The picture of the front of the truck didn’t turn out at all, but I can assure you the passenger bulb is a different animal. The dim light bar? Unfortunately, it’s tied into the bright switch with household wire nuts and has duct tape over it until I can install a legitimate switch.
When I bought this truck, many lights didn’t work, so rather than replace bulbs, I decided to upgrade while I was at it and went with LED’s everywhere. I believe there’s a total of twenty-one individual bulbs on this truck, not including the instrument cluster ones that I won’t upgrade until I feel the need to tear the dash out of the thing. Some people slap in some non-branded headlight bulbs that they got off eBay or Amazon and just run with them. That’s fine, but a lot of the time, they’re just not right, and they provide way too much glare and flicker. Probably fine for the driver, but a nightmare for people meeting something painfully distracting. When it comes to accessory lights, I’m one of those people. Any LED bulbs I’ve picked up online shipped free from a random residential address, and the only packaging is the shipping envelope with the bulbs rattling around inside. All-in-all, they’re okay. The taillights are so bright that the brake lights are hardly noticeable, but the third-brake light tells tailgaters what’s happening. The interior lights are that ice-cold 6000k colour, and the bulb itself is brighter, but overall I don’t notice much difference in how much light is actually thrown around inside the truck. If they last forever, fantastic, and they do run cooler, making them easier on the battery, but if it wasn’t for the fact that I needed bulbs anyways, I’m not sure any of them would have been a worthwhile upgrade.
As I type this, my hand is still bleeding from the headlight install. That’s how fresh my opinion is. I chose an actual brand name for these, Philips X-TremeUltinon. I only installed one high beam tonight for the review. First, as you can see in the picture, they’re big, so make sure you’ve got room behind the housing. There’s a little fan on the backside of them, which is odd, as they run ice cold compared to a halogen. There wasn’t enough room for them in my application, but luckily I have the hands of a surgeon when it comes to a four-pound sledge, and was able to clearance the radiator support with a level of finesse that most wouldn’t dare try to achieve.
I was told by the sales rep that these were returnable if they didn’t fit, which was evident by the three types of tape re-sealing the rips and tears all over the package. How do they compare? Night and day. I did just the passenger side first and went for a drive. They shine farther but broadcast out about the same, although the broadcast itself doesn’t fade as quickly into the ditch as a halogen. Also, the 5800k colour reflects off the snow nicely compared to the orange glow of a regular halogen. The sales rep warned me that although my truck has a separate bulb for high and low, those that don’t may have to add a CANBUS adapter or else there won’t be a noticeable difference between the highs and lows. An issue which he experienced firsthand.
Bottom line? In a beater or a daily driver, I absolutely recommend the upgrade. In a classic, I absolutely do not recommend it. It’s not just the potential electronic issue. It’s the fact that the wrong colour headlights rank right up there with the wrong wheels or the wrong paint colour. Run decent halogens, slow down at night, and enjoy the drive.
Have a question or comment for Kelly? Post it at lmtimes.ca/kirk
