vled LMZ led headlights

Skeeter McSkeet · March 18, 2015

Has anyone used 3M gortex patches that TRS sells? I bought some to use on my modified caps and maybe the housing somewhere to hopefully let it breathe.

I've never seen them, I'll have to look up how they work or whatever. I've got about 10 layers of gorilla tape over the hole in the cap for a temp fix until I could figure out a solid way to seal them as well as figure out mounting the ballasts (inside the cap or outside). Those may be exactly what I need!

-Skeet

John_chadra1 · March 18, 2015

I don't have them on me, but I think they are about a 1/2" hole that you drill to place them on. I was planning on modifying my factory covers with PVC caps and plastiwelding them in. I planned to put 2 of those patches on the new cap and then one somewhere else on the housing. I do plan to stuff everything inside the housing... ballast, wiring, and all. Hopefully it will allow some of the heat to vent and also hopefully keep them from fogging up from the inside.

Here is the link to the ones I bought.

http://www.theretrofitsource.com/accessories/goretex-patches-49881.html#.VQmt247F98E

Skeeter McSkeet · March 18, 2015

Those look similar to what a set of recon led tail lights I used to own had on them. I never could figure out what the material in the holes were, just knew they were there to help vent the housings. I may dive in on some of these to give them a shot.

-Skeet

morrislee · March 18, 2015

I think that is also used on stock fog housings, there is a smaller one in the back of them if you pop them off to see.

Just loke leather or skin, water particles can go out but not go in.

Mike1220 · March 18, 2015

I don't have them on me, but I think they are about a 1/2" hole that you drill to place them on. I was planning on modifying my factory covers with PVC caps and plastiwelding them in. I planned to put 2 of those patches on the new cap and then one somewhere else on the housing. I do plan to stuff everything inside the housing... ballast, wiring, and all. Hopefully it will allow some of the heat to vent and also hopefully keep them from fogging up from the inside.

Here is the link to the ones I bought.

http://www.theretrofitsource.com/accessories/goretex-patches-49881.html#.VQmt247F98E

Since they let it breathe, it'll also allow heat to escape? I wonder how much the housing will be able to breath and release heat! It could help to remove heat so cooler air can get to the fan and therefore cool the LMZ more efficiently!

Btw, to your question about the best orientation and depth, I didn't find any particular depth to be more beneficial than another. Despite depth it seemed about the same but I found that putting the LEDs shooting side to side, gave the best overall light dispersal.

I'm looking forward to seeing how you think the HIDs compare to the LMZs in the FXR.

Edit: can cooler air be let in by these things Let cooler air flow in? Or just let hot air out?

John_chadra1 · March 19, 2015

They are suppose to let air in and out, just no moisture in, only out.

John_chadra1 · March 19, 2015

Here's a few in the light. I realized how much of a pain this was going to be when I got into it. I have an extra FXR, so I just used that instead of going through all the BS to get the LMZ in and out. So, i'm just going to wait to put them in until Monday when the truck goes to the body shop.

I'm just waiting for dark to get some more pictures. The ones I took were with my iPhone, so the color temp is a little off. They are really close to the 4500k HIDs. I thought they would be a little whiter.

The bulbs were very tight going into the FXR housing, It's not really bad, just a really tight fit.

Crf450r420 · March 20, 2015

Can't wait to see how they compare.

John_chadra1 · March 20, 2015

This is with the LMZ as far in as it goes, and the LEDs sitting side to side.

This is the LMZ with the collar screwed on 2.5 times, sitting side to side. Found this to have the best output.

This is my HID. XB35 4500k

All these were of just a single light.

I do think the HIDs may have a slight advantage in brightness but I believe the LEDs spread the light better and are a little cleaner. It's kind of hard to tell in the pics, but the comparison is much closer in person. I'm hoping when I get my headlight update done, they will brighten up a little more.

Mike1220 · March 20, 2015

This is with the LMZ as far in as it goes, and the LEDs sitting side to side.

This is the LMZ with the collar screwed on 2.5 times, sitting side to side. Found this to have the best output.

This is my HID. XB35 4500k

All these were of just a single light.

I do think the HIDs may have a slight advantage in brightness but I believe the LEDs spread the light better and are a little cleaner. It's kind of hard to tell in the pics, but the comparison is much closer in person. I'm hoping when I get my headlight update done, they will brighten up a little more.

It also looks like the HIDs had a bit more distance? Or were you using the extra FXR so the cut off was at different heights?

If the LMZs are this close to a 35W HID, then I very well could end up using the 50W HIDs I got originally for my FXRs. Although, I would really like to stay with a LED bulb [emoji19]

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Dangerdick · March 20, 2015

Led is a terrible choice for a projector

morrislee · March 20, 2015

Led is a terrible choice for a projector

I actually agree with that after seeing the output. My VLED fogs are working better than stock halogen bulbs in the factory reflectors.

Projectors catches light from every direction like HIDs and Halogens would, LEDs are too directional. Lots of power wastes.

John_chadra1 · March 20, 2015

It also looks like the HIDs had a bit more distance? Or were you using the extra FXR so the cut off was at different heights?

If the LMZs are this close to a 35W HID, then I very well could end up using the 50W HIDs I got originally for my FXRs. Although, I would really like to stay with a LED bulb [emoji19]

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I tried to keep the cut off in the same spot, but yes i was using the spare FXR. Like I said, I think the HID his a slight advantage in distance, but the LED spreads the light a lot better.

The headlight update should brighten these up even more, correct? 11-30v are the specs on the LMZ ballast, so it should be brighter with more voltage? Or I'm I way off?

I'm going to get the headlights back out tonight, I was going to put an LED in one of the housings and see how it looked, also so I can see what brights look like. If you look at the cut off between the LED and HID, the HID seems brighter there but when I turn my brights on, they don't seem to have much light above the cut off with the shutter open. I'm curious to know if the LED will have good distance????

I will mess with them tonight and post back. I will get my d3200 out and take some pics, hopefully it will show the light a little better.

morrislee · March 20, 2015

I tried to keep the cut off in the same spot, but yes i was using the spare FXR. Like I said, I think the HID his a slight advantage in distance, but the LED spreads the light a lot better.

The headlight update should brighten these up even more, correct? 11-30v are the specs on the LMZ ballast, so it should be brighter with more voltage? Or I'm I way off?

I'm going to get the headlights back out tonight, I was going to put an LED in one of the housings and see how it looked, also so I can see what brights look like. If you look at the cut off between the LED and HID, the HID seems brighter there but when I turn my brights on, they don't seem to have much light above the cut off with the shutter open. I'm curious to know if the LED will have good distance????

I will mess with them tonight and post back. I will get my d3200 out and take some pics, hopefully it will show the light a little better.

Doesnt matter what input voltage is, as long as within 11-30 is what the ballast can tolerate. They still output the same power to the actual bulb. Ballasts are more like power regulators. This is the same like HID ballasts.

Skeeter McSkeet · March 21, 2015

Doesnt matter what input voltage is, as long as within 11-30 is what the ballast can tolerate. They still output the same power to the actual bulb. Ballasts are more like power regulators. This is the same like HID ballasts.

So when I get the BCM flashed and new bulbs, when I swap the Volsa's out with these again, they won't change at all? Damn! I know at some point I'll retro some sort of assembly with hid, trucks still too new for me to really wanna cut them open right now lol. These are a great improvement for plug-n-play and reliability (so far).

-Skeet