Best brand for LED conversion?

Disclaimer: Links on this page pointing to Amazon, eBay and other sites may include affiliate code. If you click them and make a purchase, we may earn a small commission.

Andreas Wickman

Full Access Member
Joined
Dec 19, 2018
Posts
51
Reaction score
45
Location
Sweden
First Name
Andreas
Truck Year
1983
Truck Model
C20
Engine Size
379
I have finally decided to change my original headlights to LED. My truck is a 1983 Silverado. Anyone done this already and have a tip where to buý some that works, looks and functions great?

Greatings from Sweden where night now starts getting darker.
 

TotalyHucked

Full Access Member
Joined
Feb 24, 2020
Posts
3,649
Reaction score
11,755
Location
Auburn, Georgia
First Name
Zach
Truck Year
1985
Truck Model
Sierra 1500
Engine Size
5.3
I bought mine from a company called RMS Lighting. I found them and bought through Facebook but they also have a website, dude's name is Hector. He was super great to deal with, quick to answer messages. I'm very happy with the lights, they're still glass housing and look original when off but have a nice 6500k color when on and light up the road very well. He was also quick to service and easy to deal with when I wound up with a broken light after a roadtrip, highly recommend if he'll ship overseas.

https://rmslighting.net/

You must be registered for see images attach



You must be registered for see images attach


You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach



You'd never know they were LED when they're off
You must be registered for see images attach
 

Scott91370

Full Access Member
Joined
Apr 2, 2018
Posts
994
Reaction score
1,015
Location
Burleson, Tx
First Name
Scott
Truck Year
1985
Truck Model
Sierra1500
Engine Size
350
I too have the RMS lighting. Mine are the Gen1 which are no longer in production. The Gen2 have a better cut-off and are supposed to be a little better - at least for oncoming traffic.

I like that they look just like a sealed beam...until you turn them on! Very easy to install as well.
 

Bennyt

Full Access Member
Joined
May 17, 2019
Posts
1,198
Reaction score
1,847
Location
Surprise
First Name
Ben
Truck Year
1977
Truck Model
C10
Engine Size
350
I like these. Doesn't look like they make them for the 89-91 style yet.
 

gmbellew

Full Access Member
Joined
May 27, 2018
Posts
1,211
Reaction score
1,278
Location
Kansas city
First Name
glen
Truck Year
1990
Truck Model
suburban 1500
Engine Size
350
I like these. Doesn't look like they make them for the 89-91 style yet.
not a lot of support for 89-91 given the odd size and limited years of use. the LMC housings with glass lenses with the adjuster buckets trimmed to fit a 9012 bulb is a good option that I am running. I have thought about dropping in a diode dynamics SL1 LED bulb, but haven't bit the bullet yet. waiting for somebody else to be the guinea pig or for my 9012 supply to dry up and then maybe I'll bite the bullet.
 

Bennyt

Full Access Member
Joined
May 17, 2019
Posts
1,198
Reaction score
1,847
Location
Surprise
First Name
Ben
Truck Year
1977
Truck Model
C10
Engine Size
350
not a lot of support for 89-91 given the odd size and limited years of use. the LMC housings with glass lenses with the adjuster buckets trimmed to fit a 9012 bulb is a good option that I am running. I have thought about dropping in a diode dynamics SL1 LED bulb, but haven't bit the bullet yet. waiting for somebody else to be the guinea pig or for my 9012 supply to dry up and then maybe I'll bite the bullet.

Do you have pictures? How much did you have to trim? I have a set of DD's SL1's that I used for a month or so and then swapped to their "pro" foglights which I removed after 2 months and sold the truck to the dealer for more than I paid due to the chip shortage. Stuff is just collecting dust for the last year or so in the garage.
 

gmbellew

Full Access Member
Joined
May 27, 2018
Posts
1,211
Reaction score
1,278
Location
Kansas city
First Name
glen
Truck Year
1990
Truck Model
suburban 1500
Engine Size
350
Do you have pictures? How much did you have to trim? I have a set of DD's SL1's that I used for a month or so and then swapped to their "pro" foglights which I removed after 2 months and sold the truck to the dealer for more than I paid due to the chip shortage. Stuff is just collecting dust for the last year or so in the garage.
I dont have pictures of the trimming. you only have to trim to fit a 90degree bulb. if you use the straight 9006xs and 9005xs straight bulbs they come with you don't have to trim at all. I still run the 9005xs in the highs because they are actually plenty bright and you would also have to trim some from the core support to fit a 90degree bulb in the high beam. I run the 9012 in the lows and only had to clearance the bottom of the bucket with a die grinder. I run some 6in DD wide pattern fog lights and I've considered switching to the SL1 bulbs in the LMC housings to have the headlights and fogs be the same color. I just wondered how the cutoff would be and don't want to blind oncoming traffic..
 

