Gen 2 Headliight Upgrade

Beta Don · December 13, 2016

I replaced the headlights on my 2014 TC today. First, as a credit to Ford (and probably because our TC's were all built in Europe) every stock halogen bulb in my wagon was made by Osram, which in my book is the best overall OEM bulb of them all. My standard upgrade on my other cars has always been to order me a new set of higher performance Osram's straight from Germany - Beware of ordering them from China and if you buy them locally, check to see that they're not from China. Like many other brand names, there are both a genuine article and Chinese knock-offs which are always inferior. The ones that came out of the car say 'Germany' right on them

Fifty150 ordered a set of Street Cat LED H11's from Amazon and they are unlike any LED replacements I've ever seen. First, they came with a 'driver' which accepts any voltage from 9 VDC to 36 VDC and outputs exactly the correct stabilized voltage and current for the LED chips, no matter how much the input voltage may vary. This has got to make for both a brighter, more even light and a longer lasting bulb. Second, his replacements have a built-in 8,000 RPM fan which cools the LED chips. Again, this has got to increase the life of the bulbs

IIRC he got a closeout price on the 2015 version rated at 4,000 lumens and 6000K color which is bright white, but not too far into the blue spectrum. A standard halogen bulb is around 1,350 to 1,500 lumens and the color is quite yellow, usually around 3000K. I bought the 2016 version of the Street Cat H11's which are now advertised to use Philips brand chips and they are now rated at 4,800 lumens or a bit more than triple the amount you get from an equivalent H11 halogen bulb. This isn't to say that you'll have triple the light down the road because other factors limit the useful light, but they are noticeably brighter . . . . and whiter

A link to the ones I bought - https://www.amazon.com/Headlight-Conversion-Upgraded-version-Philips/dp/B01LXO0W17/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1481579843&sr=8-2&keywords=street+cat+h11

They are not a 10 minute install, IMO - We spent at least an hour in total, but then I was changing both high and low beams. The space inside the dust cap is small and my fingers are large, but I managed to get them inserted correctly and my wife was able to twist them to lock them in the headlight. I mounted the little driver boxes nearby with double stick trim tape. Like Fifty150 I left the dust caps off - I think you could probably cut a notch in them to allow the wires to come out (necessary because the driver won't fit inside) and get the dust caps back on, but with them off the ventilation must be better and the LED assembly with fan is rated as waterproof

For the high beams, which are 65 watt H-9's I opted to replace those with PIAA Xtreme White halogens. *Supposedly* these give you 120 watts of light from just 65 watts of power which makes it sound like they are almost twice as bright (I take that with a few grains of salt) and they are 4150K in color, which is very white for a halogen bulb. These are popular replacements because they are so powerful and so white, but in low beam applications many reviewers report they only last for a year or two. I don't think I would choose them for your low beams (They cost about the same as the LED's anyway) but for high beam use, they should last a long time. We'll see. They *are* quite white . . . . nearly as white as the LED's to the naked eye

The LED's do light up the road much better - Low beams don't appear to reach much (if any) farther than before - It does look like I could raise them just a bit and I probably will, but the amount of light on the road in front of me is noticeably increased. The high beams are just . . . . WOW! They really do reach farther and are much brighter than before. They light up everything!

I'll get some pictures from out on the road and post them in the next few days - So far I'm very happy with the upgrade. Probably the best $100 I've spent on it so far

Don

Fifty150 · December 13, 2016

LED lighting is only getting better and better. Cars should simply be built with LED. My 3rd brake lamp & license plate light came with OEM LED.

Fifty150 · December 13, 2016

26 minutes ago, Beta Don said:

I bought the 2016 version of the Street Cat H11's which are now advertised to use Philips brand chips and they are now rated at 4,800 lumens or a bit more than triple the amount you get from an equivalent H11 halogen bulb. This isn't to say that you'll have triple the light down the road because other factors limit the useful light, but they are noticeably brighter . . . . and whiter

A link to the ones I bought - https://www.amazon.com/Headlight-Conversion-Upgraded-version-Philips/dp/B01LXO0W17/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1481579843&sr=8-2&keywords=street+cat+h11

You should write an Amazon review and post pics.

