Bad link on headlight conversion

[robertglines1]

  I do apologize for difficult link on Cody topic..I purchased my sealed beam conversion kit from   www truckcustomizers.com/mfg/pilot.html      They do work and would be deserving of your consideration. for the 7 inch rectangular I had to work a little to get to on site but they are there....or just call them.

[robertglines1]

My computer skills.... left out .   www.truckcustomizers.com/mfg/pilot.html

[Chopper Scott]

Thanks for the link Bob. I think that's the direction I am going to go.

[rv_safetyman]

I think this link is what we are talking about:  http://www.truckcustomizers.com/products/pilot-sealed-beam-headlamp-conversion-kits.html

Quite a bit cheaper than Cibie.  I wonder how good the optics are?

Jim

[robertglines1]

I have nothing but good to say about them..Ben on other thread posted his experience with them and his have been in use longer than mine. nothing negative yet.

[luvrbus]

Jim, Jim Smith has that setup in his Eagle and will buy those wholesale for you give him a call he likes it and I think Larry Jones and Eddie have those also in their Eagles or going to install the set.
They come in 2 different version also one sealed and the other with a replaceable bulb Jim has the bulb on his and I think Larry is going to use the sealed unit


Good Luck

[bevans6]

What I am now curious about is any differences in the actual bulbs?  you obviously choose H1 or H4 depending on if you need single beam or dual beam, but do different brands or types perform differently in the same wattage?  Do they make HID kits to replace Halogen bulbs inside of the lamps?  From what I understand the HID system uses a lot less power than the halogen, for the same or greater brightness.

the other thing that is interesting is that in modern headlights, they are apparently designing the optics more into the reflectors than the lenses.  The old, familiar Fresnel type lens that you see in the Cibie type of set up is going towards a smooth lens with no refraction and the focus dependant on the reflector.  that is rather cool as well.

Brian

[rv_safetyman]

Clifford, thanks for the information.  I have retained the 5 3/4 dual (per side) lights in mine (like the looks).  We got caught on a rather curvy road (US40 in Utah/CO) and absolutely could not see where we were going.  I watched the yellow line and Pat watched the side of the road.  White knuckles all the way to the next town.  

I then installed relays, and it seemed to help, but I have not tested them in the real world.

I cracked out an ordered the Daniel Stern system ($$$$$).  He did not have them in stock and ended up not shipping them after several emails.  Finally gave up, as I really did not have that kind of money to spend and we try not to drive at night.  

These sound like a good alternative.

I will talk to the Albuquerque group when we are in Quartzsite.

Jim

[Sean]

FWIW, these are the same items I recommended in a different thread to someone who was looking to convert 12-volt headlamps to 24-volt.  H4 lamps are widely available in 24-volt; I use them on my own bus (which has Mercedes rectangular fixtures that accept H4 bulbs).

... but do different brands or types perform differently in the same wattage?

Yes.  Stick with the high-quality brands like Sylvania and Osram; cheap items are available from China and elsewhere that do not adhere to the same coil spacing tolerance, which can have adverse effects optically.

  Do they make HID kits to replace Halogen bulbs inside of the lamps?  From what I understand the HID system uses a lot less power than the halogen, for the same or greater brightness.

Retrofitting an HID lamp into a reflector built for incandescents is illegal in all 50 states.  That, of course, does not stop thousands of sellers from offering exactly such kits on eBay and elsewhere; some get away by stating "for off road use only."  The feds have been trying unsuccessfully for years to stem the tide of HID conversion kits coming in from Asia.

If you like HID headlamps, get DOT-approved models that come as complete units (reflector, lens, and all).  These are available for retrofit into "standard" round and rectangular headlight buckets; if you have fancy custom headlamps you are SOL unless a specific HID system is offered for that model.

-Sean
http://OurOdyssey.BlogSpot.com

[cody]

I appreciate the good information, I knew that there was a light at the end of the tunnel lol.  We're basically shut down for the winter so i'll spend the winter hunting and gathering and puttering a bit, one thing I'll be getting is new lights for the front, mine are sad.

[Tim Strommen]

FWIW, these are the same items I recommended in a different thread to someone who was looking to convert 12-volt headlamps to 24-volt.  H4 lamps are widely available in 24-volt; I use them on my own bus (which has Mercedes rectangular fixtures that accept H4 bulbs).

Yes, I agree with Sean here - using 24v bulbs vs 12v bulbs for forward lighting reduces the current that must travel over the wires for the same wattage (60Watts / 24Volts = 2Amps vs. 60W/12V = 5Amps).  This lower current translates to lower voltage drop from the batteries to the bulbs (40' of 16Ga wire @ 0.00399511Ohms resistance/foot translates to a .8volt drop for 12volt systems and a .3volt drop for a 24volt system (considering one 60watt filament). Also, this lower drop is a smaller percentaage of the system voltage (.8v is 6.666% of a 12v system voltage, while .3 is 1.25% of a 24v system voltage).  5% drop is considered the maximun drop for a "critical" system like forwrd lighting (and we haven't even started looking at corroded contacts etc...).

... but do different brands or types perform differently in the same wattage?

...Stick with the high-quality brands like Sylvania and Osram...

Again, I agree with Sean here - Osram/Sylvania (the same company by the way - just different groups...) makes a bulb for 24V that is actually wound like a normal filament rather than a "coil of coiled wire" like the Hella branded bulbs (this negatively impacts the focus of the lamp).

Do they make HID kits to replace Halogen bulbs inside of the lamps?  From what I understand the HID system uses a lot less power than the halogen, for the same or greater brightness.

Retrofitting an HID lamp into a reflector built for incandescents is illegal in all 50 states.  That, of course, does not stop thousands of sellers from offering exactly such kits on eBay and elsewhere; some get away by stating "for off road use only."  The feds have been trying unsuccessfully for years to stem the tide of HID conversion kits coming in from Asia.

This is true, and made even more difficult to regulate due to OEM auto manufacturers like Toyota/Lexus and Honda/Acura who take standard Halogen fixtures and place "HID retrofit" kits in Factory-delivered vehicles as options (like all of the Lexus models, the Toyota Prius/Camry/Highlander, Acura RL/TL/TSX, and Honda Crosstour/Accord/Insight).  I've inspected several of these first hand and they are using lamp fixtures which bear the bulb classification for "Halogen" (even when outfitted with HID packages...).

All that said, I have 4200K-HID H4-HiLo retrofit in my truck (Cibie ECE-H4 fixtures) that I bought from eBay and they do work great.  But I will not recommend that modification to anyone else, much like the home-brew LED retrofits (some others here have done that, and so have I).

-Tim

[johns4104s]

I have owned a set of Sibbie's for 20 years now ( will be swapping them over from the 04 to my 9 ), they are ist class for both high and low beam, You have several light patterns to choose from, Jim they have one set that has an enormous side spread, No dark spots. Worth every penny.

John