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Looking for local sources for automotive ( 12volt) LED lighting options. What I'm looking for are HIGH OUTPUT flush mount LED work lights with a Low wattage input for the inside ceiling of a work van.
The issues i'm finding with this is: 1) stuff all seems to be made in China, and there is no standard of measure of light output, and obvious quality issues. 2) it's all almost exclusive to Amazon or Ebay, and the Questionable quality issues that holds. 3) there is no way to gauge the Light Output, a little screen shot of a lights output at night doesn't inspire much confidence in the products performance! 4) some of these "Systems" require complicated wiring and or controllers, as well as a complex set up which is unneeded and unwanted!
Are there any local brick and mortar shops in or around the Salem area that have such things? I am willing to drive a reasonable distance if needed.

Separate but related, also looking for small high output LED Driving lights and TRUE Fog Lights for this same rig, I don't want the factory options, they suck across the board and are not worth the premium asking price for them! Not looking for "Light Bars" or off road lights ( Yet) so any recommendations and or experience with a product would be most welcome! :cool:
 
Looking for local sources for automotive ( 12volt) LED lighting options. What I'm looking for are HIGH OUTPUT flush mount LED work lights with a Low wattage input for the inside ceiling of a work van.
The issues i'm finding with this is: 1) stuff all seems to be made in China, and there is no standard of measure of light output, and obvious quality issues. 2) it's all almost exclusive to Amazon or Ebay, and the Questionable quality issues that holds. 3) there is no way to gauge the Light Output, a little screen shot of a lights output at night doesn't inspire much confidence in the products performance! 4) some of these "Systems" require complicated wiring and or controllers, as well as a complex set up which is unneeded and unwanted!
Are there any local brick and mortar shops in or around the Salem area that have such things? I am willing to drive a reasonable distance if needed.

Separate but related, also looking for small high output LED Driving lights and TRUE Fog Lights for this same rig, I don't want the factory options, they suck across the board and are not worth the premium asking price for them! Not looking for "Light Bars" or off road lights ( Yet) so any recommendations and or experience with a product would be most welcome! :cool:

Walmart
 
There IS a measurement of light output for LEDs, but I have only ever used the numbers to compare relative brightness.

Hell, if you are very specific on how you want the lighting to be, you can build the enclosures and I can wire up the guts, effectively turning an afternoon project into a Campaign for Illumination. that takes a month!

Or yeah, Walmart.
 
Walmart sukz, nothing looks usable!:confused:
Some of the auto parts houses have a few lights, but again, nothing for the interior. I know Napa has a mega lighting catalog, so I need to start flopping pages! Used to be Beall equipment in North Portland had cool stuff, but last time I was through there, it was gone!:(
 
I replaced my 4x4 pickup truck will all LED lights. Doing my Impreza next. Be careful with changing the turn signal since they "hyper flash" due to lower energy draw. I bought a new flasher relay to fix the problem in my pickup truck.

The headlights are a direct replacement for the halogen headlights. Since the shape is different compared to the halogen bulbs so I cut a mountain bike inner tube and used zip ties to secure the LED connectors. The leads were the same as the halogen headlights.

92C56046-A4CD-4E5C-8BF6-8BED65D0DB06.jpeg 553BA260-E8E8-40D6-980C-B66F888DAF0C.jpeg

Testing the hazard lights:

D0697A65-1675-43DA-94F0-23D18751072A.jpeg
 
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Honestly, anything you find locally will be the same stuff you find online. And will have the same failure rate.

When I worked in the RV industry, we used to market the LED upgrades as "better than the stuff found online". Some of it was even branded by a major manufacturer. It was discovered that the products were made in China and rebranded to give them more curb appeal.

Kinda like Sig optics. They sure as hell aren't making them let alone the quality isn't any better just because it says "Sig" on it. Before anyone flips out, I'm not saying their products are bad necessarily. I'm saying they aren't any better quality than other Chinese made stuff.
 
I replace my 4x4 pickup truck will all LED lights. Doing my Impreza next. Be careful with changing the turn signal since they "hyper flash" due to lower energy draw. I bought a new flasher relay to fix the problem in my pickup truck.

The headlights are a direct replacement for the halogen headlights.

View attachment 657201View attachment 657202

Testing the hazard lights:

View attachment 657203

A 70 ohm resistor soldered in line with the positive lead will fix the flashing speed as well. The LEDs resistance is too LOW and the stock flashers react like its a blown incandescent bulb.
 
For $12, why NOT try something like this? Worst case they don't hold up but you will already have done the wiring so easy swap!

 
For $12, why NOT try something like this? Worst case they don't hold up but you will already have done the wiring so easy swap!

That looks promising, AND, the other options also look pretty slick, especially the corner mount options for the full length between the sides and ceiling! :s0155:
Funny how Amazon works, I also found some flooring options while checking your linked page! :confused:
Gotta love on line!
 
A 70 ohm resistor soldered in line with the positive lead will fix the flashing speed as well. The LEDs resistance is too LOW and the stock flashers react like its a blown incandescent bulb.

Does the load resistor get hot? I see that they sell load resistors for use when changing the flashers out. They have a metal heatsink that needs to be fastened down to bare metal.

E1D9B114-2271-4E55-BF21-1CE7370C7327.png 84C25F8D-C48E-4A07-A5D6-295102F6ECC8.png
 
Does the load resistor get hot? I see that they sell load resistors for use when changing the flashers out. They have a metal heatsink that needs to be fastened down to bare metal.

View attachment 657211

Not hot enough to cause any problems. That heat sink is overkill but I'd go with that over a bare resistor for longevity.
 
I bought a new flasher unit that has a potentiometer so it works with either incandescent or LED bulbs. I ordered it a month ago but didn't have time to find the existing flasher unit. This was for a 1993 Nissan King cab 4x4.

B1CF1838-4C3D-4950-81CF-E3FD08C4D722.png
 
Be aware that LED driving lights vary greatly in quality and lighting patterns. From the reviews I have read there is still a lot of work to be done if one is to use LED headlights as replacements for stock headlights.

Also, they run cool, so if you use them in snow/ice conditions, they do not stay clear; the snow/ice covers them quickly. Truck-Lite makes LED headlights with heated lenses for this purpose, but they are 2-2.5X the cost of the non-heated headlights.
 

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