HD LED headlight
Road Master
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 867
Likes: 79
From: Bridgewater, NJ
I would disagree - especially after the 3rd HID ballast failure in rural Colorado late at night. If you are on a road trip when an HID bulb or ballast fail, you WILL NOT find a stocking dealer with matching parts, since components from different HID manufacturers ARE NOT interchangeable. You'll have to go back to your original source, or be waiting on the UPS guy.
The reliability of LEDs far surpasses that of HID, making the cost difference absolutely worth it, IM(based on experience)HO <lol>
The reliability of LEDs far surpasses that of HID, making the cost difference absolutely worth it, IM(based on experience)HO <lol>
I've had my HID for 5 or 6 years now. Still working fine. And I think you'll find that the only difference between ballasts is the connections for different bulbs. Easily fixed on the road with wire nuts if needed. I do carry a spare bulb and have been thinking about a spare ballast. Like anything else in life, there's good and bad, cheap and not so cheap. Get your stuff off ebay and you may be taking a chance.
I do agree that LEDs should have a longer life expectancy then an HID, but what do you think would happen if your new LED light crapped out while on a road trip? I could happen. Anythings possible.
Tourer
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 492
Likes: 0
From: Castle Rock, CO
I was using the HID from Drag Specialties, not eBay <lol>, and my dealer replaced it 3 times on warranty - the 3rd time with HD's dual halogen because I didn't like the risk due to lack of reliability.
If the LED fails on the road, I would just pop into Wally World/NAPA/truck stop for an H4 replacement - the LED is plug and play so there are no mods required.
I disagree on the ease of replacment of a failed HID ballast or bulb on the road for a couple of reasons - different manufacturers have ballasts with different firing voltages, some manufacturers use mechanical shutters (with triggers) for hi/lo while others use dual bulbs, some use proprietary connectors so they are not plug & play (the Drag Specialties used proprietary connectors but fortunately the mechanic left the H4 plug in place when he installed) - so I don't believe they would be mix and matchable. Plus if you have a failure and can put an H4 back in to keep going, I would think you'd want to disconnect/disable the ballast so you don't have a ballast charging with no place to discharge (heat issues).
It's obvious you've had great experience with HID and they're certainly better than the stockers and have been available for a whole lot longer than LEDs. But now that there are alternatives, even though pricey, there's more to consider.
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
