Dick's Dank Yank Wank Tank

Nice build, we think alike. Waiting for your thoughts on VLEDs. I've got the Philips 921s sitting in my glove compartment waiting to go in, but I'll just let them sit there awhile longer if the VLEDs look like a better solution.

On the kid front, ours is almost 3.5 now. I am so glad those early days are over - chronic exhaustion - and we actually got an easy kid. We found about 12 months was when we realized things were suddenly a lot easier than they had been before. And since then it has gotten easier every month.

Watch out for the wife too, they try to over do it and there is a whole crazy culture of people shouting at them to try and not just be super mom but be convinced this is the most amazingly awesome and joyful thing in their life. It isn't, it sucks nuts 90% of the time (the early parts that is). Guys get to say so, girls don't. Everyone warns to watch for postpartum stuff early on, but after six to twelve months of grueling parenting you don't need hormones or medical conditions to just be worn down and not thinking through what is really important.

We did pretty well, mostly because we had an easy sleeper and no diet issues. Still around 6 months I sort of had to do an intervention on the breast feeding. It was never going great and required endless pumping. Wife works full time and not in a field where you can really slow down very much. Got a bunch of weeks of maternity leave at least, so that was good, but after that it isn't like you are 100%, or even 50% of what you were before but you are being evaluated as if nothing has changed. Throw in pumping however many times a day plus regular feeding sessions and suddenly you've lost hours and hours of time every day.

I called it the "dignity pump" - as if it was pumping it right out of her like that machine that sucks out life in The Princess Bride. We let that all go at six months and things got a lot better all at once. Afterwards she said, "why didn't you stop me earlier?"

Anyway, not knocking breast feeding at all - for some people it is actually easier and a time saver. Totally depends on the living situation and the biology of the parties involved. But the larger point is make sure you both take a moment somewhere in that say five to eight months range and figure out if everything you are doing is really necessary or is some of it just more time and effort than it really is worth. This kids thing is a marathon, not a sprint, you got to marshal your energy. What you told yourself before birth and what society and magazines are telling you right now are mostly ideals unsuited to the pragmatism required to get through it all. Happy kids come primarily from happy parents. If you figuratively kill yourself trying to do everything everyone else says you are suppose to do as a parent you won't be there in the most important way for the kid.

Anyway, awesome build. Count me as sub'd!

 

I'm practically certain it's a first.

 

Managed to do the BTLM and VLEDs today

 

When I have two hands...

They are quite worthwhile.

Cosmetic teaser

 

Note to self, don't walk in front of @scocar's balls in this thread - there's a lot of incoming crossfire.

 

This is a comparison of the change in illumination with VLED 5k bulbs vs stock incandescent.

Notes:

• Inspection of both light assemblies on the bench revealed that the housings, lenses, and reflectors are identical in every way so much as one can tell without cutting them apart. I have pics of that, but not going to post them at this time.
• These photo were taken on two sequential days as close as possible to the the exact same spot and same time of night. Therefore, this is not an ideal scientific comparison. But I'm not a scientist. So STFU. The distance from the green garbage can on the passenger side is approx. 17ish feet from the rear bumper.
• Also note that the backup camera display refresh rate affects those shots. In reality, the VLEDs did do a better job on the backup cam, too, regardless of what you may think in the below pics.

Backup cam @DCSBFTMFW
Stock lights and bulbs


Depo with VLED


Stock lights and bulbs standing against tailgate


Depo with VLED


Stock lights and bulbs standing at side of driver side taillight


Depo with VLED



Stock lights and bulbs looking at driver sideview mirror with window down.


Depo with VLED


Stock lights and bulbs with drive lights on from 17 ft.


Dep with VLED


EDIT: the product, repeated for convenience:

 

Definite improvement. Awesome.

Thanks for the efforts.

 

FUDB

You have no fucking idea, mate. This thread so far has been spared from the outright ballbusting pandemonium that you perhaps have yet to savor in all the BS threads.

 

Yeah, I'm happy. No prob. I would have done it anyway, but good call reminding me on the cam view. My 1st gen brain may have overlooked that. I'm just happy I didn't run over myself with the automatic.

 

I secured a light bar today, and will have some flush mount 2x2 LED pods I'll be mounting into the stock rear bumper and wiring them into a switch (as opposed to tapping into my reverse lights).

If I didn't luck into the pods I'd totally try those VLEDs.

 

Like that OZ-T guy.

 

I'll add some 6-inch LEDs or similar at some point back there. This was one of those, holy crap, I need a fix now for everyday conditions mods.

 

Thanks for the VLED's write up and nicely done comparison pictures. Just ordered a pair, my unopened Phillips are going back to Amazon.

 

What you did there, I see it.

Lights look greatly improved Scott. I'll be figuring out my order soon. Thank you. @scocar

 

Glad I could help. Glad @VE70SR steered me in the right direction so I could help. Occasionally, these Kanuckistanis aren't half half bad.

 

Yep, you just gotta watch out for the shorts wearing islander variety.

 

Some cosmetic de-chroming shots of the Depos

 

Now you need to get rid of that bumper.

Can you confirm or deny the almost undetectable difference in quality of the DEPO lights to the OEMs?

For science and for @tacomgee