From headlamps to tail lights: upgrade or simply replace the bulbs you have now?
Sooner or later, a vehicle’s incandescent light bulbs will burn out and will need to be replaced.
What used to be a simple process in choosing the correct sealed-beam or miniature incandescent bulb part number has grown more complex with the introduction of newer lighting technology. In general, it’s still best to replace like with like when it comes to bulbs. However, there are options that allow a fleet manager to upgrade original equipment exterior lighting on tractors and trailers. The reasons to consider an upgrade include increased safety, reduced maintenance and lower cost per mile.
Exactly what type of upgrade is allowed depends on the lamp position and function, namely: headlamps and fog/driving lamps, stop/turn/tail, clearance, and marker and identification lights. Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 108 regulates lamps, reflective devices and associated equipment and defines what a manufacturer or fleet can legally install as lighting. Be assured that the major brand names in OE and aftermarket replacement lighting comply with these standards, so follow their recommendations, and buy from their distributors, to ensure best results.
Stop/turn/tail, clearance and marker lighting
There is little doubt that light-emitting diodes (LEDs) have become the leading choice of lighting spec’d for new equipment because they offer extraordinarily long-life, low amperage draw, quicker light up, richer color, greater brightness and solid-state reliability compared to incandescent bulbs in similar applications. These advantages all allow reduced down time and reduced operating costs. Since LEDs were introduced to the heavy-duty marketplace nearly 20 years ago, the major OEMs have focused continuously on improving the amber and red (and more recently, white) lighting used as marker and signal lights on tractors and trailers. Nowadays, few will dispute the benefits of including LEDs when spec’ing new equipment. But is the extra expense worth it for upgrading a fleet’s older tractors and trailers that might be traded in a few more years? There are many who would answer “yes.” Page Large, national fleet sales manager for Grote Industries, says the trend for the trade cycle for dry vans three years ago was about seven to ten years. “Now we’re seeing upwards of 10 to 15 and in some cases up to 20 years’ life expectancy on trailers,” he adds. “I tell people that if they are planning on keeping a trailer for another five years at a minimum,” Large says, “then it makes sense to convert that trailer to LED.” The company has LED lights to fit any position on a dry van, reefer or flatbed trailer.
Although the DOT requirement for dry vans is 13 lights, most have 15 lamps. One large over-the-road carrier, Large describes, with 40,000 trailers in its fleet was replacing up to 15,000 incandescent lamps per day. “Do the math,” Large suggests. Beyond the enormous cost of the replacement bulbs themselves, there was the issue of inventory costs and downtime. With LEDs, the total cost of ownership comes down markedly, Large adds. Grote offers a ROI calculator on its website (http://
grote.com/fleets/roi) to help a fleet run the numbers. There are other benefits: with LEDs, DOT citations for lamp outages decline. And since a 4-in. stop/turn/tail (STT) light will draw 1/8th the amperage of a 4-in. incandescent STT, LEDs can markedly reduce the demand for power at idling, allowing more amps for cab comforts. Grote’s current flagship SuperNova product line has 10 LEDs in it, but a new 4-in. STT product using more efficient and fewer LEDs will be shipping to aftermarket customers very soon. Called the Grote Select line, it is made in an automated U.S. manufacturing facility that allows competitive pricing while still offering a high quality product. Also, with female terminations, the new lamps are designed to be “plug-and-go” with existing harnesses, with no cutting off wires or splicing terminations to convert incandescent to LED. There are fleets still using incandescents because of high acquisition costs and concern over theft of multi-diode lamps. These fleets are potential customers for the new Grote Select lamp not only because it is more cost-effective, but looks more like an incandescent lamp, says Steve Green, Grote’s business development manager – signal lighting.
Tim Gilbert, corporate director heavy-duty fleet and OEM sales for Peterson, says fleets can extend fleet life and reduce maintenance costs with LEDs. All their lighting uses internal-return ground systems, instead of frame-rail grounding. Doing so, they can offer extended warranties on LEDs and harnesses. Gilbert allows that even though LED costs have come down, they will never be as economical to purchase as incandescent lights. “But over the life of the trailer they are more economical than an incandescent light, just because of the improved life, the reduced downtime, the reduced labor and maintenance costs,” says Gilbert. “It’s well worth the upfront price now.” Technology continues to evolve, he notes. Peterson now offers 3/4-in. diameter single LED marker lights that are PC-rated, meaning the lamp has special 180° optics that allow it to combine clearance and sidemarker functions into one.