Fifty150 · December 13, 2016

23 hours ago, Beta Don said:

Fifty150 ordered a set of Street Cat LED H11's from Amazon and they are unlike any LED replacements I've ever seen.

IIRC he got a closeout price on the 2015 version rated at 4,000 lumens and 6000K color which is bright white, but not too far into the blue spectrum.

They are not a 10 minute install, IMO - We spent at least an hour in total, but then I was changing both high and low beams.

Depending on who is doing it, how familiar you are with performing the task, and how fast you can work, it could be 10 minutes. 10 minutes per side, or 10 minutes per lamp? Varies. After all, it's really not a lot of work, because you're not taking anything apart. Simply removing the rubber dust cap, removing the OEM lamp, and then inserting the LED lamp. Beta Don only spent 15 minutes per lamp (1 hour for 4). That's not bad. On other cars, you actually have to have tools to remove different pieces, in order to get to the lamps. On my F-150, the entire headlamp unit has to be removed from the body.

I first bought the 2015 version with 4000 lumen as an Amazon Lightning Deal. Those were installed as low beam. Then I purchased the 2016 version with 4600 lumen for the high beams.

Amazing how bright they are. I will never drive with yellow halogen on any car, ever again.

Fifty150 · December 14, 2016

On 12/12/2016 at 4:06 PM, Beta Don said:

Street Cat LED H11's from Amazon and they are unlike any LED replacements I've ever seen.

Don,

Check out the LED I am using in the F-150. Lamp head has a heat sink. Fan is detachable. Lamp & fan are powered separately. LED driver/ballast converts power from OEM headlamp socket to power headlamp and fan. This makes for easy trouble shooting and maintenance, if the need should arise. And allows you to change parts separately if need be. If the LED fails, just change that. If the fan stops working, replace with new fan. Switch the different parts around, so that you can isolate the problem.

Different LED technology. These are CREE, as opposed to Philips operate at 7200 lumen (1800 lumen per LED), and function as low beam & high beam in one unit. But with the high beams on, I see everything I need to see when I'm off-road. No more 100W KC lights.

7115DXGYxJL._SL1450_.jpg

Fifty150 · December 15, 2016

Big difference is that with the H13 in the F-150, both high beam and low beam combined, I only have 7200 lumen. With the Transit Connect, I can have 9600 lumen in the low beam, and 9600 lumen in the high beam, for a combined 19200 lumen. But there is not much that I can do about that, since it's almost impossible to change the headlamp housing to a different size or type.

MLB · June 24, 2017

The bulbs aren't available on Amazon anymore. I find the brights just fine, can you replace the low beams with LED and leave the highs alone or have to replace both? (assuming there are other options in LED's now)

Beta Don · June 24, 2017

The LED's I installed are for low beams only - I still have the OEM bulbs in the high beams

Don

mrtn · June 24, 2017

My friend installed LED bulbs in place of factory HID. Much brighter but also too bright in front of the car. Almost unbearable. He loves it tho.

jrm223 · June 27, 2017

On 6/24/2017 at 11:03 AM, MLB said:

The bulbs aren't available on Amazon anymore. I find the brights just fine, can you replace the low beams with LED and leave the highs alone or have to replace both? (assuming there are other options in LED's now)

Searching "Street Cat H11" shows this page. It says 4000 lumens each, so I guess they're old-stock 2015 version. Amazon Street Cat H11

Fifty150 · August 31, 2017

Street Cat isn't the only seller.

Street Cat is one of those sellers based in China that sells all kinds of weird things on amazon.com, with the products handled and shipped by amazon.com. They source the product from whichever manufacturer, then arrange for the items to be warehoused and shipped by amazon.com. Street Cat does not actually produce the item themselves. They are just selling to you.

Look on amazon.com for H11 LED. You will find tons of options. Within the last year, literally, prices have dropped and lots of people are selling the same exact headlamps, all made in the same factory in China, then branded with their label. Compare the different lamps, and you will notice that they are mostly the same lamp.