Thread: LED Headlights for Defender/County/RRC etc

Thanks Joel,

I actually asked the question to JDNSW in relation to this topic, he seemed to know how cross jurisdictions work:

Braided brake lines. improve braking?

i.e. Goodridge braided lines are TUV and DOT approved in the UK and whether the same approval would satisfy ADR in Oz.

cheers, DL

I finally got my hands on some genuine JW Speaker lights, and they're the latest updated 8700 Evo 2. The most obvious change is the addition of two more projector lenses (indicated by the arrows below) to manipulate the beam pattern.
The light at the Right of this pic is the best of the three Chinese copies I've tested. I must say, both lights look awesome in the flesh, the Chinese sure are good at making something 'look' good, but I'm sure there are many differences if you delve into the details, for example, looking into the guts of the lights you can clearly see they have completely different SMDs, and the Speaker has single SMDs for each lens while the Chinese one has multiples.



As for the beams (See below), there's clearly a difference there too. The JW Speaker has a very tidy low beam with a very definite straight cut off line at the top. High beam adds not only more light, but also adds a higher beam pattern.
The Chinese light on the other hand does not have a straight cut off on low beam and simply adds more light in the middle for high beam.

The JW Speaker 8700 Evo 2's are $1600-$1750 per pair, these particular Chinese lights can be had for about $350 per pair.
In my opinion, there is not $1200 worth of extra light emanating from the more expensive light, but the more important issue here for most is ADR compliance...........guess which one doesn't comply

Unfortunately I wont be able to test the JW Speakers on my car as they are for a customer, but I'm sure they will be very good.



Cheers, Murray

Looking at those patterns it seems highly unlikely that the Aurora light would meet the low beam shape criteria.

For that matter, the JW Speaker beam, while it may meet the minimum standards, does have a very bright spot in the centre above the cutoff edge, and both lights have the top of the low beam drooping both to left and right - most halogen lights have the left hand side rising, as is allowed, and even if flat, do not droop to the left.

For a Defender, or any other vehicle with two headlights for that matter, low beam is the important one - you can always fit driving lights if the high beam is inadequate.

John

This is another design spin on LED headlights. I'm currently running these on my County.
They are another Chinese light and they are not marked with any certification so will not be ADR approved.



They have a very different beam pattern with the middle row of lenses being low beam and high beam adding in the other 8 lights. The low beam lenses are shaped in a way that they spread the light in a horizontal oblong. The high beam lenses are a spot pattern and give a reasonable distance penetration.
The main problem with the other Chinese lights I've tested is, there is very little difference between low and high beam. These ones however have a significant difference.
I like driving with these ones and will probably stick with them, unless I can find some JW Speaker Evo 2's at a nice price.



Compared to the Chinese copy of the JW Speaker the 847 has a more 'friendly' low beam and a more useful high beam.



Cheers, Murray

Nice comparision mate and some nice pics been reading through and looking at all the pics but now im a bit lost after all your testing what do u think are the best value? I'd love JW Speakers but could never justify the cost of them. Would u recommend the Aurora or the last pair you fitted to your country also where about are your sourcing them from just Ebay or are you selling these yourself

cheers Brian

Originally Posted by Patchy

Nice comparision mate and some nice pics been reading through and looking at all the pics but now im a bit lost after all your testing what do u think are the best value? I'd love JW Speakers but could never justify the cost of them. Would u recommend the Aurora or the last pair you fitted to your country also where about are your sourcing them from just Ebay or are you selling these yourself

cheers Brian

G'day Brian,
Ideally, I too would love to have the JW Speakers, but I'm not prepared to spend that sort of money on them.
The JW Speakers and Truck-Lites come straight from the States, and I get my other samples straight from suppliers in China.
Of the cheaper lights I would recommend the 847, that's what I'll be using.
I will not sell the Chinese lights through my business due to their non compliance, but all these lights are showing up on Ebay and the prices are coming down all the time.......here's an example 75W Truck 7in Round LED Headlights
So, for $279 per pair delivered to your door, you can't go wrong, as long as you are aware of the non compliance and possible issues with warranty, insurance, etc on newer cars.

Cheers, Murray

Cheers mate I'll have a sus out on ebay and yeah fully aware of the non adr thing and not fussed there are plenty of other mods we all do to our cars that are much the same so much of a muchness at the end of the day

I have held off adding to this thread till I was comfortable with my testing.
At the beginning of the year I crossed the Morgan Rv at windscreen depth (to get to a secret barra hole) anyways, my supposedly sealed crystal H4 lights half filled with river water and didnt work so well after that... so I chumped up and installed a pair:

http://www.ledether.com/LED_Headlamps_Light/%20-598.html

Obviously the units are PRC magic but they do have the following:
certificated E4.122 of the first Royal Dutch Ministry of Transportation in China,meet Europe's most high-end quality standard and based on the standard of headlight equipment.
Read that chinglish however you choose...

Now I can add some photos later but in my opinion these jiggers have an awesome light pattern. On low beam they dip left and have a very flat cutout across the top like the JW evo2 but without the central glare in the photos above. On high beam they fill out nicely. Certainly a better pattern IMHO than any posted in this thread?

Landed price was just under $500 for the pair - service was excellent

I have flogged the ute up the PDR a few times, round the block locally and down the Bloomfield half a dozen times and on the black plenty. Lights solid as install date, no issues what so ever.

Just another option to add to the fray.
If I get a chance Ill upload some pictures from the jiggers later.

Steve