Hella headlight LED bulbs

jbramhall · 08-10-2016, 09:06 PM

Has anyone replaced the standard bulbs in the halogen headlights on their 2008 or 2009 Berk with LED bulbs? My 2009 has 4 oval Hella lamps. Any recommendations or regrets?

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ceedog · 08-11-2016, 08:31 AM

Changed mine to HID's. Made a big differrence. Got them from superbriteled.com.

Just tell them which bulb you have & they'll send the kit for your coach.

jbramhall · 08-11-2016, 08:48 AM

Ceedog,

Thanks for the recommendation. Are you sure that's the link? I receive an offer to buy that domain URL when I follow it.

Also, you said HID "Kit" instead of just "bulb". What's involved, and did you need to change anything other than the bulbs?

Thanks

Kenny kustom · 08-11-2016, 09:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jbramhall

Ceedog,

Thanks for the recommendation. Are you sure that's the link? I receive an offer to buy that domain URL when I follow it.

Also, you said HID "Kit" instead of just "bulb". What's involved, and did you need to change anything other than the bulbs?

Thanks

Ballast, wiring etc.

Although, sticking an hid bulb in a housing meant for a halogen light, looks horrible.

2016 Sabre 36QBOK
2015 Ram 3500 CUMMINS
Bring Back The Search!

Dogpound · 08-11-2016, 12:47 PM

I tried LED headlight on my Georgetown, they worked, however they would not work well with my Daylight Running lights. Had to flick the switch to get them on, something to do with the relay, took it awhile to get to full power. I just bought new Blue Lamps ....and it helped some.

jbramhall · 08-11-2016, 12:59 PM

Dogpound,

I'd consider the disabling of the always on headlights a good thing. I usually run some other lights I've installed during the day and would like to save the headlights for true night driving. I've recently needed to back my coach abreast a curb, and my guide asked me to turn off the headlights as they blinded him. I could not comply. What bulbs did you use and were there other components to install?

Kenny kustom · 08-11-2016, 01:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jbramhall

Dogpound,

I'd consider the disabling of the always on headlights a good thing.?

I would disagree...
DRL are very helpful. There's a reason they are coming on more and more new cars.. ( been law in Canada for more than a decade)

Too many people are driving around in the dark/dusk/rain/snow etc, without their lights on.

Even in broad daylight, it is easier to see a vehicle with their lights on.

2016 Sabre 36QBOK
2015 Ram 3500 CUMMINS
Bring Back The Search!

jbramhall · 08-11-2016, 01:25 PM

Spare me the lecture. I have installed other lights that make the rig conspicuous during the day, and I use them while driving in daylight. I'd like to determine when to use the equipment on my rig and not have the government do it. I have practical reasons to require movement of my coach without the headlights on.

jbramhall · 08-11-2016, 01:36 PM

Let's keep the political conversation elsewhere.

JLeising · 08-11-2016, 02:28 PM

Monitoring this thread. On my Mercedes Benz Sprinter the headlights are used as daytime running lights. My issue is that they burn out pretty fast - about 20,000 miles for the special long life bulbs from Mercedes (dimmer than standard bulbs), about 3,000 miles for the normal (brighter) car parts store bulbs. I would love to replace with LEDs, assuming the normal LED lifetime of 50K hours to half light output. H7 bulbs.

gordonsick · 08-11-2016, 03:04 PM

I agree with Kenny Custom. We've had DRL in Canada for about 20 years. Saves a lot of lives.

Remember that there is a safety effect on drivers of the vehicle other than the one who chooses whether or not to have the DRL on. We get a few American cars on our roads, and it is always a little scary when deciding when to pass on a 2-lane road. If there is a vehicle without DRL, it is harder to judge its distance or even find that it is there.

They are well proven to save lives. I believe that they had a bigger safety effect than the much more expensive airbags that the US mandated at about the same time.

DRL run at lower intensity and I've never noticed a glare problem. The manufacturers typically run the two high beams in series for the DRL effect, which lowers the light output. The high beams aren't the ones to burn out first in my experience.

jbramhall · 08-11-2016, 03:20 PM

I'm asking for technical advice and not insurance data. This is the second time I've seen the headlamp topic hijacked by Canadians and their DRL positions. Not that I should owe you this explanation, but I have other lights on the front of the coach that come on whenever the engine is running.

I'd like to hear from members who have changed the halogen bulbs out of their Hella oval shaped headlamps to something brighter and more modern in appearance.

Please stop with the political and motor vehicle law preference discussions on this thread.

Respectfully,

JB

f5moab · 08-11-2016, 04:27 PM

LEDs are brighter, no doubt, but in most cases they do not throw the light far enough down the road due to the fact the light housing was not designed for LED (or even HID) bulbs and the reflector in the housing plays a large part in getting the light down the road.

I converted my H3, before I sold it to LED bulbs, and was highly disappointed.

Look at them straight on could fry you eye, but when driving on dark roads they just were not that good. And I'm talking primarily off-road dirt roads, not interstate traveling. My opinion is they were not safe for interstate driving due to the lack of distance the light was thrown out in front of the vehicle at high speeds.

Same problem with HID conversions for those I know who converted to HID bulbs. Plus LEDs have some large heat sinks or even small fans to keep the LED cool

Supposedly they will last longer, so they say. Not sure, sold the H3.

**wmtire** · 08-11-2016, 04:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jbramhall

Has anyone replaced the standard bulbs in the halogen headlights on their 2008 or 2009 Berk with LED bulbs? My 2009 has 4 oval Hella lamps. Any recommendations or regrets?

OK, the site team has cleaned up some off topic and rude posts here. The OP is asking for recommendations on headlamps as quoted above. Please keep your answers pertaining to the topic question asked, and not try to bait others either into an off-topic discussion.

Bluepill · 08-11-2016, 09:18 PM

The computer-designed headlight reflectors that have been installed in new vehicles for the past 15 years or so are very critical in EXACT positioning of the bulb's filament in order to give optimum performance. The LED bulb replacements in particular tend to emit light at different positions than the original halogen bulbs. This causes poor beam formation.

A number of friends have tried them in motorcycle applications and have been disappointed. If you check the reviews of popular conversion kits on Amazon, you will find the same remarks.

That said, there are a number of LED AUXILIARY light designs that work very well.

ceedog · 08-12-2016, 12:10 PM

jb

I misspelled bright. It should be superbrightleds.com

f5moab · 08-12-2016, 12:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bluepill

The computer-designed headlight reflectors that have been installed in new vehicles for the past 15 years or so are very critical in EXACT positioning of the bulb's filament in order to give optimum performance. The LED bulb replacements in particular tend to emit light at different positions than the original halogen bulbs. This causes poor beam formation.

A number of friends have tried them in motorcycle applications and have been disappointed. If you check the reviews of popular conversion kits on Amazon, you will find the same remarks.

That said, there are a number of LED AUXILIARY light designs that work very well.

I agree.
If you look at an incandescent bulb it is omnidirectional, while a LED is more directional. That might be the main problem.

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