LED Lights in a 71 RR

[PlyGTXSat]

Hi again guys -


Got another few interest: my RR has somewhat bright headlights but i see a few people running what looks like LED’s and it has me curious. Does anyone else run any leds in their car? What is the brightness difference and who is the manufacturer? I already did a bulkhead bypass so i’m pretty sure my halogens are putting out as much as they can.

 

[SDCoronet]

I run aftermarket LED headlights on my daily driver Honda Civic. I would describe the light as a bright white color, and noticeably (marginally) better than halogens in terms of actual road use. I am satisfied with mine.

LEDs are supposed to be better because they use far less current and are supposed to be much more reliable that halogens or HID.

I believe that nearly all LEDs are Chinese made, so there are no real standards - everyone's mileage will vary.

 

[SDCoronet]

Did a youtube search - found this one.

 

[slepr1]

I have LEDs in both my Mopars. They are much brighter than original. When you buy the LED headlights you get what you pay for. I can't remember the name of mine but so far out of all 4 headlights, I had one ballast burn out. Cost $10 for a new one off Amazon. I'd recommend them. I changed almost every bulb in both cars to LEDs. Just don't buy junk cause they won't last. Look at YouTube videos for advice on good brands.

 

[Racefish]

I bought mine from Mustang Project. They work great

 

[PlyGTXSat]

I bought mine from Mustang Project. They work great

Did you have to cut any of your frame to get them to fit?

 

[PlyGTXSat]

I have LEDs in both my Mopars. They are much brighter than original. When you buy the LED headlights you get what you pay for. I can't remember the name of mine but so far out of all 4 headlights, I had one ballast burn out. Cost $10 for a new one off Amazon. I'd recommend them. I changed almost every bulb in both cars to LEDs. Just don't buy junk cause they won't last. Look at YouTube videos for advice on good brands.

Did you have to cut any of your frame to get them to fit?

 

[Racefish]

Did you have to cut any of your frame to get them to fit?

No. The lens fit in the hole and the the bulb is installed in the back. They work great. I couldn't believe the difference

 

[Montclaire]

You could also use a relay and make sure you are getting the most out of your halogens. There are plug and play kits available. I am not thrilled with LED lighting, although it seems to be getting better. I have a hard time seeing properly with LED flashlights and things like that - it may be brighter but it doesn't illuminate objects the same way, at least to my eyes.

 

[Xp29h]

I placed led’s in just the rear of my car. Easy install fit perfectly and used old lenses work great, very bright! Digitalis. https://digi-tails.com/

In the front I replaced bulbs with new good halogens and re did all the grounds for them when I rewired the car. Even that made world of difference.

The Maine reason I didn’t do led’s in the front was cost. Kits that fit at that time were very good expensive so I saved some cash at that time. Will probably look at the fronts in the future.

 

[Chad Witham]

I looked at digi-tails last night, they have a page for the 73-74 cars. It no products show up.

 

[slepr1]

No cutting required. They are direct replacement bulbs. The headlight bulbs are the only difference as the originals are sealed units. You need to buy a empty bulb (fixture) and it will have the slot in it to attach the LED (just like newer cars, you only need to replace the bulb and not the complete fixture). You can also just buy a kit which includes everything.

For the rest of the bulbs, all you need to know is the bulb number (example '1157' is a common turn signal bulb). Then you can go on amazon or where ever and look at whats available in those sizes in LED. You will most likely need an electronic flasher relay. They are inexpensive and widely available.

The quickest and easiest way to replace your bulbs is to internet sites like
https://www.bulbs.com/Automotive_Lighting/results.aspx
and enter your vehicle and it will give you some choices on bulbs for LED or regular.

 

[PlyGTXSat]

No cutting required. They are direct replacement bulbs. The headlight bulbs are the only difference as the originals are sealed units. You need to buy a empty bulb (fixture) and it will have the slot in it to attach the LED (just like newer cars, you only need to replace the bulb and not the complete fixture). You can also just buy a kit which includes everything.

For the rest of the bulbs, all you need to know is the bulb number (example '1157' is a common turn signal bulb). Then you can go on amazon or where ever and look at whats available in those sizes in LED. You will most likely need an electronic flasher relay. They are inexpensive and widely available.

The quickest and easiest way to replace your bulbs is to internet sites like
https://www.bulbs.com/Automotive_Lighting/results.aspx
and enter your vehicle and it will give you some choices on bulbs for LED or regular.

Quick question: what type of headlight plug does the high beam use? I know the low is the three prong h4 connector but i’m not sure what the high is. It’s a two prong but i don’t know what it’s called or what kind of led i should order for it.

 

[slepr1]

Quick question: what type of headlight plug does the high beam use? I know the low is the three prong h4 connector but i’m not sure what the high is. It’s a two prong but i don’t know what it’s called or what kind of led i should order for it.

I have no idea. I kept the stock sealed beam bulb for my high beams on the 71 Cuda. No real need to convert those imo.

 

[JedIEG]

I hate people running LED head lights... especially lifted trucks. Anyway, in a rural area it isn't a big deal. But Im living in suburbia currently and almost never get a chance to use high beams and want to tailor my brightness a bit more. So for low beams only, what I am doing is running the same high/low bulb for all four headlights and plan to have a "fog light" switch to turn on the second set of low beams to get quad lows. This would give you twice the low beam illumination of the normal setup two bulbs and the quad high beams as usual. That might not get you more high beam brightness but it gives you a step in between the high and low. If you like that idea, you could take it a step further and run one pair of LEDs in the "fog light" sockets and get an even more drastic step in brightness between two and four beam lows.

 

[Photon440]

I run aftermarket LED headlights on my daily driver Honda Civic. I would describe the light as a bright white color, and noticeably (marginally) better than halogens in terms of actual road use. I am satisfied with mine.

LEDs are supposed to be better because they use far less current and are supposed to be much more reliable that halogens or HID.

I believe that nearly all LEDs are Chinese made, so there are no real standards - everyone's mileage will vary.

While a lot of LEDs are Chinese, better quality ones such as Philips are made in various European factories. I was going to include Bosch, but I think they're part of Philips now as well.

 

[idrivemopar]

You could also use a relay and make sure you are getting the most out of your halogens. There are plug and play kits available. I am not thrilled with LED lighting, although it seems to be getting better. I have a hard time seeing properly with LED flashlights and things like that - it may be brighter but it doesn't illuminate objects the same way, at least to my eyes.

I agree, not all lights are created equal, and some LED lighting is more diffuse than others, and depends on the reflector they are installed into as well. I also wonder, how many people that install LED in older cars do it because they have poor grounds and/or don't have their headlights aimed properly. I have a Hoppy head light aiming system I used on my RR and it made a huge difference. Now I can see down the road, although its not like a modern car, its much better with properly aimed lights.