Mark Assenmacher, fleet marketing manager for Peterson, mentions that certain vocational fleets have had success with their SmartLamp system. “It’s an upgrade product because it’s a combination turn signal and strobe, so you get extra functions out of one 36-diode lamp.” It’s available in dual or quad configurations.
Brad VanRiper, senior vice-president and chief technology officer for Truck-Lite points out the safety benefit of upgrading to LEDs. “Because the LED lamps illuminate 200 milliseconds faster than incandescent lamps,” he notes, “if you are following an LED-equipped vehicle at 60 MPH, it gives you about 20 ft. of additional stopping distance.” There is lower current draw from LEDs, making more current available to the rest of the system, including ABS units; something to consider if your fleet runs doubles and triples. The life-rating of LEDs is not degraded by on-off cycles. They last 100,000 hours or more, which is 10 years of steady burning – essentially 20 years at 50 percent utilization.
It is important when retrofitting an LED turn signal lamp that you note the type of flasher, says Van Riper. “Mechanical bi-metal flashers require a certain load on the circuit to function,” he explains. “With highly efficient LEDs, there isn’t enough load, so many companies have come out with electronic no-load flashers, which are highly reliable.”
Van Riper mentions that Truck-Lite’s Model 33 mini marker lamp, the size of a penny, is easy to install and small enough to be out of the way of tree limbs and able to be protected in aluminum trailer rails.
The “big three” commercial vehicle LED lighting makers –– Grote, Peterson and Truck-Lite –– all warn that there are risks when buying offshore-produced products that offer little or no proof of compliance. The major players all stand behind their products, offer accountability, instruction and training support and meet SAE/DOT standards for type and function. “Beware fancy packaging and a product with no such marking and no traceability,” says Truck-Lite’s Van Riper. You can get the same LED in a wide range of outputs that the user can’t tell by the packaging if it complies with the standard. The number of diodes is no guarantee.
Peterson’s Gilbert advises on obtaining LED lamps: “I’d make sure I’m going through a major truck or dealer network with the reputation of the OEM behind it,” he says, “or I’d make sure I was going through a reputable distributor I’d been dealing with over the years that I trusted. You can’t go wrong with name-brand products.”
Forward lighting
It used to be that for replacement headlamps, the choice was dictated by whether your truck had round or rectangular sealed beams in dual high/low beam or separate high/low quad configuration. Halogen sealed beams, once a premium option, have become the standard for this type because they are brighter. The modern aerodynamic composite headlamps quickly becoming the new standard on tractors feature a housing containing high/low projectors with separate reflectors and lenses illuminated by small capsule halogen bulbs (usually numbered in the 9003-9007 series). Regardless of type, lamp manufacturers have introduced a number of good-better-best replacement options. Which one is best for your fleet depends on the application and the most-valued benefit.
According to Tim Miller, general manager, global automotive product management for GE Consumer and Industrial Lighting, “Long life is critical for a fleet. Where you have a standard product that burns out in a certain period of time, you can upgrade to a long-life product with a typical life that exceeds the standard OEM light, lasting three to four times longer.”
David Persing, GE’s automotive product market development manager, North American aftermarket, adds, “Generally, you can get some of these sealed-beams with up to six times the life for no more than 50 percent more in cost. So, cost per mile goes down dramatically.”
Another consideration: as longer-term fleet drivers age, it becomes a little more difficult for them to see at night. “You can get a product with more output that maximizes light down the road, making it easier for the driver to see at night,” says Miller. GE’s offering in this category is the NightHawk. Persing notes that the NightHawk has on average 30 percent more luminance, allowing a driver to see 30 percent further down the road and still meet the DOT regulations for beam pattern. By being able to see better, “the drivers can hopefully avoid some dangerous situations,” he adds. Beyond this is what GE calls the NightHawk Sport, with a higher color temperature or whiter-looking light. These brands are made in both sealed beams and capsule lamps. Similar life and color options are offered in fog lamps as well.
