LED headlight bulb upgrade

[jacwjames]

Over the last week I had to drive a couple times at night.  Not fun with with bad headlights. 

In 2015 I had put in a couple new Sylvania bulbs that were suppose to be the best.  Surely there is something better.

Has anyone replaced their bulbs with an LED type bulb.  Any recommendations.  

I also need new fog lights, any suggestions there. 

My plan is not to get stuck having to drive at night without decent headlights. 

[JohnnyDiesel]

I use these on my 2001 Executive and my 2017 Dodge Caravan. They work well so far for over 2 years.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07K43XKDF/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[cbr046]

My previous owner put LED bulbs in aftermarket TYC housings.  When I got the coach you could burn the hairs off a grasshopper at 20 ft, but beyond that they were useless.  So I tried to adjust the aim.  I tweaked and tweaked and tweaked.  Problem is, the light intensity isn't uniform.  Lots of shadows within the beam (or lit surface).  I finally compromised on a pattern that lets me see any large objects at 65 mph . . . . but a tire gator might not be seen in time.  30-40% of my driving is at night so "seeing" is important.  Even on low beam I light up a lot of trees and overhead signs, but nobody flashes me to dim them.  Must be ok. 

High beams are another story.  The right beam lights up the road very nicely.  I'm not sure where the left beam is going . . . .

All this depends in how the "bulbs" sit in the sockets.  Obviously not very well, and that's the problem with LEDs and HIDs - the light source location, that little tiny filament, just isn't the same as incandescent - where, precisely where, the "filament" is located is crucial. 

There's 4 "bulbs" except the hi and low aim are controlled together.  No separating the hi aim vs low aim. 

What I have is working, but could be working better.  Despite being retired I don't have much time, and you need a long dark alley to aim these things. 

The old Fleetwood in (what I think were) Ford housings had HIDs.  Those were the bomb but light scatter was atrocious. 

Good luck with you upgrade.

- bob

[Tom Wallis]

I'm not sure what bulbs to recommend and I'm curious to hear what others have to say. My headlight are poor even after I put better bulbs in. Part of it is because my headlight housing is cloudy so I'm getting ready to upgrade them to the new style. It's easy on mine because they are actually 87 to 91 Ford pickup headlights. There are several options to choose from on Amazon but haven't decided which would look best on the motorhome.

Here is a link to an excellent video on aiming your own headlights on a board or a wall. We had one of the boards like they use in the video in our shop and it was handy when regular headlight aimers didn't fit. The board is nice but you can use a wall, some masking tape and a tape measure as long as the ground is flat.

Tom

[Bill C]

Tim Wallis, what Rv do you have? I would love to replace the headlights and running lights/fog lights on my 2001 Monaco dynasty. Anybody know what I should look for?

[Ivylog]

Haven’t driven at night yet with the LEDs I replaced. The light source was close to the same as the bulbs I replaced. I did it more to reduce the amps so the J12 plug on the VIP controller doesn’t burn up.

Edited November 30, 2021 by Ivylog

[Ivan K]

I use LEDs with adjustable focus and pattern, in-out and rotation. Work perfect for me but unfortunatelly not available anymore. Should have bought a spare... but there must be an equivalent somewhere. It helps that our Sig has round Hella lights with glass lenses. This is what I would look for in  chip config and adjustability.

[Tom Wallis]

37 minutes ago, Corkman said:

Tim Wallis, what Rv do you have? I would love to replace the headlights and running lights/fog lights on my 2001 Monaco dynasty. Anybody know what I should look for?

I have a 2003 Monaco Monarch. Here's a photo:

[Gary 05 AMB DST]

33 minutes ago, Ivan K said:

I use LEDs with adjustable focus and pattern, in-out and rotation. Work perfect for me but unfortunatelly not available anymore. Should have bought a spare... but there must be an equivalent somewhere. It helps that our Sig has round Hella lights with glass lenses. This is what I would look for in  chip config and adjustability.

