New TruckLite LED headlights

[Hilldweller]

I had heard that TruckLite was developing another improved LED replacement headlight and contacted Jerry at the factory to try and score a set of 7" round ones to test in a Jeep; the last two iterations weren't all that impressive and I've had my fingers crossed that these new ones would work better.

Unfortunately they tell me that they gave away too many promos last year and can't spare me a set...

These new ones have fewer LEDs in them and he says they're vastly better.

Has anybody seen them yet or have some sort of photometry report?

[krutj]

I had heard that TruckLite was developing another improved LED replacement headlight and contacted Jerry at the factory to try and score a set of 7" round ones to test in a Jeep; the last two iterations weren't all that impressive and I've had my fingers crossed that these new ones would work better.

Unfortunately they tell me that they gave away too many promos last year and can't spare me a set...

These new ones have fewer LEDs in them and he says they're vastly better.

Has anybody seen them yet or have some sort of photometry report?

Maybe these won't look like "flashlights taped together", I have been using your quote to describe the ones you tested...ok?

[cmacclel]

I have a set in my Jeep of the older ones. Is there a way to tell what version? Though they are far from Ideal they are still many time better than the SilverStars I had. Also I scored them for $330 shipped on Ebay.

Mac

[deadrx7conv]

The newer version should be out next year. It'll have only 2 LEDs. The current light has 10 LEDs(27250c).
Hopefully it won't look like "a bunch of flashlights taped together" since there are only 2 LEDs.

[verdugan]

The newer version should be out next year. It'll have only 2 LEDs. The current light has 10 LEDs(27250c).
Hopefully it won't look like "a bunch of flashlights taped together" since there are only 2 LEDs.

Do you know when next year they'll be out?

TIA!

[Hilldweller]

Do you know when next year they'll be out?

TIA!

January or February.

I tried to get a comp set from Jerry to test but he says he gave away too many last year.
I'll take him at his word -----
He's never held anything against my honest tests of the previous products, the good and not-so-good things I reported on them.

Joel --- I see my "handful of flashlights" quote everywhere now. Use it; it's accurate.
BTW, I gave my comp set of last year's TruckLites to a TJ owner that works at 4WheelParts; he's very happy with them. They're decent lights for a trail rig that sees limited night driving in areas without street lights. They're just about indestructible.

[Hilldweller]

Nobody's seen a photometry report on them? Scheinwerfermann?

[Alaric Darconville]

They really need to expand to the 91-97 Previa market

So, in the video they claim the lenses won't yellow. This, I gotta see!

[idleprocess]

They really need to expand to the 91-97 Previa market

So, in the video they claim the lenses won't yellow. This, I gotta see!

Wouldn't hurt my feelings if they also expanded to the 1992-1996 F-series / Bronco. I'd settle for a simple adapter bracket...

[AnAppleSnail]

They really need to expand to the 91-97 Previa market

So, in the video they claim the lenses won't yellow. This, I gotta see!

Glass lenses, right? Or maybe they have UV-reactive tints that go purple

[Alaric Darconville]

Or maybe they have UV-reactive tints that go purple

LOL!

I can see PIAA or Lightfarce doing that, and saying "and new UV-Reaktiv (TM) lenses deepen the effect through the life of the lamp, ensuring that harmful yellow light does not interfere with the driving experience."

[TEEJ]

LOL!

I can see PIAA or Lightfarce doing that, and saying "and new UV-Reaktiv (TM) lenses deepen the effect through the life of the lamp, ensuring that harmful yellow light does not interfere with the driving experience."

Genius!

It reminds me of the salmon processing/canning company that fished where there were no pink pigmented plankton in the food chain, so their flesh was white and not the traditional "salmon pink" color. People were not buying their salmon because it didn't LOOK like the normal pink color.

They tried a new advertising campaign where They "Guaranteed THEIR Salmon Would Not Turn Pink in the Can".

[Scheinwerfermann]

Glass lenses, right?

No, they're polycarbonate -- same as most headlamps these days. And yes, they will eventually develop cataracts (opacify and turn yellow). How long before that happens depends on various factors including exactly what type of polycarbonate is used, what coating is applied, and spectral characteristics of the LEDs.

[AnAppleSnail]

No, they're polycarbonate -- same as most headlamps these days. And yes, they will eventually develop cataracts (opacify and turn yellow). How long before that happens depends on various factors including exactly what type of polycarbonate is used, what coating is applied, and spectral characteristics of the LEDs.

The only transparent products I know of that don't yellow or cloud in time from sunlight exposure are glass and gemstones. There are some high-molecular-weight polymers that have bonding energies too high to be broken by most UV photons, but they are always expensive and rarely transparent.

[bshanahan14rulz]

The only transparent products I know of that don't yellow or cloud in time from sunlight exposure are glass and gemstones. There are some high-molecular-weight polymers that have bonding energies too high to be broken by most UV photons, but they are always expensive and rarely transparent.

I've always wondered why they don't just use a different clear polymer for headlights. I guess it is just too cost prohibitive. At least, though, they use better stuff than aftermarket lenses. Those seemingly turn yellow by design.

So, if there were a clear product that sufficiently blocked UV and was still visibly clear, applying that to both sides of the lens might slow the aging? Is it only low wavelength UVs, or is it anything below 400 that seems to yellow most polycarb?

[Alaric Darconville]

I've always wondered why they don't just use a different clear polymer for headlights. I guess it is just too cost prohibitive. At least, though, they use better stuff than aftermarket lenses. Those seemingly turn yellow by design.

