LED head light conversion kit discussion

Non-Suzuki related topics. Anything can go here.
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KuroNekko
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~tc~ wrote:My wife and I met through four wheeling our trucks. All of her tools are HF. I can guarantee you if you have problems breaking Craftsman tools, you will be going through the HF with reckless abandon.
I actually don't have many hand tools from HFT as my main tools are American-made Craftsmans I got from Sears several years ago on a Black Friday sale. They serve me very well. However, I've noticed that even Craftsman has buckled and now most of their tools are made in China. For example, when my USA-made 1/4 inch ratcheting wrench's release button failed, I got it replaced with the same product, but it was made in China. The equivalent tool was no longer American-made unless you wanted to pay much more for a product from a different series.

Also, you can end up spending an insane amount of money on tools. Even Craftsmans are looked down on by the Snap-On crowd. However, I prefer not to be a tool to tools. A buddy of mine is a pro bicycle builder/repairman in Japan. He assembles custom carbon fiber bicycles for triathletes and cyclists. He really likes premium hand tools made in the USA, Switzerland, and Germany. I've gone with him to high-end tool shops in Japan to look at the stuff. Hell, they even had a radio show streaming in which all they talked about was tools, namely Snap-Ons. I was like, what the f...

I then looked at the tools. Imagine looking at a simple screwdriver and seeing that it costs $90. It's like the Bugatti of screwdrivers. Ridiculous.
2011 Suzuki Kizashi Sport GTS 6MT (Black)
SamirD
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KuroNekko wrote:Well, sure, I'm not convinced that the stuff from HFT is the best quality, but for the price and availability they can't be beat. The brake kit I got was nearly identical to what I've seen my local mechanics using. On top of that, no one else sells them in a store. Sure, you can get one online, but when my daily driver is on jack stands and needs to be running tomorrow, I'm not going to hit up Amazon and wait around for UPS. Same story with the left-hand drill bits. No one else had them, even in a fricking Milwaukee power tools store!

Also, I like Craftsman quite a bit and have a number of their Made in USA tools. However, I've had a number of them fail and I've had to exchange them under their glorious lifetime warranty. However, with Sears on the brink of death, I'm not too sure Craftsman has much of a bright future. They are the Mitsubishi of department stores.
Oh yeah, in a pinch--most certainly. 8-) That's one thing they're great for--you can at least get a tool that will work for that one time you desperately need one. And at a reasonable price.

Sears makes a lot of their stuff overseas too, and while their warranty is great, others have caught up with them in terms of quality for the price. I have a lot of Kobalt wrenches and they're really good--I found out later that they're actually the foreign made division of snap on. :shock: Same great design, just cheaper build quality.
SamirD
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KuroNekko wrote:I'd totally rock those Bono safety glasses.
:lol:

If they work even somewhat, they rock! :lol:
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KuroNekko
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SamirD wrote:
KuroNekko wrote:I'd totally rock those Bono safety glasses.
:lol:

If they work even somewhat, they rock! :lol:
[youtube][/youtube]
2011 Suzuki Kizashi Sport GTS 6MT (Black)
~tc~
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Country of origin is not necessarily an indicator of quality.

SnapOn, MAC, Cornwell, Matco are great if your paycheck depends on your tools working and you have the guy stop by once a week. For the general enthusiast, they're a waste. They still break, and now you gotta track down the van to get it replaced.
2011 Sport SLS with nav Black Pearl Metallic
SamirD
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~tc~ wrote:Country of origin is not necessarily an indicator of quality.

SnapOn, MAC, Cornwell, Matco are great if your paycheck depends on your tools working and you have the guy stop by once a week. For the general enthusiast, they're a waste. They still break, and now you gotta track down the van to get it replaced.
Very true. I've seen some very nice stuff made in countries I wouldn't have guessed. And I've also seen some very poor stuff from 'good' countries. It still comes down to the product and manufacturer.

My former business partner was a ASE master tech as well as Ferrari, Maserati, Aston Martin, Porsche, GM and Toyota certified. He has over $50k in tools, many from the SnapOns and such. When I asked him the difference, it was in breakage, but he said that even crasftsman were pretty decently good. It's all about matching the product to the applicaiton. Light use=light wrenches. Heavy use=better wrenches.
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KuroNekko
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Back to the topic of LED conversion kits.

While VLEDS does look like the most promising online source for LED kits, I just found some JDM offerings. I knew that the JDM would have something.
http://www.bellof.co.jp/products/led_po ... ldray.html

However, Bellof (the JDM product) does not have something for H7s which are the Kizashi's DRL/high beam.
I'm also more inclined to have a warranty through a US-based online distributor than buying a JDM kit in a store in Japan.

However, the research I've done does seem to show that the reflecting design of the LED bulb itself can be quite important in a halogen reflector of the headlight. As the Bellof video demonstrated, the light from the LED is best when it's reflected onto the multi-reflector of the light housing so the light is cast in an optimal way.

The VLEDS' kit does not feature a reflector within the bulb and merely has the CREE LEDS shine within the headlight housing.
2011 Suzuki Kizashi Sport GTS 6MT (Black)
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KuroNekko
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Oh, I forgot to mention:

I contacted VLEDS regarding the H7 5K CXA 2000LM kit and the bulb's dimensions with the heat sink and fan. I want to make sure that the bulb can fit inside the Kizashi's sealed headlight with the cap on it.

I will post here what they tell me.
2011 Suzuki Kizashi Sport GTS 6MT (Black)
~tc~
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Let me know - I appear to have a DRL out now ...
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bootymac
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2000 lumen LEDs?! Awesome! Hope it works out as this seems like a great way to get whiter DRLs/high beams that are still functional. I've tried blue coated bulbs before for a whiter light but the reflectors would show the blue and it looked tacky

I wonder if something similar exists for reverse lights?
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