Ivan, my 05 Ambassador has the round headlights. My low beam lens are cracked and have rusty water in them. Another 05 owner found that BMW headlights are what we have. There is no lens replacement, just the total assembly. They still work but and they pass inspection when needed but are useless as headlights. They have been terrible since the motorhome was bought new. I haven't really looked for anything. 

Gary 05 AMB DST

[Ivan K]

20 minutes ago, Gary 05 AMB DST said:

Ivan, my 05 Ambassador has the round headlights. My low beam lens are cracked and have rusty water in them. Another 05 owner found that BMW headlights are what we have. There is no lens replacement, just the total assembly. They still work but and they pass inspection when needed but are useless as headlights. They have been terrible since the motorhome was bought new. I haven't really looked for anything. 

Gary 05 AMB DST

Gary, my low/high reflectors are a match to these (DOT SSB 378) and the 12k lumens LEDs make daylight in front of me even at low beam. https://www.amazon.com/HELLA-002395301-Halogen-Conversion-Headlamp/dp/B0002M9QK6?th=1

 

[Rikadoo]

So i have replaced my headlights on my 1st coach and now on my second.

I have made all my purchases thru a company called M4 LED i discovered it from “the rv geeks” they have awsome customer service and stand behind what they sell. My 1st rv was a 2000 gasser, it only had 1 bulb in the lamp assy. I was conflicted with how well they worked, on one hand you had Low beam which was AWSOME in how well it illuminated the patteren of the low beam, nice an bright with NO cars flippen there lights at me. However the high beam was less desirable, seemed no matter how i adjusted the bulb i could have either a GREAT low beam or a GREAT high beam, but not both.

However now i have my DP which uses 2 lights in one lamp assembly, one Low beam the other high, i first bought the low… it works AWSOME my old eyes like them very much, again on coming vehices DO NOT BLINK as i approach,  IF there was a down side to having LED  low beam and a regular high beam… is if your on the led low beam nice white light however distance challanged ya click to high beam an two things happen, one is the nice white beam turns off VERY fast an the next beam being the high is a incandescent which does not illuminate as fast as the led so there is a “light lag” from one beam to the next, i found it “distracting” 😳💩

Now understand i dont usually make it a practice to drive at night, however WHEN I DO i want to be able to feel comfortable and not squint, these lights just WORK, white not yellow, with both bulbs LED there is no light lag. Oh an my lamp assemblies are getting hazy the light output is still brighter than the old bulbs on there best day.

[Gary 05 AMB DST]

1 hour ago, Ivan K said:

Gary, my low/high reflectors are a match to these (DOT SSB 378) and the 12k lumens LEDs make daylight in front of me even at low beam. https://www.amazon.com/HELLA-002395301-Halogen-Conversion-Headlamp/dp/B0002M9QK6?th=1

 

Ivan, I have a different headlight assembly.

Gary 05 AMB DST

[cbr046]

57 minutes ago, Rikadoo said:

Oh an my lamp assemblies are getting hazy the light output is still brighter than the old bulbs on there best day.

We have the same coach and headlight assemblies are hard to find.  Look for TYC 20-5859-01 R and 20-5860-01 L for a Lincoln LS 2000-2002.  Not a direct fit but the closest you'll find. 

But I'd buy a kit to de-haze the current lenses or have someone do it.

- bob

[StephenW]

I installed these LED light bars for my fog lights in my 01 Dynasty.  Auxbeam 7" LED light bar.

Found on Amazon

Edited November 30, 2021 by StephenW

[Gary Cole]

I've noticed that truckers around here are increasingly using light bars. They are apparently available in brightness up to super nova.I heard that North American cars have inferior headlights due to DOT regulations which date to the Dark Ages. 

[Jdw12345]

Here is a place to start researching headlights,

 

https://www.headlightsdepot.com/catalog/monaco

[jacwjames]

Thanks for all the replies, gives me something to start looking at. 

I am interested in the lower fog lights, mine are not working and this would probably do more for improving the situation then anything.  First thing I have to check is to see if the lights are bad or the electrical circuit. 

