Hardware Report: Headlamp systems

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Fleet Owner  /  April 7, 2016

LED lighting is providing long-lasting options for better visibility

Advances in lighting technology are lowering the bar for fleets that want to take advantage of the benefits of LED headlights, notes Mitchell Wilston, communications/product specialist at Truck-Lite. “Due to newer systems that are being produced at a lower cost, the savings are being passed onto fleets,” he says. “In addition, in the long run, LED headlights pay for themselves in lower maintenance costs and reduced downtime, not to mention the safety benefits that LED lighting provides.”

LED headlights, Wilston explains further, are also more durable. “A halogen headlight has an expected life­span between 1,000 and 2,000 hours,” he states. “The light source is a fragile filament ... that breaks easily and rapidly loses light output. Comparatively, an LED will last over 30,000 hours, is extremely efficient and durable, and provides a much cleaner, whiter light.”

In 2013, Truck-Lite unveiled its first custom-engineered LED headlight for the Freightliner Cascadia. Today, the LED headlight is available as a standard and aftermarket specification on Freightliner Cascadia and Navistar ProStar models, and as an aftermarket option on Volvo VN platforms.

Truck-Lite’s 4x6-in. LED headlight systems utilize an innovative new design that combines the housing and reflector to produce a highly effective class beam pattern, Wilston notes. “We also continue to develop new headlight options for other models. Moving forward, there will be more opportunities to design and offer custom LED headlights for commercial vehicles.”

Grote Industries offers LED headlights in 7-in. round and 5x7-in. rec­tangular designs. The DOT-approved systems have a three-pin, H4 connector and a UV-protected, high impact-resistant polycarbonate lens.

“Grote White Light will deliver safe and efficient lighting solutions that strategically fill gaps in our product range, including modular LED solutions to meet OEM and aftermarket lighting needs,” Joe Weingarten, BDM of Forward Lighting, says. “We have discussed high- and low-beam modules as replacements for halogen lamps in the most common sizes.”

Peterson Manufacturing’s 701C 7-in. round headlight is a drop-in LED replacement for all PAR56 standard headlights, including H6014, H5024 and H6024 halogen sealed beams, found primarily on Class 6 and 7 vocational trucks. The company also offers 4x6-in. 702C and 703C LED rec­tangular headlights in a four-lamp system that fit many older Class 8 truck models, and it is planning to offer a 5x7-in. LED headlight replacement.

According to John Hansen, senior project engineer, Peterson’s LED headlights produce light in a wide, even pattern with a color temperature close to natural daylight. The lamps feature the company’s most advanced diode technology and H4 three-blade terminals integrated directly into a cast alloy housing.

Optronics introduced its newly designed second-generation LED headlights in early March. The high-style 7-in. round and 4x6-in. rectangular LED headlight models feature daytime running lights and are covered by a lifetime LED warranty. Optronics utilized the same SMD (surface mount device) LED technology used on its other lighting products to ensure reliability and performance. Each LED headlight features a die cast aluminum housing coating that resists corrosion and a tough polycarbonate lens that withstands harsh road conditions.

The manufacturers note that today’s LED headlamp systems are benefiting fleets, their drivers and other motorists by providing more light for improved object recognition at night. They also offer better control of light through improved beam patterns that cause less glare to oncoming traffic and reduce eyestrain and driver fatigue.