Brighter Headlights?

[55trucker]

It turns out that quality led bulbs that you can buy on ebay and elsewhere are no brighter than the led bulbs that the new vehicles all have - that is one of the main reasons that you can see better at night with the led lights in the new cars. So, I have found that as long as the led bulbs installed in the headlight housings are adjusted correctly, no one notices that they are double the brightness of the original factory ones - they just think you are driving a nearly new vehicle with its brighter lights. The only downside to the led bulbs is that they do not heat the housing enough to keep ice from building up on the housing if you are driving in snow or sleet conditions.

The major difference distinguishing the OEM headlights & aftermarket would be the kelvin rating, most of the aftermarket are either 6500k or 6000k whereas the OEM installed are in around 4300k.

 

[joewithatruck]

The major difference distinguishing the OEM headlights & aftermarket would be the kelvin rating, most of the aftermarket are either 6500k or 6000k whereas the OEM installed are in around 4300k.

That is absolutely incorrect. The Kelvin rating of a light is its light temperature, which is really equated to its color, not its brightness. A 4300K light will be a more yellowish white, while 6500K will be closer to purple. Kelvin rating has NOTHING to do with brightness.

 

[Dirtman]

That is absolutely incorrect. The Kelvin rating of a light is its light temperature, which is really equated to its color, not its brightness. A 4300K light will be a more yellowish white, while 6500K will be closer to purple. Kelvin rating has NOTHING to do with brightness.

This is true in theory. But even if the lumen output is the same between two bulbs the color (temperature) can affect how well you can see with that light. Most people's vision is sharpest at around 5000k so a 5000k bulb will provide more useful light and appear brighter than a colder or hotter bulb with the same output.

 

[55trucker]

That is absolutely incorrect. The Kelvin rating of a light is its light temperature, which is really equated to its color, not its brightness. A 4300K light will be a more yellowish white, while 6500K will be closer to purple. Kelvin rating has NOTHING to do with brightness.

What I stated was *absolutely correct* I made no reference with regards to brightness, just the color temp of OEM bulbs vs the aftermarket product, you jumped the gun.

 

[Blmpkn]

What did you buy for housings? Cheap aftermarket housings a lot of the time don't focus the light as well as a factory one, leaving you with "less" light.

 

[Dirtman]

What did you buy for housings? Cheap aftermarket housings a lot of the time don't focus the light as well as a factory one, leaving you with "less" light.

This...