3rd Gen LED Low-Beam, High-Beam & Fogs

So I referenced a few of the other threads in regards to this topic. There are a couple of things that I found to be bad advice, and some of the linked products to be a bad fit.


"DRL" Style LED bulb replacements - DON'T USE
The way the projectors and reflectors are designed, the generic bulb-only DRL style LED replacements do not work well. They are actually really bad. Obviously they will not work well at all in low or high beam applications. I saw a mention of using them in the fogs since they don't need to be as bright. I thought that made sense, until I tried them in the housing. It doesn't project the light in any particular direction. It literally is a faint flood that extends from the floor to 20 feet up. It doesn't provide much if any usable light. I don't know about you, but if I'm spending money on "upgrades", it better outperform the stock equipment. This stuff doesn't, not for this application. Bottom line, these style suck for any of the 3 applications.

What do I use then?
For all 3 lights, you want them to be functional. I saw a recommendation for Opt7 LEDs, which are a solid choice. I've used these in the past with good results and I also ran these in my 3rd gen low-beams for a week or so. After the failure of the DRL style bulbs, I popped my Opt7s in the fog light housing, and surprise surprise, they work great. Popped them in the high-beams, they worked great.

However, I didn't feel like spending another $100 for each set, so I tried another product. Enter the Mictuning LUMA+ LED Bulb. At $48.99 a pop, I figured they'd get the job done. On top of that, these include amber sleeves in case you want to run your fogs in yellow/amber, these also work great and are very yellow if that's your thing. I opted to keep mine white. Since they were so cheap, I ended up ordering them for my high-beams as well.

After getting them in, I compared them side by side with the Opt7's and to my amazement, they performed very similarly and the build quality was about the same as well. I ended up sending my Opt 7 back and getting another Mictuning bulb set to save the additional $50.

Available via Amazon Prime for $48.99 http://amzn.to/2e24lRH

If anyone wants to see pictures, let me know, I can compare it to stock since I have the stock bulbs, but I returned the other DRL and OPT7s that I used to come to my conclusion.




I forgot to set the White balance, so it was on auto white balance. In reality, the LEDs have a bluer tint to them, and the stock lights have a more yellow feel.

 

Pics or it didn't happen. Thems the rules.

 

post the picutres here so we can see them!

 

what size bulbs are the high beams and what size are the fog lights?

 

Conveniently enough, they are all H11 sized. That's how I was able to pop them into each socket and determine if I wanted to get more. Pics incoming...

 

Updated first post with pics. Yes, I set the camera settings the same way for all shots, except I left it on Auto Whitebalance

 

So $100 for a set of 2 ... I have the RSI Platinum H11 LED Bulb Kit | 6000 LM

Paid under a hundy for each set of 2 including shipping. Got 2 sets of H11s and 1 set of H9s (high beams) for under $300.

 

stock fogs look pitiful

 

To be fair, I did adjust the height of the beam after messing around with the DRL style bulbs. Tried to "fix" it, but there was no amount of adjustment that would fix the use of a DRL style bulb. So after messing with that, I figured I should just adjust the height. LEDs are definitely brighter than stock though.

 

I purchased these for hi and low beams. Couldn't get them in to the socket for the,low beams, not enough rear clearance. How did you go about installing them?

 

It required some acrobatics. On the driver side, it gets tricky. But at one point I had it almost entire upside down, with the cable end up. Then I was able to rotate it into place. I installed all of it without removing anything from the truck besides the old bulbs.

 

I actually ordered these today based upon your write up. Hopefully they are nice and easy

 

So, you were able to get the low beam LED bulbs in by rotating them into position?

 

It's hard to tell, but are you parked in the same position? If so, did you end up adjusting the low's back down after installing the LED's? If not you will definitely want to, the factory position is at the right height to not blind other cars and even a couple of inches makes a big difference. In those pictures it looks like the LED low cut off is a foot or more higher which would mean you're driving around blinding people all the time, but it's hard to tell if the truck is in the same position or not (which could obviously affect where the cut off is falling on the garage door). Easy way is just pay attention when you pull up behind cars, if the lights are hitting their rearview mirrors then they need to be adjusted down.

 

To clarify for those of us who are slow, you purchased 6 individual items @ 48.99 each, correct?

 

No sir, 3 sets for $48 a piece. so Total was under $150. Covers Fogs, lows & highs.

 

At first I didn't adjust them down because I was getting a lift done. Did that over this weekend and adjusted the lows. Had a friend in a civic in front of me the other night and asked if my lights were blinding, she said it was good to go!

 

Yes sir, no removal of the headlights or other components. Just a bit of finagling and the lows were in. The high beams and fog lights were easier in general.

 

So whats the verdict?

 

These look great!

Do they match the DRL?

Are there any kind of inline ballasts or boxes that have to be mounted with Velcro/zip ties/screws?

Does anyone have any fuse or ECU concerns with these? It's been rare but a few users have had pretty serious issues with HIDs and LEDs on this truck. I've always done HIDs and was going to go LEDs (due to way less harnessing) but have been apprehensive since I've read of those few random cases.

Thanks!