Is the factory LED light upgrade worth it?

[TrailRax]

Just get the LED package. you cannot beat it. we tried...


We got a sport S with no LEDs. We upgraded the fenders to the Rubicon LEDs, $900-1000 depending on shipping ( yes way too much). Upgraded the headlights to Oracle BiLEDs $600 then had to order a Z automotive Tazer mini $350 roughly just to get the LED fender lights to work with our computer. Trust us.... it is worth paying for that package unless you plan on another route.

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[Klutch]

They are awesome as long as you don't drive in the snow where they aren't worth a damn. I constantly have to pull over to clean the snow off of them. If it's night time they are completely useless.

After I cleaned them.

I've heard people say it's no better with the Halogen headlights; which are useless no matter what the weather is.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

I do the same thing, Pops! They blind me, I blind them!

IF they react and dim the lights, so do I - accidentally leaving brights on, or forgetting you even have the brights on, it happens. But the dopes that install rad lighting because it's cool, because the internet tells them to, and because of the golly gee-whiz factor, and never bother AIMING them, or don't care that DOT numbers don't mean squat, that's another thing.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

I've heard people say it's no better with the Halogen headlights; which are useless no matter what the weather is.

Part of the issue is the shape, as was mentioned last winter I'm sure.
I have had more Grand Cherokees than I can remember - and the halogens on those would ice over in Iowa's common ice storms. And no, they did not get hot enough to melt it unless you stopped the Jeep and waited. Driving means that the cold air was blowing over the lenses and they never had a chance to get hot enough to melt the ice and snow. Stopping reduced the cooling effect (NOT referring to wind chill, just the fact that moving cold air over a surface will drop that surface's temperature down to the temperature of the cold air sooner than still air would. There's no wind chill on "things")

 

[DreamedofaJeepSomeday]

(NOT referring to wind chill, just the fact that moving cold air over a surface will drop that surface's temperature down to the temperature of the cold air sooner than still air would. There's no wind chill on "things")

It's the same principle. though.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

It's the same principle. though.

More akin to cooling fins on an air cooled engine. Wind chill relies on "feeling" or "Feels like" and evaporative effect.
Wind chill can make you feel like it's 10 degrees when it's really 25 but it can't cool that headlamp lens to less than the actual air temp of 25 degrees.
Say you have a plate of HOT food - too hot to eat, it will burn the skin off the roof of your mouth. So you blow on it to cool it - even though the air coming out of YOU is close to your body temperature. That will cool it faster than letting it sit. But you can't get that food any cooler than the ambient air temp by blowing on it.

On the other hand - a carburetor CAN ice up at 37 degrees! But that's a different effect - the effect of energy transfer when evaporating a liquid - that's closer to wind chill effect.

 

[PyrPatriot]

Not worth it. Have it on the loaner JL and I could care less as my bumper has the LED fog lights. Best of both worlds in my opinion. If I lived in more rural area, maybe, as it doesn't get cold enough here to ice up headlights (usually)

 

[PyrPatriot]

I've heard people say it's no better with the Halogen headlights; which are useless no matter what the weather is.

The Office, who I believe escorts heavy equipment in REALLY cold weather, has not had his halogens icing over.

No I don't trust LEDs I am driving in alot of -20° weather

https://www.jeepgladiatorforum.com/forum/threads/100-000-mile-gladiator-review.37221/page-6

 

[70deuce]

My daughter gave me the headlight LED bulbs RobinJa installed and described in first post on this topic and I am very happy with them. Way brighter(1st pic) and the beam pattern almost exactly matches the halogen pattern and aim points. I put some crosses on my garage door where the halogen pattern was centered on low beam, installed the new LED unit on the left side and checked the pattern and aim point again using the previous target crosses. Check out the 2nd picture. The pattern and aim point is almost exactly the same but way brighter. The 3rd picture, not the best, but it does show that the upper break point Is still there and it’s in the same place as the halogens. Last picture shows the lights side by side.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B073ZDLKT9/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[DreamedofaJeepSomeday]

My daughter gave me the headlight LED bulbs RobinJa installed and described in first post on this topic and I am very happy with them. Way brighter(1st pic) and the beam pattern almost exactly matches the halogen pattern and aim points.

I have found that the halogens are adequate on low beam, but rather inadequate on high beam. So I added supplemental lights which I am still working on aiming correctly. And yes, I know they are not rated for on-road use.

 

[Klutch]

As an FYI, I installed my Oracle Oculus headlights and they are great! The install was very easy. (See my writeup in the lighting forum: https://www.jeepgladiatorforum.com/forum/threads/writeup-for-oracle-led-headlight-install.38466/ )

The Oculus are very bright and focused with a laser-sharp cutoff that doesn't blind oncoming drivers. It's a GIGANTIC improvement over the factory halogens. I think they're a little better than the Jeep factory LED headlights, but I'm not sure it would be worthwhile to swap those out.

 

[Skullivan]

It depends on your budget. Are they nice? Sure are! Are headlights something you can upgrade later if necessary? Sure are! I have the halogens, and added some better halogen bulbs for $35, and LED fogs for another $30. I would still like something better for the headlights, but I personally would not pay $1k for the upgrade. Another consideration is how much snow you drive in. I’ve heard that LEDs freeze up because they don’t generate heat. I’ll let our northern friends have the final say on that.

I got my gladiator in February last year with the LED option and am now in the second winter with it. No problems so far up here in Montana!

Also yes, totally worth the money. I have no problem spotting animals driving at night which is the biggest reason to get them. Planning on getting more lighting actually for faster night driving on trail, some LP6's for up top once I have a GFC mounted on the bed.

 

[ShirtlessCubsFan]

Headlights are one of the most important safety features of any vehicle. Jeep's halogen setups are dangerously dim. A tealight candle reflecting off a brick wall 20 yards away produces more light than the halogen setups. I'm surprised they don't also offer cardboard brake rotors to save a few bucks.

I upgraded my old JKU halogens to JW Speakers and it should have been the first thing I did. Before that, I was constantly flashing my high beams just to confirm my headlights were even on. They're that terrible.

 

[XJhawk]

LED factory. Love it.
Out in the desert, the lights give me a much better view of the road and what surrounds it.

 

[IamAlan]

There is a video somewhere around here where a guy swapped out all the halogen bulbs in the existing fixtures, (headlights, DRL's, turn signals, and fogs), with LED's for less than $100. Is there a problem I'm not seeing?

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