i wonder if i can put leds in my stock headlight? is that possible?

 

Anything is possible. LEDs capable of functioning as headlights are currently very expensive, though.

 

allright! thats what i want to find out. where can i get led parts so i can install?

 

If you've never used high power LED's before, a headlight is not a good project to start with. The most difficult part will be shaping the beam so that it lights the road properly and doesn't blind other motorists.

The LED's themselves will require a constant current driver and some sort of cooling system, whether it be a large heatsink or a combination of a fan and heatsink.

The easiest way to get LED headlights would be to retrofit a Prius LED assembly into your stock housing. The cooling and beam pattern will already be taken care of. You'll just have to find a current driver to power the lights.

 

Do have any idea what it would take to use LED headlights properly in your (I'm guessing) Civic? It is not a buy-stuff-and-bolt-it-in-affair...

Have you done headlight retrofits before?

 

nope i never have done it before. yea 1997 civic dx

 

You cannot put LEDS in your stock head lights. The stock headlights are designed to work with halogen bulbs. People put HID lights in the stock headlights all the time. There are write ups with pictures about it all over the web.

The best solution is to retrofit stock HID or LED parts into an existing housing.

 

Your very right about the heatsink, most all of the size/depth of my 40" rigid ind. light bar is the heatsink itself. But GOOD GOD IT IS BRIGHT AS HELL. :p

 

I have been following this for the past couple years and like blazin said the problem is your beam spread. The technology for LED headlights is here but the manufactures do not want to invest the money for them yet. It's just a matter of time until the govt. Forces them to use LED's.. I do a lot of theatrical lighting and use a lot of LED's. I willing to bet that LED's currently do not last as long as HIDs. . But yes they are cool and different colored leds will be out in no time.

 

My Rigid Lightbar has a lifespan of 50,000+ hours or over 5.7 years of runtime. And it doesnt use the latest super high output led emitters. I.e. xp-g, xm-l

 

Depending on the drive current and junction temperature, a high quality power LED can last 70,000 hours or more with only a 30% drop in luminous flux. I think it's more likely that the circuitry would fail long before the LED's become dim and safety becomes a concern.

From what I've seen, automotive lighting class LED's come in a multi die package, which puts less stress on the emitters. The Audi R8 is a good example. It uses the Philips Altilon LED and is similar to the Luminus CSM-360 that is commonly used in projection displays.

Altilon


CSM-360