Upgrade Your Ride With Custom Headlight Parts

Your headlamps are your vehicle’s “face”, and a set of custom ones can add a unique, eye-catching look. They can also make your ride look updated and years newer.

These lights usually feature a glass cover with stylish round cutouts for headlights, bright lights, turn signals, and daytime running lights that are framed by halos. They are available in various colors and styles.

Halogen

Since the dawn of automotive headlights, halogen bulbs have been one of the most commonly used types. The bulb essentially fills a bowl-shaped housing that is mirrored inside to distribute light in a desired pattern. When they burn out, these headlight parts are easy to replace and usually less than $20 each.

These basic halogen bulbs have a thin tungsten Blue Red Led Warning Light filament wire that gets heated by electrical current to create light. Typically, they are yellowish in color and rated at 3,000 Kelvin on the temperature scale.

As they generate heat, halogen headlights also produce lots of wasted energy in the form of infrared and ultraviolet radiation. This makes them somewhat less efficient than xenon headlights. But they’re a lot cheaper to produce and install, which is why most newer cars come with them. They’re also a great choice for upgrading older cars with glass sealed beam headlights, which can be breached by rocks or simply wear out over time. They also work well with a range of other custom headlight parts, such as reflectors and self-leveling adaptive headlight assemblies.

HID

HID headlights use bulbs that combine iodide and bromine gases to prevent filaments from thinning or breaking. These bulbs produce a bright white light that’s more visible than traditional halogen bulbs. They also last longer, making them a popular choice for custom car headlights. The bulbs are housed in a projector, which directs the light to where it’s needed. Other components in a projector headlight include a power relay, wiring harness and shroud.

Most aftermarket headlight assemblies are made using plastics, so injection molding is a common manufacturing process. This method supports mass production and produces high-quality parts. It is important to note that the quality of a headlight assembly may be compromised if it is exposed to excessive moisture, dust or dirt particles. These contaminants can cause corrosion and shorten the lifespan of the headlight bulb. To reduce the risk of this, inspect your headlights regularly for signs of damage or rust. If you notice any, it is recommended that the headlight bulb be replaced.

LED

LED headlights are an extremely popular option among customers looking to upgrade their vehicle. They convert minimal input power into a powerful light beam, and they can be incorporated in a variety of styles from chrome or black housings to clear or smoke lenses. Many also feature halo rings or DRL bars (sometimes called “U-Bars”) that illuminate with SMD LEDs for a segmented appearance or with CCFL technology for a bright, unbroken light ring display.

Like HIDs, LED headlights contain an LED array on a PCB that’s powered by current regulators and microcontrollers. These communicate with a lighting control unit (LCU) in the body control module to relay high-speed dimming commands nearly instantly.

The problem is that these components create a lot of heat, and they don’t do much for your car’s performance unless they’re focused in a certain way. If you’re trying to use a square LED chip with a bubble on it inside a projector lamp, for example, it’s going to look terrible and blind other drivers. That’s custom headlight parts why you need a well-designed LED driver that can draw in the hot air from the chip to keep it cool enough to work.

Reflector

Previously, most vehicles used reflector headlights. These headlights feature dual filament bulbs enclosed in a bowl-shaped compartment that reflects the light onto the road. The housing is made from various thermoplastics and coated to achieve the required surface quality. These are cheaper to manufacture and occupy less space than projector headlights, so they were the preferred choice of car manufacturers until recently.

The H4 conversion headlight system is a great option for those who want to upgrade their reflector headlights. These headlights produce a more focused beam pattern than reflector headlights and can be used with either halogen or HID bulbs. The H4 conversion headlights are also more affordable than other options.

Before removing your headlight assembly, make sure to remove any grilles, trim pieces, or bumper covers that prevent you from getting access to the bolts holding it down. Once you have removed these, unbolt the headlight assembly and look for any wiring harnesses attached to it. Using a socket wrench, remove any wires that need to be disconnected from the headlight assembly.

H4 Conversion

Unlike halogen bulbs which combine a bulb with housing, H4 bulbs are separate. This allows for more options when it comes to replacing your headlights. For example, you can upgrade to LED, Xenon or HID bulbs without having to buy a new housing.

Compared to halogen bulbs, these H4 bulbs emit more intense, cooler white light and are up to 13 times brighter. They are CAN Bus compatible and operate on 9-32 VDC. The bulbs feature LED arrays that mimic the filament in halogen bulbs, creating a closely matched beam style.

The H4 headlight bulbs feature dual filaments, so you need to install two of them per headlight. They’re designed to work in conjunction with the reflectors so that the high and low beams are positioned properly when your vehicle is running on its low or high beam setting. It is a good idea to install a relay to control power flow to your headlights and keep current draw thru the factory headlight switch to a minimum. This will prevent your lights from turning on at full brightness and burning out prematurely.