I know when I was driving at night (which I don't make a habit of doing) every car or truck that passed me had better lights.  When it really mattered was when I was coming into Amarillo TX, there was a constructions zone with barriers on both sides.  My cheeks puckered more then once with the worst one being when there was a sudden lane change with barriers on both sides.  Not fun.  Luckily my wife was not in copilot seat, she would have been screaming the whole way. 

Before I take another trip I intend to fix this problem once and for all. 

 

[JohnC3]

We did replace our headlight bulbs and fog light bulbs with led.

Monaco uses car headlights and fog lights. Find the headlight they used on your rig (it will be a stock number on the housing). Then Google it to find the year range and model.

The best replacements are dot approved. That means they shouldn't blind oncoming traffic.

You can find replacements on Amazon or eBay.

Good luck and hope this helps.

We found our LEDs to be 2x as bright as the good halogens.

John

[BigNick]

I re aimed mine using the procedure mentioned above and this caused night driving to be tolerable and not white knucklish. I too, am watching this thread and would like to add good Led lights.

11 minutes ago, BigNick said:

 

 

Edited December 1, 2021 by BigNick
Tried to post using the phone, a mistake

[jacwjames]

I also posted this topic on the IRV2 forum.  Got a lot of good responses but as usual that was one individual that posted a couple time saying that replacing original halogen bulbs with LED is illegal and that the only option was to replace the whole light with a DOT approved LED light assembly.

This peaked my interest and I have not been able to find any with LED bulbs.  

I can find hundreds of LED bulbs that are compatible but none say DOT approved.   I could not find any new assemblies that have LED's.  What to do what to do???

What's everyone's thoughts on replacing to LED but essentially being illegal.   What do people do if their rigs have to have annual inspections, do the inspectors care????

My first step will be to replace the fog light assembly with LED, and then polish (again) my headlights and try to aim them.  I have a long circular driveway and a portion of it is in line with my garage that I can use to see how well the changes work.  I'll experiment with the headlights to see if I can get decent pattern with the original bulbs.  If not I'll replace with LED. 

Bottom line is I have to make my rig safe to drive at night if needed. 

Edited December 1, 2021 by jacwjames

[cbr046]

I don't think inspectors care . . . it's mostly emissions these days. 

Where is the safety if you plow into something that could have been avoided with LEDs?  That's my logic. 

I'd go with LEDs unless you start getting flashed, then re-aim or find another solution.

Try researching projection conversions.  That will keep you busy!

- bob

[jacwjames]

So with Dr4Film's help I was able to get my running light situation straightened out.

My running lights would only come on with the bright lights but either way they were not providing enough light for me to comfortably see.  I have a set of LED running lights coming that hopefully will improve the headlights/lighting but I wanted to be able to turn them on individually. 

In my FRB I had 3 (then 4 as it was hidden under a bundle of wires) relays except the hidden one.  None were marked but I was able to unwrap the wiring bundles and read the labeling on the individual wires and then looking at my chassis wiring diagram figure out what they were for.

1. One was for the Allison Brake Sense circuit
2. Another was for the Alt Fail Circuit
3. Another for the DRL that Monaco  wired for but never installed the DRL relay, I believe this was for the Canadian market. 
4. The fourth which was nicely hidden was the running light relay, it was labeled but not visible.

Emailing back and fourth with Richard he said that he had bought and installed a DRL relay which would have turned the running lights on with the low beam lights at 80%.  He said the one he installed only lasted a short while and when it failed the lights stayed on and the relay got really HOT!!! So he didn't replace the relay.  Instead, under the guidance of Fred White he removed the running light relay and put a jumper across two of the wires in the harness base. 

So I tried it and it worked.  I now can turn the running lights on individually and the Hi/Low beams work off the headlight switch.  Good enough for me.   I have now neatly labeled all of these relays for future problems. 

So I should get the LED running lights today and they should be an easy install. 

I also have a headlight polishing kit coming to polish out my headlights.  If I can get enough light out the the headlights & LED running I won't install LED bulbs.   I'll update when I think I'm done.