I'm thinking about upgraded the headlights to LED. Just wondering if some of you could share what you used. Are you happy with them?

Thanks,

I thought about it awhile back and looked into many different types of LED and HID headlight bulb conversion upgrades. There were too many additional items needed to make the conversion possible without more expense than I thought was worth it. Ultimately, I settled on an upgraded halogen Philips 9003 X-tremeVision with 60/55W for my 2002 Pathfinder. They are significantly brighter and light up the road further left, right, and straight ahead compared to stock halogen bulbs so I am quite satisfied with Philips X-tremeVission. Many of the LED and HID bulbs are too extreme and obnoxious to other drivers. I didn't want to be the one getting cursed out for blinding oncoming traffic and potentially making for unsafe driving conditions just so that I could see more than I needed to.

I'm glad you made that call, a tip of my hat to you for not blinding others.

Stock, the optics on my QX4 aren't great, but I can only imagine what stuffing something else in there might do. My lenses weren't nearly as bad as some, but not what they should have been like. Buffing them out made them look much better, and somewhat better light, but sanding and clearcoating made a big difference. Ebay clearcoat and a Preval sprayer and you can do it on the cheap without an air compressor or spray gun.

I ordered some cheap LED's off Ebay for about $16. Will test them in the next few days.

Micallen wrote: ↑

Wed Oct 02, 2019 6:26 am

I ordered some cheap LED's off Ebay for about $16. Will test them in the next few days.

good luck!

So as I drive to work this morning in the dark, I can see every tree and road sign ahead of me for 1/2 mile, but the road was not lit up too well. There is an adjustment screw (hidden under a cover) but it doesn't move the lights at ALL.

Has anyone else experienced this? Have you ever successfully adjusted your headlights?

I tried Kensun LED's and they scattered the light like crazy. I don't know if they blinded anyone because I took them out before driving anywhere. They sure blinded me in my testing and threw the light almost everywhere except the road.

I currently have some 5000K Kensun HID's that came with shrouds that help focus the light more like a halogen lamp would. I do not get flashed with people's brights and have good visibility. I swapped in some 4300K Kensun HID's for my fog lights and they are great too. The output is brighter, but a little less full than stock. There are a couple little dark spots in the light projection, but very little light "leakage". They behave much like the projectors you see on more modern cars now. They are bright looking from a distance, but as drivers get closer, the dazzling effect goes away.

If you really want HID's or LED's and want the full benefit of the lighting, you need to retrofit projectors. I am going to experiment with this pretty soon and I will make a post if it is successful. If there is enough interest, I might try to put together some kits for people to have bolt in projector housings. I know it has been successfully done, but I want to find something more economical that people would be willing to buy for these aging vehicles.

Micallen, I have experienced that when loaded down heavy in the back and when my springs were worn in the rear. Replacing the springs fixed both issues. I can now carry more in the back and don't have lighting issues when empty either.

Oddly enough, not a single person flashed their high beams at me.

Also, when I use MY high beams, there is a nice beam pattern on the road. Almost like that low beams should be. But you can see even further down the road (trees, road signs) than you can on low beam, so I know they are not reversed.

Nickelghandi, do you have links to the lights you are talking about?

Micallen wrote: ↑

Fri Oct 04, 2019 12:47 pm

Oddly enough, not a single person flashed their high beams at me.

Also, when I use MY high beams, there is a nice beam pattern on the road. Almost like that low beams should be. But you can see even further down the road (trees, road signs) than you can on low beam, so I know they are not reversed.

Nickelghandi, do you have links to the lights you are talking about?

The same happened to me with the Kensun LED kit. They did not light up the road much on low, but then on high they would blast the road and light up further down. Reversing them just made them not work in my case lol so even if they were wrong, there was no way to have them working "right".

All were purchased from Amazon. The H4 HID's and H3 Fogs appear to no longer be available, but I will try and find a pic of the lights so you can see the little shroud I mentioned.

Kensun LED kit - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B019C ... UTF8&psc=1

Auxbeam makes some great products though. I use their bulbs in my Volvos. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07HG ... =UTF8&th=1

Seriously though, be careful playing with different lights. Especially the cheap kits. It is a great way to get a ticket in many states now.

The best upgrade is HID retrofit though a bit pricey.

carldu wrote: ↑

Mon Oct 07, 2019 10:57 pm

The best upgrade is HID retrofit though a bit pricey.

Undoubtedly. It can be done somewhat cheaply though. I saw some retrofit housings on Ebay a while back for nearly $500. I am thinking one could make a decent set for around $150. Margins don't look too bad. Anyone interested in some pre-built HID or LED retrofit headlight housings? lol

If going down the retrofit path on the Pathy for you folks, would it be a cost effective way to swap in the headlights, wiring, relay (?) from a QX4?

brickbox wrote: ↑

Mon Oct 14, 2019 5:43 am

If going down the retrofit path on the Pathy for you folks, would it be a cost effective way to swap in the headlights, wiring, relay (?) from a QX4?

Unfortunately, that also means swapping the hood, grille, fenders, and possibly front bumper from the Q. It can be done, but it's much easier and likely cheaper to retrofit morimoto d2s hid or led projectors from theretrofitsource

I replaced the cheap Ebay LED's with these from Amazon after watching some Youtube videos: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B07 ... UTF8&psc=1

They are about 20% better. Not ideal, but OK.