I have a 2007 build with very poor lights. Has any--

[CycloneBob]

A 2007 Shell Valley with Halogen bulb 7 " round, with poor all around performance.. Has anyone found some really good LED's with a good pattern?? "Thanks for any input"!

[john4337]

I’ve been thinking about an upgrade myself, but lots of conflicting information floating around. I am thinking about this package from Breeze, mainly because everything I’ve gotten from Mark works great

https://www.breezeautomotive.com/sho...-lighting-kit/

John

[Frank Messina]

LEDs are one answer but there are a lot of things you should address before taking that step. Are your headlights on relays? What size wire do you have? You need 14 ga or more. Are you well grounded? Then comes the lamps and bulbs. I switched from Wipac E code lamps to Lucas PL700 Tri Bars with bulbs I purchased from Daniel Stern. Outstanding combination. I'm reminded of the ole KC Hi-Lites catch phrase "We light up the night". Makes me smile.
Frank

[Unique427]

Originally Posted by CycloneBob

A 2007 Shell Valley with Halogen bulb 7 " round, with poor all around performance.. Has anyone found some really good LED's with a good pattern?? "Thanks for any input"!

Here's a copy/paste from a previous LED thread I responded to.

The complete LED conversion route I took.

Headlights:
The following is a direct replacement if you have 3 prong H4 connectors
most halogen or 7” sealed beam equipped Cobras have. It’s minimal
fuss and will require less than 20 minutes even if it’s the first time.
Hella lamps are all glass and DOT compliant. There’s a bulb reflector inside
to eliminate head-on hot spots that annoys oncoming traffic. The JDM
LED headlight low/high output is 2200/3000 lumens at 6500K each.
No bulb fan or power converter is required on this model.
Bulbs easily fit inside the light bucket without cutting or modification.
Hella lamps come with 2 rubber dust boots to seal out moisture at the
electrical connection. Draw a 1-1/4” diameter circle on the back of each
rubber dust boot. Carefully cut out with a scissors. It will now stretch fit
over the back of each installed JDM LED and create a moisture resistant
seal where the Hella and JDM join.
1) Hella Vision Plus7” Sealed Beam Conversion Headlamp (DOT) # 002395301
2) JDM 4S H4 9003 LED Headlight Conversion Kit # 4S-H4-2200

Running/Turn/Brake Lights:
The LED bulbs listed here are about 4X as bright as comparable halogen
bulbs they replace. Please note that for amber and red, use a color
matching LED for the respective lens. A red LED through a red lens is
brighter and far more vibrant then white. 100% of the light emitted is
transmitted through a similar colored lens . For this scenario I had
(2) Lucas L539 Amber up front and (4) Lucas L692 Red in back. All were
1157 style bulbs. If some of your light sockets are 1156 do not interchange.
1157 have two staggered contact prongs and 1156 has two non-staggered
contact prongs. The LED supplier listed makes both base styles.
1) iBrightstar 1157 BAY15D LED – Amber #X001JCP9KP
2) IBrightstar 1157 BAY15D LED – Red #X001IPJ4EF

License Plate Lights:
This is for Lucas L467 License Plate Assembly and requires (2) LED bulbs.
1) Superbrightleds BA9S LED 5 SMD Tower 6100K # BA9S-CWHP5

Instrument/Cockpit Lights:
This is for Stewart Warner based gauges that have removable bulb sockets.
These are located at the top of the gauge, are friction fit and come in
one or two wire versions. It’s plug and play for either version. It will
require patience if doing while gauges are wired in place. Not much room
to work but doable. These LED’s are available in cool or warm white,
amber, red, green and blue. I went with cool white for speedo and tach
and red for system gauges. At 96 vs 36 lumens, they are bright and make a
gauge face really pop!
1) Superbrightleds BA9S LED 5 SMD Tower Cool White # BA9S-CWHP5
2) Superbrightleds BA9S LED SMD Tower Red #BA9S-RHP5

Misc:
Switching from halogen to LED turn signals can introduce either a hyper-flash
or no flash/steady on condition with turn signals. The electro-mechanical
relays use load resistance from the halogens to switch on and off. LEDs
require only a fraction of power and hence produce very little load resistance.
You have (2) options here. Splice in a load resistor into each turn signal circuit
that mimics the halogen and fools the relay, or replace it with LED
compatible solid state relays. Option 2 is better and cheaper. Plus those
load resistors can get hot enough to melt plastic. You will need to replace
(2) relays. One for turn signals, the other for hazard lights. My relays
were (2) prong Tridon 552. If you have (3) prong relays
Superbrightleds.com offers a (3) prong LED compatible relay.
Note that LED compatible solid state relays are silent and do not have
the telltale "tick-tock" sound when engaging turn signals.
1) CEC Industries LED Compatible Solid State (2) Prong Relay # EF32SS-R

Misc 2:
After switching to LED compatible relays, if you still experience a
no flash/steady on condition, the relay socket was reverse wired. Old
electro-mechanical relays are not polarity sensitive and hence the
technician who wired it did not care to check. No worries. Easily
corrected with a relay polarity adapter. The CEC Industries EF32SS-R
plugs into the adapter and together they plug into the relay socket.
1) United Pacific Relay Polarity Adapter # 90650A

[cycleguy55]

Originally Posted by john4337

I’ve been thinking about an upgrade myself, but lots of conflicting information floating around. I am thinking about this package from Breeze, mainly because everything I’ve gotten from Mark works great

https://www.breezeautomotive.com/sho...-lighting-kit/

John

Those look good, but it's a safe bet they're not compliant with DOT standards. They can only be compliant as an assembly, and I believe the Hella lens/reflector combo was designed for a halogen lamp. Replacing that with an LED (or HID) light source renders it non-compliant.