So, if there were a clear product that sufficiently blocked UV and was still visibly clear, applying that to both sides of the lens might slow the aging? Is it only low wavelength UVs, or is it anything below 400 that seems to yellow most polycarb?

It's mostly cost-prohibitive, and there's a lag between the plastic development and the final testing. In the US, the testing literally takes at least three years, as there are exposure tests for the plastics that are conducted in real time (in the Arizona and Florida sun (which, because our planet has only one sun, is actually the same when you think about it)), not "accelerated" like the ECE permits.

[TEEJ]

It's mostly cost-prohibitive, and there's a lag between the plastic development and the final testing. In the US, the testing literally takes at leastthree years, as there are exposure tests for the plastics that are conducted in real time (in the Arizona and Florida sun (which, because our planet has only one sun, is actually the same when you think about it)), not "accelerated" like the ECE permits.

Probably a lobbying thing. For some air tests, we have to use "Arizona Road Dust" as the standard calibration dust, etc.

[Scheinwerfermann]

I've always wondered why they don't just use a different clear polymer for headlights.

Because they don't have to. The durability tests can be passed with the cheaper materials, so that's what gets used. There are interesting new polymers (see for example Grilamid described here and here, but -- nope! -- can't have 'em in the North American market because they're not type-approved.

At least, though, they use better stuff than aftermarket lenses.

By way of counterexample: '86-up Volvo 240, '89-up Volvo 740/760, most Ford and Chrysler products...

[Alaric Darconville]

By way of counterexample: '86-up Volvo 240, '89-up Volvo 740/760, most Ford and Chrysler products...

Yep, it seems like any 240s you now see on US roads have the "poor man's selective yellow" headlamp, thanks to horrible plastic.

[TEEJ]

Have you noticed the rash of new products to "Make Your Headlights Like New Again!"

My old jeeps always took crappy sealed beams, but, they were glass and didn't yellow, even if they did crack if a rock zinged them, etc.

The new Wrangler (JK) I have now has a plastic bubble over the lamp, no more sealed beams. I'm sure in a few years I'll be looking at the yellow eyed devil jeep.

[Alaric Darconville]

Have you noticed the rash of new products to "Make Your Headlights Like New Again!"

It's an ever-expanding market. Also, I wonder if people are keeping their cars longer, and so are stuck with trying to keep their old one running longer.

Bonus: Those products will often work GREAT! that first time, but then accelerate the decay of the lens because the protective hardcoat is removed entirely. So it's back to AutoZone to pick up another kit about 6 months later...

[idleprocess]

It's an ever-expanding market. Also, I wonder if people are keeping their cars longer, and so are stuck with trying to keep their old one running longer.

Bonus: Those products will often work GREAT! that first time, but then accelerate the decay of the lens because the protective hardcoat is removed entirely. So it's back to AutoZone to pick up another kit about 6 months later...

Probably cheaper to extend the life of a headlight (even if the increment between treatments decreases) than to replace it with something doomed to the same fate.

[2000mc]

It's an ever-expanding market. Also, I wonder if people are keeping their cars longer, and so are stuck with trying to keep their old one running longer.

Bonus: Those products will often work GREAT! that first time, but then accelerate the decay of the lens because the protective hardcoat is removed entirely. So it's back to AutoZone to pick up another kit about 6 months later...

depends on how bad they were to start, i re-did mine after about 2yrs, and they weren't near as bad as before the first refinishing. i've done 4 pairs of lights with one 3m kit plus a bottle of the rubbing compound needed in the last step, and could probably do that many again before i'd need another 3m kit.... but yea all about running cars longer, first time i used it, i figured 'oh well' if theyre screwed later i'll be getting a different car anyway, didnt happen.

[Hilldweller]

So, ummm, nobody has any report on the new Trucklite LED headlights then?
I thought Scheinwerfermann would have the skinny by now...
The Jeepers are curious.

http://www.wranglerforum.com/f33/201...ts-133954.html

[TEEJ]

It's an ever-expanding market. Also, I wonder if people are keeping their cars longer, and so are stuck with trying to keep their old one running longer.

Bonus: Those products will often work GREAT! that first time, but then accelerate the decay of the lens because the protective hardcoat is removed entirely. So it's back to AutoZone to pick up another kit about 6 months later...

You can use toothpaste to clear them up....and then wax them with a Si wax to provide some protection. Crud sloughs off better with the wax on them as well.

[Scheinwerfermann]

You can use toothpaste to clear them up....and then wax them with a Si wax to provide some protection.

There is no wax or lotion or creme or goop that can provide any protection against UV degradation of a polycarbonate headlamp lens.

[bshanahan14rulz]

Hmm, what if you applied a thin layer of sunscreen or antiperspirant?

Seriously, though, what is it that the manufacturers use? Or do they use a special kind of polycarb that doesn't degrade as easily? I always notice rainbow swirls (diffraction interference?) in nicer lenses, which makes me wonder if they go through a different process to keep them clearer longer.

[Scheinwerfermann]

The manufacturers use any of several crosslinked hard coatings, applied and thermally- or UV-cured under cleanroom conditions at the time of lens manufacture. Even those clearcoat paints that claim to be UV-stable, applied in the field, just can't get the job done.

[Hilldweller]

I think that TruckLite has liberated some funds for me to get a set of the new lights to test. I take this as a sign that they're very confident in their product and I can't wait to try it out.

[TEEJ]

I think that TruckLite has liberated some funds for me to get a set of the new lights to test. I take this as a sign that they're very confident in their product and I can't wait to try it out.

Sweet!

Looking forward to your conclusions!