? I'm looking to do this myself. If you've converted your OEM's over to either LED or HID'S, would you mind sharing the cost and where did you find the conversion lights?
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Old 12-05-2016, 11:21 PM   #2
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How about adding some auxiliary lights? Relay them to your high beams, then they will turn off when you dim the headlights.
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Old 12-06-2016, 04:30 AM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Maddog11capt View Post
I'm looking to replace the headlights in my 2007 Tiffin Phaeton MH. The OEM's are just not doing the job. I've replaced the bulbs but there was no improvement.

I'm thinking of replacing the OEM's with either LED or HID's. Has anyone done this? I'm looking to do this myself. If you've converted your OEM's over to either LED or HID'S, would you mind sharing the cost and where did you find the conversion lights?
It may come down to the housing that the bulbs are in. Find out what Tiffin used for the headlights (they will be aftermarket, of course) and replace them with OEM. In my case, Coachmen used Audi A4 aftermarket headlights that are terrible. I'm searching the wrecking yards for a pair of OEM headlights that should be much better. Then convert them to HID. It's the best way to go. I have them in my Honda CRV and had them in my F350. Lights up the road perfectly.
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Old 12-06-2016, 08:55 AM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Maddog11capt View Post
I'm looking to replace the headlights in my 2007 Tiffin Phaeton MH. The OEM's are just not doing the job. I've replaced the bulbs but there was no improvement.

I'm thinking of replacing the OEM's with either LED or HID's. Has anyone done this? I'm looking to do this myself. If you've converted your OEM's over to either LED or HID'S, would you mind sharing the cost and where did you find the conversion lights?
ALL MH,s That I have seen driven and or talked to owners of such have crappy head lights.I have a 2008 AB and the lenses are from a dodge truck
Its not the lenses. I went through the same in my last unit a 2002 AB
tried lenses, tried bulbs, tried ajustments nothing worked
SO I went to HID system and much much improved and I then added a 130 watt 24 inch LED light bar. NOW I have decent nite lighting
The problem with MH headlights in my opinion is there two far apart and too low in relation to driver/road sighting
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Old 12-06-2016, 09:26 AM   #5
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The problem with MH headlights in my opinion is there two far apart and too low in relation to driver/road sighting
Yep, it's physics.
Federal law mandates the maximum height for headlights on motor vehicles. This works OK for cars and Pickup Trucks. But, large vehicles like motorhomes have the driver sitting much higher so the light output by the headlights does not reflect directly back to them. This gives the effect of poor headlight performance. Actual light output is probably right on par for the 55 watt average and 650 lumen output low beam.
Yours may be below par if you have a lot of power loss between your battery and the lights. My Winnebago has a long run to lights from battery requiring a heavy gauge wire to reduce loss.
The HID replacements may offer some improvement for you but many can actually be a glare hazard for oncoming drivers. They can also suffer from power loss due to insufficient wiring. Pick one that is approved for light pattern and alignment for your vehicle...please.
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Old 12-06-2016, 10:19 AM   #6
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I agree, it very well be the housing, on my coach the bulbs actually went into a square metal framing inside lenses and both side were broke off. So, I replaced both in which I ordered from part number on housing from e-bay and even thou I upgraded the bulbs to a more blue type ( the more blue the brighter the bulb) problem solved!
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Old 12-06-2016, 10:29 AM   #7
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The HID replacements may offer some improvement for you but many can actually be a glare hazard for oncoming drivers. They can also suffer from power loss due to insufficient wiring. Pick one that is approved for light pattern and alignment for your vehicle...please.
HID offers tremendous HB improvement. Hazard for other drivers/?? LOL
at that idea :NO: they come on higher end cars from the factory
its not a matter of picking anything; you need to know what bulb is used
as the wiring harness will only work with that bulb#
never seen anywhere where you will have a known light pattern for a certain vehicle and then you buy a HID kit based on that ideal?
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Old 12-06-2016, 10:56 AM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Maddog11capt View Post
I'm looking to replace the headlights in my 2007 Tiffin Phaeton MH. The OEM's are just not doing the job. I've replaced the bulbs but there was no improvement.

I'm thinking of replacing the OEM's with either LED or HID's. Has anyone done this? I'm looking to do this myself. If you've converted your OEM's over to either LED or HID'S, would you mind sharing the cost and where did you find the conversion lights?
I went through that process a couple years ago.

#1 It is ILLEGAL to simply swap out halogen bulbs with a set of HID bulbs and ballast. It is also damn inconsiderate to other drivers since you can not properly aim them.

#2 If you have DRLs on your low beams, you will need to find a way to disable them. At this time I am not aware of any ballast that can run on reduced power without causing them to fail at some point.

The only LEGAL way to do a change out is to find an OEM HID/LED headlight assembly replacement that is DOT approved.

My costs for the conversion were close to $1000. The Hella 90mm HID lights are not cheap but they were a direct replacement for the Hella 90mm halogen lights. I know...OUCH...but I can now actually drive and see things at night.

At the same time I did a total rewire of my headlights in include relays and heavier gauge wire to provide "clean" 12V power from the back of the generator to the lights. I also disabled the DRLs.

You might also run into a problem with any kind of controller that provides power to the headlights. In my case the "Spartan Controller" (located in the bus bay) wouldn't recognize the reduced current of the ballast and wouldn't provide power to the low beams. That was part of the reason I had to do the rewiring of the headlights using relays that were triggered by the low current of the OEM wiring.

