LED Headlight bulb for an Interstate..........

[3fan4life]

I'm interested in replacing the headlight bulbs on my Interstate with LED.

I purchased some cheap ones off Ebay and they are worse than crap.

Even on high beam they are only projecting about 20ft down the road.

And Low beam is like having no lights at all.


So has anyone found a particular bulb that is an improvement over the Halogen bulbs?


If so, Please post a link.


Thanks in advance.

[F6Dave]

I've heard some similar complaints about LEDs on the F6B board.  LED lighting is great in vehicles that have them as original equipment.  But when you adapt LED emitters to a housing and reflector designed for a halogen bulb, with a filament that projects light in a different way, you'll be making some compromises.  While the LEDs can put out the light, the coverage pattern may be worse than the OEM bulbs.  I think a better approach would be to add some LED driving lights.

[Jess from VA]

There's a awful lot of older threads on here on LED light bubs in interstates, and I think some of them worked well.  But it takes searching. 

[Valkorado]

These

https://www.ebay.com/itm/224268096842?hash=item34376b954a:g:8uEAAOSwBMpcI-tJ



are awesome!  The staggered double row lumileds mimic the pattern of halogens better than anything I've tried.  Adjustable beam via tiny allen set screw.  No fan to burn out either.  Removable aluminum cooling fin base for fitment behind the OEM dust seal -- actually holds the seal down better than factory setup!

Not "plug and play" you'll need to clip, trim or bend back the lower tabs.  

[-mike-]

What Valkorado said.
I have the very same in my Standard (and also had in my car).
See light pattern (LOW BEAM!):





The only drawback I found: These driver boxes do produce some HF noise that will swamp your radio recepition and may play havoc (not that I have experienced any issues, though) with CDI boxes and similar control units.
After installing additional supressors (3.5mm sized) radio noise was considerably better but I decided to get better produced LED inserts for my car.

Still operational in my Valk, though

-mike-

[Jims99]

I used the ones from superbright LEDs. You have to trim tabs ( easy) for them to line up correctly. Cheap LEDs are garbage and will not last. The fanless ones are better. One downside to the LEDs on the interstate is it does affect the radio signal. I installed Bluetooth and very seldom use the radio, but does make it harder to get stations.

[Earl43P]

These get high recommendations from the ST1300 community.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/H4-9003-F2-LED-Headlight-72W-12000LM-Cree-Chips-White-6K-Driving-Front-H-L-Bulbs/223491975158?hash=item340928e7f6:g:k6MAAOSw43JbyYPU

https://www.st-owners.com/forums/threads/h4-led-2018-evitek-f2-replaces-g6.162067/  <Huge thread.

*I have NOT installed these F2s on my IS or ST, but intend to "one of these days".
I DID install BeamTech H13s on my F250 which made a WORLD of visibility improvement BUT caused FM radio static in more distant stations.

[SCain]

Been using these for over a year, really like them.
https://www.amazon.com/DZG-Motorcycle-Headlight-Conversion-Warranty-2/dp/B07BTW6RCG/ref=pd_ys_c_rfy_rp_m_289_3?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B07BTW6RCG&pd_rd_r=7DV7ZP93H3P641JVVHDF&pd_rd_w=gy5Bb&pd_rd_wg=TKwxb&pf_rd_p=5d61ee21-c9c1-4f53-887e-8583c213529a&pf_rd_r=7DV7ZP93H3P641JVVHDF&psc=1&refRID=C8VKT7TDYJH4QJCB4NJZ

[tarpshack]

I used the ones from superbright LEDs. You have to trim tabs ( easy) for them to line up correctly. Cheap LEDs are garbage and will not last. The fanless ones are better. One downside to the LEDs on the interstate is it does affect the radio signal. I installed Bluetooth and very seldom use the radio, but does make it harder to get stations.

I have a set of the H4 LEDs from SuperBright for my I/S on the way. I figured I would change out the headlights since I have to get in there to replace the lighting on the combination meter (speedometer/tachometer) anyway.

Any chance you have a picture of the tab(s) that need to be modified for installation? I was under the impression I was going to need these H4 shims to get the LED bulbs to work properly based on a post in another thread.

https://electricalconnection.com/index.php/product/h4-bulb-alignment-shims/

[Jess from VA]

You do not need the bulb shims.

My H4s with tabs snapped off have been in there for years with no shims.  They seem a little wobbly going in, but they stay in, and stay aimed.  I have lost a good connection a couple times, and just reached in and gave a good push on the back of the rubber boot, and connected again.   

[3fan4life]

I used the ones from superbright LEDs. You have to trim tabs ( easy) for them to line up correctly. Cheap LEDs are garbage and will not last. The fanless ones are better. One downside to the LEDs on the interstate is it does affect the radio signal. I installed Bluetooth and very seldom use the radio, but does make it harder to get stations.

I have a set of the H4 LEDs from SuperBright for my I/S on the way. I figured I would change out the headlights since I have to get in there to replace the lighting on the combination meter (speedometer/tachometer) anyway.

Any chance you have a picture of the tab(s) that need to be modified for installation? I was under the impression I was going to need these H4 shims to get the LED bulbs to work properly based on a post in another thread.

https://electricalconnection.com/index.php/product/h4-bulb-alignment-shims/

The bottom two tabs need to be clipped off of the H4 bulb for it to fit into the headlight housing.

I have used the shims but the bulbs fit just fine without them as well.

[Bighead]

I used the ones from superbright LEDs. You have to trim tabs ( easy) for them to line up correctly. Cheap LEDs are garbage and will not last. The fanless ones are better. One downside to the LEDs on the interstate is it does affect the radio signal. I installed Bluetooth and very seldom use the radio, but does make it harder to get stations.

I have a set of the H4 LEDs from SuperBright for my I/S on the way. I figured I would change out the headlights since I have to get in there to replace the lighting on the combination meter (speedometer/tachometer) anyway.

Any chance you have a picture of the tab(s) that need to be modified for installation? I was under the impression I was going to need these H4 shims to get the LED bulbs to work properly based on a post in another thread.

https://electricalconnection.com/index.php/product/h4-bulb-alignment-shims/

The bottom two tabs need to be clipped off of the H4 bulb for it to fit into the headlight housing.

I have used the shims but the bulbs fit just fine without them as well.

Dont clip the said tags off.  Take a pair on needle nose pliers and bend the over and the will be snug in the socket. At least thats what I did and it worked well.

[Malkozaine]

What Valkorado said.
I have the very same in my Standard (and also had in my car).
See light pattern (LOW BEAM!):





The only drawback I found: These driver boxes do produce some HF noise that will swamp your radio recepition and may play havoc (not that I have experienced any issues, though) with CDI boxes and similar control units.
After installing additional supressors (3.5mm sized) radio noise was considerably better but I decided to get better produced LED inserts for my car.

Still operational in my Valk, though

-mike-

Where did you install those?  On the headlight cables?

[-mike-]

Where did you install those?  On the headlight cables?

A picture is worth a thousand words:



Position marked in orange.

-mike-