To be fair, the point is probably moot. As many point out, the chances of actually being inspected and ticketed are minimal, so many run them and take their chances.

Breeze may have done a better job than most in selecting a good LED / headlamp combination, but there are a lot of AWFUL lamps out there where someone has just dropped in a cheap LED H4 replacement and ended up with headlamps that are not only brighter but produce a TON of glare for oncoming drivers.

I've seen far more bad LED setups than good.

Just my $0.02.

[MKS427]

I have the same ones Harley uses. They are great, night and day difference. LOL The beam is about 160°.
Take the time to source them outside of Harley packaging to save some money. Amazon has them.
Good luck

[Jim Vander Wal]

I've run the standard Hella 7" H4 conversions in two cars. Excellent light, great low-beam cutoff/control and the highs are great.

I'd go with the Super 7 if I was buying today. Choose a bulb to suit your taste. Standard is in the 55watt range.

These look very traditional if that's important to you and generally a bunch less expensive than the LEDs. A drop-in replacement w/o concern over wiring if you stay in the 55watt range.

HL79562 Hella 7" Round H4 E-Code Headlamp, Each | Rally Lights
or these
Hella 7" Round E-code Hi-Lo Conversion Headlamp Kit., H6024 | Rally Lights

Jim

[tortuga]

“A gentleman does not motor about after dark.”
—Joseph Lucas, founder of Lucas Industries.

I find it a bit terrifying driving the no dimming rear-view, low slung hard to see, tiny tail-lighted, Cobra around at night in this world of texting girls and unlicensed maniacs...I try to avoid driving at night.

My $.02

Steve H
spf 1764

[tortuga]

Originally Posted by cycleguy55

Those look good, but it's a safe bet they're not compliant with DOT standards. They can only be compliant as an assembly, and I believe the Hella lens/reflector combo was designed for a halogen lamp. Replacing that with an LED (or HID) light source renders it non-compliant.

To be fair, the point is probably moot. As many point out, the chances of actually being inspected and ticketed are minimal, so many run them and take their chances.

Breeze may have done a better job than most in selecting a good LED / headlamp combination, but there are a lot of AWFUL lamps out there where someone has just dropped in a cheap LED H4 replacement and ended up with headlamps that are not only brighter but produce a TON of glare for oncoming drivers.

Just my $0.02.

Yep, bright white aircraft landing lights aimed by some kid 10' away from a garage door in the daytime...Usually coupled with an additional set of "driving" lights set up with similar degree of competence.

And of course most people stare right into them like geese in the rain...



I've seen far more bad LED setups than good.

[fastd]

I replaced my set up with Cibie 82440 housings with Philips X-treme Vision (H4 60/55w); big improvement 15 minutes to replace.

[jhv48]

Originally Posted by tortuga

“A gentleman does not motor about after dark.”
—Joseph Lucas, founder of Lucas Industries.

I find it a bit terrifying driving the no dimming rear-view, low slung hard to see, tiny tail-lighted, Cobra around at night in this world of texting girls and unlicensed maniacs...I try to avoid driving at night.

My $.02

Steve H
spf 1764

I’m with Steve. I don’t drive mine at night.

[RallySnake]

I drive my Arntz Cobra on long distance rallies. Many of them are all night events. Lighting is critically important. I tried several LED taillight bulbs and used the brightest ones so the little taillights really shine. I have tried many types of headlights over the years. Many of the aftermarket kits give terrible light patterns which blind oncoming cars. The best I have found are stock 35 watt HID projector beam assemblies from a Nissan Morano. I grafted these to the back of cheap 7" headlights I found on eBay. They give very bright low beams with sharp cutoffs. The high beams are a shutter that opens to reveal the topside light. I also use 75 watt HID driving lights that are wired to work with the high beams, but only turned on in remote areas. Once, I accidentally unleashed the full power of these lights on an oncoming car in a residential area and the poor guy had to just stop his car. In the total darkness of California and Nevada back roads, they are great!

They were not always so powerful. I originally wired them with 10 gauge wire. This was not enough. I have upgraded to an 8 gauge wire to the front of the car for all the lights with a relay box to distribute the power. I also had to upgrade the alternator output wire to 6 gauge. I also added a 8 gauge wire from the alternator ground to a large brass grounding strip under the dash. This connects all the grounds including an 8 gauge wire to the front of the car for the lights and radiator fan. Now the lights are fantastic and all the electronics are totally reliable.

I have been watching the development of the LED technology very closely and they are getting better. Most of them do not come close to the lumen output of HID's. There is also a new laser headlight assemblies that look promising, but is very expensive.

RS