HERE IS THE LINK TO MY HEADLIGHT UPGRADE THREAD.

It also contains some information on how to check your current headlight set up for proper power along with where I got my plans for my upgrade.
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Old 12-06-2016, 11:02 AM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jamador1010 View Post
I agree, it very well be the housing, on my coach the bulbs actually went into a square metal framing inside lenses and both side were broke off. So, I replaced both in which I ordered from part number on housing from e-bay and even thou I upgraded the bulbs to a more blue type ( the more blue the brighter the bulb) problem solved!
Simply using a more "blue" light doesn't mean it is brighter. In fact, given the same power input, a bluer light will have less lumens. However, the light might be more pleasing for some folks.
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Old 12-06-2016, 11:09 AM   #10
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I went through that process a couple years ago.

#1 It is ILLEGAL to simply swap out halogen bulbs with a set of HID bulbs and ballast. It is also damn inconsiderate to other drivers since you can not properly aim them.

#2 If you have DRLs on your low beams, you will need to find a way to disable them. At this time I am not aware of any ballast that can run on reduced power without causing them to fail at some point.

The only LEGAL way to do a change out is to find an OEM HID/LED headlight assembly replacement that is DOT approved.

My costs for the conversion were close to $1000. The Hella 90mm HID lights are not cheap but they were a direct replacement for the Hella 90mm halogen lights. I know...OUCH...but I can now actually drive and see things at night.

At the same time I did a total rewire of my headlights in include relays and heavier gauge wire to provide "clean" 12V power from the back of the generator to the lights. I also disabled the DRLs.

You might also run into a problem with any kind of controller that provides power to the headlights. In my case the "Spartan Controller" (located in the bus bay) wouldn't recognize the reduced current of the ballast and wouldn't provide power to the low beams. That was part of the reason I had to do the rewiring of the headlights using relays that were triggered by the low current of the OEM wiring.

HERE IS THE LINK TO MY HEADLIGHT UPGRADE THREAD.

It also contains some information on how to check your current headlight set up for proper power along with where I got my plans for my upgrade.
Only agree on #2 will and does cause low beam failure so be carefull
My HID system cost me $60 and works fantastic
The added 24 inch LED light bar is pretty nice also combined on dark
roads very happy with my system works very well on 2008 ABDP
on a side note I have read about this so called poor headlite voltage and realize its possible however in my last two units plus this one its always been good just that Factory Class A lights position in relation to road and driver seem to always cause poor lighting compared to cars and trucks
also I never ran into any problems on my sparton chassis with any recognition of anything regarding power reduction or whatever
pluged the bulbs in wired the ballasts to 12v and ground and work great
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Old 12-06-2016, 01:22 PM   #11
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Only agree on #2 will and does cause low beam failure so be carefull...
Sorry you disagree with #1 but that doesn't change the fact that it is ILLEGAL to toss in HID/LED lights into a fixture not designed for them. The hot spot for HIDs is not the same as halogen bulbs so the reflector does not properly form the beam to DOT/NHTSA specifications.

PLEASE READ Daniel Stern Lighting Consultancy and Supply

ALSO

Are 'Blue' Xenon HID Headlights Legal? - Law and Daily Life

As to the Spartan Chassis controller, I can tell you that when I replaced my headlights it would not provide power to the low beam ballasts unless I first had the high beam selected to be ON. It is certainly possible that some ballasts will produce enough current to make it look to the controller like you have functioning low beams but in my case, it didn't. It did provide enough current to active at my relays so my headlight controls work quite normally. However, since I can't speak for every combination of ballasts and bulbs that is why I said it "MIGHT" be a problem. Fore warned is fore armed. I'm happy for you that you didn't encounter the same issues.

Each coach headlight system is different. I found my original halogen lights SUCKED even after verifying great voltage and proper alignment. However, I don't think adding unsanctioned light systems is the proper and safe answer.

BTW...I acknowledge that even MY upgrade MIGHT be construed as not permissible per Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 108. While it is DOT/SAE legal for street use, it is a change. However, I have also had them properly aligned as outlined HERE.
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Old 12-06-2016, 03:04 PM   #12
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could very wll be Sky_Boss
however I could really care less. My systems were very inexpensive
and really work exceptionally well and that's all I really care about
as far as your use of ""unsafe"" really makes me chuckle for sure
there most certainly nothing unsafe about my headliting systems
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Old 12-06-2016, 03:07 PM   #13
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I replaced the bulbs with LED's. I found that I had a nice, even spread of light, but only to about 50' in front of the MH. Turns out the LED's in most conversions are not in the correct location to give a correct beam spread. Bought new, higher output bulbs that I need to install.
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Old 12-06-2016, 05:01 PM   #14
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could very wll be Sky_Boss
however I could really care less. My systems were very inexpensive
and really work exceptionally well and that's all I really care about
as far as your use of ""unsafe"" really makes me chuckle for sure
there most certainly nothing unsafe about my headliting systems
Your conversion blinds oncoming drivers, scatters light everywhere and is generally just a bad idea. It is not that expensive to purchase a pair of HID reflectors to put into existing headlamp housings.

The result is a beautiful headlamp cutoff and all the lighg put where you really need it.

In short HID plug and play bulbs are just on permanent high beam.
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