2006 Silverado: Want to replace all incan with LED

[pacem]

2006 Silverado 1500 HD 6.0L engine

Want to replace all the bulbs with LEDs, starting with headlights but also brake lights, etc.

Who makes something nice that keeps up with the lumens of the OEM incandescent bulbs but also won't fall apart? I read some reviews about GENSSI 80W LED for example and it says it either falls apart or the resistor blows.

 

[stephen9666]

Aftermarket headlights are nearly always a bad idea.

 

[pacem]

Okay, let me qualify this. I want just the high beams to be LED. I watched a few youtube videos and it seems LEDs that replace the incan bulbs are all flood with tons of spill and no throw and will blind the oncoming traffic.

Either that, or something really powerful and with tons of throw HID-wise for the high beams.

LEDs maybe for DRL or the rear brakes. I want the LEDs there so the module never burns out and you never get pulled over for no brake light.

 

[JHZR2]

If the headlights are not projectors, it's likely a bad idea. Have a look at my thread with some recent experiences with LED.

I'd want to avoid fans probably, but the higher intensity kits have drivers which you can surely fit underhood.

 

[jeepman3071]

I replaced a bunch of interior, brake light, and turn signal lights on both my Jeep and a friend's Jeep (he liked the idea). Bottom line, I WOULD NOT do it. It looked really sharp at first, but now they drive me insane. The [censored] quality of the bulbs (which I purchased from an expensive well-known company who often advertises here) just makes it not worthwhile. Half of my interior bulbs started flickering, some of them went out altogether. My buddy put them in his dash, and he had the same problem. Some nights his dash looked like a blinking Christmas tree. We pulled the dash out yet again to put everything back to regular bulbs. His brake light bulbs also stopped working correctly. When hitting the brakes, one would flicker and the other two would stop working. They were combo tail/brake light bulbs, and one side looked brighter than the other for awhile, most likely because some of the diodes weren't working.

It's a neat idea, but the quality isn't there.

 

[pacem]

Looking at all the problems, I think I am going to stay with the OEM bulbs.

Except maybe rear lites that don't blind traffic. I don't want to ever have to replace the brake lites.

daytime running lites are another candidate.

 

[pacem]

Just saw the thread above, wow.

Hmm....

LEDs are so neat in concept but a simple swap doesn't seem to work if the reflector, etc. is not build to work around it.

 

[DoubleWasp]

Most reflectors do rather poorly with LED conversions, with some rare exceptions.

Fans on the LED bulbs are not to be avoided. The ones in the fogs on my truck get water, dirt, and rocks flung directly at them on a continual basis and I have had no failure at all.

I'm going 9 years on the LED interior bulbs I got from superrightleds without issue. Buy quality, and you get quality.

 

[jeepman3071]

Originally Posted By: DoubleWasp
Most reflectors do rather poorly with LED conversions, with some rare exceptions.

Fans on the LED bulbs are not to be avoided. The ones in the fogs on my truck get water, dirt, and rocks flung directly at them on a continual basis and I have had no failure at all.

I'm going 9 years on the LED interior bulbs I got from superrightleds without issue. Buy quality, and you get quality.


All of the LED bulbs that are in both my Jeep and my friend's Jeep are from Super Bright LEDs. I put 3 of them in my mom's Fit as well, and one out of the three was flickering. I ended up replacing that one and it has been fine since, but I'm still not happy overall.

 

[440Magnum]

Originally Posted By: pacem
2006 Silverado 1500 HD 6.0L engine

Want to replace all the bulbs with LEDs, starting with headlights but also brake lights, etc.

Who makes something nice that keeps up with the lumens of the OEM incandescent bulbs but also won't fall apart? I read some reviews about GENSSI 80W LED for example and it says it either falls apart or the resistor blows.



For headlights, none available that work other than JW Speaker or Trucklite in the standard round/rectangular formats for older cars. For red turn/tail Philips Vision or Synvania ZEVO are the only choices. For amber... NO choices yet that I'd really feel comfortable recommending.

I do have a pair of "switchback" white/amber in the Challenger from DiodeDynamics, and they're a good bit better than SuperBrightLED, but they're still sorta-kinda homebrew designs with no real approvals.

I've checked out interior and amber lights from SuperBrightLEDs, and its a mixed bag. The SMD stuff is pretty [censored]- just bare circuit cards with SMD diodes soldered on- don't expect them to last long. Some of their CANbus-ready stuff is a lot better. The amber stuff for turn signals is ALL bad.