The latest (and greatest) in the LED saga

This area is for those who need help modernizing their Lincoln for purposes other than strict restoration. Such questions can be about adding an electric fuel pump, adding fuel injection, boosting horsepower or gas mileage, or tightening or lowering the suspension. Body customizing and chopping can also be here (although this practice is not encouraged by the LCOC).

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defrang
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Re: The latest (and greatest) in the LED saga

Post by defrang »

Yes, I agree. Most would assume that 4 headlights on means the Hi beams are on and other drivers in my region would be constantly flashing their lights at you. I might try it anyway.
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Re: The latest (and greatest) in the LED saga

Post by Solid »

I will grant that badly aimed, or using crappy LED bulb replacements with terrible patterns, is more likely to result in problems than having four on at once. Since this thread is about LED conversions, I'll just say do not buy replacement LED bulbs that have multiple LED's in some kind of three sided, four sided, or 360 degree pattern. There are a lot of H4 and other size replacements that look like this and they are worse than a halogen because the light source does not line up properly with the reflector segments inside the housing. You want the highest quality LED bulb you can get that has its LED chips in the same location, orientation, and size as the glowing filament is inside a halogen one when installed.

I noticed that I was not getting the performance I expected from a set of LED H4's and then paid more attention to this.

If you're curious there are several videos and photos from the better vendors for these conversions that show how much of a difference this really makes. Bad LED conversions can be half as bright where you need the light as you get from a halogen and still throw up a blinding circular light pattern for other drivers. Good LED conversions can put 3-4x as much light on target as a halogen while keeping a sharp horizontal cutoff that prevents other drivers from being hit with glare.
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Re: The latest (and greatest) in the LED saga

Post by LithiumCobalt »

Solid, do you have examples (good and bad) of these LED bulbs used for conversions?
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Re: The latest (and greatest) in the LED saga

Post by Solid »

LithiumCobalt wrote:Solid, do you have examples (good and bad) of these LED bulbs used for conversions?
This video does a good job of explaining it and then showing examples.

https://youtu.be/nnD_sDWNjEw
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Re: The latest (and greatest) in the LED saga

Post by defrang »

I have Cree GP thunder. Way better than the OEM candle power it replaced. Maybe not as good as the best in the video link you attached Solid. But online for less than 20 dollars per bulb. I am not much of a night time driver in the Lincoln because it is not my daily driver but when I have driven at night the GP thunder has been more than adequate and so far on coming cars have not flashed their lights when I have had all 4 headlights on.
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Re: The latest (and greatest) in the LED saga

Post by burnski »

just noticed this. thanks for the h/t Defrang. i didnt have to modify anything to fit them in either, the lenses are glass and look exactly like the stock sealed beams. the difference in light output is exponential vs the stock lamps.
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Re: The latest (and greatest) in the LED saga

Post by LithiumCobalt »

I appreciate the fact the manufactures preserved the look of the original glass housings. That would almost tempt me to try these. Cost is not too unreasonable for the perceived benefits. I just don’t drive my car much in the dark and the halogens that I use seem to be pretty bright. No doubt the LEDs would takes some load off of the system, though.
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Re: The latest (and greatest) in the LED saga

Post by defrang »

I used exactly what Pat (Burnski) used because he was the first person that made me believe no mods were needed to put the system in. Including no need for a relay harness. The big benefit besides lumen power was the decreased amp load in a 64-65 which could be important to me since I have yet to remove the amp gauge even though it does have the insulator behind the gauge itself.
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Re: The latest (and greatest) in the LED saga

Post by milesofsmiles »

The set up I used and is working great is the Auxbeam H4 LED headlights suggested by Nathan Wilson in his video and OEM style 5 inch Round (Actual Size: 5.75") Glass Lens Housing for H4 bulbs. The stock chrome headlight rings fit over this perfectly. The outside low/high beams were plug and play but the high beams needed to transition from a 3 prong to 2 prong and I used the below mentioned harness and just clipped the unneeded prong.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07F3 ... UTF8&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01N5 ... UTF8&psc=1

Auxbeam H4 LED headlights

Hope this helps.
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Re: The latest (and greatest) in the LED saga

Post by Conti passion »

burnski wrote:just noticed this. thanks for the h/t Defrang. i didnt have to modify anything to fit them in either, the lenses are glass and look exactly like the stock sealed beams. the difference in light output is exponential vs the stock lamps.

Where did you purchase the new lamps from?
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Re: The latest (and greatest) in the LED saga

Post by skid »

I just put the same Octane LED headlights in my 64 last month. I got them after screwing around with 2 cheaper sets of 'drop-in' LED units that had me taking a holesaw to the car's light buckets and all sorts of other foolishness.

I should have gotten the Octanes first. They work and look great, and they are 100% plug-n-play (unlike the generic cheap chinese units sold everywhere).
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