Lincoln LS Gen 1 question about upgrading to LED headlight bulbs

DaleGrib

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Has anyone here upgraded their headlight bulbs to LED ? And did you have issues with flicker? I am looking at upgrading my bulbs since I just purchased new headlights and I wanted to see if anyone had done this here. I was thinking of doing all the front lights in LED if it would not cause any issues. Any Feedback would be great!
 
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As someone without the best night vision, I beg you not to. I am constantly being blinded at night by all these kids with illegal HID and LED conversions. HID lights are fine (I have two cars with them), but only when they are in headlight assemblies with lens designed for HID. The same is true for LEDs.

Okay, that's said. I'll try to stay out of it from here on out.
 
As someone without the best night vision, I beg you not to. I am constantly being blinded at night by all these kids with illegal HID and LED conversions. HID lights are fine (I have two cars with them), but only when they are in headlight assemblies with lens designed for HID. The same is true for LEDs.

Okay, that's said. I'll try to stay out of it from here on out.

I was not trying to blind everyone on the road but improve the quality of the lights. I myself have issues at night which is why I was trying to do something about the lights. I know they make good OEM quality HID conversions and they also make decent LED bulbs that don't blind everyone on the road. I am not trying to do something illegal at all. I know the big key on these LED bulbs is to buy ones that have a chip in them to help make the light even and not blind people. The cheap ones are the ones that blind everyone because of the quality.
 
Its not so much about the quality of the kits that cause them to blind people... what Joe is getting at is that if you take the OEM Lincoln LS housing and the OEM halogen housing while they may look almost identical, there are some small but major differences in the reflectors due to the slight different physical differences between the two kinds of bulbs. no matter what kind quality bulb that you buy, if you put a different kind of bulb in your housing, you will get some glare as the reflector was not designed for the type of bulb you just put in and some to a lot of the light will get scattered off into random places (read: other drivers eyes). the biggest difference in bulb type is the point of the light source. for example, the filament of a halogen bulb is in a slightly different place than where the arc of an HID bulb is and also in a slightly different location that where in the bulb circuit board is the LED/s mounted.

As far as getting good quality HID?LED bulbs that doesn't blind everybody on the road, some may be better than others but they all will have some about of glare/light scatter that will blind other drivers. also it is a luck of the draw kinda of thin as every different model of OEM housing will be different so while a specific HID kit may work pretty good in one application with out having a ton of glare, the same bulb in a different car's housing may be all glare and very little usable light projected on to the road.
 
It's simple.
There's no way to make an LED work completely correctly in a halogen or HID reflector or projector.
There's no way to make a HID work completely correctly in a halogen or LED reflector or projector.
There's no way to make a Halogen work completely correctly in HID or LED reflector or projector.

There are no LED or HID retrofits that are street legal in the US.
 
If better night driving is your goal I think the HID headlights from Gen II is your best bet, followed closely behind the headlamp upgrade for Halogen bulbs - this is the cheaper route but not by much, an HID at pull yards can be had for $50 a piece.

I can’t remember the exact bulb number, but you essentially have a bright bulb in the low beam that requires cutting one of the tabs. I did it years ago and get great light output and it has minimal glare for oncoming traffic.
 
The halogen upgrade might have simply meant putting a 9005 in place of the 9006. I’ll try finding that thread
 
My fault, that was for 03-06 halogens which I replaced with an 06 LSE bumper. You can swap the H9 and H11 easily for more low beam output. I’m sure something similar could be done for Gen I halogen with some google searching

H9 Headlight Bulbs Anyone?
 
