Sorry to rain on the imagination parade here, but this is really important: halogen lamps need to use halogen bulbs or they don't (can't, won't) work effectively, safely, or legally. Headlamps aren't just flood or spot lights; they are precision optical instruments (yes, even a cheap sealed beam counts as a precision optical instrument) that have a complex, difficult job to do, not just spray out a random blob of light.
The "LED bulbs" now flooding the market are not a legitimate, safe, effective, or legal product. No matter whose name is on them or what the vendor claims, with or without a built-in fan, these are a fraudulent scam. They are not capable of producing even a small fraction of the amount of light produced by the filament bulb they supposedly replace, let alone producing it in the right pattern for the lamp's optics to work.
Same goes for "HID kits" in halogen-bulb headlamps or fog/auxiliary lamps (any kit, any lamp, any vehicle no matter whether it's a car, truck, motorcycle, etc.). They do not work safely or effectively, which is why they are illegal. See
here—the particulars are different for LED vs. HID, but the principles and problems are the same overall. Again, halogen lamps really need to use halogen bulbs or they don't, can't, won't work right.
But there's a number of legitimate, engineered LED headlamps on the market. They range in quality and performance from good to excellent. In the single large 7" round size, the
701C from Peterson (in Peterson or Sylvania Zevo packaging, same lamp) is good. The
Truck-Lite unit is good. By a big, big margin the king daddy of them all is the 8700 Evolution 2 from JW Speaker in
chrome or
black (though they look like they might have been intended for a space ship).
Options are much more limited for the dual small 5-3/4" headlamps. The only legitimate options both come from JW Speaker:
this one (no DRL, no turn signal) or
this one (with integral halo ring lit in dim white for the parking light function, bright white for the daytime running light function, and bright amber for the turn signal function.
For the dual small 6×4" rectangular setup there are a few options worth considering. Top pick is
this high beam and
this low beam. As you can see, they come in chrome and black, and with or without lens heater—you'd want the heated-lens version if you drive through sloppy winter conditions where a non-heated lens would tend to collect snow and slush.
A step down from those is
this low beam and
this high beam—no heated lens available.
For the single large 7-1/2" × 5" rectangulars, the top dog is the JW Speaker item in
chrome or
black. If those aren't in the budget, then get the
Truck-Lite units. These LED headlamps are
not advisable if you do a lot of wintertime driving with heavy snow and slush; the LED headlamp lenses run cold so snow and ice build up on them instead of melting off like they do from a warm halogen lamp lens. There is now a
heated-lens version of the JW Speaker lamp, that is totally awesome, but also totally expensive: about $460/pair.
If you're working on a motorcycle, and your wallet will open wide enough, run (don't walk) and buy the JW Speaker 8790
adaptive headlamp (
chrome or
black). This headlamp is just about magical: the greater your bank angle, the more light it throws into the curve. In other words, exactly the opposite of what happens with a fixed-beam headlamp (seeing distance goes to zero when you bank into turns and curves). It's expensive as headlamps go, but a lot cheaper than a deer hit or dropped bike, and it's an easy drop in/plug in/aim/go install. Maker's info and videos (which I can attest are realistic) are
here. Smaller 5-3/4" round version is
here.
All of these legitimate LED headlamps cost fairly serious money, certainly way more than a sealed beam or cheap H4 conversion, but they're still cost-effective because you do get your money's worth. The fun part: every single headlamp I've linked and recommended in this post is
made in America. Of course, as soon as you click to look at any of them you'll get "recommendations" to also look at a mountain of knockoff/counterfeit/trinket junk from China. Some of them look just like one of the real headlamps (sometimes they even steal the part numbers); others don't look anything like the real lamps (such as
these). No matter what they look like, no matter the big claims made by the seller, don't touch this crap if you want to keep living (and your car to remain unhit). If real LED headlamps are out of the budget, stick with thoughtfully-chosen good halogens fed properly with
relays and good wiring.
(as for HID: there is
one legitimate HID option for single large 7" round headlamps. It's much, much more expensive than even the best of the LED units. This is why HIDs are no longer being designed into new cars; it's all LED all the time.)
