Any trucker knows that driving during nighttime hours is a great way to cover lots of ground quickly thanks to lower amounts of traffic, sun glare, daytime construction, and overall stress. For these reasons, fleet managers will sometimes put newer drivers on overnight shifts to help them gain experience and confidence.
Of course, driving at night comes with its own risks. Setting aside general fatigue, most crashes in the dark can be attributed to lack of visibility, plain and simple. And if you add a burned-out headlight to the mix, risks increase exponentially - not just because the driver's sight is limited, but because other motorists can't gauge how fast the truck is approaching or how wide it is. Factor in wildlife and late-night impaired drivers, and things only get riskier.
Even if no accidents occur, the police may be more attracted to a semi with a burned-out headlight. Traffic stops for that reason can lead to unwanted inspections for other vehicle shortcomings or violations.
In this article, we'll focus on the benefits and features of LED headlights for semi-trucks, and we will see how easy it is to upgrade to them for better visibility, longer life, and attractive looks. Note that within each of our product pages, you may see a number of pictures showing different-looking versions of the same headlight. Usually this is because design variations exist among lights made for different truck models.
LEDs (light emitting diodes) can quickly be described as transistors coated with a film that causes them to glow when electrical current is applied. Bulbs with LED diodes are replacing traditional incandescent filament bulbs as the primary form of lighting in automobiles, houses, offices, and everywhere else because they are far more efficient, bright, durable, and long-lasting.
Benefits Of LED Headlights
Because LEDs produce more lumens (a measurement of light output) per watt, only a small portion of electricity is required to create the same brightness as an incandescent or halogen bulb. As such, LEDs stay relatively cool because very little of their power is wasted creating unnecessary heat energy. To make comparison shopping easier, we've listed lumen output on individual product pages for LED headlamp assemblies and bulbs.
LEDs also have a much longer lifespan, typically lasting up to 50,000 hours instead of the 2,000 hours we're used to from traditional halogen headlights. This is because LEDs are sealed in moisture-proof containers, have no filament that gets consumed during use, and are extremely resistant to vibration and shocks. Eliminated are time-consuming hassles of frequent bulb replacements and tickets from police for non-working lights.
Similar to the way flat-screen televisions are slimmer, LED headlamp assemblies are generally flatter in shape because the bulbs don't require bulky parabolic reflectors necessary in traditional composite housings.
Considering all factors, it's hard to find a smarter product purchase than LED headlights when it comes to boosting visual excitement AND function.
How To Upgrade Your Own Truck's Headlights
Even though LED headlights have been catching on with many truck manufacturers as standard equipment in recent years, most trucks still aren't equipped with them. So we've made it easy to upgrade to brighter, long-lasting LEDs regardless of what type of headlights you have. Below, we explain exactly what's involved with "upgrading" each headlight style.
If You Have Composite Headlights
With "composite" headlight assemblies, all components are contained within a housing fitted with a clear, flush lens cover on the outside. While these are the type of lights found on modern passenger cars, not all trucks use them. Burned out bulbs are replaced individually through the rear of the housing assembly.
If you've got halogen composite headlights, you've got two options. The first is to replace the entire headlight assemblies with new ones containing LED bulbs for headlight, daytime running light, parking light, and turn signal use. By doing this, you can really transform the look of your truck's front fascia with stylish custom designs ranging from mild to wild - with black or colored backgrounds, projector beam lights, halo rings, swooping accent light strips, and much more!
Another, more cost-effective way to upgrade your headlight power is to leave your old composite assemblies in place and simply swap in new LED bulbs. This is easy to do because our LED conversion bulbs are sized and shaped to fit perfectly inside OE sockets, with bases and wiring connectors that are a perfect match. See below for details on headlight replacement bulbs.
If You Have Sealed Beam Headlight Assemblies
With an older sealed beam headlight design, burned out bulbs are not replaced individually the way they are inside a composite headlamp assembly. It's not possible to, because the bulbs are literally sealed into an all-glass housing. Instead, the entire headlight unit is replaced.
Phased out on cars decades ago, many trucks are still equipped with round or square sealed beam headlights. If so, you can still upgrade them with replacement sealed beam style LED units than may also contain built-in halo rings, projector lenses, and other custom designs. These "plug-n-play" headlight install in place of your original ones easily and quickly without modifications.
LED Headlight Bulb Conversion Kits Let You Upgrade For Minimal Cost
If your truck already has composite headlight assemblies with separate bulbs that are replaced from the rear, we've got LED headlight bulb conversion kits. These are a great way to upgrade to LED brightness without the cost of replacing entire headlight assemblies.
Since the LED conversion bulb kits we offer are "plug-n-play", bulb bases will fit into original OE sockets and mate with OE wiring connector(s). It's important to note that LED headlight bulbs are suitable only as replacements for halogen bulbs, and are NOT compatible with factory HID/Xenon setups. Because the larger potential size of LED bulbs can take up more room than OE ones inside your headlamp assembly, we recommend measuring available space before ordering.
Know Your Bulb Type
Like all motor vehicles on the road, trucks with composite headlights can use a variety of bulb types. Standardized code numbers are used to identify one from another. When shopping for replacement bulbs, it's helpful to know which type you need.
Because individual LED headlight bulbs we sell are vehicle-specific, you'll see just the bulb code number that's applicable for your truck's OE lights once you've entered year, make, and model in our Product Options fields. If more than one bulb type was used during your production year, multiple choices will appear. As a precaution, we recommend verifying the headlight bulb size for your truck by checking the owner's manual.
Bulbs Designed For Smartphones That Change Colors and Flash
We've even got LED conversion bulbs that can pair up with smartphones to vary their color output, serve as strobe lights, and even flash to the rhythm of music. If you're interested in some dynamic lighting options, we recommend taking a look at these choices from Lumen, XKGlow, and Race Sport.
This wraps up our look at LED headlights for trucks. Note that in our Semi Truck Headlights main section, we also offer OE factory headlights (with and without LEDs), LEDs for other exterior lights, accessory lights, individual LED bulbs, and more.
We also encourage you to check through other sections of our website where you'll find great products such as interior accessories, exterior accessories, backup cameras, seat-top mini organizer desks, lights & bulbs, mechanical repair parts, audio electronics, truck tires, tire chains, aluminum wheels, and more! Should you have questions about anything on our website, we'll be happy to help on the phone seven days a week!