Has anyone here upgraded their headlight bulbs to LED ? And did you have issues with flicker? I am looking at upgrading my bulbs since I just purchased new headlights and I wanted to see if anyone had done this here. I was thinking of doing all the front lights in LED if it would not cause any issues. Any Feedback would be great!
Yes you can there is a led set up on amazon that cost a little more but they have 3 LEDs instead of 1. I used the 1 and light was everywhere blinding everyone but the one with 3 leds I haven’t had issues and you can see a line of cut off on a wall and while driving. And it’s not a perfect line like a projector lights but damn close. And that’s with factory lens. I will try to take pictures tonight.
Here are the lights
HIKARI Ultra LED Headlight Bulbs Conversion Kit -H11 (H8,H9), Prime LED 12000lm 6K Cool White,2 Yr Warranty https://www.amazon.com/dp/B077BT6M6Z/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_n.KKCbA79R6FC
 
Gen 1 Low beam 9006 can swap for 9012
Gen 2 low H11 can swap for H9
9005 high can swap for 9011

Those swaps bump output about 25% without changing filament position. They need a little trimming of the tabs. Philips is the preferred brand when you can't find OEM Chevy 9012 bulbs (Vosla? Vostra?)

As for LED/HIDs, as always, I'll wait for side-by-side wall shots with locked exposure on the camera before accepting any claims about not having glare and having the correct beam pattern. Every example so far is just excess glare, excess foreground, and LESS throw where the light needs to be.
 
As someone without the best night vision, I beg you not to. I am constantly being blinded at night by all these kids with illegal HID and LED conversions

I concur... and wouldn't have said it so nicely. I drive dark country roads in the morning... And the LED stuff kills me. Not bad enough that they are blinding to begin with... they gotta have the farkin high beams on to boot!!! LED fogs are just as bad too.

Anyone using these should make sure their headlights are adjusted properly too. You don't need to land airplanes... just see where you are going.

Ok.... I'm done....
 
I was not trying to blind everyone on the road but improve the quality of the lights. I myself have issues at night which is why I was trying to do something about the lights

This might be as simple as having your fogs and headlights professionally adjusted. Suspensions sag over time, which affects beam projection. So does replacing worn out suspension parts.
 
And Dale... Nobody is beating you up. You just struck a bit of a nerve with those of us who have eyes that are getting older. Wait til the "part timers" hits. :confused:
 
And Dale... Nobody is beating you up. You just struck a bit of a nerve with those of us who have eyes that are getting older. Wait til the "part timers" hits. :confused:
I didn't think anyone was beating me up! I have a eye problem of my own which was why I was thinking about trying it. But I so far have decided against doing it till my suspension is fixed completely. I did order new headlight assemblies but I will change it all out once I do my suspension. I am also gonna keep my eyes open at the boneyard for the GEN 2 HID's since they will fit and then there would be no problem. I think the GEN 2 Headlight is more sealed so they should hold up better, so if I get a used set I can most likely polish them up and do it the correct way. I know my old headlights needed to be replaced as they were getting moisture in them so I know by just replacing the assemblies it will be a major improvement to say the least. Also I had to start getting the mower ready for the season and I had to put my car on the back burner for a little bit. If it's not one thing it's 10 others! I had to replace my mower because my motor locked and now the used one I got..... I am now having to replace parts that were working fine the day I bought it ! Gotta love life.....
 
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If it's not one thing it's 10 others!

Boy that's the truth! And then as you get older you start slowing down. It didn't hit me until I turned 50... But I sure noticed it. The body complains more now when I try to do what I used to do... If I even have the motivation and energy .

Don't forget you can do a national used parts search for HID's. I gave you the link in your suspension/shock thread... if I remember correctly.
 
I didn't think anyone was beating me up! I have a eye problem of my own which was why I was thinking about trying it. But I so far have decided against doing it till my suspension is fixed completely. I did order new headlight assemblies but I will change it all out once I do my suspension. I am also gonna keep my eyes open at the boneyard for the GEN 2 HID's since they will fit and then there would be no problem. I think the GEN 2 Headlight is more sealed so they should hold up better, so if I get a used set I can most likely polish them up and do it the correct way. I know my old headlights needed to be replaced as they were getting moisture in them so I know by just replacing the assemblies it will be a major improvement to say the least. Also I had to start getting the mower ready for the season and I had to put my car on the back burner for a little bit. If it's not one thing it's 10 others! I had to replace my mower because my motor locked and now the used one I got..... I am now having to replace parts that were working fine the day I bought it ! Gotta love life.....
When you put those new headlight assemblies on you’ll be totally shocked how much better you can see at night ....I replaced the assemblies with the same part you did and it was like night and day difference...no pun intended :)
 
I'll also add that it helps if one is conscious about the direction they park every day.

