Due to our experience we couldn’t prevent to say a word on semi trucks aftermarket headlamps.
Every week at our store comes in a customer aiming to change the halogen bulbs of their just purchased aftermarket headlamp for his semi truck.
In every case, we ask the trucker why he replaced the OEM lamps, and the most common answer is that the transparent plastic cover got yellowish and opaque, and the lights dimmed. They opt to buy a crystal shinning aftermarket lamp, and since most of the headlights bring standard halogen bulbs, they come to us to replace them with powerful LED ones.
The first piece of advice we want to give to you guys is to stay the longest possible with the original OEM headlamps. With no exceptions, OEM headlamps are of much better quality than aftermarket ones. Crystal polish them, finishing with a ceramic coating (that protects against U.V. light plastic oxidation), and only when the plastic crystal is irreversibly opaque or broken, replace them.
Aftermarket headlamps manufacturers are based, almost exclusively, in China and Taiwan, but the more experienced ones are located at the latter.
Although Taiwan’s quality is superior, very few of the headlamp models are built to stand the truck’s high vibration levels and frequent voltage spikes that very early damage the headlamp’s day running lights (DRLs) and turn signal LED chip’s circuits.
It is also common to find non-appropriate led bulbs in high-demanding headlamp applications. For example, the H1 bulb is the least luminous one. It was the first invented, and since it is small, it’s no so good getting rid of the heat and therefore is the least luminosity efficient.
It is very common to see H1s on truck headlamp’s high beam applications. The only comment we can make about this is that, to us, it is the worst option.
It is also widespread to find H7 bulbs on projector low beam applications. Both H1 and H7 are built to be fixed to the lamp by a clip. Under the large truck’s high vibration level, the least advisable fixation method is a clip. We presume that there may be royalty or patent restrictions to use better fixation bulbs like H11s or 9005s because not using them in a commercial truck’s lamp is simply crazy.
We propose the following if you are considering buying new headlamps for your truck:
- Keep with the original OEM lamps the most you can. If their covers get yellowish, polish them, not forgetting to apply the ceramic coating at the end.
- If you are compelled to replace them, prioritize the Taiwanese ones and ensure they meet CAPA or insurance grade standards, especially in their “OEM Replacement” models.
- Avoid H7 Low Beam, H1 High Beam ones if possible. H11s and 9005/9006s are the most advisable bulb types. They will allow you to LED upgrade your lamps beautifully. However, some semi-truck models’ aftermarket headlamp alternatives are restricted to the Low-Beam-H7, High-Beam-H1 combination. If that is the case, stick to the reputed Taiwanese manufacturers to ensure better quality fixing bulb clips.
- If the lamp comes with two-functions bulbs (low/high beams in the same bulb), you will be restricted to H4s and 9007s. It’s tough to find online these types of LEDs built for the truck’s hardship. We have no other option than to say that we carry the right ones.
At FX-AA TruckLEDFinder, we are now offering the LED bulbs upgraded head and fog lamp options. We buy the “replacement” type lamp from those reputed Taiwanese manufacturers and replace the halogen bulbs with our specially chosen LED ones for low and high beam applications. There is no option but to buy the “performance” type lamps that usually carry the H7/H1 combinations in some cases. There, we try our best with our carefully chosen H7/H1 LED bulb options. We are also gradually including our turn signal/parking light LED bulbs in some models.
We hope that we have briefly transmitted our thoughts regarding Aftermarket Commercial Truck’s Headlamps. We have restricted our opinion to halogen bulb-type lamps. Today there is quite a development on LED sealed headlamps that are much more luminosity efficient, reaching higher distances with less glare, and capable of intelligent functions like automatically dimming the lights or turning them on and off depending on the incoming or surrounding traffic. However, product options in the market of these LED lamps are also very underperforming so far. They are glamorous but weak performers.
FX-AA is also involved in a project of such headlamps with a top-class Taiwanese manufacturer. Our goal here is to meet the needed illumination strength and sturdiness levels required. Once met, you will know of them on this website.
