certification of headlight assemblies

[edwardh1]

the complete headlight unit. I see them advertised as
-"DOT (U.S. Dept. of Transportation) and SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) approved.
and also other assemblies advertised as
-CAPA approved.

which do I need?

big price differences

 

[Realtech214]

Are you talking about lenses from somewhere like ebay? I have bought sets for 2 cars and they don't project good at all. They are uneven and make the headlights seem useless.

 

[eljefino]

Isn't CAPA the collision repair certification?

 

[Kuato]

Saw a thread here on that once. CAPA has better fit and finish and meets more exacting standards...Realtech's experience with cut rate units is a good example of the quality difference.

 

[edwardh1]

I think it is, some other people commented on "cheap " headlights that they were focused wrong.

what are peoples experiences.
maybe oem from the salvage yard might be best

 

[Realtech214]

They cheap headlights are fine but i would only put them on a car i dont care about. If i liked the car, I would go to the stealership if not too outrageous

 

[Hokiefyd]

I would definitely source OEM headlamp assemblies from *somewhere*. Dealership, parts yard, eBay (as long as they are genuine OEM), etc. I, too, have had very poor impressions of aftermarket "equivalent" assemblies. The beam pattern is generally very poor; they're only very loose copies of the real thing.

 

[UG_Passat]

Originally Posted By: edwardh1
the complete headlight unit. I see them advertised as
-"DOT (U.S. Dept. of Transportation) and SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) approved.
and also other assemblies advertised as
-CAPA approved.

which do I need?

big price differences


DOT is the approval you need for lighting.

CAPA is a independent certification for aftermarket parts that are not retailed by the auto manufacturer (ie their parts department).

 

[Jarlaxle]

Originally Posted By: Realtech214
They cheap headlights are fine but i would only put them on a car i dont care about. If i liked the car, I would go to the stealership if not too outrageous


The TYC lights I bought from Rock Auto for my Dakota were exactly identical to the OE lights. The only difference was not having the Pentastar logo...otherwise, 100% identical. Even the lettering molded into the lens was the same!

They were about one quarter the price of OEM. ($140 for both versus $255 EACH.)

 

[Hokiefyd]

Originally Posted By: Jarlaxle
The TYC lights I bought from Rock Auto for my Dakota were exactly identical to the OE lights. The only difference was not having the Pentastar logo...otherwise, 100% identical. Even the lettering molded into the lens was the same!

They were about one quarter the price of OEM. ($140 for both versus $255 EACH.)


I bet they weren't. Visually, they may look the same, but optically, they're likely different. And there's a reason for that. You paid one quarter of the price of OEM. R&D and material quality costs money.

They may look the same to the naked eye, and they may even appear to cast a similar beam pattern. Photometrically, they're very unlikely to be truly equivalent, and time will tell on how the material quality lasts over time.

This isn't to rain on your parade or anything, but aftermarket lamps are almost always inferior to OEM quality in at least one way...whether the naked eye can perceive the difference or not.

 

[Jarlaxle]

Let's see...
...same pattern on the lenses.
...same MARKING on the lenses.
...same manufacturer's markings on the back.

I suspect that TYC may have bought the tooling from whoever Chrysler bought the OE lights from.

 

[Hokiefyd]

Yes, I have no doubt that they look identical to the OE units.

 

[Roob]

This should put any concerns to rest as far as quality/performance is concerned for CAPA certified lights.
http://www.capacertified.org/press/091023.pdf

 

[GatorJ]

Originally Posted By: UG_Passat
Originally Posted By: edwardh1
the complete headlight unit. I see them advertised as
-"DOT (U.S. Dept. of Transportation) and SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) approved.
and also other assemblies advertised as
-CAPA approved.

which do I need?

big price differences


DOT is the approval you need for lighting.

CAPA is a independent certification for aftermarket parts that are not retailed by the auto manufacturer (ie their parts department).


Except the DOT doesn't certify or approve headlight assemblies. The DOT sets standards and manufacturers must certify compliance.

 

[Wilhelm_D]

Originally Posted By: Jarlaxle
The TYC lights I bought from Rock Auto for my Dakota were exactly identical to the OE lights. The only difference was not having the Pentastar logo...otherwise, 100% identical. Even the lettering molded into the lens was the same!

I had the same experience with a TYC headlight for a 2002 Camry. The assembly looked exactly like the factory unit, beamed exactly like a factory unit, and aimed exactly like a factory unit. I didn't even go the extra money for CAPA certification.

 

[HTSS_TR]

TYC headlight is that good ? They are usually much low price than other brands.

 

[Unicorn01]

No such thing as DOT approved. The DOT doesn't approve anything. They publish standards and it's up to the maker to meets those standards.

 

[TC33]

I recently replaced the headlights, drl/turn signal and fog lamps with TYC pieces from Rock Auto on our 2003 Suburban. I am extremely satisfied with their fit, finish and performance. Are they as good as the factory units when they were new?? Not sure...but they are much better than the faded OE units that they replaced and the price was right.