Keeping the headlights out of direct sunlight all day long helps prevent the fogging of the lenses. It's the sun's UV that fogs them.

If possible... parking facing North or East is best.
 
I am also gonna keep my eyes open at the boneyard for the GEN 2 HID's since they will fit and then there would be no problem.

To put gen 2 headlights on a gen 1, you need the header panel as well and you'll want to snip the pigtail off the gen 2 chassis to adapt it. I looked at my gen 1 header hoping I could cut into it, but the wiring section just seems like it'd put up too much hassle - gen 2 moved the harness back a tiny bit. Gen 2 lights have protrusions on the bottom that would hit the harness. Those headers panels crack in the middle just by looking at them, fyi.

It's the sun's UV that fogs them.

Headlights come with a UV clearcoat. Reapply the clearcoat and you shouldn't have to worry about UV for a few years. Time and debris wear away the factory coating. Sand/polish kits do too, which is why they only work for a few months at a time. Plenty of info online with DIY instructions
 
To put gen 2 headlights on a gen 1, you need the header panel as well and you'll want to snip the pigtail off the gen 2 chassis to adapt it. I looked at my gen 1 header hoping I could cut into it, but the wiring section just seems like it'd put up too much hassle - gen 2 moved the harness back a tiny bit. Gen 2 lights have protrusions on the bottom that would hit the harness. Those headers panels crack in the middle just by looking at them, fyi.



Headlights come with a UV clearcoat. Reapply the clearcoat and you shouldn't have to worry about UV for a few years. Time and debris wear away the factory coating. Sand/polish kits do too, which is why they only work for a few months at a time. Plenty of info online with DIY instructions
Scotty Kilmer is a character to say the least but he has one of the best Youtube video how to keep new plastic headlight assemblies looking brand new forever
 
Resurrecting this from the dead...

It's that time of year again :-(

Some idiot bought one of those 400 bulb LED light panels from Wsl-Mart... and mounted it where the front plate should be. Grrr... I hope a Sherrif or State Boy pulls him over.

Evidently there are now a lot more people doing some wrong/improper bulb conversions to their headlights... cause the low beams are blinding... and I know they are low beams cause the fogs/driving lights are on too.

I know no one around where I live will read this... but come on people..
have a little consideration for the oncoming driver!!!
 
Resurrecting this from the dead...

It's that time of year again :-(

Some idiot bought one of those 400 bulb LED light panels from Wsl-Mart... and mounted it where the front plate should be. Grrr... I hope a Sherrif or State Boy pulls him over.

Evidently there are now a lot more people doing some wrong/improper bulb conversions to their headlights... cause the low beams are blinding... and I know they are low beams cause the fogs/driving lights are on too.

I know no one around where I live will read this... but come on people..
have a little consideration for the oncoming driver!!!

Oh i hate those people, and I'm seeing more and more of them lately. I've got a 30 inch light bar on the front of my truck that didn't come from Walmart, they dim that shit quick when i flip mine on, haha!
 
Evidently there are now a lot more people doing some wrong/improper bulb conversions to their headlights... cause the low beams are blinding... and I know they are low beams cause the fogs/driving lights are on too.
Try pickup trucks/SUVs coming factory with LED's and then the MFs be using high beams on top of that.

The dimming rearview in the LS is a godsend tbh
 
I was gonna post the same thing a couple days ago when I had to deal with this. THIS... was a mid sized truck in town.

Yup... thank God for the auto dimming mirrors. My whole cabin looked like a landing strip. (grrr...)

IMG_20211027_071438319.jpg
 

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