Ok.... first off I'm a new member please go easy on me.
Second, before everyone starts roasting me about the legality (or lack of) I just want to understand this better for safety reasons not saying I'm doing it.
I have a Hummer H3T pickup, and I love everything about the truck except the headlights, which in my opinion are borderline unsafe for light output.
I DO NOT want to be "that guy with the hummer" blinding people on the road making an unsafe situation, however I also want to be able to safely drive on/offroad without putting myself in danger because I didn't see a road hazard or animal before it was too late. For context I drive a ton at night in deer/moose country, both on hwy and backroads.
I have replaced my halogen bulbs with Philips Xtremevision, while it is better than factory, it is still very sub-par so I suppose it's the reflector as the bulbs have great reviews.
I plan on adding a 30" light bar for offroad use, but I still have no solution for the headlight on-road problem.
I initially started looking into HID or LED dropins and have done some homework, however there is a lot of conflicting information out there.
I looked at a DIY HID retro projector, but after reading I worry that it is a bad idea and still most likely unsafe and not to mention technically illegal.
LED if they could project properly seems like the perfect inexpensive solution, but all I read is mixed info, some say drop in all good others say very bad idea blinding illegal etc which immediately causes me to shy away....... until I watched the video below, which now has me rethinking that option again. This is where I want true and valid help to understand more.
15 brand LED reflector shoot-out (long video)
Aside from being certified/DOT etc (which I'm sure will never happen as the reflectors are not made for these bulbs), if the output is close to halogen from a pattern/cutoff/hotspot perspective, what is truly the downside to consider one of these? It seems to me like if the pattern is nearly the same from the reflector, that it should work the same as halogen?
Thanks in advance!
Matt
Second, before everyone starts roasting me about the legality (or lack of) I just want to understand this better for safety reasons not saying I'm doing it.
I have a Hummer H3T pickup, and I love everything about the truck except the headlights, which in my opinion are borderline unsafe for light output.
I DO NOT want to be "that guy with the hummer" blinding people on the road making an unsafe situation, however I also want to be able to safely drive on/offroad without putting myself in danger because I didn't see a road hazard or animal before it was too late. For context I drive a ton at night in deer/moose country, both on hwy and backroads.
I have replaced my halogen bulbs with Philips Xtremevision, while it is better than factory, it is still very sub-par so I suppose it's the reflector as the bulbs have great reviews.
I plan on adding a 30" light bar for offroad use, but I still have no solution for the headlight on-road problem.
I initially started looking into HID or LED dropins and have done some homework, however there is a lot of conflicting information out there.
I looked at a DIY HID retro projector, but after reading I worry that it is a bad idea and still most likely unsafe and not to mention technically illegal.
LED if they could project properly seems like the perfect inexpensive solution, but all I read is mixed info, some say drop in all good others say very bad idea blinding illegal etc which immediately causes me to shy away....... until I watched the video below, which now has me rethinking that option again. This is where I want true and valid help to understand more.
15 brand LED reflector shoot-out (long video)
Aside from being certified/DOT etc (which I'm sure will never happen as the reflectors are not made for these bulbs), if the output is close to halogen from a pattern/cutoff/hotspot perspective, what is truly the downside to consider one of these? It seems to me like if the pattern is nearly the same from the reflector, that it should work the same as halogen?
Thanks in advance!
Matt