The SAE J581 Aux High Beam Thread

The grill is plastic, it cut it easily with a fine hacksaw blade, took about 20min, then cleaned up the cuts with a dremel and some sand paper. The lights are mounted on a BAMF rack.

 

Went another route and installed them on the bumper cover for now. Now I just need to connect/wire them.

 

Clean install, aiming may be a bit trickier. If you can aim them, it could be worth considering swapping the fogs and driving lights. Fog lights you want low, and driving lights higher near the headlights, your current setup is reversed from ideal.

 

I also have DD SSc3 fogs, the ones I have behind my grill are wired to my high beams.

 

Big difference. I like!

 

@ crashnburn80 in regards to the Hella 700FF 100w bulb upgrade, is there any reason not to go with these Sylvania's? They're about 1/3 the price of the Osrams and are easier to find.

 

Hmm. Some of the less common bulbs sold under the Sylvania label are actually Osram stamped bulbs. It would be interesting to know if that was the case with those. I chose the SuperBrights as they have proven to be the best high wattage bulb in reflector assemblies when testing for 2nd Gen. If the bulbs say Osram on the base, rather than Sylvania, I wonder if they are actually the same.

 

If it's of interests to you, I'd be happy to send a bulb your way for testing. It's the least I can do considering the value you provide. I have SS3s fogs, modified Philip H9s, HIR reverse lights, and now 700FFs on the way thanks to you

 

Sure, it’s easy enough to compare bulbs.

 

New Gravity product coming from KC.

 

Here is what is about to be released:


Titan Core: A Quantum Leap
The all-new Titan evolves the GRD Core from 2 to 3 LEDs each, unleashing unmatched beam patterns and output.

 

That means new Gravity optics. Was kinda expecting a carbon replacement with 4 LEDs like the outgoing model. Will be interesting to see the specs once released.

 

@enilson inquired about how Sylvania's 100w H3 stands up to the Osram Superbright H3. Both bulbs are manufactured by Osram in Germany, so this posed an interesting question. The Sylvania branded bulbs are significantly cheaper, could it be the same bulb sold under different labels, or could they be a better buy?

Sylvania 100w H3


Osram Superbright 100w H3


Comparing the bulbs, the bases are different. These are not the same bulbs sold under different labels.
Superbrights left vs Sylvania right


Note the Sylvania bulbs on the right have a protruding round extension on the base in the 9-o'clock position, whereas the Superbrights do not.

Checking power consumption.
Superbrights 100w, 89.7w actual


Sylvania 100w, 88.3w actual


Measured output intensity
Sylvania 100w vs SuperBright 100w


The Superbrights are about 15% higher in output intensity than the Sylvania 100w bulbs. The Sylvanias are quite a bit cheaper, running about $6/bulb vs the Superbrights at about $15/bulb. Where the value proposition lies is up to the end user of course. For myself, I'd spend the extra $18 for the 15% output intensity increase.

Sylvania 100w vs Osram +150 55w


Though the high wattage Sylvanias fall short of the Superbrights, they outperform the best stock wattage efficiency performance H3s from Osram, providing a value alternative.

For absolute best performance recommendations remain the Osram Superbright H3s for high wattage and Osram +150 H3 for stock wattage.

Special thanks to @enilson for sending the Sylvania 100w H3s in for comparison testing.

 

Awesome, thanks for testing! I find the results pretty interesting given that they're both manufactured by Osram in Germany. I'll likely opt for the Superbrights as well.

 

Agreed. I was thinking they’d possibly be the same bulb or have similar performance, but that wasn’t the case.

 

Makes sense to redesign. Most LEDs emit a roughly 120* cone, with some varistion in intensity gradient from 0* (directly above the die) , with a secondary, lower intensity cone at lower angles. It's not a perfectly even taper in gradient, regardless of whether it's a flat LED or domed variant. Using three emitters allow you to make use of the entire reflector surface inside the housing. So while each LED may have a smaller area to illuminate in a tri-cone arrangement, the lamp is actually being made more effocient, by not wasting internal reflector surface that sees marginal levels of light from two chips.

Downside is they are (likely) reducing the mass of material in the center post to carry the increased heat from an additional emitter (unless they're also increasing that hubs size. It'll be a balance to be struck. But like other manufacturers, they're not running these emitters beyond their manufacturers specs/hotrodding for maximum output at the expense of longevity.

They'll be brighter, and perhaps have a slightly different beam pattern. Unfortunately, they may only be 50% or so brighter. Head to head human eye comparison, it'll be noticeable, but only by a small margin. But they'll still reach further.

Now we just need to see them bring some 3-4000k high CRI emitters to market. I think they'll be well received, and hopefully push other aftermarket lamp manufacturers to do the same.

 

3000k would be a game changer