k3000

It’s an interesting thought that you have bringing up Diode Dynamics. I was looking into them for angel eyes for my 2000 Trans Am fog lights, and I was discouraged that they said that their angel eyes were not designed to be mounted outside of the fog light housing. In order to be under warranty you have to heat up the fog light housings, open them up somehow, and get the angel eyes inside the housing. Why can’t they make something that would stand up to the elements on its own without having to be mounted inside the housing?

I also didn’t think of them for fog lights, tail lights, inside, or markers. What has your experience been with hyper flashing, flickering, or canbus issues with their bulbs? Do they seem to swap one for one without any issues? Like I said, I'm testing some headlight bulbs made by a Chinese company named Sealight, so we’ll see how that goes! The 880 Bulbs I got on Amazon are from a Chinese company named Antline. They are fanless, and they seem good so far.

Of COURSE the US has messed up LED headlight laws!

It's all a money game! Ever notice how blinding some low beams are on a lot of the newer cars that are OEM bulbs / DOT certified / "legal" ?

We will have to keep testing these things and working on them to see how they are!

k3000

"Finally discovering what most nighttime drivers have known for a while now, Ford is issuing a recall on exactly 217,185 F-150 pickups over headlights that are too bright.

Affecting trucks from model years 2018 to 2020 equipped with the optional LEDs, the issue lies with daytime running lights that don't dim when the low beams are manually turned on as they're legally supposed to. Ford says, "This may reduce the visibility of other drivers, increasing the risk of a crash." As a result, the company is issuing a safety compliance recall on 166,196 F-150s in the U.S. and another 50,989 trucks located in Canada."

https://www.thedrive.com/news/32439/...oo-damn-bright

QwkTrip

iTrader: (23)

I don't know about other places, but where I work lighting is considered "low tech" and those kind of engineering jobs have been moved to China.

k3000

Great point -- ugh!

scfbodytx

Most brand name companies like Diode Dynamics, Morimoto, etc. only make halos that are intended to go inside lights. 2004-2014 Ford F150 trucks have the same size fog lights as 1993-2002 Trans Ams and are normally easier to find halo rings for. Unfortunately all the exterior mounted halos that we have tested have not worked out long term, which could be why some companies don't make them.

We have not had any flickering or canbus issues with the Diode Dynamics products, the canbus issues are only on newer cars (auto manufacturers didn't start using canbus until late 2000s). Hyper flashing is fixed with swapping the flashers under the steering column. We sell the flashers separately or as an add on with tail light/turn signal bulbs. On some cars the turn signals may be slightly quicker than stock, but very close in speed to stock. If you have flickering in the first 3 years the bulb is replaced under warranty with Diode Dynamics. We have been selling Diode Dynamics products since 2015 and have been happy with their products and Diode as a company, they take care of issues and keep their word.

1993-2002 Camaro/Firebird Turn Signals (screamingchicken.com)

WhiteBird00

iTrader: (4)

I have used Diode Dynamics bulbs on several vehicles and have found them to be excellent quality although they tend to be somewhat pricey. I replaced the marker lights on my Mustang with their LED lamp assemblies and really love them. However, the same caveat as before still applies... the shape of the bulb can make a huge difference in certain lamps and, although they make different series of bulbs with varying output levels, they are all the short tower design which may or may not be the best for some lamp designs. I did find that they worked well in the front signals/DRLs of my T/A but not so well in my Mustang or my wife's Jeep.

Don't buy their resistor kit! There's nothing wrong with them other than they charge about three times what they're worth ($20 for two resistors and four ScotchLock connectors is outrageous).

scfbodytx

We sell their resistor kit for $10.95 - we recommend using flashers instead of the resistors thou.
Resistor Kit (screamingchicken.com)

WhiteBird00

iTrader: (4)

Agreed! Where possible (like f-bodies) an electronic flasher or a no-load flasher for an all-LED setup is the best option. But these days very few cars still use the old fashioned flasher so that isn't an option in many cases and resistors become a necessary evil.

The $20 price is what's listed on DD's website. $10.95 is much more reasonable.

k3000

scfbodytx and WhiteBird:

I’m very appreciative of your detailed feedback and experiences with these various LED products.

I’m going to try to experiment more with some 120 mm halos just to see what happens.

I want to put them in some clear plastic rings encased in epoxy and see how they hold up over time.

I intend to try attaching them to the factory fog lights with 3M ScotchLock.

I appreciate the civil debate on the various products!

scfbodytx will be checking out your website too.

GREAT information! Thanks so much!

scfbodytx

Thanks, let me know if you have any questions on any of our products. We're currently working on brackets to make Morimoto fog lights an easy bolt-in installation, hopefully available later this month or early October.

k3000

Thanks a million! Would definitely like to hear more about that.

Which type or model of Morimoto's is/are going to bolt up?

VIP1

There are multiple threads on on stalling Morimoto LED fog light housings and alternatives. Some are even in the lighting FAQ; and there was one recently.

scfbodytx

We use the Morimoto XB series fog lights with our brackets, they are the same size as the factory fog lights (4.5" diameter with a flat lens). Makes install a bolt in plug and play process, possible to do without removing the front bumper. Hopefully we will have them on the website some time in September, brackets have been designed and tested just waiting on the first run.

scfbodytx

Bolt up and plug in. Below are pics from testing on the final prototype bracket (in production currently).


Now available:
1998-2002 Trans Am Morimoto XB Fog Lights (screamingchicken.com)

WhiteBird00

iTrader: (4)

That's pretty slick. Nice to see real fog lights mounted there since the factory lights are just toy decorations.

scfbodytx

Can't wait to get them from powdercoat, been wanting them for the black TA in the pics for a while. The headlights won't be as important now in order to see at night.

scfbodytx

We changed to the United Pacific resistor kit, same parts and price is $9.95 instead of $20. For most LED installs the flasher swap works a lot better but for customers that want resistors these work great.
Resistor Kit (screamingchicken.com)

k3000

Thank you! Is there any good reason to want resistors instead of a new flasher or flashers?

scfbodytx

Normally only if your having a problem flashers don't fix. For example I have Autometer gauges with led turn indicators and all led lights, needed resistors on the turn signal indicators. Also used them on a 2000 Camaro that had a 1969 Camaro body on it, so nothing normal. Flashers work great for 99% of all the installs we do.

k3000

Thanks again. That must take a lot of modding to make that fit on a 2000.