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Led headlight conversion for a 2001 VNL770


Flying Finn

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Is it possible to change old style bulbs to LED bulbs for both high and low beams?

 

 

 

What year of truck are you asking about ?

2012 Volvo VNL 630 w/ I-Shift; D13 engine; " Veeger "
  Redwood, model 3401R ; 5th Wheel Trailer, " Dead Wood "
    2006 Smart Car " Killer Frog "
 

 

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We have our very own member for truck lighting here. The company is Deep Space Lighting http://deepspacelighting.com/

David, Nuke-E, here on the forum -should chime in on this topic.

We have one of David's kits in our '01 Volvo. Not led, but I really like it.

KW T-680, POPEMOBILE
Newmar X-Aire, VATICAN
Lots of old motorcycles, Moto Guzzi Griso and Spyder F3 currently in the front row
Young enough to play in the dirt as a retired farmer.
contact me at rickeieio@yahoo.com

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After doing a little research I found a plug and play LED system for my truck. It replaces the HB5 bulbs with LED high and low beams. The cost is $100. I went to a Kenworth/Volvo dealer here in Sioux Falls. He told me they got them in about a month or so ago. Part No. is 9707k, description is HB5-LE-F15A. They claim to be much brighter, use much less power (he demo'd them for me with a 9V smoke detector type battery) come with a 3/10 year warranty. He said because of the age of my truck (2001) it should not throw an ECM code for low voltage to the lights.

So for those with trucks that use the standard HB5 bulbs, this may be and option for you.

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As long as your housing is in good shape.

 

But they have yet to produce an LED bulb that threw a perfect Halogen beam. I have tried LED bulbs in a few vehicles and returned them. the beam pattern ends up like an HID retrofit in a factory housing. I'm saving my pennies to do it the right way. The factory set up is horrible.

2016 Road Warrior 420

2001 Volvo VNL 660

Alaska Based.

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I still haven't figured out what all the drama is with Volvo headlights. The solution is real simple............don't drive in the dark !!! :ph34r:

 

LOL :D sorry, guys. I couldn't resist. :D

MY PEOPLE SKILLS ARE JUST FINE.
~It's my tolerance to idiots that needs work.~

2005 Volvo 780 VED12 465hp / Freedomline transmission
singled mid position / Bed by Larry Herrin
2018 customed Mobile Suites 40KSSB3 

2014 smart Fortwo

 

 
 
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After doing a little research I found a plug and play LED system for my truck. It replaces the HB5 bulbs with LED high and low beams. The cost is $100. I went to a Kenworth/Volvo dealer here in Sioux Falls. He told me they got them in about a month or so ago. Part No. is 9707k, description is HB5-LE-F15A. They claim to be much brighter, use much less power (he demo'd them for me with a 9V smoke detector type battery) come with a 3/10 year warranty. He said because of the age of my truck (2001) it should not throw an ECM code for low voltage to the lights.

So for those with trucks that use the standard HB5 bulbs, this may be and option for you.

 

What that dealer is selling isn't legal to sell in the US (or Canada). Assuming you aren't running commercially, it's unlikely you'd be hassled, but you'll have plenty of annoyed and blinded drivers coming towards you. While it isn't a great lamp design by any stretch, it is still designed around a dual-filament halogen bulb (HB5/9007). Putting an LED in there moves the light source out of the expected location, and replaces it with a totally different shape. It might be a brighter source, but it'll be at best marginally better at putting light where it needs to go. To use an analogy, if you weren't knocking down a target with your .22 rifle, despite hitting it, you wouldn't switch to a giant shotgun. If the shotgun knocked it down, it would be by brute force, with a lot of collateral damage.

 

As far as fault monitoring, there is none on the gen-1 Volvo lights (headlights or any other). And the voltage to the lights wouldn't be any lower with an LED--it would draw less current, which is what the fault monitoring systems look for.

 

As long as your housing is in good shape.

 

But they have yet to produce an LED bulb that threw a perfect Halogen beam. I have tried LED bulbs in a few vehicles and returned them. the beam pattern ends up like an HID retrofit in a factory housing. I'm saving my pennies to do it the right way. The factory set up is horrible.

Very true. And if it's just the yellowed housing that you're trying to correct (i.e. just getting an old truck back to the poor, instead of very poor, stock lights), they're pretty cheap.

 

I still haven't figured out what all the drama is with Volvo headlights. The solution is real simple............don't drive in the dark !!! :ph34r:

 

LOL :D sorry, guys. I couldn't resist. :D

 

Phil, you sound like that counter has already hit zero! Go easy on the guy trying to haul enough pennies for a new T680--even if Scrap doesn't get to add stuff to the options list, that's quite a load.

45' 2004 Showhauler -- VNL300, ISX, FreedomLine -- RVnerds.com -- where I've started to write about what I'm up to

Headlight and Fog Light Upgrades http://deepspacelighting.com

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Guys, in case you don't know, the answer to upgrading headlights is the Dixon kit. There is nothing better on the market that I know of. And comparisons to the new LED lights in the Volvos show that the Dixon kit is right in there with them. So for a retrofit, it is the answer, IMO. Plus, there is a pretty slick (to me) kit for the Gen 1 Volvo that changes the front appearance of the truck. I like it.

Jack & Danielle Mayer #60376 Lifetime Member
Living on the road since 2000

PLEASE no PM's. Email me. jackdanmayer AT gmail
2016 DRV Houston 44' 5er (we still have it)
2022 New Horizons 43' 5er
2016 Itasca 27N 28' motorhome 
2019 Volvo 860, D13 455/1850, 236" wb, I-Shift, battery-based APU
No truck at the moment - we use one of our demo units
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-------------------------------------------------------------------------
See our website for info on New Horizons 5th wheels, HDTs as tow vehicles, communications on the road, and use of solar power
www.jackdanmayer.com
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Jeff got it.....

Jack & Danielle Mayer #60376 Lifetime Member
Living on the road since 2000

PLEASE no PM's. Email me. jackdanmayer AT gmail
2016 DRV Houston 44' 5er (we still have it)
2022 New Horizons 43' 5er
2016 Itasca 27N 28' motorhome 
2019 Volvo 860, D13 455/1850, 236" wb, I-Shift, battery-based APU
No truck at the moment - we use one of our demo units
2016 smart Passion, piggyback on the truck
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
See our website for info on New Horizons 5th wheels, HDTs as tow vehicles, communications on the road, and use of solar power
www.jackdanmayer.com
Principal in RVH Lifestyles. RVH-Lifestyles.com

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I still haven't figured out what all the drama is with Volvo headlights. The solution is real simple............don't drive in the dark !!! :ph34r:

 

LOL :D sorry, guys. I couldn't resist. :D

 

Hold your breath.....I agree with Phil........Darkness is scary (Halloween :ph34r: ) and the more Geezer you become the darker things look in your older eyes no matter how bright the lights.

 

Now stock HDT lights are pretty dim-bulbs so......a even better reason to set camp before dark.

 

Better lights are priceless all kidding aside.

 

Back in my birdman days I had to have a eye test every 6 months and often the old aero-doc would mutter...."well it's a good thing that it's the only last 200 feet above the runway that count because that's about as far as your night-vision is good for...." Gulp....

 

Drive on.......(Camp before ......Dark)

97 Freightshaker Century Cummins M11-370 / 1350 /10 spd / 3:08 /tandem/ 20ft Garage/ 30 ft Curtis Dune toybox with a removable horse-haul-module to transport Dolly-The-Painthorse to horse camps and trail heads all over the Western U S

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