Attachments

  • 20230811_163831.jpg
    20230811_163831.jpg
    320.1 KB · Views: 75

Andreas Wickman

Full Access Member
Joined
Dec 19, 2018
Posts
51
Reaction score
45
Location
Sweden
First Name
Andreas
Truck Year
1983
Truck Model
C20
Engine Size
379
Wow great. The RMS Lighting ones have just what I was looking for, the original look when off. How is it, they come in two versions, one that has option dimmed/ not dimmed for the upper ones and one with just "full light" for the lower ones?
Runs with a well working fully rebuilt 6.2 diesel and TH700 R4. Wonderful truck, have had it for 20 years now. Frame off restoration 4 years ago. My daily car all year around.
 

Attachments

  • My truck.jpg
    My truck.jpg
    149.6 KB · Views: 75

Lift3d1

Junior Member
Joined
Jul 24, 2019
Posts
16
Reaction score
2
Location
California
First Name
erik
Truck Year
1983
Truck Model
c1500
Engine Size
5.7
these are exactly what i'm looking for....thanks for the link.

also, how do you turn on those fog lights? i didnt even realize i have those in my '84 High Sierra. i also have been driving with no dash in my truck for 7 years now tho
 

Hunter79764

Full Access Member
Joined
Sep 1, 2021
Posts
344
Reaction score
528
Location
Grand Prairie, TX
First Name
Shawn
Truck Year
1987
Truck Model
Suburban V20
Engine Size
350
I'm watching with interest, I've never heard of RMS, but they look like a great option, and good reviews from the sound of it. I have a set of Amazon LED's that are decent so far but aren't exactly the look I want. I'm using them on my Motorhome with low/high 4x6's on outside then high beam only on inside for about 18 months, but that's only a couple thousand miles so it's hard to say about longevity. But the cutoff is good, they fit decent, and they are noticeably brighter than sealed beams. The low beams are low/high, and the high beams are still sealed beams and only kick on high, I've actually disconnected them and couldn't really tell a difference.


This wasn't what was asked, but I wanted to throw it out there...The higher temperature lamps (higher K rating) do appear brighter, but the way your eyes see light, they tend to make the overall night driving experience worse. Bluer light causes the pupil to shrink, which sharpens visual clarity and detail resolution at the expense of total light entering the eye. If you need to see a circuit board, or read fine print, 5000K/6000K+ will help with those fine details. Going with a lower temperature lamp lets your eyes soak up more light around you, rather than just what is under your headlight pattern. I'd much rather see the deer off to the side by the moonlight, or a kid walking by streetlight, than to read the bumper stickers on cars around me at night. 4000K is about the limit for me, and I'd rather have 3000k or even "yellow" headlights.

The reason Blue is associated with bright headlights is actually because in the early days of projector HID's, the high end OEM's used 3500-4000K lamps, but intentionally filtered out the blue light and discarded it off to the edges of the beam pattern, where it didn't matter. This kept the high quality white/light yellow night driving light directly in front, as intended. But if the headlights were aimed properly, drivers outside the vehicle only saw the blue light cast off to the side and it became easy to distinguish those nice foreign cars by the blue headlights (which were actually intended to be the opposite of blue). People started buying headlights in bluer colors to look more high end (and because there is a definite increase in how well you see what is under the light), consequently OEM's started putting more blue into their lights to keep up with the fashionable trends, and a vicious cycle starts. LED street lamps compound the problems, and now we use 4-5x the light to be able to see only marginally better overall than night driving in 1982 when everyone was running sealed beams.
 

Scott91370

Full Access Member
Joined
Apr 2, 2018
Posts
994
Reaction score
1,015
Location
Burleson, Tx
First Name
Scott
Truck Year
1985
Truck Model
Sierra1500
Engine Size
350
also, how do you turn on those fog lights? i didnt even realize i have those in my '84 High Sierra. i also have been driving with no dash in my truck for 7 years now tho

Those aren't foglights, those are the running/parking lights. They [should] come on when you pull the headlamp switch to the first or second position.
 

Andreas Wickman

Full Access Member
Joined
Dec 19, 2018
Posts
51
Reaction score
45
Location
Sweden
First Name
Andreas
Truck Year
1983
Truck Model
C20
Engine Size
379
I will just say I am very happy with my RMS lamps. Good company, good product, fast delivery, no hazzle. Strong recommendation.
 

Forum statistics

Threads
44,124
Posts
949,788
Members
36,220
Latest member
wj35
Top