Alfred LaSpina, marketing manager – automotive lighting for Osram Sylvania, notes that in the U.S., Sylvania offers a range of four 12V halogen lamps in the aftermarket: the standard OEM replacement, XtraVision, Cool Blue, SilverStar and SilverStar Ultra. Since fleets replace headlamps more often due to performance needs, they are looking for durability, and XtraVision is a step up from the OEM standard. With the premium lines, you get more light on the road, and whiter color light –– the Silver Star is up to 35 percent brighter and SilverStar Ultra is up to 50 percent brighter than standard halogens, LaSpina says. Whiter light gives better illumination of the roadside (up to 40 percent increased visibility down road), and can improve a driver’s reaction time. “Because headlamps dim over time, at least 20 percent or more,” LaSpina explains, “we recommend you evaluate lighting at least once a year.” He also notes, “It is important to always replace lights in pairs. If you don’t, there will always be one light brighter and newer than the other, and it’s a noticeable difference.” Sylvania and other manufacturers offer many replacement bulbs in twin packs for this reason.
Performance in the application is an important consideration, says Keith Bucher, director of product engineering-lighting for Federal-Mogul’s Wagner Lighting. If you have a pick-up-and-delivery fleet, and your trucks don’t drive much at night, it may not be necessary to have the premium bulbs for daytime running lights. But, since they are kept on more often, longer-life bulbs may be more cost effective than replacement OEM lamps in the long run. Wagner’s TruView, LazerBlue, BriteLite and Halogen Gold product lines offer increasingly whiter light, more light to the road and longer service life than standard quality lamps, and are directly interchangeable with OE lamps.
“Pick the technology that gives the driver the best ability to see,” Bucher emphasizes. “The first thing is safety for the driver.” Other factors that contribute to this ability are not only the quantity of light, but how evenly the light is distributed down the road and how it impacts other drivers, he notes.
Victoria McHugh, product manager, special original equipment for Hella Inc. agrees that the light pattern is important. “With improved optics, Hella is able to achieve an optimized distribution of light with smooth transitions on the edges and very even light pattern that eliminates ‘hot spots’ (noticeably bright areas of light) or ‘dead spots’ (noticeable areas that are void of light),” she says. “This results in improved visibility, less driver fatigue and improved overall safety.” Hella, which supplies lamps for Ford, GM and Daimler, also has aftermarket fog and driving lamps. The Jumbo 320 fog lamp meets all SAE/DOT requirements for the U.S. market. Unique is their offering of the DynaView and DynaView EVO2
(FF 1000) driving lamp and cornering lamp combined in one unit. Con-trolled by a transverse acceleration sensor, the cornering lamp is automatically switched on as the vehicle enters a turn. The driving lamp component provides a focused long-range driving beam. These lamps are also SAE/DOT compliant.
Philips Lighting offers a range of aftermarket upgrade lighting options, with three solutions being most popular. According to Jayson Ryan, the company’s senior manager, automotive North America, Philips VisionPlus halogen capsules throw a beam 25 to 50 ft. farther, while CrystalVision Ultra lamps provide whiter light for better recognition of road signs. Philips also offers the NightGuide, a unique three-in-one lighting solution. The capsule has a special color-coating which allows the lamp to project white light onto the right side of the road to make signs easier to see, yellowish light on the left to reduce glare for oncoming traffic, in addition to a long center beam to better illuminate the road ahead. “Fleets shouldn’t need to stop to change a burnt-out light,” adds Ingolf Sischka, Philips’ product manager aftermarket. “So we recommend that fleets schedule lighting replacement into their maintenance cycle.”
When considering a premium solution for your fleet, remember that “it costs a lot more to have a technician change a lamp than the cost differential to buy a quality lamp,” notes GE’s Miller. “The time for labor is much more expensive.” Miller also suggests adding lamps to the maintenance log to help determine if a fleet is getting value out of the lamp.
UPDATE: After this story went to press, Hella informed us that the DynaView and DynaView EVO2 products have been discontinued. The company does make Rallye 4000 Halogen and Compact Halogen auxiliary lamps in black and chrome suitable for medium-duty trucks.
